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Social media doesn't have to be all cute cat videos or television spoilers. Social media can also be used for social good. The real power of social media comes through engaging a wide audience. What better way to do that than with a nonprofit fundraising campaign that people can feel good about?
Here are eight simple ways you can use social media to your nonprofit fundraising campaign's advantage:
1. Make good notes about the campaign. It is necessary that you understand the fundamental elements evolving around the social media fundraising campaign you wish to start. Know your goals. Then, know who your target audience is. Make sure that donors, volunteers and advocates who can potentially help your campaign are identified, including their preferred social media platform. This then will be your determinant where to start a conversation.
2. Create your own message. Uniqueness is one feature common in all social media channels so make your posts uniquely fit for each audience. Do away with the approach that is "cut and paste." Create your own unique posts for every channel. Remember that there are important differences such as Twitter setting a limit of 140 characters which means your posts should be short and sweet. With Instagram you can post a photo and a quick burst of information, and YouTube will enable you to create videos.
3. Call for a connection and be connected too. It is a two-way street when it comes to social media that when you start with it, you should be able to "drive" conversations. Donors need to be responded to individually even when it only calls for simple "thank you". Establish involvement in the conversation you have generated for your followers where you may retweet some of the posts and links from your influencers. Seek out companies and organizations you may be able to work with and be in groups in Facebook or LinkedIn as well as Google+ communities with them.
4. Experiment with different types of content. Try different approaches to see what works. If you see a particular day of the week, time, or type of post garners more response, continue in that direction. Pay attention to feedback you get from followers and adjust your posts to fit what inspires or engages them. Most social media platforms now include some type of free analytics that can be used to gauge response and measure effectiveness.
5. Convey urgency. Social media is all about the present. Provide real-time updates on the progress of your campaign and how far away you are from meeting your goals. Seeing a post that says there is less than a few hundred dollars to go could inspire someone to pull the trigger on donating to help cross that monumental mark.
6. Focus on impact. Use social media to thank donors and volunteers for their contribution and let them know specifically how their gift will be used. Let them see the real impact of their donation by breaking it down to show the results (i.e. "For each $50 that is donated, we can buy 5 pairs of shoes for children in need.") Consider creating a thank you video using testimonials from those receiving the benefits of the campaign. Spotlight volunteers and donors to showcase their stories and why participating in your cause is an important part of their lives.
7. There should be a call to action. This is something that should be present in some of your posts in social media venues so your followers can take the succeeding step. They can be reminded to "help spread the word" or "share this" and even "get your tickets here" or "click here to donate now" should they be interested to share your story.
8. Your network could be your army. Fundraising efforts using social media may be used in line with your working hard on building a network of real-time volunteers, donors and promoters. Call for followers to share ideas and testimonials. Seek out their potential help to raise funds and promote the campaign via their own channels. Participation and expansion of network contacts may be achieved via contests. The more people are doing their own awareness campaigns about your fundraising, the more it becomes exposed to the friends and followers of your own network.
In order materialize nonprofit fundraising, social media maybe one powerful tool for you to use. Be conversational rather than approach aggressively. Instead of asking your followers for something it is best that you come up with a conversation relative to your campaign - one that your followers may be willing to share. It will be through this that connection can be formed between your organization and your followers which can result to your campaign gaining an advantage over the others.
InstaGive makes online donations a truly social experience because campaigns and donations are easily sharable on all popular social media channels. Registration takes just over a minute, and you can find out more about this service at Truist.
Here are eight simple ways you can use social media to your nonprofit fundraising campaign's advantage:
1. Make good notes about the campaign. It is necessary that you understand the fundamental elements evolving around the social media fundraising campaign you wish to start. Know your goals. Then, know who your target audience is. Make sure that donors, volunteers and advocates who can potentially help your campaign are identified, including their preferred social media platform. This then will be your determinant where to start a conversation.
2. Create your own message. Uniqueness is one feature common in all social media channels so make your posts uniquely fit for each audience. Do away with the approach that is "cut and paste." Create your own unique posts for every channel. Remember that there are important differences such as Twitter setting a limit of 140 characters which means your posts should be short and sweet. With Instagram you can post a photo and a quick burst of information, and YouTube will enable you to create videos.
3. Call for a connection and be connected too. It is a two-way street when it comes to social media that when you start with it, you should be able to "drive" conversations. Donors need to be responded to individually even when it only calls for simple "thank you". Establish involvement in the conversation you have generated for your followers where you may retweet some of the posts and links from your influencers. Seek out companies and organizations you may be able to work with and be in groups in Facebook or LinkedIn as well as Google+ communities with them.
4. Experiment with different types of content. Try different approaches to see what works. If you see a particular day of the week, time, or type of post garners more response, continue in that direction. Pay attention to feedback you get from followers and adjust your posts to fit what inspires or engages them. Most social media platforms now include some type of free analytics that can be used to gauge response and measure effectiveness.
5. Convey urgency. Social media is all about the present. Provide real-time updates on the progress of your campaign and how far away you are from meeting your goals. Seeing a post that says there is less than a few hundred dollars to go could inspire someone to pull the trigger on donating to help cross that monumental mark.
6. Focus on impact. Use social media to thank donors and volunteers for their contribution and let them know specifically how their gift will be used. Let them see the real impact of their donation by breaking it down to show the results (i.e. "For each $50 that is donated, we can buy 5 pairs of shoes for children in need.") Consider creating a thank you video using testimonials from those receiving the benefits of the campaign. Spotlight volunteers and donors to showcase their stories and why participating in your cause is an important part of their lives.
7. There should be a call to action. This is something that should be present in some of your posts in social media venues so your followers can take the succeeding step. They can be reminded to "help spread the word" or "share this" and even "get your tickets here" or "click here to donate now" should they be interested to share your story.
8. Your network could be your army. Fundraising efforts using social media may be used in line with your working hard on building a network of real-time volunteers, donors and promoters. Call for followers to share ideas and testimonials. Seek out their potential help to raise funds and promote the campaign via their own channels. Participation and expansion of network contacts may be achieved via contests. The more people are doing their own awareness campaigns about your fundraising, the more it becomes exposed to the friends and followers of your own network.
In order materialize nonprofit fundraising, social media maybe one powerful tool for you to use. Be conversational rather than approach aggressively. Instead of asking your followers for something it is best that you come up with a conversation relative to your campaign - one that your followers may be willing to share. It will be through this that connection can be formed between your organization and your followers which can result to your campaign gaining an advantage over the others.
InstaGive makes online donations a truly social experience because campaigns and donations are easily sharable on all popular social media channels. Registration takes just over a minute, and you can find out more about this service at Truist.
About the Author:
Sebastian Troup loves blogging about philantrophic solutions for businesses and non profit organizations. To get more details about company charitable giving campaigns, or to get help setting up a charitable fund, please check out the Truist.com website now.
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