On stage and behind the scenes – how virtual events with thousands of attendees come to life
Virtual events have come a long way in the past few years. Event organizers are looking for things that go way beyond mocking an in-person experience. And the virtual experiences of today need to be curated for the attendees and the presenters alike.
Meet Bryanna Mackay, Technical Fundraising Specialist at RallyUp who works behind the scenes to create unique experiences for nonprofits and corporate giving foundations, including Habitat for Humanity and Michael J. Fox Foundation.
Join Bryanna on September 29 to talk about how to host engaging virtual experiences for multi-thousand audiences. We’ll dive into the ins and outs of behind the scenes work that makes presenter-prep a breeze. And, touch upon the tech that power charges truly groundbreaking experiences.
The most recent Game Changers episode featured a fascinating conversation between Yulia, a community and partnerships manager at Sequel.io, and Brianna McKay, a technical fundraising specialist from Rally Up. Rally Up is an organization that assists nonprofits in raising funds for their specific causes.
Rather than the basic donation landing page, Rally Up goes the extra mile to ensure successful fundraising. They offer their nonprofit partners a variety of ways to engage their audience. In the discussion, Brianna discussed the ten methods Rally Up utilizes to raise funds, including crowdfunding, live streaming, auctioning, ticketing, and hosting events.
The primary goal for each of these activities, according to Brianna, is to engage the audience. Engagement is measured not only by the number of attendees but also by the volume of donations collected and the number of new donors reached. For smaller nonprofits, having even just 10 people participate in their virtual fundraisers, is already a success.
Making a live stream interactive is no small feat, and one of the common techniques Rally Up recommends is to have a mix of live and pre-recorded content. This approach relieves the pressure off the host and allows them to regather their thoughts when needed.
In line with this, a question was posed about making an on-demand experience more interactive. Brianna explained that even if the livestream event is already over, viewers can still engage with the fundraiser activities during the replay of the event. This feature provides a unique interactive experience that an in-person event may lack.
The session also revealed advice on preparing first-time speakers to focus more on the topic and their cause. A speaker’s authenticity shines through when they are themselves and are passionate about the cause they are advocating.
This episode with Brianna shared insights about creating an engaging fundraising experience that begins long before a live stream. Rally Up encourages such organizations to set up donation pages and experiences before their live streams, which would significantly aid in sparking interest in their cause, and eventually, successful fundraising.
Despite the size of an organization, be it as big as Tom Holland’s Brothers Trust or small local relief fundraisers, proper planning and having fun are most crucial. Ultimately, if you are not enjoying the process, neither will your attendees.
