Following up after an event can be a tricky thing. Figuring out the right balance between WHEN and HOW to follow up is essential. In this blog post, we will give you some of our best tips and tricks on how and when to follow up with your event guests and committee.

Our Top Tips for What to do After Your Event include the following:

Communicate Quickly While You’re Still on Their Mind

• Do not wait to send the thank you email! Have an email drafted and ready to send when the event ends. This way, it is in their inbox the next time they check it!

Segment Your List

Use email segmentation to your advantage. Create a custom email with copy that will make each group want to read it for a different reason! Here are some examples of the best way to utilize segmentation after your event.  Check out this blog post all about Post-Event Thank You Communication to learn more.

• Talk to your donors that donated $1,000 differently than donors that donated $25.  This is not saying that a $25 donation is not gratefully appreciated, but giving the donors that donated $1,000 a little extra love will go a long way. 
• Segment your lists between your Table Captains and Table Guest. The email you write to your table captains should be written in a different tone than the thank you email you send to your guests. Segmenting your lists will make this easier for you to accomplish.  
• 1st time vs. 3rd-time Donors. Think about the different thank you messages you will be sending to a first time donor versus a third-time donor. First-time donors are incredible, and it's a great opportunity to fully introduce the impact on the community. However, your third-time donors should be thanked for their commitment as well. 

Send an email with photos (limit the heavy text)

• Include photos from the event, video about the cause or a video of the staff or program recipients saying thank you.  

• While you’re saying thank you, also reiterate your organization’s message in a similar way to how you did during the event. 

Write a Strong Subject Line

• When you send the follow-up email, make sure you write a subject line that will catch their eye!  Have the subject line be more interesting than “Thank you for coming.” Here is a great resource from Hubspot all about writing catchy subject lines.

Do you have in-kind media sponsors? 

• Use your media sponsorship for post-event highlights.  Work to create 'fear of missing out' and begin to build for next year.
• Include the link of your fundraising website.  **Remember - event fundraising does not end when the event ends.  Leverage your event website - non-attendees will want their name to appear also. 
• Include your best photos from the event.

Do Not Send an Automated Survey

Honestly, we are not sure where the push for surveying donors and guests started (probably a software company) but this is not the positive touchpoint that you want with your donors/guests. If you want to know what your guests and committee thought about the event, ask them personally!

• For your committee: Host a post-event (depending on money raised) reception for your event committee to thank them and get feedback for the next event.
• For your guests: Write a few of them an email asking what they thought about the event. Include a small survey if you must but make it personal! You will gather more valuable feedback this way!

If you use these tips, your post-event timeline will be more successful and keep people coming back year after year. The longer you keep your organization in people’s minds the better!