We realize that taking your event and your ad journal to the Internet may seem complicated, but we have helped many before you make the transition with ease. Our procedures and experience become part of your process.
These are the basic steps involved:
The “Getting Started” call - We begin the project with a focused teleconference to discuss project parameters, delivery dates and expectations. We review everything you need to provide to launch your project quickly and on point. Notes from the call are captured and sent as a guide to follow over the next weeks. In addition, informational and instructional emails notifying you of procedures and best practices are sent at appropriate intervals throughout the project. Our client services team is available via phone or e-mail to field any questions you have along the way.
Event Material Language is Revised - We provide verbiage and recommendations to help update your event materials from prior years; Sponsorships and journal ad levels, the invitation, RSVP, sponsor letters, etc. Together we will update your communications to include all the benefits that the on-line journal has to offer.
The Event Committee is Educated - We will help you to get your team up to speed on the many benefits of the e-journal by providing you with a presentation and handouts to ensure they know how to create enthusiasm with supporters.
The Home Page is Designed - If you have a design for the event already, we will take that design and adapt it for the web, if not we can prepare custom thematic art for the website and related event materials.
The Site is Built - Send us all the information included in your contract and we design and post it online. Such items include: letters from the President and Chairs, organizational information, committee listings, honoree’s bios , etc. As your site comes together, we will periodically send you links to view the progress and encourage your feedback.
The Shopping Cart is Established – Your online shopping cart allows online purchases of tickets, tables, sponsorships, e-journal ads and donations through your EVENTjournal.com website. Our software is compatible with ten different payment gateways. By providing us with your account information, your site will be ready for business with the highest of credit card industry security and compliance. If you don’t have a gateway service and/or merchant account, we can refer you to our merchant account partner who specializes in quick, easy, low-cost setups for non-profits.
The Site Goes Live - Once the site is complete with all the necessary content, tests are run to ensure everything is working properly. You are asked to provide final approval to launch and we link it to the domain you have selected, allowing your supporters to access the site.
e-Journal Ads - With your site launched, it’s not too early to get your supporters to submit ads immediately. They will benefit from increased exposure in the pre-event period and you will benefit by showing a site that is active and growing over time. Our creative team can work with camera ready materials, or we create ads as needed. Your supporter Ad Gallery will start to populate with full color ads and logo banners, creating enthusiasm and raising funds for your event.
The Event Presentation Is Prepared - Just prior to the event, we prepare a visual presentation of all your online journal ads and honorees to be displayed on large projection screens at your event. Ads are scaled to play in proportion to the donation level of the contributor. The presentation makes a beautiful backdrop to your event.
Marketing Strategy and Materials – The Event Journal team can provide full service marketing support for your event. Call upon us to design and copy write your event invitation, save the date, an email marketing campaign to drive traffic to the e-journal, a social media effort, online auction to support the event, program books, ads, press releases and other materials.
Misc. – Throughout your project, the Event Journal team will provide many full service support functions to help guide you, provide quantitative information and to ensure you are following “best practices” for the implementation of your e-journal system. We will provide access to back-end reporting of all transactions, Google Analytics reports, A/V coordination, presentations to committees and board members and whatever else you may need to ensure the success of your event.