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Ideas for Promoting Your Organization’s Events

Sep 12, 2023

Hosting special events is a great way to draw people to your center and build a sense of community. From small programs, such as card tournaments, to larger scale events, such as health fairs or concerts, the options for community outreach are numerous.

One fear that often holds people back from doing these types of events is that no one will come or attendance will be embarrassingly low. If you and your team are concerned about that, we have some ideas for promoting your event and a suggested timeline for ensuring success.

Inexpensive Ways to Increase Attendance at Events

Connect with influencers: Create a list of your supporters who are well-connected in the community or have a big presence on social media. Ask them to be informal ambassadors of the event and help spread the word. If you are a nonprofit organization, as most centers are, people will be more inclined to help. Also, encourage any speakers or entertainers to share event details with their audience.

Utilize community calendars: Don’t overlook digital and print media, as well as television and radio stations, that have community calendars. If you don’t already have a spreadsheet or tracking tool for these potential partners, enlist the help of a volunteer to set one up. You’ll want to email or call them to find out their deadlines and preferred method of submission.

Donate tickets: Local radio stations love to have contests that award prizes to listeners. Pick a few stations that your target audience listens to and offer some tickets to the event for them to use as a giveaway in exchange for the publicity.

Send out media alerts: Similar to press releases, these informational messages go out to local media to inform them of events and news. You’ll likely want to send one out as soon as tickets go on sale, and another closer to the event date. Keep in mind, media outlets don’t want to be your unpaid sales team. Position your message so it clearly shows what’s in it for viewers/listeners.

Use social media to highlight raffle baskets/auction items: Use the visual nature of Facebook and Instagram to your advantage by taking pictures of any raffle prizes/baskets or auction items that will be up for grabs. Not only does it give you an opportunity to thank the donor, but it will be an enticement for potential attendees.

Distribute event flyers/posters: In the digital age, we often forget that offline marketing activities still work. That’s why you might want to create flyers to distribute around town in places your target audience visits, such as libraries, grocery stores, hair salons, restaurants, and more.

Have signs made: Another simple way to get the word out is to have signs made to put up outside your community center. Include details, but not so many that they can’t be read from the road when people are passing by. Add a website address and phone number to make it easier for people to find out more.

Sample Timeline for Promoting Community Events

Depending on the size and scale of your community center event, you may need to start promoting it months ahead of time:

Four months prior to the event
Consider creating a dedicated logo or image to use in marketing the program.
Send out invitations or save-the-date cards to current supporters and those who have attended past programs you’ve offered.
Start posting details and behind-the-scenes photos, including when tickets will go on sale.
Add a dedicated page to your website and create a Facebook event for it.
Begin creating flyers and other print/digital promotional materials.

Two months prior to the event
Plan your social media strategy, including any contests or giveaways.
Talk with influencers, vendors, and speakers about helping spread the word.
Pitch partnership ideas to media outlets whose primary demographic is your target audience.

One month before the event
Post teaser photos on social media to give potential attendees a sneak peek at prizes, auction items, and more.
Distribute flyers/posters to key locations around the area.
Submit your event to community calendars, both online and print.
Place signs in front of the community center and any other high-traffic areas.

Two weeks prior to the event
Begin creating urgency around ticket sales by doing “last call” posts on social media and in an e-newsletter.
Encourage local radio stations to use free tickets for contests/promotions.
Do a live social media activity showing why people should attend and how to purchase tickets.

One week before the event
Send out media alerts to local print, television, and radio stations.
Host another live social media activity and include speakers or entertainers however possible (i.e., a quick Zoom call or Facebook Live with the musician or speaker).

Have an awesome event but don’t have the expertise to create the engaging graphics and images you need promote it? We’ve got you covered with thousands of ready-to-use, professionally designed imagery inside of WeCreate, our library of content for communities just like yours. Our team cans also assist with website building, logos and branding, free newsletters, and advertising if you find yourself in need.