Events Fundraising Conference 2027

What's on

Here’s what we’re planning for January’s conference – if there’s anything missing, let us know and we’ll see what we can do.

More Fundraisers, More Income: Fixing Your Conversion Funnel

Speaker: Keith Williams and Paul Parker, Funraisn

You will learn and see live how every action in the fundraiser funnel compounds into massive income gains. You’ll get a downloadable toolkit of ways to improve fundraiser acquisition and conversion, plus the top drivers of outcomes and actions that convert more fundraisers, drive meaningful recognition and impact, and help raise much more.

Casper-proofing 2.0: advanced dropout prevention

Speaker: Zahra Yassine – Medical Aid for Palestinians

Dropout – (ghosting/”Casper”) – behaviour remains one of the biggest drains on events income. Building on last year’s most talked-about session, this deep dive goes further into identifying at-risk participants early, designing smarter fundraising milestones, and building oversubscription and budget models that plan for the drop-off before it happens.

A keep/pause/kill framework

Speaker: TBC

Not every event in your portfolio deserves to run again next year. This session will offer a practical framework for reviewing your events lineup with fresh eyes. Deciding what to scale, what to pause, and what to retire using the simple test: would your supporters miss it if it was gone?

Surviving third-party saturation

Speaker: Freddie Harle, Managing Director, For Charity

Third-party event places are selling out earlier every year, and access isn’t always fair across charities of different sizes. This session unpacks how to navigate long lead times, build stronger supplier relationships, and manage the financial risk of relying on an increasingly crowded third-party market.

Beyond the controller: Creator, Gaming & New-Format Fundraising

Speaker: TBC

Creator and gaming-led fundraising is opening up entirely new audiences for charities willing to experiment. Following on from one of last year’s biggest surprise hits, this session looks at what’s happening beyond the headline campaigns – what it takes to get started, what the creator landscape actually looks like, and whether this space is right for your charity.

WhatsApp, SMS & the Death of Email: Building a Multi-Channel Stewardship Stack

Speaker: TBC

Email engagement is changing and supporters are increasingly saying yes to more immediate channels. This session explores how charities are using WhatsApp and SMS as part of a modern stewardship stack – the opportunities, the risks, and what “good” looks like when you move stewardship into someone’s pocket.

AI in events fundraising: distraction or opportunity?

Speaker: TBC

AI is everywhere in fundraising conversations right now, but not every experience of it has been positive. This session offers a genuinely balanced look at where AI is helping events fundraisers save time, where it’s creating more work than it saves, and how to separate the hype from what’s actually useful for a small team.

Recruiting (and keeping) an events team in a brutal market

Speaker: TBC

Events fundraising roles are proving harder than ever to recruit and retain. This session shares practical, tested approaches to hiring for potential over polish, building inclusive recruitment processes, and creating a team environment people want to stay in – even when the day-to-day work is relentless.

Beyond corporate places: diversifying acquisition and reaching new supporters

Speaker: TBC

Relying on the same corporate contacts to fill your events year after year feels safe, but it isn’t acquisition. This session looks at how to reach genuinely new supporters – through professional networks, smarter digital targeting, and channels beyond your usual go-tos – so events can do their job at the bottom of the fundraising funnel.

Run clubs, community, and the new face of participation

Speaker: TBC

Insights show n-person participation is back – and the reasons people are signing up are changing. This session explores the rise of run clubs and social fitness communities, what’s driving a new generation of participants, and how charities can meet supporters where they already are rather than chasing whatever event is trending.

Marketing agility under pressure: campaigns, landing pages, and beating the bureaucracy

Speaker: TBC

Commercial event operators can turn a marketing idea into a live campaign overnight – most charities can’t. This session tackles the real-world friction between fundraising teams and internal processes, and shares practical ways to move faster: sharper landing pages, pre-approved reactive content, and making the case internally for greater marketing agility.

The Event Fundraising Gap: Why Some Charities Raise More From The Same Event

Speaker: Sarah Farago, Senior Charity Partnerships Manager, JustGiving

Making the most out of your overseas challenges.

Speaker: Ruhubia Akbor, Marketing & Brand Manager Different Travel & Sarah Agnew, Events Fundraiser at Julia’s House

Join colleagues from The Different Travel Company and their charity partners they discuss the benefits of overseas challenges and how to make them work for your supporters.

Different Travel is a UK-based tour operator specialising in overseas charity challenges and small-group adventure holidays. We create carefully designed travel experiences that combine challenge, discovery and meaningful impact, supported by expert guidance from start to finish. We work alongside a number of charities to help promote trips that are designed to help your supporters raise funds while taking on an inspiring personal challenge overseas.

Note: working titles and session summaries may change as speakers are confirmed and they shape the sessions around their own skills and experience.