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Promote your next event without touching your fundraising budget
If you run a small charity or community group, you and your supporters want as much of your fundraising income as possible to reach your cause. That does not mean ignoring event promotion entirely. Staff, tools, awareness, and events all matter. But it does mean looking hard for channels that cost nothing.
The good news: there are effective, genuinely free ways to promote a fundraising event. And with free fundraising event software like Zeffy handling your ticketing and donations at no cost, the savings compound quickly.
Here are three channels that work.
1. Start with your existing supporters
One of the most effective ways to promote your event is to contact the people who already care about your cause. People are far more likely to attend a charity event if someone they know has told them about it.
Get in touch with your team, trustees, volunteers, and donors. Encourage them to share the details with friends, family, and colleagues. A warm recommendation carries more weight than any paid advert.
Promote your event by email
Email is one of the simplest ways to reach your supporters directly. You can send personal messages from trustees or team members, or run a broader email campaign to your full supporter database.
Before you send anything, check that you have a lawful basis under UK GDPR. For existing supporters, the charity 'soft opt-in' under PECR (updated in ICO guidance, 2026) generally allows you to email people about similar charitable activities without fresh consent, provided they were given a clear chance to opt out when their details were collected. For new contacts, you will need explicit consent. The Information Commissioner's Office publishes clear guidance on this.
Free and low-cost email platforms used by UK small charities include:
Whichever platform you use, plan your email sequence in advance:
A save-the-date email at least three months ahead, with a clear call to action encouraging people to share the event.
A second email with more detail about how the event supports your mission, including results from last year if it is an annual event.
A reminder a few days before the event with practical information: how to get there, dress code, parking, silent auction details, and a simple action the reader can take immediately, such as adding the event to their calendar or booking a ticket.
A thank-you email after the event, which is consistently underestimated in its impact.
If your event includes a donation ask alongside ticket sales, remind UK taxpayers that they can add Gift Aid to their donation. Your charity reclaims 25p for every £1 from HMRC at no cost to the donor. Note that Gift Aid does not apply to the ticket price itself or to raffle entries, only to voluntary donations (HMRC Gift Aid guidance).
Pick up the phone
A direct call is more effective than many people expect, especially with supporters who regularly attend your events, make significant donations, or usually book a table.
Calls do not need to last more than five minutes. Use the time to check in, answer any questions, and let supporters know the event is coming up. They may even offer to help with promotion or logistics. If they do, remind them that one of the most useful things they can do is encourage the people they know to attend or book tickets.
After the call, follow up with a short text or email containing a link to your event page on Zeffy so supporters can book tickets, make a donation, and share the link with ease.
2. Lean on your local community to spread the word
Word-of-mouth communication is more powerful than it might seem. Ask trustees, team members, and volunteers to share the event across their own networks. People who know someone invested in a cause are more likely to turn up and support it.
Beyond your immediate network, UK charities have access to a range of free community channels that are genuinely effective.
Two sector bodies worth connecting with before your next campaign: NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) and the Chartered Institute of Fundraising both run member networks where charities share events and good practice. Charity Excellence (a free UK charity community of around 50,000 members, growing by 3,000 a month) is another valuable peer-promotion channel, particularly for smaller organisations.
Send a press release to local media
UK press desks receive many more releases than they can cover, so make yours easy to act on. The channels most likely to cover a small charity event for free include:
Local BBC radio station "What's On" desks (BBC local radio stations across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all have community listings)
Community radio stations (registered with the Community Media Association)
Regional and weekly newspaper community sections (titles from JPI Media, Newsquest, and Reach plc)
Parish magazines and church newsletters (often reaching tightly engaged local audiences)
Free local listings are one of the most overlooked promotion channels for small UK charities and community groups. Consider:
Nextdoor UK (neighbourhood-level posts reach local residents directly)
Local Facebook Groups (town and village groups often have thousands of members and allow charity event posts)
Parish council newsletters and village hall noticeboards
Local council "What's On" listings pages (most councils offer free event submissions)
Community noticeboards in libraries, GP surgeries, leisure centres, and post offices
Eventbrite UK free event listings (useful for discovery even if you sell tickets elsewhere)
For PTAs, village halls, CICs, and unincorporated community groups, the local Facebook group is often the single highest-converting free channel available, particularly for events with a clear local audience.
For churches, A Church Near You carries free event listings and reaches a relevant local audience.
Partner with local businesses and figures to sponsor or promote your event
Local businesses, sports clubs, artists, and community figures often have established networks and a genuine interest in supporting local causes.
Approaches worth trying include businesses with community-giving programmes (such as Waitrose Community Matters, Tesco Community Grants, and M&S Sparks Community), local sports clubs (many are Community Amateur Sports Clubs registered with HMRC), and local media personalities or community leaders who might help amplify your message.
If any arrangement involves a business promoting your charity in exchange for payment or a share of proceeds, this may constitute a commercial participator agreement under the Charities Act 2011 and the Code of Fundraising Practice. Keep it factual and transparent, link to your sponsorship policy if you have one, and consult the Fundraising Regulator Code if you are unsure. Zeffy does not provide legal or tax advice.
Several free listing platforms are worth submitting to:
Do-it.org (volunteer and community event listings)
Eventbrite UK free tier (good for discovery even if tickets are sold elsewhere)
Local council "What's On" pages (free submissions accepted by most councils)
If your event includes a raffle or lottery element, ensure all promotional copy follows Gambling Commission wording requirements for small society lotteries.
3. Promote your event on social media
Sharing your event across your charity's social media profiles and website costs nothing and can reach your existing supporters, donors, and followers immediately. Each of them can share the post with their own networks, multiplying your reach without any additional effort from you.
Create a content calendar
Before posting anything, map out what you will share and when. A simple content calendar helps you build momentum without last-minute scrambling.
Plan posts that will:
Announce the event and build awareness.
Remind followers of key dates and ticket sale information.
Share stories or highlights from last year's event.
Post during the event itself (photos, updates, milestones).
Thank supporters and volunteers after the event.
Anchor your posts to UK giving moments where audience attention already sits: Giving Tuesday, the Christmas appeal season, Macmillan Coffee Morning, Children in Need, Comic Relief, and Remembrance Sunday are all established moments when people are already thinking about supporting causes.
Follow the Code of Fundraising Practice on social media
Any donation appeal in a social media post must be legal, open, honest, and respectful, in line with the Fundraising Regulator Code of Fundraising Practice. Where possible, include your registered charity number on your profile and display the Fundraising Regulator badge. This matters to UK supporters, who look for these trust signals before giving.
Create an event page
As well as posting across your social media profiles, create a dedicated event page on each platform. These are easy for supporters to share with friends and family, and they provide a clear, single destination for all the event details and booking links.
Create an event hashtag
Many charities create a hashtag for their fundraising event, particularly for annual events. It is a free way to centralise all social posts about the event in one place, making it easy for potential attendees to find your communications and see what others are saying.
Apply for a Google Ad Grant
UK registered charities can access up to £10,000 per month in Google Search ad credits through the Google Ad Grants programme. The UK eligibility route runs through TechSoup UK validation of your charity's registration with the Charity Commission (CCEW), OSCR, or CCNI, followed by an application to Google for Nonprofits.
Note that CICs and unincorporated community groups are not eligible for Google Ad Grants. This is a genuine dividing line for many UK community organisations, and it is worth confirming your eligibility before investing time in the application.
Google Ad Grants can significantly extend your reach for event-related search queries with no direct cost to the charity.
Bring it all together: free promotion, free tools
Promoting your event is free. Running it should not cost you anything either.
Many small UK charities currently stitch together several separate tools: one for ticketing, another for donation pages, a third for managing their supporter database. Each one takes a cut of every transaction.
Zeffy handles ticketing, donation pages, Gift Aid, and supporter management in one free platform. No platform fee, no transaction fee, no card fee. Ever.
Look for people who attend related events, follow relevant Facebook groups, or subscribe to aligned newsletters.These aren’t just potential donors—they’re your future advocates.
Look for people who attend related events, follow relevant Facebook groups, or subscribe to aligned newsletters.These aren’t just potential donors—they’re your future advocates.
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