Knowing how to use social media platforms is important for every kind of business, including nonprofit organisations and charities. But how can you use social media for fundraising and get results? We’ve scoured the internet to find answers that can help you help other people.
Tip #1 Know Your Audience
In most ways, using social media for fundraising is no different from any other online marketing campaign. To be as effective as possible, you must know who your target audience is. As Frontstream puts it: “Learn where your donors, advocates, and volunteers are and what social media platforms they prefer. Start the conversation there, rather than trying to be everywhere at once.”
Once you know where to find your audience, you can gather data to build a picture of your average target donor. From there, you can design a campaign to appeal to them, both online and offline. Stats about online fundraising and social media like this are good places to start thinking about your campaign and target market.
Just remember to start by focussing on one or two social media platforms with quality content instead of spreading yourself thin with half-hearted campaign messages. We hear Millennials enjoy the soft sell anyway.
Tip #2 Engage In Order to Be Engaging
This is what social media is for! If you want to get people excited about your cause (and hopefully help out) then you need to convey your own excitement, both as an organisation and as individual members in that organisation. People want to be able to interact with people and groups that interest them, especially online.
So while it’s great to publicize emotive messages when you use social media for fundraising, you’ll also want to show donors the results of their participation and contributions, and what their donations can do, along with a sense of urgency.
But that doesn’t mean you need to be serious all of the time. Posting fun and topical messages – including eye-catching photos and videos – are a great way to get people’s attention. As Knowhownonprofit states: “The more you can tell people what their money will be specifically used for, the better. These types of message are strong when used on social media especially if you use audio, video or a game to accompany them.” Make it personal and try to build relationships by telling a story and taking people on a journey.
Tip #3 Always Include a Call to Action
So you’ve focussed on impact, conveyed a sense of urgency in your messages, and publicized your targets and goals. The most
important thing to do at this point is to encourage people to share. This is the best part of social media – it’s super easy for people to share links to articles, Tweets, photos and videos. As Frontstream says: “Chances are, they want to help share your story, but they might need a reminder such as “click here to donate now”, “share this”, “help spread the word”, or “get your tickets here”.”
So make sure you include social share buttons on the platforms you’re using. If you get people excited about your cause, they’ll do a lot of the promotional work for you!
The anova Digital Marketing team makes it our business to help your business website and social media accounts a success, whether you are for- or nonprofit. Contact us today to see how we can help you reach your goals!
