Exceed Your Goals With This One, Easy Step

Stephanie Thomas 2

Looking to increase your registrations or boost your sign-up counts? In the ever-evolving landscape, this one tip can help you exceed your targets, from attendees to fundraising.

Our recent interview with Jonathan Cain (Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund) and Brittany Chavez (Arizona Trail Foundation), uncovered the truths about surviving (I’ll even say thriving in their cases) this post-pandemic (are we post-pandemic, yet?) event-hosting world. My biggest takeaway?

By giving their participants choice, they delivered noteworthy and successful events.

TREE Fund offers a virtual participation type when people sign up to help increase the accessibility of the event.

The AZ Trail Foundation creatively offers routes or sections of trail for people to volunteer for- breaking up the extensive distance to something that feels both manageable and personal. Participants hike, run, bike, ride and roll their way across the state.




So whether you go to your favorite part of the trail, a segment that is most convenient for your location, or use the event as the perfect excuse to explore an area you have not been to, the functional requirement (maintain the trail) becomes a personal choice.

This isn't new, but...

For years, we have seen nonprofits offer DIY fundraising year-round to collect funds “donated” for birthdays, weddings, graduations, in honor of others, and personal challenges. It is critical to continue offering these options as evergreen touchpoints, like the Huntsville Hospital Foundation does. But have you considered adding this element to your flagship event to diversity participation?

Rather than being tied to the original time/place/activity, supporters can sign up, create a fundraising page and complete a task that is most engaging for them.


For example (and you can hear more directly from Jonathan and Brittany), instead of cleaning a section of trail, the Foundation had a volunteer make a financial contribution AND cook hamburgers all day for the participants. The TREE Fund had a registrant painting trees and fundraising instead of cycling across the state.

Every dollar counts. Every voice counts. Diversify your participation types to increase inclusivity and expand your potential.

To learn more about how these two fundraisers incorporated DIY fundraising into their annual events, watch their interview.