In this article, we'll explore practical examples and tips to help you get the most out of Projects, plus some real-world inspiration from our users. We'll cover how to use Projects for:
- Fundraising campaigns
- Sales pipelines (e.g. group/school bookings)
- Marketing campaigns
- Funding applications
- Operations and team management
- & more!
For an introduction to Projects, first head over to our article on Project Management & Fundraising Made Simple: Introducing Projects, My Stuff & Inbox.
Fundraising campaign
Fundraising pipelines are a powerful way to manage donor relationships and track progress from prospecting to securing donations.
When you create a new Fundraising Project in Ticketsolve, you'll find pre-made pipeline stages designed to guide you through the process seamlessly. Each stage reflects a key step in nurturing donor relationships, making it easier than ever to secure funding for your organisation.
1. Potential: Identify and shortlist your high-level donors and sponsors - those who align with your mission and have the capacity to give.
2. Engaged: Reach out and make that all-important first contact with your prospects.
3. Interested: Celebrate a small win! Your prospect is interested and wants to learn more about your organisation and opportunities.
4. Intent: Share your proposal, outlining what you're asking for and how their support will make a difference.
5. Follow-Up: Keep the conversation going by checking in after your proposal - this stage is all about nurturing interest.
6. Donation Secured: Success! Your prospect has committed to donating a specific amount - time to celebrate their generosity.
7. Donation Lost: Unfortunately, not every prospect will come through, but this step allows you to document and learn from the outcome.
Want a step-by-step guide to building a fundraising pipeline? Head over to our help article Fundraising Projects in Ticketsolve: Your Essential Setup Guide.
Here’s how to utilise the full potential of the Projects feature to streamline and supercharge your fundraising efforts:
- Create a card for each prospect: Treat each potential donor as a unique opportunity by giving them their own card in your pipeline and linking it to their record in your Ticketsolve database.
- Set a fundraising goal: Define clear targets for each prospect to keep your objectives front and centre.
- Assign a team member: Allocate the prospect's card to the person best suited to nurture the relationship, ensuring focused and consistent communication.
- Add context with descriptions: Use the card's description to note why the prospect was identified, providing valuable context for your team.
- Log communications with comments: Keep track of every interaction by adding updates in the comments section.
- Leverage Tags: Stay organised and gain instant clarity - for example, create tags like 'Existing High Donor' and 'New Prospect Donor' to assign to each prospect's card. This makes it easy to visualise and distinguish between new leads and established supporters at a glance.
Sales pipeline (e.g. group bookings)
Projects is ideal for managing sales pipelines, such as streamlining your group booking process. It helps you track leads, communicate efficiently, and secure bookings with ease. By using clearly defined stages, you can stay on top of every sales opportunity from start to finish.
In this example, we’ll walk you through a group bookings pipeline for the Christmas panto.
1. Prospecting: Identify potential groups that might be interested in booking, such as schools, corporate teams, or social clubs.
2. Qualifying: Determine if a prospect is a good fit for your organisation. Are they interested in an event you're running? Do they meet your group size requirements?
3. Negotiating: Open discussions with your qualified prospects to iron out the details of their booking. This could include the size of their group, pricing, seating preferences, or any additional services they may need.
4. Invoicing: Once the booking details are confirmed, send out the invoice. Use this stage to track invoicing and ensure payments are being processed.
5. Closed Won: The group has confirmed their booking and made payment.
6. Lost: Not all opportunities will convert into bookings. This stage helps you record those that didn't go ahead so you can review and learn from them in the future.
Here's some tips for managing group bookings in Projects...
- Create a project per show or season: Keep your bookings manageable by building a Project per show or season, depending on how many bookings you're likely to be organising at one time.
- Use a card for each group: Treat each group booking as a unique opportunity by setting up an individual card for every group in your pipeline.
- Add context with descriptions: Use the description field to include key details about the group. This could be contact information for the organiser and any specific needs they may have.
- Log communications with comments: Keep everyone in the loop by recording all interactions with the group in the comments section.
Marketing campaign
Projects can be a great tool for planning and managing marketing campaigns. Whether you’re launching a new season, promoting a show with slower sales, or organising a community event, Projects helps you stay organised. Use it to track tasks, collaborate on ideas, assign responsibilities, and keep an eye on deadlines to ensure everything runs smoothly.
1. Backlog: Capture all marketing campaign ideas and tasks here. This is your brainstorming space for future initiatives.
2. To Do: Move tasks from the backlog that are ready to be actioned. These are prioritised items waiting to be started.
3. Working On: Tasks actively being worked on by your team, whether it’s creating content, designing assets, or running ads.
4. Stuck: Highlight tasks facing obstacles or delays. Use this stage to identify and resolve bottlenecks quickly.
5. In Review: Tasks that are completed but need approval or feedback, such as finalising copy, designs, or campaign strategies.
6. Scheduled: Tasks that have been approved and are now scheduled for execution, such as publishing posts or launching ads.
7. Done: Completed tasks - track your progress and celebrate campaign milestones!
Here are some tips for managing marketing campaigns in Projects...
- Use a card for each idea or task: Break down your campaign into individual cards for each item of work, such as a Facebook post, email, or blog article. This makes it easy to track progress on every element of your campaign.
- Add tags for visual clarity: Use tags to indicate the medium or channel for each card, such as Facebook, email, or blog. This helps you quickly identify where each task fits in your overall strategy.
- Assign cards to team members: Clearly allocate tasks by assigning cards to specific team members. This ensures everyone knows who is responsible for what and keeps your campaign running smoothly.
Some more inspiration...
Projects is an incredibly versatile tool with endless possibilities to help you streamline your daily tasks, manage your workload, and bring your team closer together. While the best way to use it will depend on your unique needs, here are some creative examples from the Ticketsolve Community:
Funding applications
Manage your funding and grant applications to make sure you never miss a deadline.
Stages: Backlog, Drafting, Review/Feedback, Final Draft, Submitted, Approved, Rejected.
Event management
Plan and track every detail of your next event.
Stages: Ideas to confirm, To do, In progress, For approval, Completed, On the day, Feedback.
Team management
Streamline venue operations and delegate tasks easily across your team.
Stages: Not started, Work in progress, Done.
Venue programming
Simplify programming by organising each step. Create a stage for each step of the event programming workflow and cards for each unique show. You could even create tags for different genres to add to the cards so you can easily visualise the split of genres across your planned programming.
Stages: Ideas/Concept, Show identified, In communication, Negotiation, Confirmed, Contract signed, On-sales.
On-sale management
Take the stress out of managing on-sales with a clear workflow.
Stages: Ticket pricing, Venue layout, Event setup, Comps & agents, Discounts, Contact Ticketsolve, Marketing links, On-sale date, On-sale complete.
Marketing ideas
The stages don't have to be linear. You could create a project as your go-to place for recording any marketing ideas you have and create a stage for each form of content
Stages: Instagram feed, Stories, Reels, Facebook posts, Newsletters, Emails, Blog.
Event RSVPs
Stay organised for your next VIP event and make sure no one is missed off the invite list!
Stages: Prospective, Invited, Follow-up, Accepted, Declined.
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