If you’ve run a Facebook Challenge or two over recent years, you’ll know how important incentives and welcome packs are for a successful campaign. Here’s a few reasons why:
Most commonly, we will see Facebook Challenges offering a free, branded t-shirt. However we have recently been seeing nonprofits thinking outside the box and offering different types of incentives which tie together the cause and the Challenge, whilst offering an appealing freebie for prospective fundraisers. They include:
But how do you know what makes a good incentive from a bad one? How do you strike the balance between offering an exciting incentive, and ensuring your Facebook Challenge provides return on investment for your cause? And how do you manage the fulfilment of all those incentives so as not to take up hours and hours of precious staff time?
We’ve caught up with design and merchandise agency, Bluestep Solutions, to provide you with the answers. They’ve worked with over 500 charities in their time, so know a thing or two when it comes to nonprofit merchandise, fundraising packs and, you guessed it, incentives for Facebook Challenges.
So, without further ado, over to the Bluesteppers for their tips!
The key measure of a good incentive is the desire it creates for potential fundraisers to sign up to your Challenge. Here are our top Bluestep tips to master a good incentive:
Top tip: If it’s your first Challenge and you’re not sure how many incentives you are going to need, keep it generic so you can use any leftovers for future events or campaigns.
Before you (Blue)step into design (see what we did there?), coming up with a strong Challenge idea and creating an event identity should be first on your list.
We are passionate about branding and all things visual. Strong event identity will leave a lasting and memorable impression, create engagement and show true brand purpose. It will also help you stand out from the crowd, and rise above the noise of the cluttered Facebook feeds of all those prospective supporters.
All your printed and digital assets should be consistent with the Challenge identity, and the incentive should have charity branding.
Think: bespoke identity + branded incentives = winning combo!
So many of our nonprofits are nailing effective incentives for Facebook Challenges, it's hard to pick. Here’s a few incentives we’ve seen and worked on that we think are pretty awesome. Hopefully they will get your creative juices a-flowing!
We live, breathe and scream bespoke! If you want help brainstorming incentives and creatives for your next Challenge, we can work with your teams to develop a kick-ass event identity, design a winner incentive and store/deliver your Challenge merch effectively.
From medals, hats and pin badges, to festive jumpers, advent calendars and dog bandanas (to name a few), our Bluesteppers are quite literally merchandise experts.
The creative formula for a perfect Facebook Challenge is a clear event identity that encompasses the charity branding and a seasonal incentive to match.
So if you’re planning a Facebook Challenge to take place over the festive months, why not try a festive t-shirt or knitted jumper? If it’s a winter running Challenge, offer your fundraisers a wooly hat to keep them toasty and warm. But most importantly, keep it relevant to both your cause and the Challenge.
We are sure that your nonprofit is conscious of your corporate social responsibility and practices around sustainability. More and more consumers expect charities to ensure their activities are sustainable and in keeping with their own values. So when it comes to Facebook Challenge incentives, it’s important to be conscious of this, and that’s why we only make recommendations that we as an agency follow:
We understand the enormous pressure charity fundraising teams are under to create positive and impactful change, all whilst reducing their environmental footprint. At Bluestep, we are conscious of the effect we have on both people and the environment. We can work with you to ensure your Facebook Challenge doesn’t cost the earth and your incentives are as “green” as possible.
Take a look at what makes us sustainable…
Now, we know the thought of all of those boxes of incentives arriving in your office fills you with dread. We’ve all been there. Here are a few top tips for making the storage, fulfillment and management of all your incentives that little bit easier:
If you’re looking for additional support, why not let us Bluesteppers take the weight off you. We can offer your nonprofit a complete package to manage the creation, storage, fulfillment and distribution of all of your Challenge incentives. Order in bulk, store for free, and our incredible warehouse team will fulfill on demand – keeping processes more eco-friendly.
Streamlining is our middle name and solutions is our last… literally!
One initiative we are trialing with a number of our charity customers at the moment is fulfilling only those who have registered for your Challenge AND set up their fundraiser – rather than those who have only registered. This can be a huge cost saver and increase the return of investment for your campaign.
However, there are a few things to consider when trying this:
If you’re a GivePanel customer and want to chat to us about what is best for your next Challenge, get in touch with your Customer Success Manager directly, or via our contact form.
Bluestep Solutions offer stress-free design, production, storage and fulfillment of your Facebook Challenges, so why not take a load off and let the team handle the incentives management of your next Facebook Challenge.
The Bluesteppers offer a complete package and will support your entire process from start to finish. They have a team of dedicated charity specialists that will deliver kick-ass campaigns for you, all with love and care!
Reach out on 01604 879 608, drop them an email at info@bluestepsolutions.com, or give them a follow on socials!