Do These 5 Things to Plan a Successful Hybrid Event

Successful hybrid events prioritize virtual and in-person elements equally. While it might feel more important to focus on one audience more than another, it will benefit you to treat them with equal strategy and care.

Guests at your event participate and donate for three reasons: to be part of something, to be recognized and to make an impact. When planning any event, always keep these three things in mind. Now, let’s dive into the nitty gritty of our hybrid event planning tips.

Use these 5 strategic tips to plan a successful hybrid event:

1. Promote to both in-person and virtual audiences

A hybrid event is an opportunity to engage audiences near and far. While it’s certainly exciting to gather in-person again, resist the urge to focus all your resources on promoting to your in-person audience. The virtual element of your event gives you the ability to have a much bigger audience and therefore more potential donors. Virtual gives folks a way to participate for free, which means that people who believe in your mission but can’t afford to buy a ticket or travel to your in-person event can attend virtually. Those people often include your own volunteers, staff and family members. Make it possible for anyone to attend and your engagement and donorship will thrive.

Pro tip: Use audience segmentation to strategically promote the virtual and in-person elements of your event separately.

2. Recognize donors equally

You might be thinking, how can I give everyone the opportunity to donate at my hybrid event? Text-to-give platforms make it possible for everyone to give, no matter their location. Audience members simply text in a phrase that you choose and the platform leads them to a secure donating page. Many text-to-give platforms also boost exciting features like event ticketing capabilities, segmentation and donation widgets.

Text-to-give also allows you to recognize all donors from one place. As donations come in, your host or auctioneer can read donors’ names from a teleprompter. Those names can be populated onto your screen so that folks at home can see them virtually.

Pro tip: Use Give Lively, Network for Good or Givebutter for your next text-to-give campaign.

3. Make your viewing experience inclusive

With hybrid events come more moving parts. You’re essentially hosting two events at once. This is a great example of why practicing inclusivity is a strategic move; when your hybrid event is inclusive, your audience will have a better viewing experience and potential donors will be more engaged, leading to more giving. For more on this topic, be sure to check out The AV Department’s blog, Behind the Stream, all about livestream viewing experience and strategy.

Pro tip: Maximize inclusivity and engagement by “layering” in-person and virtual elements in your event experience. Here are some great ideas:

• Show the broadcast in the room.
• Have your AV and production team help you set up cameras that focus on your speaker and your audience.
• Use effects like overlays, nameplates and thermometers to create a dynamic viewing experience. 

4. Cultivate a diverse donor base

Use technology like text-to-give donating to create ease for your audience and to make room for diversity in giving. By making it simple for your audience to donate from anywhere, you’ll create momentum for both your virtual and in-person audiences. And the more folks’ energy rises, the more they’ll feel connected to your mission and inspired to give bigger gifts.

Pro tip: Before your event goes live, secure pre-committed gifts from both virtual and in-person audiences so you can recognize them during your event and encourage more giving.

5. Design a guest experience that serves everyone

You’re putting significant time and effort into planning an event for a virtual and in-person audience. Creating a fantastic experience for everyone is not only inclusive but also strategic. When you prioritize all guests, they will in turn prioritize you and your mission.

Integrate the following strategies into your event plan:

• Write your script to address both audiences.
• Have volunteers engage your virtual audience with online chat.
• Clearly communicate and engage with each audience. At the beginning of your event, you might have the host say something like, “Folks at home, please tell us where you’re tuning in from in the chat. If you need technical assistance, contact our help desk. And for folks here in-person, please give a warm welcome to everyone tuning in at home.”

Pro tip: Don’t mention elements in the broadcast that the virtual audience won’t be able to take part in, such as appetizers and dancing. 

Hybrid events are full of opportunities, you just need to know how to take them. By prioritizing your in-person and virtual audiences equally, you’ll find that the benefits of hybrid are endless. If you need any support in planning your next event, we’d be happy to help you. Click here to request a proposal.