How to understand low attendance at nonprofit events

Start with a decision, not a target in isolation

“Increase attendance” is an objective. A useful research question is more specific: which change could help local families attend a weekday event, within the staff time and budget available? Write down the event, the audience, the decision date, and the resources you can commit. Decide whether success means more first-time visitors, more returning participants, or fuller use of a particular program. Those measures can point to different actions.

Separate three possible barriers

Use three working hypotheses. Awareness: people have not heard about the event or do not understand what it offers. Access: they want to come, but timing, transport, cost, accessibility, or unclear information makes it difficult. Return: they attend once but do not have a clear reason or reminder to come again.

Treat these as questions to test. A quiet afternoon does not establish that your marketing failed, and strong social engagement does not tell you how many people attended.

Build a small evidence sheet

Start with information you already hold. Put each event date on one row and record attendance, event hours, major program changes, promotion dates, and relevant circumstances such as weather. Keep the counting method consistent. If you count entries rather than unique people, say so.

Add a short conversation with attendees and, where you have a suitable way to reach them, people who considered attending but did not. Ask: “How did you first hear about this?”, “What almost stopped you from coming?”, and “What would make a future visit worthwhile?” Record themes without attaching unnecessary personal details.

Avoid hearing only from your regulars

A newsletter survey is useful for understanding subscribers. It cannot establish what everyone in the neighbourhood thinks. On-site interviews also exclude people who never arrived. Label each source and look for gaps before combining responses. For example, a market might compare answers from current visitors with feedback shared through a community partner. Differences can be useful even when the samples are too small to estimate population percentages.

Choose one test and define the measure first

Here is an illustrative test, not a reported client result: if potential visitors say they cannot tell what will be available, publish a short “what to expect” preview at the same point before each event. Track how visitors heard about the event and whether the information answered their planning questions.

Record what else changed during the test. A busier event after a sunny week does not prove that a new post caused the improvement. Use the evidence to decide whether to keep, revise, or stop the test.

A one-page brief your team can use

• Decision: What will we do differently after this research?
• Audience: Whose participation matters for this decision?
• Evidence: Which records and conversations will we use?
• Test: What is one feasible change?
• Measure: What will we compare, and when?
• Owner: Who can act on the findings?

Keep the brief narrow enough that the result can change a real decision. If your team needs help designing the research or interpreting what it finds, that can be a focused Scope for Good engagement.