Q: How can behavioural science help increase attendance/participation at fundraising gala and live auction events?
I can think of the following principles that could be applied:
- Scarcity: show that there aren’t many places to begin with or left
- Exclusivity: builds on scarcity but also introduces flattery, they’ve been handpicked
- Urgency: tackle procrastination by requesting immediate action for a reason
- “We reserved you a seat”: The Behavioural Insights Team had tested various messages to improve attendance and they found that this was the most effective
- Loss aversion: use the fear of missing out
- Social proof: show that this event is popular for people similar to them
- Perceived impact: people help because they want to make a difference. Emphasise the impact they might have
There are many ways to execute on all the above. Below are some examples. Some are using a combination of the above principles:
- Invitation only event for select audience
- limited seats
- half of the seats are gone already
- We reserved you a seat
- Reply asap so that you don’t miss your seat
- Join your peers in having your say and making an impact
- Don’t miss out on your chance to make a difference
This isn’t an exhaustive list of how behavioural science could help. Knowing the details of the event and the audience would help determine how else you could nudge behaviour.
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