Post-event surveys are a great way to get relevant feedback from attendees, donors, and sponsors after your nonprofit event. But, as with any fundraising tool or strategy, you will need to plan, and fully understand, exactly what you need to know from the survey. This download will assist in gathering information to refine your future events to best suit your supporters’ expectations.
Here are 5 key steps to guide you in your quest for event excellence:
Step 1: A Strategic Start to Event Success
Before creating a post-event survey, you should define your goal, decide what types of questions to ask, and choose a tool to track and manage your responses. Donorbox Events, for example, automatically stores your ticket purchasers’ information in your Supporters database in your Donorbox account, you can add a filter to segment the data, update any donor information, plus add useful communication notes as you assess your responses.
Step 2: Building a Baseline
To gather as much useful information as possible include various question types, such as yes or no, multiple choice, ranking, and open-ended questions, to get a fuller response that supports both qualitative and quantitative findings for your future event strategizing.
You should also collect contact information and demographic data from attendees if possible and always remember to assure your supporters that their responses are confidential.
Step 3: The Critical Questions
Don’t forget what you are measuring! Always ask questions that help you measure the success of your event, such as whether attendees learned about your mission, or enjoyed the entertainment, and don’t forget the logistics, always ask if they found the registration process easy.
Step 4: Close the Communication Loop
Be sure to send the survey within 48 hours of the event, send it to the right audience, and keep it simple and relevant. You can offer an incentive to respond if responses are slow and re-send it after a week.
Step 5: Mind your Manners
Test your survey before sending it and keep it short, if it’s long and boring for you – it’s long and boring for your supporters and stakeholders! And never forget to thank everyone who responded and let them know of any changes you make based on their feedback. Everyone likes to know they’ve been heard!
Inspired to get started? In addition to making the most of your post-event data collection with this resource, why not download the Event Planning Checklist to ensure your events are delivering maximum impact, from planning to post-event review! We’ve also compiled our favorite fundraising ideas on our blog, 7 Best Types of Fundraisers for Success with your Events and tips on how to raise funds to host your event on our blog, How to Get Sponsorship for Fundraising Events, to help you start planning your event today!
