Fundraising event ideas: Content to nurture community before, during, and after the big day

In-person fundraising events are an inclusive way to humanize and strengthen your relationships with donors, raise awareness, and help you exceed your goals. With the right fundraising event ideas, you can create an experience that feels authentic and brings people closer to your mission.

Combine events with peer-to-peer fundraising, where supporters leverage their collective personal networks to amplify reach, and you’re destined to turn passive donors into devoted advocates. In 2024, the top 30 peer-to-peer fundraising programs raised $1.14 billion, achieving their third consecutive year of post-pandemic growth.

These two fundraising strategies keep supporters connected, informed, and inspired. The glue that solidifies the connection between your nonprofit and supporters throughout the event lifecycle? 

Strategic content before, during, and after your event.

Leading up to your festivities, build excitement and educate your supporters about your mission and your goals, and show them how to participate. During the event, share content that captures memorable moments and reflects shared experiences. After the event, show appreciation for donations and participation, highlight impact, and encourage continued support for your cause.

Every digital and physical touchpoint is an opportunity to nurture donor relationships, rather than just broadcasting registration urgency. Focus on answering questions your audience might be asking: "How does this mission or event relate to me? What impact are they making? What difference will I make if I donate or register?"

Answer these questions by creating intentional content that connects with your supporters every step of the way. 

Here’s how.

Before the event: Build excitement and drive participation

The time leading up to the event is your chance to energize and connect with your audience, explain your mission, and turn piqued interest into registrations, donations, and volunteer sign-ups.

Announcements & save-the-dates

Spread the word about your event at least six months in advance, giving your supporters plenty of time to mark their calendars. Share engaging and relatable content that stokes excitement, educates your audience about your mission, and gives them a glimpse of the fun times ahead.

Transform your website, emails, and social media into platforms that generate event hype, so supporters can find all the information they need without too many unanswered questions.

Showcase photos, videos, and testimonials of volunteers, supporters, and stakeholders speaking about your mission or sharing memories of past events. Include stories of people who’ve benefited from your nonprofit and highlight the positive impact of donations.

Here are clear call-to-action examples:

• "Register Now" 
• "Start Your Fundraising Page"  
• "Learn More"

Mission-driven storytelling

Beyond asking for a donation, your supporters want to know why they should support or continue supporting your cause and how you’re making a positive difference.

To close these information gaps, center your event content on your mission—the reason why you’re fundraising. Talk about your origin story, successes, setbacks, and goals to connect to supporters, build trust, and show you’re committed to your cause.

Here are some prompts you can use for mission-driven storytelling:

• Before-and-after stories that illustrate transformation or how donations can make a significant impact. charity: water created a short film to show how life without a water crisis will make the world a better place. 
• Milestone celebrations that highlight your impact, like the Arthritis Foundation's 40th anniversary of the Jingle Bell Run, which featured stories from people with arthritis who have benefited from the community.
• Staff passion projects where your team shares personal connections to the mission, humanizing your organization beyond the logo. Beloved Asheville staff discuss updates on housing projects for those who lost their homes during Hurricane Helene.
• "Your $100 provides..." specific descriptions that help supporters visualize their donation dollars in action. Dogs Inc tells donors, “Your support enables us to provide our magnificent dogs and services completely free of charge to the people who need them.”

When people can picture the difference their participation will make, they're more motivated to register and recruit their friends and family.

Event teasers

Your pre-event content should excite attendees for the big day and encourage them to invite their family and friends. Build anticipation by squeezing teasers into your content strategy. This could mean announcing special guests, showcasing exclusive swag, holding raffles, and giving away gifts to registrants. If your fundraising event is kid-friendly, you can announce that you have a face-painting or balloon-making station.

Have local food vendors, live music, or unique hands-on experiences? Don’t keep it a surprise—share it! 

Use visuals when you can, especially on social and through email, to help people picture themselves there. If you have corporate sponsors, give them a shout-out. Thanking your sponsors in social media posts, event signage, and emails gives them public recognition and can inspire employees and brand loyalists to get involved and register as well.

The goal? Build anticipation and give people a reason to click “register” before they even see your donation ask.

Behind-the-scenes sneak peeks

People crave authenticity—the human touch behind the mission and marketing strategies. Bringing supporters behind the scenes during event preparation shows transparency and builds anticipation in their minds because they realize how much effort you’re putting into a cause that also matters to you. Pure fuel for increased participation.

Share compilation videos of both loud and quiet moments that come together to make your big day special, such as in-person and virtual meetings, your venue's gradual transformation, and eager volunteers coming together to make the day seamless. 

Unique event details might look like:

• Volunteers on ladders hanging lights, balloons, and other colorful event decorations
• Early morning virtual or in-person meetings discussing and collaborating on event preparation
• Interviews with staff after a hard day’s work in the rain, sun, dirt, or at the construction site
• Staff, beneficiaries, and volunteers gathering to share laughter, showing the real-time impact

Inviting supporters to step behind the curtains is like giving them backstage passes, increasing their willingness to donate their time and money. You’re saying that your event is as much about them as it is about your cause. 

During the event: Creating moments of community

Come event day, you’re relishing in all the hard work you’ve put in over the last few months. But it doesn’t stop there. This is the perfect opportunity to capture your community in action. These fleeting moments of human connection and shared advocacy will be invaluable for your content strategy for the months ahead.

Let’s break it down. 

Live social coverage

Live coverage tells a story about your nonprofit, increasing your exposure and extending your reach to people who couldn’t attend or weren’t aware until event day. More visibility means an increase in attendance at your next event. If you don’t have a social media manager, recruit team members, interns, or volunteers who are social media savvy to capture mission-defining moments. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and you don’t need a full production team to make it compelling.

As long as it radiates your mission and positivity, you’ll be just fine. In fact, some of the most engaging content is candid, unpolished, and real.  

You can save time by planning out moments ahead of the event that you’d consider highlights. Combine videos, photos, polls, and interactive elements to boost engagement. 

A few ways to go live:

• Instagram Reels featuring participant arrivals, fun activities, award ceremonies, and live testimonials from willing supporters 
• Facebook Live broadcasts or Stories from a team member or volunteer who’s comfortable conducting interviews
• QR codes keep participants engaged and allow them to share photos in real-time

To foster event social media engagement, incentivize participants with a giveaway when they share with their networks. Make posting easy with clear instructions for Instagram and Facebook Reels and Stories. And don’t forget to include unique event hashtags to pull all user-generated content, including yours, to one place.

On-site visuals & activities

Events with built-in photo opportunities see a 35% higher rate of social media sharing. Create an immersive world where your attendees can't help but snap photos and record short clips. When your space sparks joy, excitement, and camaraderie, attendees are far more likely to share it with their networks.

Want to make testimonials easier to capture? Create a visually attractive station where supporters feel valued and incentivized to answer one single question: "What inspired you to support our cause today?" You can even offer a small token of appreciation for participating, such as stickers, hats, keychains, or t-shirts. 

Other eye-catching event visuals that double as appealing content:

• Photo booths with fun mission or brand-related props
• Large custom backdrops that make for fabulous photo opportunities
• Displays that provide statistics or impact. The Adventure Project uses the statement, “Your support has created 2,747 jobs worldwide, impacting 2.1M people in need.”

Built-in community meetups

Human connection is the core of your cause and how you show up for your supporters. 

Team leaders or highly active peer-to-peer fundraisers are naturally inclined to celebrate your cause. They’ve got stories to share, support to give, and love to spread. Bringing communities together near visually appealing event displays makes for ideal photo opportunities. They can track their team's progress and capture celebration moments in style.

Have people registered for your event for the very first time? Use welcoming signage to greet newcomers. Make sure check-in is nice and easy so they feel at home, like long-time advocates of your cause.

Strengthen your community with additional meetup zones:

• Top fundraiser recognition 
• Survivor/beneficiary areas where you can share success stories in interviews
• Sponsor appreciation areas

Capture and share content, such as photos, videos, and testimonials, from these community meetups to build excitement and connections in your post-event communications.

Content for later

Captured moments of laughter, unity, and celebrations—big and small—make for mission-driven marketing content you can use for years to come. 

Leverage creative elements:

• Professional photography that focuses on joyful or emotional moments. That means tears during testimonials, hands in the air at finish lines, or volunteers handing out water bottles. Tell photographers to focus on capturing human connection.
• Record complete presentations with clean audio. If you invited special guests or keynote speakers, leverage quotes or statements you can repurpose for future campaigns.
• Shoot b-roll that includes wide venue shots, conversations with supporters or attendees, and transitions that clearly convey the theme of your event. Consider hiring a freelance editor on Fiverr or Upwork if you’re on a tight budget. 
• Track event donations. Have a fundraising goal you’re trying to reach at your event? Track donations and participant numbers during your event to measure the impact and share these numbers in your communications, so supporters can see the impact of their collective efforts.

Plan out how you want to shape your content before announcing your event using these elements to avoid a last-minute content scramble.

After the event: Keep the momentum

After the event, your team will be a bit tired from making event magic happen. But just like after seeing a very touching and inspirational movie, your supporters will be on an emotional high. This is a critical time to stay connected with your community, so they feel seen, valued, and invested in your mission.

Thank-you communications

Don’t wait too long to say thank you. Express gratitude to participants, volunteers, and everyone involved for showing up to support your cause within 24 to 48 hours after your event. 

Keep the excitement high by tying your gratitude to event successes, such as major fundraiser announcements, strong volunteer turnout, and all the heartwarming photos taken. There is so much to celebrate. If your CRM allows, use data from event activities, like if they have an extra donation or created a fundraiser, to personalize your follow-up communications. Doing this helps supporters feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves.

Event recaps

While your event may be over, recaps help celebrate what your community made possible, building hype and anticipation for the next one. 

A couple of ideas: Share photo galleries of participants’ experiences that are easy to access, or create infographics that highlight the difference they made on event day.  It’s a chance for attendees to feel proud of what they helped accomplish—and to stay connected to your mission moving forward.

Have supporters who are super involved in your mission but couldn’t attend the event? Get them excited to show up for the next event with more event recap opportunities:

• Blog posts showcasing one impactful story that adds in event participation
• Compilation videos capturing the event's infectious energy and emotional charge
• Press releases celebrating fundraising goals, community support, and participation

Exclusive content for participants

Positive and warm supporter experiences lead to stronger relationships and word-of-mouth buzz. Plus, they’re more likely to come back and bring others with them. If your budget allows, consider thanking them with a special early-bird rate for your next event to show your appreciation and keep the momentum going.

Not only are you recognizing their commitment, but you’re also helping to secure their attendance, enticing them to mark their calendars early on for your next event. 

Offer tiered, kickstarter-style access to fun digital content with unique experiences such as:

• Behind-the-scenes access that illustrates beneficiary programs in progress, or campaigns in the works
• Ethical interviews featuring beneficiaries sharing their personal stories
• Recognition in your post-event newsletter for participants who hit major fundraising milestones

These exclusive spotlights make supporters feel like true partners of your cause and encourage them to continue their journey with your organization.

Post-event survey

Your event may be over, but the conversation doesn’t have to be. Checking in with participants afterward is a powerful way to show you care, learn what resonated, and make your next event even better.

Get a feel for your participants’ experiences and feelings about your event while the event is still fresh in their minds. A post-event survey provides necessary feedback to understand what worked well and what needs to be improved for the next event.

Here are some quick tips for creating a survey that your participants will want to complete:

• Make your survey short and sweet (try for no more than 10 questions to respect their time)
• Mix quantitative ratings with open-ended questions
• Ask them for input on what they would change or improve at the next event
• Use these insights to adapt for your next event and tell them, “We heard you! This year, we took your suggestions seriously and…”

Post-fundraising event idea: Automated multichannel workflow template

Here’s an automated multichannel workflow template you can integrate into your content calendar today to ensure your participants continue to stay in the loop of all your upcoming campaigns. Use these messaging themes in your emails, text messages, direct mailers, and phone calls.

• Week 1 (24-48 hours post-event): Thank your supporters for attending. Include an event recap, major fundraising milestones of the event, and a few heartfelt pictures.
• Week 2: Share an inspiring story of someone whose life was positively impacted by funds raised at the event (in written or video form). If possible, include pictures if you won’t be recording the interview.
• Week 3: Include more photos from your event and a special message from the CEO or major stakeholder showing appreciation. Invite eager participants to join a monthly giving program.
• Week 4: Offer a glimpse into your impact by saying something like: “We’re still buzzing from our event, here’s the impact we’ve made because of your generosity!” Include a thermometer showing the funds raised, graphs, or any good statistics you have from the event. Provide a sneak peek of exclusive participant content that will be available in the next email.
• Week 6: Provide special participant content you teased in the previous message. For example, start with a behind-the-scenes clip of event preparation or one-on-one participant interviews. 
• Week 8: Include more exclusive content, like access to upcoming programs and projects. Ask attendees, “Want to know more ways to get involved? Here’s how!” List volunteer opportunities, fundraising goals, job listings, etc.
• Month 3+: Early announcement to participants about next year's event, with a deadline to sign for an exclusive “members-only” discount.

Use this sequence to transition event participants into committed supporters who stay engaged throughout the year, excited for your next event to roll out.

Keep supporters engaged after event day

Turn one-time attendees into dedicated supporters by creating donor-centric content to release before, during, and after your fundraising event. Your event is an extension of your core values and mission, where supporters are partners working towards the same goal. Everyone is supporting and helping one another. Each connection, each relationship is a precious asset.

With meaningful content shared at every step, your mission becomes a mantra for deeper engagement that matches each supporter's interests and capabilities.

Ready to take your fundraising event content strategy up another level?

We hope you have a better sense of how event content can strengthen supporter relationships and drive long-term engagement. If you're looking for support in creating an effective event content strategy, you're in the right place. 

Schedule some time with a member of our team to learn more about how we can help you develop compelling event content that nurtures your community through a human-first storytelling approach. 

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