3 Hybrid Fundraising Event Ideas for Flexible Campaigns

This post was contributed by 99Pledges.

Whether you are fundraising for a school, nonprofit, or other social good organization, you’ve likely felt the impact of economic uncertainty and high inflation. These factors have led to a 2.1% dip in charitable giving, affecting organizations across the country. 

Fortunately, there are measures your organization or institution can take to stave off the effects of these economic shifts. Getting creative with your fundraising event formats can not only stretch your resources further but can also help you engage a wider audience to drive more support.

In this guide, we’ll explore why adopting a flexible approach is important and suggest three hybrid-friendly fundraising events.

Why Flexibility Is More Important Now Than Ever

Hybrid fundraisers give you the best of both worlds—they combine all the benefits of in-person and virtual event formats. For example, let’s say you hold a hybrid auction in which in-person participants attend an event and remote participants join a livestream. To bridge the gap between these audiences and promote competitive, real-time bidding, you use mobile bidding software.

From this example, you can see the clear advantages of a hybrid event format, such as:

• The ability to reach more people. While in-person events are limited to your local supporters, hybrid fundraisers allow those outside your geographic region to get involved. For example, a school might only have students and parents attend the in-person event and open the virtual option for family and friends who live farther away.
• Additional flexibility for busy supporters. Donors are always busy juggling their personal and professional lives, but they may feel stretched thin if they are experiencing financial uncertainty. Meet them where they are by giving them the ability to support your organization from their homes or even work with flexible formats.
• Lower costs. While hybrid formats do involve traditional in-person event costs for the venue, catering, decorations, and entertainment, these expenses are lessened. You’ll be able to accommodate more people for less as a portion of your supporters will call in remotely, reducing the average cost per person. 

Because economic shifts may make it more challenging to fundraise, it’s key that your organization lowers the barriers of entry for engaging with and donating to your organization. Hybrid events do just that. Attendees can choose how and where they want to participate in your events, boosting the chance that they’ll appreciate the flexibility and support your cause.

Top Hybrid Fundraiser Ideas

Virtual or Hybrid "A-thon” Fundraisers

“A-thon” fundraisers are campaigns or events where participants pledge to complete a certain activity. Often, they ask their friends and families to sponsor them on this journey by donating to your organization or school. 

There are many different types of a-thon fundraisers that could fit your needs and excite students and supporters. For example, 99Pledges recommends using read-a-thon fundraisers to get parents involved in their child’s education, improve reading comprehension, and build a love of reading. On the other hand, you might choose a hit-a-thon as a fun, sports-themed way to raise money for your baseball team.

Depending on the idea, a-thon fundraisers can be done in-person, remotely, or as a hybrid event. Here’s what it might look like with different formats:

• In-person: Organize an in-person walk-a-thon that culminates in a face-to-face event with a route that participants walk together. You or an event planning organization will need to set up a registration booth, provide branded shirts, offer water and refreshments, and arrange entertainment at the finish line.
• Virtual: Read-a-thons are a great option for going totally virtual as reading is typically a solo, quiet activity. Have readers enjoy books on their own, collect donations, and use a virtual platform to log their reading hours. Provide encouragement along with way with virtual check-ins and consider capping off the fundraising with an online celebration or ceremony.
• Hybrid: Set up a hybrid dance-a-thon so you can engage both local and remote supporters. Have all participants collect donations from their sponsors ahead of time, and organize an in-person event for local supporters. Livestream the event and allow your remote dancers to participate on the other end. Offer prizes and challenges for both groups to encourage participation.

No matter which format you choose, make sure you have fundraising software in place to manage the campaign, track pledged donations, and automate communications with your donors. 

Peer-To-Peer Fundraisers

During a peer-to-peer fundraiser, fundraising groups call on their supporters to raise money on their behalf. Typically, they’ll raise these funds from their friends and families, encouraging donors to give to their individual donation pages. 

Here’s what the peer-to-peer fundraising process often looks like:

1. You work with a peer-to-peer fundraising software provider to set up both campaign-wide and individual donation pages.
2. Participants reach out to members of their personal network to secure donations on their personalized campaign page.
3. Optional Step: You hold a hybrid event related to your campaign. For example, you might hold a party at your local library after your read-a-thon and award top fundraisers with prizes, whether they attend online or in person.
4. Your organization receives the proceeds from each participant’s donation page.

Online fundraisers like these can be highly cost-effective, meaning you won’t need to allocate a significant portion of your budget toward them. And while it’s still recommended that you launch a small digital marketing campaign to promote the fundraiser, participants will take on the bulk of the fundraising and promotional responsibilities.

Hybrid Auction

You’re probably familiar with traditional auction fundraisers. These events involve selling items or experiences that guests attending an in-person fundraising event can bid on. Hybrid auctions are similar but with one twist: virtual guests can bid on items, too.

To accommodate virtual attendees, you’ll need to set up an auction website and/or use a mobile bidding app to handle all the bids in real time. Consider sharing the website in advance and giving supporters a sneak peek at some of the top auction items to drum up excitement. When the day of your auction rolls around, recruit volunteers from your staff, PTO, or support base to help keep everything running smoothly. Assign a few tech-savvy volunteers to monitor the virtual side of the auction for issues.

As with other hybrid fundraisers, one of the biggest upsides to hosting an online auction is the opportunity to expand your audience. Online bidders can come from anywhere and place bids on your items, making the fundraiser even more profitable.

If you are looking for the perfect software for your online or hybrid auction, feel free to reach out to Handbid to learn how we can help.

Wrapping Up

With the economy in a state of flux, flexible fundraising is your organization’s best friend. As you experiment with hybrid fundraisers, listen to feedback from both in-person and remote attendees to learn how to improve future experiences and engagement for both groups. To effectively manage resources, Double the Donation also recommends drafting an annual fundraising calendar for more organized strategic planning, better decision-making, and enhanced time management.

Allowing supporters to engage via the format and location of their choosing increases the chance they’ll be able—and willing—to support your campaigns. 

Guest Author: Brad Dowhaniuk

Brad Dowhaniuk is the co-founder of 99Pledges, which provides schools and teams with an easy-to-use, web-based fundraising solution to manage and drive success in Fun Runs, jog-a-thons, baseball hit-a-thons, and much more.