It's a question we often hear from charities considering a switch to hapi to manage their events.
And we get it. Other event booking platforms make it easy - publish an event, and anyone following your profile receives a notification. It feels like a ready-made audience - one less thing to worry about, right?
But here's the catch: you're building on rented land.
And that's where the real problem lies.
The Illusion of Ownership
When someone "follows" your profile on these third parties, they're not subscribing to you. They're subscribing to the platform. You benefit from that platform's notification system - but only within their ecosystem.
Here's what that means in practice:
- You can't download your list of followers, only attendees.
- You don't get access to follower's contact details.
- You can't reach out to them directly - unless they register for an event and tick a box to hear more from you.
In short: you're renting attention. You're not building relationships.
For many charities, that feels counterintuitive. Events are about bringing people in, engaging them in your cause, and building lasting connections. But when you run your events on platforms like this, you're handing over the keys to that potential.
Why Audience Ownership Matters
Now, contrast that with running events on your own platform.
When you use hapi to manage your events, every contact, ticket booked, and every form submitted is a chance to grow your own mailing list - with explicit opt-ins, GDPR compliance, and real data you can build on.
Hosting Event pages live on your own website increases SEO and brand trust.
Capturing email addresses and marketing consent directly supports your stewardship and retention strategies.
You have the freedom to decide how and when to engage supporters with no go-between in the way.
And once that event's over? You're not back to square one. You've built something: a stronger, more connected audience that's yours to keep growing.
"But We'll Lose the Notifications!"
Understandably, this is the biggest hesitation for many teams. Event platforms do a nice job of making event promotion feel automatic. So how do you replace that?
It's easier than you might think.
With hapi, you can build even stronger communication pipelines:
- Automate branded and personalised "new event" emails to your subscribers
- Create a "What's On" list people can join directly from your website
- Sync with Mailchimp or Mailjet - or store securely on hapi
- Dynamically embed upcoming events across your homepage and landing pages
It's not about losing reach - it's about regaining control and strengthening your supporter base.
Don't Just Borrow Attention - Build It
The digital space is full of shortcuts that feel like progress. But if the pandemic taught charities anything, it's the importance of owning your data, your audiences, and your platforms.
Using platforms like these might seem like a smart way to simplify things, but if you can't take your audience with you, you're always starting over.
With hapi, your events don't just run smoothly. They actively grow your supporter base, fuel your fundraising, and strengthen your digital presence.
Because building your audience shouldn't be a by-product of an event.
It should be the goal.
Are You Building Your Own Audience?
Ask yourself:
☐ Do we capture email addresses and consent directly through our event registrations?
☐ Can we contact our event attendees after the event—on our terms?
☐ Is our event traffic helping our website's SEO and visibility?
☐ Can we track user behaviour on our event pages?
☐ Are we growing a mailing list that we own, manage, and can build on long-term?
☐ Can we segment and personalise follow-up emails to event participants?
☐ If the third-party platform disappeared tomorrow, would we still have our audience?
If you said "no" to most of these… you might be building someone else's audience.
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