5 Top Tips for Increasing Ticket Sales and Engaging Donors

Posted by Jordan Morris on 9 August 2024

The Problem:
Event ticketing is a tried, tested, and trusted source of income for fundraisers, but it
can be cumbersome. Many small and medium-sized non-profits rely on paper tickets
and offline tracking of sales, guest data, and revenue. This entails a heavy
administrative burden, often straining fundraisers as they try to maximize their
already limited time. Sadly, when ticketing becomes a worry, its true potential as a
tool to engage donors is lost.

The following five top tips are designed to help you remove the stress from ticketing,
ensure high sales, and keep donors engaged.

1. Keep Ticketing Simple:
Donors consistently tell us that if the process is simple and easy, they’re more likely
to give. For fundraisers, this means providing the option to buy tickets where the
donors are. If donors can buy tickets with just a tap of a button on their phone while
relaxing at home, non-profits instantly increase their chances of connecting with a
broader audience.

However, using an online ticket provider, although easier for the donor, does not
guarantee simplicity for your organization. If one event is managed by multiple
fundraising platforms, there could still be added administrative stress and complexity
in managing data from separate sources. One event requires one holistic fundraising
platform. By using such a platform, you guarantee continuity and the seamless
transfer of data from the donor through to your event management system. No more
paper trails, no more repetition.

2. Be Flexible with Ticket Options:
Providing an array of ticket types increases accessibility at events and broadens the
range of income streams available to you as a fundraiser.
With a smart ticketing platform, you could sell single or table tickets to an event or
offer sponsorship packages at different price points for different levels of donors.
Strategically thinking about the levels of packages you offer can increase intrigue
from guests. For example, a gold-tier sponsorship may appeal to corporate guests
whose reputation is paramount, resulting in your organization receiving an upgraded
donation.

Alternatively, including a promotional code for special discounts or group bookings
could boost sales for those who want to attend but have stricter budgetary concerns.
The key is to give your donors options. Online ticketing is a simple way to add more
choices without creating a stressful additional workload.

3. Keep Guests Informed:
With traditional paper tickets, the possibilities of engaging your donor before or
beyond the act of buying the ticket are limited. However, with an integrated online
platform, engagement can easily continue through the use of automated messages.
Keeping guests in the loop by scheduling email or SMS updates about the event
involves them throughout the campaign journey. It also increases the opportunity for
guests to share information about your event effortlessly across their social
channels. The more chances you give your guests to talk about the event, the more

they will. A smart online ticketing solution can be the gateway to connectivity and
shareability, helping you increase sales in the process.

Finally, automated messaging functionality ensures your guests’ journey doesn’t end
at the event. Send them thank-you notes or even nudge them towards your next
campaign to help keep your organization in their thoughts. These little bonuses, only
available when the ticketing process goes digital, make a big difference when looking
to grow engagement over time.

4. Strong Branding:
Reading this far, you may have gathered that we think the ticket can be so much
more than something just thrown away after use. It’s a door to donor insights and
one of the crucial first steps on a donor’s journey with your organization. So, the
ticket should look the part.
Brand them strongly so that they are easily identifiable with the themes of your
event, aiming to excite donors for the day itself. If you’re looking for an additional
revenue stream, provide space for sponsors to include their logos.

The trick is to keep the theme of your imagery and messaging consistent to create
an identifiable identity for your event in the mind of the donor. This can, and should,
begin with the ticket.

5. Know the Donor:
When using a smart ticketing platform, it’s possible to gain more valuable insights
than would otherwise be possible through traditional methods. Gain necessary
information on the purchaser and the guests they’re purchasing for by asking
customizable questions during the ticket-buying process. Then use this information
to inform your event and how best to cater to your donors’ needs. Again, if you use a
complete platform, digital ticketing allows for the automatic syncing of data to your
event management system, so the extra data comes with less administration.

Knowing the donor as well as possible means you increase the likelihood of meeting
their expectations on the night and convincing them to give. The devil is in the data!

Find Out More:

The Givergy platform helped non-profits raise over $35 million in ticket sales alone in
2023. That meant an incredible 200 tickets were sold every single day through the
Givergy fundraising platform.

Find out how you could raise more from your ticketing here.

Jordan Morris

Givergy

Jordan joined Givergy after studying Politics with International Relations at the University of York. He has over two years experience within the charity sector working as a face-to-face fundraiser and as a constituency campaigner. After experiencing the sector from within and knowing first-hand the impact digital solutions can make to fundraising strategies, Jordan is now dedicated to innovating the way charities fundraise to ensure they maximise returns from every fundraising campaign.