• Streaming/Meeting Platform

• Live Streaming

• Social Media

Click here to see our suggested platforms.

Consider how to make the session interactive, whether by having the opportunity for attendees to share their thoughts, having a Q&A, or even some quiz questions.

You now need to decide which platform to host this event, consider the following factors to help make your decision.

• Number of attendees (certain platforms have limits, or will charge for more attendees)

• How easy it is for the host / guests to use

• Do you want interaction from the attendees, either via speaking or chat box. (dependent on the platform, you can cater for this)

A TOP TIP for timing is choosing a time when most people will have no classes or lectures. Consider prayer times, and avoid if possible. The event itself if it is a talk, should be ideally 40 minutes, and definitely under an hour.

A TOP TIP on choosing the day is to hold it before or mid week in Charity Week. It can be a popular and chilled event.

• If utilising an external speaker, this needs to be selected based as per the Charity Week and your local organisations policy. The speaker should be well versed on the topic they wish to talk about.

• If the talk is peer led, it is good practice for someone else to run through the preparation with them and ensure all information is authentic & accurate where possible.

Create a poster (including joining details and why people should take part, and what platform the event will be on)

This event can be used as a way to motivate Charity Week volunteers and even the organising team. Therefore advertise the event directly into groups / pages where the audience are. Or better yet, invite individuals personally.

Dependent on whether you choose to charge for tickets or not, it is good practice to have some form of sign up, to register the number of attendees.

There are many ways to sell tickets, from simple online transfers, to using online platforms such as Eventbrite.

A TOP TIP when using Eventbrite is to have your tickets as free on the site and ask attendees to use bank transfer/paypal or your donation page to send the ticket money (to avoid additional processing fees). Another option is also to ask your union if you can use their website to sell tickets too.

Be sure to have a team to run the event. Roles they can take up are:

• Operating the platform (Ideally two individuals, one to support the running of the platform, and another to support the speaker.)

• Hosting the event

• Interacting with the audience

• Troubleshooting (keeping track of time and the number of participants joining)

A TOP TIP is to have a trial run on the platform and streaming to familiarise yourself and help the event run smoothly.

An event based on encouraging audience interaction, requires careful thought to prevent any issues. These are some considerations to take:

• Everyone to mute themselves when they are not speaking.

• Whether the audience should have their cameras on.

• How questions are to be taken, and whether the audience should interrupt the speaker or if the speaker will open the floor to discussions and questions every few minutes, or using the chat box.

• The organising team should consider any potential arguments or comments from the audience that may arise, or if a discussion with a participant gets too long and heated (have strategies ready on how to react during such scenarios).

• Start the event with an opening Islamic / motivational reminder

• Share the vision of Charity Week, by playing a short video about Charity Week

• Ensure someone is keeping an eye on the chat box to build Interaction with the audience

• You may have sponsors who will pay to show an ad to your attendees during or at the end of the event

• Have virtual speaker gifts. A TOP TIP is to talk to local businesses for a gift or meal vouchers or experience vouchers that you can use.

• Ensure you’ve completed a trial run before the event

• Start the platform early, to solve on the day issues. But also time for people to join

• Have the team all ready

• If you’re hosting any guest speakers: ensure a reminder is sent for your event and confirm they are coming a few days before.

• Ensure you have sent clear joining instructions to all

Thank all those that attended, this can be done by sending a message via your social media and sign up lists

A TOP TIP is to use this moment to remind them of your upcoming events and share your donation link.

There are always hiccups or lessons that we learn, but do we make sure that the team next year will learn from these? Use our template event planning document to keep a record of how you put on your event and also any feedback to pass onto next year's team!