Hosting a virtual event? Just because you won't be in person with your supporters doesn’t mean you can’t engage with them during the event!
Events pages include an easy-to-use chat feature, so you can communicate with your attendees while not interrupting the event. We've compiled a list of some of the best practices surrounding this live chat below, so you can feel confident in your chat!
Step 1: Recruit "chat stewards"
"Chat stewards" can be staff, volunteers, or even friends and family that get the conversation in the chat going, and keep the energy up throughout the event!
Have these people introduce themselves, reply to other attendees, answer your questions, and encourage the conversation to continue if it starts to die down.
Step 2: Make sure at least one chat steward is logged in to the Events page for the duration of your event.
We recommend having at least one chat steward log in to the event page, so they can manage the chat directly from the Event page's "Livestream" tab.
Doing this will put an 'Event Organizer' label next to their replies within the chat, so that your attendees can recognize the member from your organization when receiving answers to their questions or acknowledgements for their donations.
Step 3: Begin your event by welcoming everyone in the chat (or having a chat steward do so on your behalf.)
The chat is a great way to welcome everyone as soon as the chat starts and tell them a little bit about the event and what you’re hoping to achieve. It doesn't have to be a formal message either - you'll want the chat to seem friendly and approachable for participants!
Step 4: Verbally encourage attendees to join the chat.
Leveraging your “chat stewards” within the chat conversation is important, but you’ll want to encourage your attendees to join in on the fun as well!
Encouraging attendees to join the chat verbally during the livestream can help bolster the conversation and keep the energy for the event high.
Step 5: Thank attendees for donations as they come in, verbally and virtually.
With our Events pages, attendees can donate as they watch the event, and you can choose to have those donations show up in the chat as they come in.
Doing so presents a great opportunity to thank attendees in real-time after they submit their donation to give them recognition, and hopefully keep the donations coming! You can either shout out these donors live, or recognize them directly in the chat.
Step 6: Prepare stories, questions, or fun facts to include throughout the duration of the event.
We recommend that you and your chat stewards prepare a few things to chat about throughout the event that correspond to the livestream. This could be donor stories, fun facts about your organization, or questions to ask your attendees - anything fun and engaging is a great idea.
Step 7: Use emojis! 😁
Speaking of, emojis make everything more fun! An emoji selector is included for both you and your attendees to use with chat messages.
Step 8: Monitor for unacceptable language/comments.
If an attendee sends an inappropriate comment, you can easily remove the comment while the event and chat continue to run. Simply click the orange trashcan icon next to the message you would like to delete.
You can also turn the chat completely off during the event if need be. Simply toggle the "Chat Status" to Disabled - doing so during the event will turn off the entire chat box without interfering the rest of the livestream.
Step 9: Send a closing remark before the event ends.
Before the event ends, thank everyone for coming and let them know how they can continue to support your organization through another upcoming event or a new campaign. Signing off by showing how much their support helps is a great way to end a successful event, and signals to everyone that the event has concluded.
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