It isn't just access to videos of cute cats and bad singers that may be gained using social media. Much good can be achieved here. Its true power in fact is the way it engages a wide audience. And the best use for its power is by way of causing people to feel good about themselves through nonprofit fundraising campaigns launched using the social media.
If you want to gain momentum for your nonprofit campaign, consider the following ways to utilize the tools of social media.
1. Give your campaign ample thought. Before you get into your fundraising campaign using social media make sure you have studied its fundamental elements. Determine your goals. Identify your target audience. Check where your potential donors, volunteers and advocates are in order to gauge what social media platforms they use. Then you will know where your conversation should start.
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. Be engaging, and engaged. Social media is a two-way street, so keep in mind once you begin your journey, you'll need to have someone at the wheel monitoring conversations. Every interaction with a donor should receive a response, even if it's just to acknowledge thanks. Get even more involved in your community's conversation by sharing and retweeting your influencers' posts and links. Find companies and organizations you want to align with and join Facebook and LinkedIn groups and Google+ communities they are involved in.
4. Accommodate other types of content. Other approaches may be found effective through this. The most response garnered by a particular post, time or week should be the direction you should aim to go to. The feedbacks of followers matters much because it will enable you to adjust your post according to what engages them. Today, some social media platforms are with analytics so you can gauge the people's response and find the most effective option.
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. Concentrate on effect. Be sure that donors and volunteers are recognized via social media and be clear on how what they donate is to be used. Present a more understandable break down of the effect that their donation has in order to show results like maybe "every $50 donation buys 5 pairs of children shoes." Maybe you can come up with a "thank you video" from the recipients of the donations. You may ask volunteers and donors to give testimonies as well concentrating on the effect of their participation on your cause.
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.
Social media can be used as a powerful tool for nonprofit fundraising. Remember to be conversational and not come on too strong. Rather than always asking for something from your followers, focus on creating a conversation around your campaign that people will want to share. Your supporters will get to know your organization better and form a connection, which will in turn, set your campaign apart from others.
Because of the campaigns and donations being "sharable" in most any well-known social media channels, InstaGive creates this online donation as a true social experience. Registration for InstaGive is simple and fast, so perhaps you'd like to learn more about this program at Truist.
If you want to gain momentum for your nonprofit campaign, consider the following ways to utilize the tools of social media.
1. Give your campaign ample thought. Before you get into your fundraising campaign using social media make sure you have studied its fundamental elements. Determine your goals. Identify your target audience. Check where your potential donors, volunteers and advocates are in order to gauge what social media platforms they use. Then you will know where your conversation should start.
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. Be engaging, and engaged. Social media is a two-way street, so keep in mind once you begin your journey, you'll need to have someone at the wheel monitoring conversations. Every interaction with a donor should receive a response, even if it's just to acknowledge thanks. Get even more involved in your community's conversation by sharing and retweeting your influencers' posts and links. Find companies and organizations you want to align with and join Facebook and LinkedIn groups and Google+ communities they are involved in.
4. Accommodate other types of content. Other approaches may be found effective through this. The most response garnered by a particular post, time or week should be the direction you should aim to go to. The feedbacks of followers matters much because it will enable you to adjust your post according to what engages them. Today, some social media platforms are with analytics so you can gauge the people's response and find the most effective option.
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. Concentrate on effect. Be sure that donors and volunteers are recognized via social media and be clear on how what they donate is to be used. Present a more understandable break down of the effect that their donation has in order to show results like maybe "every $50 donation buys 5 pairs of children shoes." Maybe you can come up with a "thank you video" from the recipients of the donations. You may ask volunteers and donors to give testimonies as well concentrating on the effect of their participation on your cause.
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.
Social media can be used as a powerful tool for nonprofit fundraising. Remember to be conversational and not come on too strong. Rather than always asking for something from your followers, focus on creating a conversation around your campaign that people will want to share. Your supporters will get to know your organization better and form a connection, which will in turn, set your campaign apart from others.
Because of the campaigns and donations being "sharable" in most any well-known social media channels, InstaGive creates this online donation as a true social experience. Registration for InstaGive is simple and fast, so perhaps you'd like to learn more about this program at Truist.
About the Author:
Sebastian Troup loves writing about philantrophic solutions for businesses and non profit organizations. For more information about company charitable giving campaigns, or to get help setting up a charitable fund, please go to the Truist.com site today.
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