Want to create a Brown Paper Tickets page dedicated to collecting donations from your patrons? We've got information on best practices to help you optimize your listing.
There are no minimums, time limits, or fees associated with Brown Paper Tickets donation-only pages. Just connect PayPal or your own Credit Card Processor to your account, and begin receiving donations as they come in. We provide a safe, secure space to collect donations online.
Naming Your Donation Page
Let your patrons know what they're contributing to, whether it's towards a specific goal or for your organization in general. It should be clear that you are collecting donations rather than hosting an event.
Holiday Season Donations
Team Equipment Fundraiser
Theater Arts Ongoing Donations
Location
Use your organization's address for the event location.
Event Description
Use your event description to educate givers on your good cause. Our event Full Descriptions support HTML embedding for videos and images. This is a great place to tell your fundraising story.
Tips for online fundraising:
1. Make Your Mission Prominent
Include your organization's mission statement or goal for this particular fundraiser. Establish the voice of your organization so donors can connect.
2. Tell Supporters How Donations Will Be Utilized
Donors appreciate transparency and like to know how their funds will be used.
3. Set Online Giving Levels
Share some examples of what different gift levels will achieve for your organization.
Optimal Dates
When planning when to launch your giving campaign, think about the timing.
- Do you have a big event or season pass about to go on sale which might drive traffic to your donation page?
- Is there a holiday like Giving Tuesday, Christmas, or Earth Day that might tie nicely into your campaign?
A giving campaign should run for at least 24 hours, but can continue for as long as you want. If you are working to meet a particular goal, the length of a short-term campaign is generally about 30 days.
Cross Promoting
If you have event listings on Brown Paper Tickets, be sure to add a hyperlink to their descriptions to direct attendees to your donation page.
Add your "Organization Name" to your Brown Paper Tickets public profile, so your ticket buyers will see a prompt to view more of your events, including your donation page.
Direct patrons to your Brown Paper Tickets Public Profile URL by including it in your promotional materials like websites, emails, flyers, posters, and social media.
Acknowledge Gifts
Be sure to recognize online contributions quickly with thank you emails, phone calls, letters, or gifts. If you'd like an email alert each time an online donation is made, turn on Email me with every sale in your event's settings.
How to Create a Donation-Only Event
1. Log in to your Brown Paper Tickets account and navigate to Create your public event page. You will be able to save your changes and finish later if you need to.
2. When you reach the Dates & Prices section, add your date range and choose Will-Call only. Add the date and view it below.
3. Navigate to Add Price and change the Price Name to indicate that the amount is a donation (e.g. "Donation" or "Bronze/Silver/Gold Level"). Change the value to equal the minimum amount you would like to accept.
4. Select Show Advanced Price Options and change the Sale Type to Donation and the Price Type to Variable.
5. Scroll down and click Add this Price.
6. Repeat for additional donation levels.
7. Navigate to the Payment tab on the dark gray bar towards the top of the page. De-select the Brown Paper Tickets Credit Card Processor and select either PayPal or Your Credit Card Processor
Note: Donations can only be processed through PayPal or Custom Merchant Accounts.
8. Once your page is configured as you like it, click the orange Create Event button.