Boosting Nonprofit Fundraising Via Social Media - 8 Effective Ways
There is more to social media than just cute videos of cats and television spoilers. There is so much good that can be achieved using the social media. Being able to engage a wide audience is the true power of the social media. And the best way to do that is by way of a nonprofit fundraising campaign where people may be positively involved in.
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. Customize your message. Each social media channel is unique, so posts should be written to fit each specific audience. Don't apply a "cut and paste" approach over different platforms. Instead, customize each post to fit the channel. For example, Twitter has a limit of 140 characters per post so brevity is a necessity, Instagram is all about pictures and imagery, and you'll need to create videos to use YouTube.
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. Try out various types of content. See if other approaches actually work. You can continue in the direction pointing to the week, time or the type of post which garnered the most response. Check with feedback given by followers so that you can create adjustments suiting what truly appeals to them. You may find that analytics are now being used by some social media platforms which can help you measure response and effectiveness.
5. Suggest urgency. The present is being addressed by social media. You need to present updates on real-time for followers to know how the campaign is going and how much more until the goal is reached. It should be inspiring for some to donate when they read a post stating that with just a few more dollars from willing donors your campaign would then be realized and they can be part of it.
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. Make sure you include a call to action. Make sure that some of your social media posts come with call to actions asking for followers to take a step further. And if they are willing to help spread your story, then they can be reminded that they need to "share this," "click here to donate now," "get your event tickets here" or maybe "help us to spread the word."
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. Customize your message. Each social media channel is unique, so posts should be written to fit each specific audience. Don't apply a "cut and paste" approach over different platforms. Instead, customize each post to fit the channel. For example, Twitter has a limit of 140 characters per post so brevity is a necessity, Instagram is all about pictures and imagery, and you'll need to create videos to use YouTube.
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. Try out various types of content. See if other approaches actually work. You can continue in the direction pointing to the week, time or the type of post which garnered the most response. Check with feedback given by followers so that you can create adjustments suiting what truly appeals to them. You may find that analytics are now being used by some social media platforms which can help you measure response and effectiveness.
5. Suggest urgency. The present is being addressed by social media. You need to present updates on real-time for followers to know how the campaign is going and how much more until the goal is reached. It should be inspiring for some to donate when they read a post stating that with just a few more dollars from willing donors your campaign would then be realized and they can be part of it.
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. Make sure you include a call to action. Make sure that some of your social media posts come with call to actions asking for followers to take a step further. And if they are willing to help spread your story, then they can be reminded that they need to "share this," "click here to donate now," "get your event tickets here" or maybe "help us to spread the word."
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 writing about philantrophic solutions for businesses and non profit organizations. For more details about company charitable giving campaigns, or to get help setting up a charitable fund, please check out the Truist.com website today.
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