Are you looking to increase your Point of Entry^® attendance? Here are ten tips to help you do so.

1. Have your Point of Entry be so sizzling that everyone who attends feels compelled to tell others about your inspiring work. No matter how amazing your organization is, if you can't convey that in the one-hour Point of Entry, people will not refer others.
   
   
2. Make a Treasure Map^® and refresh it four times a year. As you use the model, new groups will be added to your map and they will, in turn, refer others. Don't let your Treasure Map stagnate.
   
   
3. Use the "Point of Entry Backfill Strategy." Work backwards from the people who have already committed to being Table Captains. Encourage them to invite at least 50% of their Ask Event^™ invitees to a prior Point of Entry. Our results show those guests will give, on average, four times more money than people who have not attended a prior Point of Entry.
   
   
4. Have Point of Entry Events for special subgroups, such as all of the walkers in last year's walk-a-thon or all of your soup kitchen volunteers from a particular church group. Make it easy and comfortable for people to come to your Point of Entry Events with friends. Have the "right" person in the group agree to be the official host.
   
   
5. Do a Know-Thy-Donor Program^™. If you have many members or donors who you don't know personally, this is an excellent strategy for converting them to face-to-face donors. Follow the four-step Know-Thy-Donor Program, which involves making a stratified donor list, having a thank-a-thon with high-level callers, doing a Treasure Map interview with donors, and finally, inviting them to a Point of Entry.
   
   
6. Use the event-conversion strategy—convert all of your existing fundraising events into Point of Entry Conversion Events by inserting a ten-minute, mission-focused Point of Entry element and then asking for names of people who would like to be invited to a "real" Point of Entry. Then invite them!
   
   
7. Have everyone in your organization out there doing One-on-One Point of Entry Events. While waiting in line at the grocery store, at the bus stop, or on an airplane, your board, volunteer, and staff "ambassadors" can be out there talking up your good work, telling your Essential Story^™, sharing their own connection to the organization, and then inviting people to Point of Entry Events.
   
   
8. Stop pressuring your board members to invite people to Point of Entry Events. Some will never do it. The easiest way to have your board members invite others is for them to attend a special "kick-the-tires" Point of Entry to get them re-inspired about your work—usually as a result of the Testimonial Speaker or one of the other stories you tell there.
   
   
9. Be constantly on the lookout for what other program-related opportunities you have to incorporate into your Point of Entry Events, like visiting day at summer camp or Sunday family brunches at a retirement home.
   
   
10. Aim to have at least one Point of Entry in a Box per month. Be sure the guests know in advance that they are coming to learn about your organization. These can be in homes, offices, or worksites at lunchtime. And remember that community presentations (like to a Rotary club or church group) don't count as true Point of Entry Events. Those are what we call Pre-Point of Entry Events, and they can bring you a lot of subsequent Point of Entry guests too.