Post-Event Window: 72 Hours That Make or Break Retention

Your non-profit’s event was a success! You had great attendance, raised funds, and met new donors for the first time. Now what do you do?

After you host an event, you have a limited amount of time to hold attendees’ attention. Events can be the perfect gateway to welcome new supporters to your community, but only if you follow up swiftly and strategically.

This guide will walk you through some post-event engagement strategies to help maximize the next 72 hours following your event and successfully retain event attendees.

5 Post-event Attendee Retention Strategies for Non-profits

1. Reconcile your event registration data with your CRM.

Before you follow up about the event, make sure you’re only contacting supporters who actually attended. You can determine who showed up and who didn’t by connecting your event check-in or registration platform with your non-profit CRM system.

By integrating these systems, you can easily create separate segments within your larger audience, so you can communicate with different groups of supporters appropriately. You can even differentiate between various categories of attendees, including major donors, first-time attendees, and sponsors.

Identify attendees, but also send an event recap to those who did not attend to help keep everyone in your network informed and encourage non-attendees to sign up for your next event.

2. Send attendees thank-you messages.

After using your CRM to create an attendee segment, thank this group for coming to your event. Ideally, you will follow up within 24 to 48 hours to show your appreciation as soon as possible.

While you can automate post-event thank you emails to thank attendees quickly, make post-event follow-up emails engaging with elements like:

• An Event Photo Gallery: Create an online gallery with images from the event to let attendees reminisce. Encourage them to share these pictures with their friends and social media followers to further improve your organization’s online visibility.
• Video Content: Include video clips that capture the key takeaways from any panel discussions and keynote speeches you recorded. This content will allow supporters to refresh what they learned at your event.
• Impact Updates: Showcase any immediate impact the event made on your organization to show your supporters that their attendance made a difference. You can demonstrate impact using charts or graphics highlighting key success metrics, including funds raised, new donors reached, and attendance rate increases.

To assess email effectiveness, Bloomerang’s email marketing guide recommends tracking metrics like open rate, click-through rate, and conversion rate. By leveling up your analytics, you can learn what components of your event follow-up strategy were most effective and use that information to tailor your approach next time.

3. Survey your attendees.

In addition to thanking attendees, send them a post-event survey to collect their feedback. That way, the post-event communication goes both ways. Attendees have a chance to tell you how the event impacted them, and you can use that information to improve future event experiences.

Again, time is of the essence, and this contact should occur within 48 hours of the event. The sooner you send a survey, the better, so the event is still fresh in attendees’ minds.

Questions you might ask about an event include the following:

• "Why did you choose to attend this event?" Determine what aspects of your mission and event promotion strategy brought people together for your event. This feedback will help you refine your messaging in anticipation of your next event.
• "What was your favorite part of the event?" Offer multiple-choice answers, such as keynote presentations, audience participation, and interactions with other attendees. Responses to this question will allow your organization to see which components of the event resonated with attendees the most.
• "How likely would you be to recommend this event to a friend or colleague?" Your organization relies on word of mouth to expand its reach. Asking attendees about their willingness to spread the word gives you a better idea of how events impact your organization’s visibility within your area.
• "What suggestions do you have for upcoming events?" By asking attendees for suggestions for future programming, you acknowledge their commitment to your organization and encourage them to return for future events. You can also gain key insights from the attendee perspective and apply them to improve the event experience for both new and returning attendees in the future.

Sync your survey tool with your CRM to ensure that this information flows into your database. Keeping attendance data and survey responses in the same place will help you stay organized and put these insights into action.

4. Have board members follow up with high-priority attendees.

While you should follow up via email with all attendees, there might be select individuals who require special attention, such as major contributors, sponsors, and first-time attendees.

Whether you’re stewarding an existing relationship or cultivating a new one, personalizing your communications and offering donors the opportunity to give input in a one-on-one setting can strengthen these bonds.

Phone calls are a great way to provide personalized stewardship. Let your board members lead conversations with individual attendees as part of your organization’s event stewardship plan. Make a list of major donors who attended the event, and be sure to reach out to all of your event sponsors.

Here’s a sample script for your board members to use in these conversations:

“Hi [attendee], it’s [your name].

I’m on the board of [your organization]. I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you coming out to [your event]. I especially loved [specific moment from your event].

We are grateful for your support, so I wanted to personally thank you for attending and ask if you had any feedback about the event you’d be willing to share.”

Opening the call this way gives attendees the chance to offer feedback directly to your organization. Express your gratitude, then give the floor to the attendee to share their perspective on the event.

This special touch provides a bridge between a one-time event and a long-lasting relationship.

5. Invite attendees to further engage with your mission.

Once attendees process and reflect on your event, encourage further engagement 72 hours after the event. The three-day mark is an optimal time to translate attendees’ lingering energy from the event into long-term commitment.

Before you reach out about another ticketed event, offer low-friction ways to stay involved, such as:

• Becoming a recurring donor. Invite attendees to join your monthly giving circle and continue making an impact with a small recurring donation.
• Signing up to volunteer. Some attendees may want to start giving their time to your organization, so point them toward upcoming volunteer opportunities. Consider streamlining the process by using a volunteer scheduling software that allows volunteers to select their shifts.
• Participating in advocacy work. Encourage attendees to use their voices for good. Share any opportunities to advocate for your mission, including signing petitions, posting educational materials on social media, and attending local town hall meetings.
• Registering for a free educational webinar. Allow attendees to learn more about your organization’s work. For example, you can host a virtual tour of your facilities or an informational session on the impact of recent programming.

Be sure to introduce attendees to all your organization has to offer, so they can find the right opportunities for them and stay involved in your organization’s important work.

Prioritize gratitude and momentum in the first 72 hours after your event as you reconcile registration and attendance data, personally thank attendees, solicit feedback, and provide opportunities for deeper engagement. A timely, strategic approach to post-event engagement is crucial in turning a one-time event attendee into a long-term supporter of your organization.