Whatever sort of fundraising event is coming up next for your organisation (a gala, fancy dress marathon, live auction or other) you’ll want to make sure you’re generating awareness and excitement beforehand.

How do you go about doing this digitally? There are so many choices online these days that it can be hard to know where to start. But, never fear, Ample Earth have 8 top tips and 3 useful tools to help you.

1. Before the event…Get a Hashtag

Creating a hashtag especially for your event is a super nifty way to keep tabs on what people are saying about it on social media. Get your supporters to use the hashtag whenever they mention you on Twitter or elsewhere in Social Media. It helps people to easily follow a cause and it’ll help spread the word, too!

2. Remember microsites?

Our recent microsite blog was nudging you all to go out and get one for your campaigns, but we can’t say it enough. A microsite gives people a URL they can easily share on social media. It also provides a dedicated, simple place for people to donate or ask for sponsorship… Keep those giving options open before, throughout and even after the campaign.

3. Let people take part virtually

This is what the Internet is for, guys! Just because some of your supporters live in a different town or even a different country, it doesn’t mean they can’t take part in your event. For example, if you’re doing an endurance event (like a sponsored run) let them fundraise online and do their run on the same day as yours, wherever they happen to be. Organise online registration; get people to film their event, and BAM — you’ve got yourself a whole lot more fundraisers.

4. It’s a team sport

When it comes to fundraising, the more the merrier. More people involved means more tweets, more people using your hashtag — more gossip about your event, more sponsorship! We all know that a two heads are better than one, and ten heads are better than two. There’s nothing wrong with a little healthy competition between teammates to help things along.

5. During the event…Photo ops

Chicken suits, macho men dressed as fairies; you know the drill at charity events. Encourage photos and photo sharing whilst the event is happening. People posting their pics with your hashtag will boost engagement with people who aren’t involved.

6. Live stream it

Doing a live stream of your event can really boost engagement, particularly with your out-of-towners. Auctions and marathons really lend themselves to this; you could even do an exclusive Internet-based auction, with items that are only available to online participants.

In any case, film as much of it as you can, to post on your blog and on YouTube later on. The more video footage, the better!

7. When the party’s over…Don’t stop me now

Keep talking about how great the event was! Share how much money was raised, and praise all who got involved. Carry on tweeting about it, put photos and stories up on your main site, your microsite and your blog! Put it in your e-newsletter; tattoo it on your forehead.

8. Say thank you

Thank people for their contributions, efforts and enthusiasm. Do this everywhere — on social media, on all your sites, and through emails. The more personal and specific you are, the more this will be appreciated.

3 useful tools

1. Eventbrite is a great site that helps you manage ticket sales, online registration or any other organisational issues for your event. This is a really clever tool; it’ll help you create an event webpage, promote it and manage things so the whole thing goes as smoothly as possible.

2. Google Hangouts. Of course. It lets you video conference with up to 10 people, is totally free and foolproof. You can also use it to stream your event live on YouTube. Just click ‘Enable Hangouts on Air’ and you’re away. It’s perfect for those participants who can’t attend in person.

3. Use Storify. This is a fantastically innovative but simple app that lets you (yup, you guessed it!) tell stories online via information and conversations gathered from the web (like tweets, Facebook posts, photos etc.). It’s a brilliant way to showcase the success of your events and campaigns…