How to Plan a Great Benefit Concert

A benefit concert (also called a charity concert) is a live music event organized specifically to raise money for a cause, with proceeds from ticket sales, sponsorships, and on-site fundraising going directly to support it.

Done well, it unites people around your cause, spreads the word, and generates real financial support. Plus, there is something special about attending a benefit show and knowing you are helping make a difference in the world.

Below, we outline seven steps (along with lots of tips) to execite this live music fundraising idea to help you reach your goals!

Before planning your concert fundraising event in earnest, decide whether it will be online, hybrid, or in-person. A virtual event allows you to reach a broader audience and save on costs but doesn’t have the same energy as a live performance. Hybrid events combine the best of both worlds, with a live performance complemented by streaming options for those unable to attend.

Once you’ve decided how people will attend your charity event, you’ve got to lay a foundation of support. The best way to do this is to use a ticketing platform built to simplify managing and running a benefit concert.

In addition to helping you instantly accept donations and sell concert tickets, you can use it on the day of to scan tickets and track attendance and donations in real time.  

Putting together a benefit concert alone isn’t realistic—you will need an excellent group of team members to help get everything done. To that end, the dream team you assemble must be those you can count on. Before recruiting friends and family to help out, think carefully. Who is a team player? Has a can-do attitude? And, most importantly, who won’t disappear when they lose interest? Commitment and enthusiasm are critical for anyone you bring onto your planning team!

Pro tip: Contact local universities with event management programs and inquire about interns. Just remember, interns are there to learn and add to their resumes. They are not free round-the-clock labor and must be treated fairly—at the very least, this means resume-enhancing responsibilities and sometimes compensation.

Even though you’re dying to organize performers for your benefit concert, prioritize securing your show’s venue. Where they are playing may affect whether or not performers participate, and not having one can give the impression your event is being thrown together. 

Pro tip: When looking at venues, be realistic about the potential size of your crowd. Of course, it would be amazing to echo Live Aid, fill massive arenas worldwide, and raise $127 million. However, only multiple, big-name performers can draw such big crowds! Consider smaller event halls, local parks, bars, clubs, or even a local restaurant.

Local artists are the way to go—they’re easier to get in touch with and have a loyal following. In addition, they’ll inspire their local fans to buy tickets by sharing the gig via their social media. That’s a huge help as far as marketing to potential attendees goes!

Instead of a straight concert with an opening and headlining act, consider showcasing several groups. Many Eventgroove customers go for a battle of the bands format, and it’s a great strategy. Various musical performances mean your charity concert will appeal to a larger group of potential attendees. Also, each band has its following, which equates to more ticket sales. Finally, adding a little competition between acts ups the energy and crowd engagement.

Pro tip: Contact school and university music departments to find emerging talent. You can also look at who has played at area clubs and search around on social media. Reddit can be a great resource—you can posit a question about local bands in your region’s subreddit.

Your benefit concert ticket price should cover your costs, hit your fundraising goal, and divide evenly across your expected crowd: (total expenses + fundraising goal) ÷ expected attendance = ticket price.

To get there, break out Google Sheets (or your preferred software) and list all your expenses—venue, talent, equipment, refreshments, marketing, setup and breakdown, security, and custom t-shirt printing. Don’t forget to include a little cushion—everything always costs more than you imagine it will, and the unforeseen has a way of being expensive. Finally, add how much you’d like to raise for your cause, then divide that total by the number of people you hope will come. Remember, at the very least, your concert ticket price should cover overhead. Here’s a handy event ticket price calculator to help.

For more tips on maximizing ticket sales for your event, read  How to Sell Tickets Online for Your Event. It’s packed with helpful ticketing strategies and promotion advice.

Local businesses are often more willing to sponsor a benefit concert than you’d expect. You just have to make the ask easy and the payoff clear!

Start by reaching out to businesses with some connection to your cause or your community, and come prepared with a simple, tiered offer: a shoutout from the stage for smaller contributions, a logo on your charity concert’s fundraising page or event program, and on the back of printed concert tickets for mid-level sponsors. For your biggest sponsors, offer all of that plus a table or banner at the venue. If you’ve never written a sponsorship ask before, the approach is nearly identical to asking for a raffle prize donation.

Sponsors want to be seen supporting a good cause, so make it easy for them to be seen: post photos from planning meetings and the show itself, and tag your local business sponsors so their support shows up in front of their own audience too.

Enable more people to attend by hosting a hybrid benefit concert and livestreaming the show. Doing so is a smart move for any concert fundraiser, whether it’s a first-timer or a well-established annual event.

During the livestream, you can accept real-time donations, run trivia quizzes, and more!

A few other ways to make your hybrid benefit concert engaging for virtual attendees and raise as much as possible are to:

• Set up a crowdfunding campaign to accept online donations so people can donate money wherever they are.
• Add an online auction or raffle! They’re a fantastic way to raise more money.
• Offer custom merch and concessions. These are also a great (and easy) way to raise money!

• Write a press release (AI can help with this!), then send it to local newspapers and radio stations. Ensure it contains a link to the event website where visitors can buy tickets or donate.
• Create one simple hashtag for your event and use it consistently across your own posts. It won’t do much to put your event in front of strangers on today’s platforms, but it makes it easy for attendees, sponsors, and press to find and share photos and videos from the show. Pair it with regular reminders that tickets are still available, and always include the date, time, and location of the concert along with a link to your ticket sales page.
• Tell everyone you meet or know about your worthy cause and the concert charity event you’re putting on in its support.
• Look into local radio and television spots to get the word out. Ask local newspapers to do a feature on the event.
• Reach out to clubs, chambers of commerce, and local community members. Ask everyone on your team, all the bands, friends, and everyone you have ever known to share the news through their social networks.
• Order printed marketing materials. Print concert flyers and flyers with QR codes directing to your ticket sales site, and ask businesses and schools in town if you can display them in-store and on campus.
• Set up an online donation site. Mention the web address in all social media posts, and make sure it’s prominent on your benefit concert ticket sales page.

Whether you’re filling a 200-seat local hall or livestreaming to supporters across the country, the work is the same: lock in a venue and lineup, build an easy way to sell tickets and take donations, and give people a reason to show up (or tune in).

If you’re looking for a better way to manage and execute your benefit concert, we’d love it if you gave Eventgroove a try! Our ticketing platform is a powerful yet user-friendly tool that includes secure online ticket sales, at-checkout donations, and livestreaming support for hybrid events. Plus, our integrated printing services make it easy to order everything from printed concert tickets and concert flyers to the custom merch that helps fund the show.