Stop the Last Minute Flaking

February 27, 2020 • Event Planning Tips

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400 tickets have been sold for your annual gala. The room is set-up to accommodate this guest count, but when the night comes, only 350 people show up. There are tables with empty seats and every empty seat seems like it has a spotlight shining on it…

The success of your event is more than just ticket sales. In-room fundraising, including text-to-give appeals and silent and live auctions, depend upon a room full of excited and engaged attendees. Not to mention the perception of empty seats. What happened? How do you avoid this from happening again?

Often, people bail last minute on an event just because they don’t feel like going. According to EventBrite, 4 out of 5 guests consider flaking on an event they’ve already bought tickets to. So why is flaking so prevalent? According to the Eventbrite survey:
•   41% are tired
•   40% don’t feel good
•   30% don’t want to be around people
•   25% blame the weather

Warding off rampant flaking: •   75% of people are driven to attend events because they seem interesting or fun… Make good use of relevant social media and emails to get registrants excited in the 10 days leading up to your event
•   56% of people consider whether a friend is going when deciding whether to go… lean on Facebook Event ads to target people whose friends are going to your event
•   56% of Americans make event participation decisions at the last minute… make sure it’s as easy as possible for people to buy tickets on their phones or other mobile devices
•   Also, hold your event in a convenient location

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