Best practices for your Digital Event Experience

Using Event.Gives virtual live events provide an all-in-one experience where your attendees can interact and stay engaged with your event. From the manager portal you can stream live videos, push pre-recorded content, or integrate your Zoom meeting with our giving overlays. We offer the ability to host real-time engagement with your attendees all across the world! With a few clicks, your attendees can easily bid on auction items or pledge donations right inside the video stream.

Creating your event:

Registration:

• Sell a $0 or $5 ticket for your event to get attendees into the event prior to it going live so they will be registered ahead of time 
• If you are wanting to capture attendees' credit card information prior to the event, selling a $5 ticket is a great way to do this and a great way for your attendees to make a small donation!
• Many event organizers create a video on how to register for their specific event and embed that YouTube link into their event description 
• Set yourself and your attendees up for success by encouraging your attendees to log in 15-20 mins before the event starts
• If you want to do this, we advise that you have a pre-recorded video playing with a countdown timer. This way they know that they are in the right place and when the live event will begin. 
• Many event organizers have success asking for a $1 donation at the beginning of the event to show how donating works (this is a great way to add to your fundraising goal to as we all know $1 can add up quickly!)

Before you Go Live:

• We highly encourage doing practice runs in a test event. You can turn on Rehearsal mode and only those with the specific rehearsal link will be able to view the live content. 
• Disable the donate banner during your live event. This can be toggled OFF within your Donations tab. If an attendee clicks on this during the live event, it will navigate them to a different screen to make a donation. 
• Shout it out!! Be sure to include the event URL link in any social media posts or email correspondence to your attendees.

Tips:

• Attend our mock virtual demo where you can attend a digital experience as an attendee while placing fake bids and fake donations. This demo takes place each Wednesday at 2:00 pm Eastern.
• Any videos you add should be filmed in landscape mode not portrait mode
• Work with an AV company to increase the production value of your event to create smooth transitions between your pre-recorded videos or even live streams
• We advise you to have a back up plan in case someone loses their live video feed. It is a great idea to have a pre-recorded video on hand to push live if a feed is lost. 
• Set up a conference line to have your team working the back-end of the event connected. If there are any questions during the event, you will already be connected! 
• Want to have your event recorded? Select a designated member of your team to record your event by using a screen-recording tool like QuickTime player or by using Windows Screen recorder 
• Be creative and have fun!

If you would like additional assistance during your event, you have the option to hire event support. Purchasing remote support will provide you a direct line to an Event Expert throughout your event for up to 4 hours. They will be able to assist you and your event volunteers if you have any questions and will have a direct line to our tech team if you need troubleshooting help. For more information about our levels of support, please take a look at all levels of event support we offer.