Half of Nonprofits Plan to Hold Events With Virtual and In-Person Components in 2022

Half of nonprofits are planning events with both virtual and in-person components for 2022, according to a survey from OneCause, a fundraising technology company. Already, the number of hybrid events has tripled since 2020. The study polled 1,954 nonprofit professionals, most of whom said they held positions in development, executive leadership, and events. The survey ran from September 7 to October 1.

Events — both online and in-person — were a valuable source of revenue for nonprofits throughout the year. Nearly half of respondents said their charity raised at least 20 percent of its annual operating budget through fundraising events. What’s more, the number of charities whose events revenue exceeded its goal more than doubled.

With a year of practice under their belts, nonprofits showed improvement in virtual-event fundraising in 2021. The number of charities that said their virtual event was “very successful” this year grew 5 percent over 2020. But there are still challenges to executing online events, chief among them a lack of interest from the charity’s supporters. Seventy percent of survey respondents said they struggled with that. Sixty-six percent said virtual events required too much effort on the part of their staff, and 60 percent said the virtual events didn’t raise enough to justify their cost.

Even so, respondents say they plan to continue to lean on events to raise revenue next year. Sixty-nine percent said they would hold at least one in-person only event in 2022, and 31 percent said they would plan at least one virtual-only event. Roughly 48 percent of respondents said they have already returned to holding in-person events. Twenty-seven percent expect to hold in-person events this coming spring.

Respondents were also asked about their biggest fundraising challenges. Ninety percent said crafting a fundraising strategy amid a pandemic continues to be a challenge. Other top challenges included keeping donors engaged, which 89 percent of respondents cited, and combating donor fatigue, which 87 said they faced.

Among the other findings:

• 60 percent of charities said their online fundraising campaigns were either very successful or somewhat successful. Last year, that share was 43 percent.
• 27 percent of respondents said they are reaching more first-time donors through online fundraising and events.
• Nonprofits that plan to resume in-person events in the spring were most likely to have missions focused on youth or arts, humanities, and culture.