How event management and engagement apps could transform your charity events and communities

Using mobile to drive impact

Lately, we’ve been focusing more and more on using mobile technology to drive impact, particularly how mobilising can help energise your volunteer base.

The way that we work has changed. Advances in tech have made us more connected than ever, able to work from anywhere and everywhere. This is of particular benefit to the charity sector, where much of the valuable work is done by volunteers, part-time workers, or simply dedicated employees with a lot on their plate. Mobile technology is helping the charity sector to make the most of their workforce, whilst allowing the people at the heart of things to collaborate, share information and connect in a meaningful way.

Why should our approach to events be any different? Events are a key component of the way the sector works: they drive engagement, help us to raise funds and inspire action. And yet they are sometimes perceived as an analogue occasion - a chance to get away from our screens. Which is not without value.

But is the sector doing enough to maximise the impact of events through mobile and digital technology?

Event management and engagement apps

Event management and engagement apps are a growing industry. There are a wide range of apps available to charities. RD Mobile have created a free online resource to help organisations plan for mobile and evaluate mobile app solutions. Entitled ’Ready to Launch: A Guide for Going Mobile’, the guide includes a series of worksheets and checklists, designed to help you find the right mobile app and partner, and get started.

Ultimately the choice depends on your organisation’s specific needs and matching the key functions of an app to suit these.

We’ve outlined a few key features below:

Schedule/Agenda

Is it clear to your attendees what will be going on at your event and when? Anyone who’s ever organised an event (even a low-key social one) will know that one of the first questions you’ll hear will be something along the lines of ‘I won’t be able to make the entire event, how can I make sure I don’t miss the part I’m most interested in?’

Dealing with these responses manually can be time-consuming, and time is precious when you’re planning an event. Having all this information readily available for attendees is more convenient for everyone.

Notifications/Timeline

Any event marketing team will tell you that the build-up to the event is crucial. And the follow-up is just as important, as you use the community you have built through your event to ensure that your content reaches the right audience.

Manage reminders both before and after the event to ensure that engagement with related content remains high throughout.

Speaker Information/Custom Content

Your speakers are one of your biggest draws, and a successful event marketing plan will tap into their audience.

Use an event management app to market custom content. You can either make this in collaboration with your speaker or draw it from your speaker’s content library. Hosting this content on an event app creates an incentive to keep engagement up after the event is over. You can build up a library of evergreen content related to the event to ensure that engagement stays high over time.

Supporter/Volunteer Community

Your supporters share a common interest in your cause and want to connect and participate – not only with your organisation but with one another.

A mobile app provides opportunities to mobilise this community – to volunteer, spread your message, and share interests. The benefit of a mobile app is that you can share information and resources, communicate opportunities to get involved, and connect your supporter base. This can help build your event into a valuable long-term resource for your charity. With the right mobile app, it is easy to marshall volunteers, manage resources and build a strong community.