You have a fantastic idea for an event to support your nonprofit. But, to make that idea come to life, you need to track countless moving parts, pay attention to a wide range of details, and coordinate with a growing team to make sure that everything is properly managed.
Fortunately, nonprofit event management software offers you the capabilities you need to make your event a reality. With quality software, you will have a platform that can help you organize your event, from start to finish, and collaborate with everyone else involved so that you can move forward effectively.
We will walk you through what you need to know about the role of nonprofit event management software in streamlining your operations and maximizing fundraising efforts and how to choose the best software for your organization.
What is Nonprofit Event Management Software?
Nonprofit event management software will play a critical role in your event operations, so let’s start by defining this category of technology and what you should look for in effective options.
Definition and Purpose
Nonprofit event management software is your base of operations. It will provide you with a system for organizing your event and ensuring you manage all the parts and small details effectively.
Within the event management system, you will have capabilities to help you:
- Manage the different components of event planning
- Plan and brainstorm different aspects with other team members
- Collaborate and communicate with team members
- Track registrations and check-ins
- Gather data about event participation and engagement
In other words, this platform keeps your event planning organized so you can see what has been done and what you need to do to make your event a success.
Key Features to Look For
As soon as you realize the value of nonprofit event management software and start to look for your options, however, you will quickly discover that you have a plethora of options at your fingertips. Knowing some of the essential features that you want to have included in any option you evaluate can help you eliminate some choices and zero in on the ones most likely to suit your business.
Some of the most essential features we recommend you have on your critical features list include:
- Registration management
- Ticketing options and purchases
- Event promotion
- Donor management
- Reporting tools for gathering data.
Why Nonprofits Need Event Management Software
If you have not used event management software for nonprofits before, you likely want to know more about the value these capabilities can offer before purchasing your own. Here are just some of the reasons why nonprofits should carefully consider the value event management platforms can offer.
Online Contracts and Sponsorship Management
Effective event planning will include ample opportunities for sponsorship. Other people appreciate sponsorship opportunities because they can use them to promote their own brand during your event and attract leads for their organization. From your perspective, bringing in sponsors can help generate income for your event. This revenue can either bolster the budget you have available for your event so that you can go even further in your planning, or it can help to build your revenue streams for your nonprofit.
However, as you bring in these sponsors, you have to track the details of numerous contracts to make sure you wisely use the funds and provide your sponsors with all the components they were promised. Many businesses will design different sponsorship levels depending on the level of investment the other company makes. Your levels of sponsorship might include brand promotion on event materials, opportunities for networking with attendees, or other special types of event participation.
Fortunately, quality event management software can help you track all of these different sponsors and the types of benefits and promotions they have secured for themselves. This makes it easier to design your event materials and scheduling so you can fulfill your obligations and properly manage your contracts.
You can also use your event management software to track components related to other contracts, such as those you will have with your event space and your different venues. Having everything in one place makes the entire financial process much easier to manage.
Floor Plan Management
Designing an event for your nonprofit requires thinking carefully about details such as your floor plan. How you organize the different components of your event, from the location of your welcome desk to the design of different breakout rooms, can all impact how easily the event flows together, how your sponsors feel about the event, and the overall attendee experience.
Quality event management software will provide planning options to help you think about how you will utilize your physical space. Making sure that certain areas do not become overcrowded, that the rooms flow together easily, and that people can find what they seek will all improve the overall user experience. With your event management platform, you can visualize where you will place different components and work with your team to account for potential problems and make sure your event opens with the optimal layout.
Real-Time Engagement and Communication
As you plan your event, you also need to keep the communication doors wide open with your donors and participants. If they have questions or want more information about a particular component of the event, for example, you want to make sure you answer them quickly.
Building this level of interaction and engagement will benefit your event in more ways than one. To begin, getting people accurate information about your event in response to their questions or concerns will alleviate people’s hesitations and encourage more people to donate or attend. This increases your participation numbers and your overall event success.
Secondly, providing this level of service tells your interested leads that you genuinely care about them and their experiences. People appreciate personalized care and attention and feel more connected with your organization when you can provide this level of interaction. You will lay the foundation for stronger relationships, which benefits your organization in the long run.
Fortunately, with quality event management software, you have access to your donor information and event participants and can facilitate communication with them.
Fundraising and Revenue Generation
At the forefront of priorities for most nonprofits lies fundraising and revenue generation. Bringing in sufficient revenue allows you to work towards your organizational goals and support your nonprofit’s mission. As you plan your events, knowing that you have systems in place to nurture this revenue growth and maximize your fundraising efforts is critical.
This is where your event management software comes into play again. When you put this type of platform to work for you, you will access a variety of features and tools that will help you achieve your goals:
- Improved ability to manage the planning phase of your events, which boosts participation and the user experience
- Enhanced contract management with sponsors and vendors. This keeps the event running smoothly and makes it easier to effectively bring in more sponsors for revenue growth.
- Facilitated communication with participants and donors. You can craft email messages that let people know about the event and personalize the messages so people respond better.
- Promote your event so that you can increase the number of participants and revenue.
- Branding across your event management features, such as the registration page, to boost engagement with your mission and values.
- Data tracking so you know what people respond to best, empowering you to keep improving your events so that you continue to build revenue streams.
Planning your events with your management system will take your efforts to the next level. This technology will let you see how you can better leverage these opportunities for bringing in sponsors, donors, and attendees to support your brand mission.
Top Nonprofit Event Management Software Solutions
While there are a variety of event management options available on the market, some options have risen to the top as the best options for engaging attendees and keeping teams organized throughout the entire event planning process. Here are some options for you to start reviewing.
A2Z Events
A2Z Events has emerged as a leader in the event management software space. This platform thrives on its usability and customization, helping nonprofits create personalized, branded event experiences from the very beginning of their event planning.
One of the features that people appreciate the most with A2Z Events is that this one platform can do it all. From the first steps of event registration through all the event management features, this one platform is all you need to make sure your event moves forward without a hitch. Since this single option can manage so many of the different tasks, businesses do not have to worry about as many integrations or switching back and forth between different parts of their event planning stack. However, A2Z Events does integrate easily with other customer management tools you may use to track your customers, donors, and participants, such as your CRM.
For event management, A2Z Events offers a range of features and options that can power events. This includes the ability to create custom forms that will provide you with excellent information on your attendees.
Some clients, like Billy Deal from the Florida Nursery, Growers, and Landscape Association, have noted the importance of these forms in his success with A2Z Events:
“The move-in process exceeded expectations with A2Z’s tools. The clear, color-coded schedule streamlined coordination, and the customizable forms boosted efficiency and improved record-keeping. The A2Z Digital Engagement Team’s support was key in enhancing digital presence and engagement.”
Once your event starts, you also have access to capabilities such as a free mobile check-in app. Robust data management helps you track and understand how people engage throughout your event. Personalization features, such as individualized itineraries, the ability to follow and engage those on social media who employ your event hashtag, payment processing and outstanding functions for engaging with attendees take this platform even further.
As Keith Gourlay, Executive Director of the New Jersey School Buildings and Grounds Association, said after using A2Z Events, “We love that we have a one-stop shop with A2Z Events. With limited resources, we need software that acts as an extension of our team. Their personalized treatment sets them apart from other event registration companies we’ve used in the past.”
Cvent
Cvent has earned a reputation as another excellent event management platform. This software works particularly well for larger events, as it can accommodate very high guest lists as well as multiple events at once.
Cvent understands that many of its users have to manage large amounts of monotonous tasks, which is why they offer options such as automation to simplify the event planning process. The platform also provides options for promoting events directly from the platform, simplifying your efforts to bring in more attendees.
Many event planners who use this option note that the capabilities to collect and manage registration as well as the check-ins and badging can help nonprofits take care of many tasks once the event kicks off.
Whova
Whova operates a little differently than some of the other options, as this is an app that has been designed to provide support for event planners. With this app, you can create mobile event brochures to communicate quickly and easily with your prospective attendees and those who have registered to attend.
Those who have employed this app also can easily create personalized agendas and interactive maps for attendees, which makes it easier for people to navigate the event and improves the user experience.
With robust options for customization, gamification, and social media integration, many appreciate the far-reaching opportunities the app provides. Since you can use the app to quickly connect with attendees, it also allows you to take live polls, which can offer valuable insight into what people think of your event so you can continue to improve your offerings and keep people engaged.
Eventbrite
Eventbrite offers an interesting twist from some of the other stand-alone software options. With Eventbrite event management, you can create a landing page within the Eventbrite marketplace. Since your event information lives within the marketplace, this can help you attract more attendees and get word out about your upcoming event.
This platform caters nicely to those planning smaller events. For example, those hosting free events do not have to pay fees through the site.
With Eventbrite, you can take advantage of robust event promotion opportunities including email campaigns, ticket sales, mobile check-in options, and data and reporting. These features will all help you design a favorable experience for your target audience.
Bizzabo
Bizzabo has also become a popular option for event management software. This option focuses on helping businesses boost engagement with their attendees and targeted audience members, including offering event features like event networking and smart badge check-ins.
This platform also specializes in helping businesses who want to plan alternate types of events, such as offering online events or webinars, having an online component or option through hybrid events, and those who want to have traditional in-person events. This diversity in applications means that it may help those who find themselves regularly shifting between the different event types.
When planning your event on the platform, you can also select a variety of ticket types so you can create levels of participation. The platform also boasts strong security and protected infrastructure.
How to Choose the Right Event Management Software for Your Nonprofit
Now that we have gone through some of the most popular nonprofit event management platforms, we will walk through some strategies you can use to find the platform that will best fit your needs. We recommend you go through the following steps.
Step 1: Assess Your Needs
Start your search for the right event management software by considering the specific needs of your nonprofit events. Different organizations have different priorities, which will impact what they need out of their platforms.
Consider the following questions as you start to look at your platform options:
- How often do you host events? Some platforms can manage large or multiple events at once, others work better for smaller event planners.
- How many attendees and sponsors do you typically expect? This will help you understand the capabilities you need from the platform.
- What are your goals for your event? This can help you zero in on a platform that supports nonprofits with goals specifically like yours.
- What is the level of experience your team needs, and how much support will they typically require?
- What have analytics from past events revealed about how your events run and where you want to improve? How can your event management platform help with this goal?
Assessing your business needs by looking at these factors can help you narrow down your options.
Step 2. Consider Your Budget
Your next to consider is your budget. You will quickly discover that event management platforms come with a range of price points. Each price point will likely offer a different level of scalability and support.
Therefore, take your list of requirements for your event management software and look at the packages from your top options and see how much each would charge for your desired services. Consider how much investment you have to make in your event production compared to the ROI you hope to gain from the event. This can help you build your understanding of how much you can and should invest in your management software.
Step 3. Test for Usability
Finally, testing the usability of a given software for your particular team before making a final selection is an important step in this process. You want to make sure that your team understands how you can take advantage of all that the software offers and employ those features to maximize your event success.
As you move forward with your final selections for event management software, gather your core team who will plan the event and speak with the sales representatives for the platform about a demo. Look at how the platform will work in your unique use cases and see how easily your team members can employ it.
After you take the demos, solicit feedback from your team about their favorite platform and move forward with the option that will serve your nonprofit and your event planning purposes best.
Conclusion
As your business sets out to plan your next event, choosing the right nonprofit event management software is key. The right platform will simplify the planning process and help you navigate all the complexities involved from start to finish.
Finding the best event planning platform for your company can be a complicated process, however. We recommend you carefully review the above information and start to evaluate the unique needs and priorities of your nonprofit.
Instead of choosing the first platform you come across, take the time to properly research your options and find the option that will suit you best. Experience the difference the optimal nonprofit event management software makes when you start planning your next event.
