Engagement leads to giving, and one of the best ways to engage donors is through events. Some of the tools offered by today’s event management software can be both beneficial for event coordinators as well as development officers. Find out how with these three tips.

Before The Event

Many development officers request simple RSVP lists before an event occurs in order to see who’s coming. It’s much more than just to see who’s on the list — development officers use this information to prepare for meetings with attending constituents. However, it’s not uncommon for these officers to receive excel registration lists last minute which doesn’t give them much time to prepare. Even if development officers have the list a few days ahead of the event, the attendee list won’t necessarily reflect the most accurate information. There might be a few people that have registered late that the development officer isn’t aware of.

By using event management software, development officers can log in at any time to view attendee lists for any event. Perhaps you are working with a particular constituent that wasn’t invited to an event. Having access to the registration list will allow you to invite prospective donors to events that they may be interested in. This will help you to pursue the next step of the donor relationship.

During The Event

During the commotion of checking in guests at the start of your event, it’s easy to let your high profile attendees and major donors get lost in the shuffle. Ideally you could wait by the check-in table for these specific attendees to arrive, but more than likely you’ll be attending to other item at your event.

Use event management software with a VIP text alert feature. Select specific attendees from your registration list and complete the set up to be notified upon their arrival. At the event, once your volunteers or staff checks a VIP, you’ll receive a text alert and you’ll know to head toward the registration table. Not only will you create a positive guest experience, this will help you further build the relationship with your prospects.

After The Event

Using event technology is just as helpful after an event. If you’re using software with event success metrics, you’ll be able to track which events your donor prospects are attending — event to event and year to year. As a development officer, you can determine what the level of engagement the donor has with your organization or institution.

If an attendee was a no-show to an event, you could use this knowledge to follow up with a donor prospect. Or if you knew a prospect was at an event but you were unable to connect with them during the event, you could use this information to help set up face to face appointments.

Whether it is receiving text alerts at an event or access to registration lists and event success metrics, using event technology is helpful to development officers for cultivating new prospects and engaging donors.

This post originally appeared on Attend’s Event Management Blog