Be flexible in choosing your topic Ensure that your topic has market appeal. Every brokerage house, bank and charity offers a seminar on Basic Estate Planning, and this topic is pretty well worn-out. So use some ingenuity. Use It or Lose It. Try to identify a need in your potential participant, put yourself in their shoes, focus your invitations on donors who have that need and you will greatly increase the participation in your events.
Timing is a critical element in seminar planning.
Consider not only when the target audience will be physically present, but also when these audiences will be in the most receptive state of mind. The ideal time of the year for a seminar on income tax planning would be in the fall, while a seminar on estate planning and the importance of having a will would be best held in the spring of the year. The time of day and day of the week also depends upon the target you have chosen. Generally, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 1 and 3 p.m. for retired prospects, and at noon or after work for employed prospects, seem to be the best days and times to schedule a seminar. Use the most effective promotional strategies and media You will achieve your best response by sending an invitation with a covering letter personally addressed and signed by an officer or a board member of the charity.