When the last guest heads home, your event might be over, but your impact is just getting started. The moments right after your fundraising event are crucial for building lasting relationships, inspiring repeat giving, and turning first-time attendees into lifelong supporters.
According to the OneCause 2025 State of Auctions Report, 82% of auction attendees said they’d attend another event in the future. Your guests are already primed to come back—you just need to give them a reason. Timely, intentional follow-up makes donors more likely to engage again, turning a single night of generosity into an ongoing commitment to your mission. That kind of retention is key to sustaining success for your nonprofit.
To help you make the most of your follow-up, we’ve compiled four best practices for post-event stewardship.
1. Follow Up Quickly
The first 48 hours after your fundraising event are the best time to connect—your guests are inspired, energized, and ready to hear from you. Use this time to thank attendees, celebrate success, and invite them to take their next steps with your organization.
This is especially important if you picked up new text message subscribers at the event. Whether you used keywords or QR codes to inspire sign-ups, new subscribers will be waiting to hear from you. Set up an automated series of welcome messages so they can engage with your new communication channel right away.
Send a personalized thank-you message within two days, addressing each guest by name and highlighting the impact they helped create. Make sure every message reflects your nonprofit’s mission and voice to reinforce your organization’s values, build credibility, and increase connection with your cause.
Then, keep the momentum going by sharing additional content related to the event, such as:
- Photos and Highlight Reels: Showcase the best moments to help guests relive the excitement and share with others.
- Fundraising Totals and Impact Milestones: Celebrate collective success and connect the results directly to your mission.
- Video Messages: Appeal to guests’ emotions by featuring your team, event chair, or another influential person in a thank-you video.
- Testimonials: Let an individual impacted by the event share their gratitude with donors directly.
When sending out follow-up communications, be intentional about the channels you choose. Using a variety of touchpoints (SMS, email, social media, direct mail, etc.) helps you meet your supporters where they are and makes your gratitude feel genuine. Quick, thoughtful outreach while enthusiasm is high keeps your mission top-of-mind and opens the door for lasting engagement.
2. Ask for Feedback
After thanking your attendees for their involvement, show them their voices matter by asking for feedback! Invite guests to be part of the iteration process to strengthen relationships with them, keep them engaged, and get valuable insights to make future events even better.
Here are a few ways to collect feedback from your attendees:
- Post-Event Surveys: Send via email or text with a link to a short survey.
- One-on-One Conversations: Call key donors, sponsors, or volunteers for personal insights. Or, engage in casual two-way text conversations to collect quick feedback.
- Social Media Polls: Use Instagram stories, Facebook, or LinkedIn for fast, informal feedback.
Once collected, review feedback carefully to identify both successes and areas for growth. Use these insights to help plan your next event, and don’t let those changes go unnoticed! Let participants know how their input made a difference. Putting supporter suggestions into action shows they’re an important part of driving your mission forward and highlights your nonprofit’s commitment to creating impactful, meaningful experiences for them.
3. Share Personalized Calls to Action
Every supporter has unique interests and ways they want to engage. These differences are what make personalized outreach so powerful. Not everyone will connect with your nonprofit in the same way, which means you have multiple opportunities to inspire action by tailoring your follow-up.
Segment your outreach based on how supporters participated in the event, their preferred communication methods, and their giving or volunteering history. Then consider asking different groups to take actions like:
- Follow Us on Social: Ideal for newer supporters or casual attendees who aren’t ready to give but want to stay connected.
- Sign Up for Text Messages: Good for first-time guests who want to keep up with your organization and receive the latest updates.
- Volunteer: Perfect for hands-on supporters who expressed interest in getting more involved in a non-monetary way.
- Become a Recurring Donor: Best for donors who gave during the event or have a history of consistent support.
- Donate In-kind Gifts: Works well for corporate partners, businesses, or individuals with access to goods or services they might donate to an auction.
- Attend Another Event: Great for guests who had a positive experience and are likely to engage with your cause again.
- Share Your Story: Invite them to submit a quote about their connection to your cause for use in future campaigns.
To make this process easier, use a fundraising platform that integrates with your donor management tools. This way, you can capture key supporter data, segment audiences effectively, and deliver calls to action that feel personal to each event guest.
4. Plan for Sustained Communications
Post-event stewardship shouldn’t be a one-and-done effort. Consistent, thoughtful outreach keeps your cause at the forefront and builds long-term loyalty.
Continue engaging supporters with updates, invitations, and opportunities to get involved as time goes on. This could mean sharing impact stories, promoting peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns, or simply checking in with updates about upcoming events. Every touchpoint helps strengthen your donor relationships.
Throughout the year, send out a mix of:
- Monthly or Quarterly Newsletters: Keep supporters informed with regular updates, success stories, and upcoming opportunities.
- Annual Impact Reports: Share year-in-review highlights to demonstrate transparency and celebrate collective accomplishments.
- Special Interest Groups or Committees: Invite supporters to join groups that align with their interests (e.g., event planning, photography, logistics, etc.).
- Supporter Spotlights: Feature donors, volunteers, or partners to build community and show appreciation.
- Anniversary or Milestone Updates: Send personalized text messages that recognize the date of your supporters’ first gift, event attendance, or volunteer service.
To guide your long-term outreach, consider creating a stewardship matrix—a chart that outlines how and when you’ll connect with supporters over time. This tool helps you plan communications by donor type, preferred channel, and engagement level. It also keeps your outreach balanced, ensuring you stay in touch often enough to build relationships without causing supporter fatigue.
While it may take some initial effort to build, once created, it streamlines future outreach and ensures no one slips through the cracks, setting you up for higher retention and engagement rates.
Stewarding Event Guests Long-Term
Stewardship is an ongoing conversation that should feel genuine and personal. While these best practices provide a strong foundation, you’ll create real impact when you adapt them to match your audience’s unique preferences and motivations. Pay attention to what resonates through feedback, engagement data, and personal interactions, and let those insights guide your outreach. Stay flexible and intentional, and your post-event communication will drive long-term support for your cause.
