Soapbox Engage Blog

Planning fundraising events of any size can be overwhelming at best. Without the right tools and resources, it can get downright exhausting and frustrating. But there’s good news! Event management software can help organize and handle many aspects of event planning with a host of digital tools.

In short, even management software helps you plan better events with less stress, anxiety, and hassle. But, like many things in the world, not all event management software is created equal. Some have unique features that lend it to specific aspects or types of event planning. Some are easier to use than others. And let’s not get started on the vast range of price points!

The bottom line is there’s a lot to consider when purchasing an event management software option for your nonprofit, and we’re here to help simplify the process. We’ve gathered some top features and things to look for and consider to help you invest in the right event management software for your nonprofit.

Table of Contents

• Types of event management software
• Questions to ask when choosing an event management system
• Features to look for in nonprofit event management software

Event Management Software Basics

Event management software is any software or technology that streamlines and organizes the event planning process. It can save your organization time, boost your overall success, and give you access to more data and analytics than ever before.

When choosing an event management software, it’s best to start by clearly identifying the problem you’re trying to solve. Each software is designed to focus on a specific area of event planning, so start by identifying your pain point.

Types of event management software

Some software options are excellent all-in-one ticketing and registration tools. They’ll help you build and manage your event and make all aspects of registration a breeze.

Other software specializes more in helping you design event websites or landing pages. As you know, the event website is often the first impression you get to make on potential attendees. So, it’s critical to have a quality landing page to help people get all the essential information and grab their tickets.

Another category of event management software emphasizes email marketing, automation, and contact management. Its main goal is to help you have excellent communication with attendees before, during, and after your event. These software options tend to feature automated emails, customizable contact forms, email open rate data, and similar tools to help you personalize, send, and track event-related communication.

Statistics and data are essential to consider when planning an event, too. Some event management systems emphasize features that allow you to have live polling, session and speaker ratings, and even live Q&A tools. These features can spice up your conference or event and help you understand what your audience likes and doesn’t like for future planning purposes.

As you can see, there are many features and options to consider. It can be so easy to feel overwhelmed by the endless combination of specialties and add-ons. Before you know it, you might have a robust event management tool that has more bells and whistles than you really need--and the price tag to match.

Top 7 questions to ask when choosing an event management system

Here are the top seven questions to ask that will help you select an event management system with all the tools you need.

1. What are the top two or three problems with your current event management system?

As we mentioned before, it’s critical to start by identifying the problems you currently experience that you want a new system to reduce or eliminate. Otherwise, you might overlook a key pain point when choosing a new system.

2. What is the budget?

At the risk of being too obvious, it’s essential to have a budget or price point before you dive in and get caught up in comparing features. It’s also worth considering whether you’re willing to pay more for a more reliable solution than your budget allows.

3.. What features do you absolutely need, and what would be nice to have?

What are the top three or four features that you absolutely need from your software? What are the features that would be nice to have but not essential? By outlining with you need, you can more easily eliminate some of the options on the market.

4. How much time do you have to choose a software, receive training, and launch it?

Consider how much time it takes to choose a system, learn how to use it (and potentially teach your event team), and have everything up and running. Generally, the more robust the system, the steeper the learning curve. How adept is your team at learning new software or skills? Will you be able to handle it yourself, or should you bring in “outside help”?

5. What platforms will you want to integrate with the event management software?

Do you plan to integrate a WordPress website, Facebook, Salesforce, or other tools with your event management software? Some software “plays nicely with others,” and other options have a limited integration range.

6. Does the software you’re considering offer quality customer service?

The software itself isn’t the only thing to consider when purchasing an event management tool. Customer service is vital. From helping you get things set up to troubleshooting and supporting you along the way, make sure you select a provider with an excellent reputation when it comes to customer service. Take the time to read reviews and even explore some reputable online review sites.

7. Do similar organizations use the event management software you’re considering?

One of the fastest ways to discern whether an event management software will be a good fit for you is to look at the provider’s current and past clients and case studies. Do their current or previous clients have needs similar to yours? Does the software company have experience working with similar nonprofits?

Asking these seven questions will help you eliminate at least some of the software options right off the bat and streamline the research and selection process. It’s helpful to get feedback from a few people on your event planning team to ensure you have a well-rounded perspective of what you need.

Features To Look For In Nonprofit Event Management Software

As you explore options and narrow down your list, be sure to take advantage of demos and other opportunities to get an in-depth look at the software in action. This will help you get a better sense of how it works, whether the interface might be a good fit for you, and how easy it will likely be to learn and implement.

As you’re demoing software, here are the top features we believe are the most important for nonprofits to look for in event management software.

Customizable event registration pages

A quality event management software should let you build as many custom event registration pages as you need. Your attendees should be able to sign up, pay, and get all the essential details about your events in one accessible location.

Make sure you can gather all the information you need and create the type of registration experience you want your attendees to have.

A bonus feature that your team will appreciate is having your registration tool connect to your CRM system. This eliminates a lot of data entry and streamlines the event registration process for your team.

The Soapbox Engage Events app is a robust event management tool that saves your ticket sales or reservations straight to Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics. Plus, you can have unlimited custom events pages and drive traffic to individual events or your events calendar. Whether you’re selling tickets or making reservations, there are loads of pricing and sales options.

Many event planning teams love how easy the Events app is to use. You can customize the entire experience for your attendees, from the event landing page to the confirmation email and follow-up messages. Plus, you’ll have access to all kinds of marketing data and analysis!

Donation page options

The primary reason nonprofits host events is to raise money. Make sure your event management software integrates seamlessly with your online donation page or has a built-in donation feature so you can receive donations before, during, and long after the event is over.

The Soapbox Engage Donations app allows you to set up countless mobile-friendly, custom donation forms. All transactions are processed and saved directly to Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics so you can spend more time planning your event and less time pushing paper.

If you’re running multiple event campaigns simultaneously, you can associate each donation with a specific campaign for easier reporting. So a donation from your Charity 5K doesn’t accidentally wind up in your Summer Gala database.

Custom forms

Whether you want your attendees to fill out a feedback form after your event or you’d like to collect information from people at other times, it’s helpful to be able to create custom forms that help you gather the data you need.

With the Soapbox Engage Forms app, you can easily handle event volunteer signups, gather contact information at your event, and all kinds of other practical applications! And, with data immediately entered into your database, you can get real-time reports with just a few clicks.

Mobile-friendly features

It’s convenient for your event planning team to have control of your software on mobile devices. It’s also vital for attendees to be able to visit your event pages, donation pages, and other apps on mobile devices. In short, you’ll want event management software that’s mobile-friendly on all sides.

The entire Soapbox Engage suite is mobile-friendly and offers an excellent experience for your audience and your planning team.

Integration features

Make sure your event management software integrates with services and apps you already use. Soapbox Engage integrates with a wide range of apps, from Microsoft Teams and Salesforce to Zoom and Strava!

You should also make sure your events software connects with any payment gateways you already use (like Braintree, Stripe, or PayPal).

At the end of the day, choosing the right event management software for your nonprofit comes down to streamlining the planning process for your team and improving the overall attendee experience. Look for software that checks all the “essentials” boxes without a lot of expensive bells and whistles you aren’t sure you need. After all, simple and effective is usually better in the long run.

Here are three more resources to help with your nonprofit event planning!

• 7 Steps To Successful Nonprofit Event Planning: Many nonprofits turn to fundraising events to meet their financial goals. This strategy can generate significant funds, but the preparation and planning process can be a little overwhelming. This blog is packed with tips, tricks, and expert advice from event planners and fundraising professionals, including an event checklist to help you plan your next excellent fundraising event.
• Make A Fundraising Calendar in 5 Simple Steps: It can feel downright overwhelming to manage the entire fundraising process day in and day out. Creating a fundraising calendar can be an excellent recipe for year-round fundraising success! The great news is that you can develop and implement a fundraising calendar any time of the year. This blog will help you build your calendar from the ground up or revamp your existing fundraising calendar.
• Mobile Giving: What Every Nonprofit Needs to Know: Mobile giving is definitely here to stay, so if you want to remain competitive and relevant, it’s time to expand your fundraising strategies to include a wide range of mobile giving tactics. This blog will help you understand why mobile giving is so important and explore some of the most popular mobile giving strategies and tools.