We’ve been in the midst of a global pandemic for 3 months now and I am surprised when people are still asking “are virtual events profitable” or considering “taking a risk” on them. Can you make money with a virtual event? HECK YES!
How can a nonprofit make money with a virtual event?
To be honest, it’s a lot of the same ways your organization would make money with an in-person event. Granted, people won’t likely pay $125 to attend a virtual event, so your revenue from ticket sales won’t be as high (you likely won’t charge for tickets at ALL), but your cost to produce the event will be a FRACTION of the cost! Here are some ways you will make money at your virtual gala:
Open Donations
The place you will make the majority of your revenue will be from Open Donations during the Fund-A-Need Appeal during your event. Remember, the purpose of your virtual event is to educate, inspire and entertain your guests. You’ll educated them about the problem you solve, who it impacts and then inspire the donors to partner with you in solving the problem through their financial contribution.
Some fun trends about Fund-A-Needs or Giving Moments during virtual events: while live auction item revenue is down, Fund-A-Need giving is UP! Also, nonprofits are seeing an increase in NEW DONORS! Allowing people to join in on your event virtually at no cost, paired with social media sharing from current supporters is showing an increase in giving from new donors. While these donations are at lower-level, if stewarded well, these new donors can become your future BIG donors. How exciting is that?!
Silent and “Live” Auction
People are bidding on silent auction items like it is their job! When your nonprofit opens the auction (about 3 days before the event), your virtual gala guests start registering for your event and get started on bidding. Don’t be discouraged if giving seems slow at the beginning, that’s normal for ANY auction. It will pick up during the virtual event and the hour before you close the auctions.
Live auction revenue is down for a couple reasons. In a virtual auction, there is no way to replace the excitement and momentum a good auctioneer. The “Live” Auction items or “premier” auction items are higher ticket experiential items you’d normally place on your Live auction at your event, but are added to the mobile bidding platform and sold the same way as silent auction items. They are not selling as well in this format because you can’t build the same momentum, but also because these items tend to rely on experiences that include travel, crowds or restaurants (all things that people are stepping back from during COVID). Does this mean you should just get rid of them? NO! They are still a way to bring in thousands of extra dollars to your organization, but I want to you to know what to expect as you are planning your budget.
Sponsorships
This is huge! When I first transitioned clients to virtual events they were concerned about how their sponsors would feel about it. Would they get enough recognition for their sponsorship level? Turns out there are so many MORE ways for sponsors to gain recognition for their sponsorship for your organization. With things like the pre-show slides, social media and email blasts, naming rights to the event, and more. Come up with all the ways you can feature your sponsors and create a PDF to share with potential sponsors that will allow them to see what different levels of sponsorships will benefit them.
Underwritten costs
You can have sponsors or individual donors underwrite different parts of your event to cover the costs, so that from the beginning your event is profitable. Maybe your AV Crew costs $5,000, reach out to loyal supporters who are practical and let them know this underwriting opportunity is available. I offer a flat rate so that my clients can get my fee underwritten prior to the event even starting. No surprise fees or percentages to worry about. It’s a great way to include donors and make sure 100% of proceeds can go to supporting the work your organization does!
VIP or Optional Ticket sales
While I don’t recommend charging admission for a virtual gala, there are options to make some revenue on ticket “sales.” You can do a “choose your price” ticket and allow guests to select what they want to pay. Many people will not pay anything, however you will find some people will pay $5, or $25 or even $100 on a donation basis. Remember, you want to get most of your costs underwritten prior to the event so you won’t need ticket sales to cover event costs.
At the time of registration, you could also offer the regular admission (aka FREE) and a VIP package. The VIP package could be $25 and offer a grab bag or a separate zoom meeting with the Executive Director of your organization. Maybe it would include a separate “after party” with special content. Either way, it is a great opportunity for you to give people an option to pay while offering them greater access to educate them on the work you do.
Still wondering if your event will be profitable? Stop. It WILL be profitable. You still will have to do the hard work of building into sponsor and donor relationships prior to the event, but it’s very similar to how you make money at an in-person event. Additionally, virtual events are very effective at obtaining NEW donors which you can develop and grow into committed donors after the event.
Hosting a virtual event is not a RISK. It is a low cost way to connect with donors and hit your revenue goals for this year.
