Five steps for putting on a hybrid event

In 2021, poverty relief charity Renewable World had a decision to make. Its cycling challenge, Earth  Wind & Tyre, had been running as an in-person event since 2015, until a planned year hiatus in 2020 due to the significant workload associated with running the event. 

But, after COVID-19, the charity knew not everyone would be comfortable with participating in-person again, even as restrictions eased a year later. The event would have to go hybrid.  

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It would be the first time Renewable World had hosted a hybrid event, supporting both physical and virtual participants to take part in the 100-mile challenge. But with the help of their fundraising and events platform Enthuse, the charity was able to raise 29% more than its original goal, reaching £71,000 in total, with the money going towards vital work in Kenya and Nepal.  

At a time of uncertainty, going hybrid proved to be a lifeline for Renewable World and its flagship event. Here, we cover five lessons that charities can learn when embarking on their own hybrid journey.

1. Make registration easy

Your supporters are doing the challenge – it’s a charity’s job to make everything else as easy as possible. Think of ways you can assist them with their goals. It could be sharing your fundraising expertise, or giving them access to resources like posters or videos that communicate your impact to boost donations.  

Or it could be streamlining the sign-up process, allowing supporters to sign up, get a page created automatically, and start fundraising immediately. Enthuse’s automated process meant that 100% of those who signed up to the Earth Wind & Tyre challenge created a fundraising page. As the old adage goes, strike while the iron is hot.

2. Protect your user data

According to the Charity Pulse Report 2022, more than six in ten charities are concerned about data privacy and data compliance. 

There are plenty of handy guides to help demystify the legislation in the UK. But the most important parts to remember are that you should always have a legitimate reason for the data you collect and individuals should be informed how their personal data will be used.  

In practice, this means that charities need to ensure they get permission from everyone who signs up to their event to hold their data and use it in the future to contact them later.  

During the sign-up process, you should include an opt-in form that supporters can click to ensure that all data you collect is compliant and useable. Platforms like Enthuse do this for you automatically, with a customised marketing consent statement. 

Indeed, think about the security of the platforms you use to fundraise as well. Three fifths of charities in the Charity Pulse Report also cited platform owners collecting data from their supporters or re-contacting them as key concerns. Always check the data credentials of the fundraising platform you choose to use.

3. Create a community

People choose your event and your charity because it’s a reflection of what they can do and what they care about. It is important, then, that they can show this on their fundraising pages.  

For Renewable World, participants were able to add their own fundraising story in their own words, as well as videos and images which encouraged donations on their page.  

They could also share their training progress on their page via built-in leaderboards – this helped create a sense of community and healthy competition, whether people were participating virtually or in-person. It’s all about being inclusive.

4. Make donating easy

Just as it is important to make it easy for your event participants to fundraise, it should also be easy for their friends and family to donate. Again, this could mean making it easy for them to find information on your charity and the impact their donation will have so they can give with confidence. 

But it should also cover reducing the number of steps it takes for them to donate. Do they have to register to donate or can they do so as a guest? Think about ways to make it seamless and make sure the technology you use supports that.

5. Think about the future

With the help of Enthuse’s event registration forms and the custom marketing permissions built into them, Renewable World was able to collect contact details of event participants and use them to deepen relationships with supporters for the future. 

By running the data through a single platform like Enthuse, it was easier to keep information about its supporters in one place. 

As such, they could keep them informed about the impact of their fundraising efforts and let them know the dates of future challenges they may want to get involved with. Now, with the advent of hybrid events, there will always be an option for doing so.