We were sitting around discussing online fundraising and social media
fundraising strategies when I thought back to when I was drawing a
picture of a dollar sign on my notepad when I was in the 6th grade, my
dad made a point that relates to social media fundraising.
”Making money is not as much about what you know as it is who you
know.” It didn’t make as much sense that day as it did when I was in
high school, and it definitely makes lots of sense these days. Online
fundraising as well as social media fundraising are vital tools for the “who you know” approach to fundraising. Social media plays a very important role in the strategy.
Most often human beings are a gregarious bunch and social media
fundraising can grow its success once you know how to expand your
successful use of appropriate strategies.
In many cases a nonprofit organization will close its doors, even
when its mission is vitally important to millions of people. Some, in
fact many will thrive, however, many more will hit the wall and die. And
many times it is the most vital service delivery focused organization
that folds first. And the reason is not because their keystone celebrity
has abandoned them. It is also not because of a lack of trust. The
guilty party to the demise of a charity is often an unknown character,
at least in today’s economic climate, the guilty party is commonly
known.
We’ll call the perpetrator, the unengaged party of the first part.
What this means is the nonprofit’s fundraisers and volunteers and all of
their supporting staff, have failed to engage themselves with the
public in a way that meaningfully engages the nonprofit with its
audience of supporters. And that’s were the role of social media can
make the biggest bang.
When we talk about social media fundraising, the name Facebook comes
to mind in a big way. After all, when it comes to major players in the
social media game, there are no champions that are more likely riding
the top of the wave as well as Facebook. However, it is important to
know that social media has lots more reach than FB could accomplish on
its own. Technology, like blogging and micro blogging and tweeting, also
play a vital role in the world of engagement of people and good causes.
Let’s expand this idea with a few tips about how to use social media as a robust fundraising tool:
1. For your online fundraising fans and friends to
help support your cause, you’ll want to lead with your message by
sharing it with your social media fans and friends. Your targeted market
must understand what you will deliver better with their support.
2. Fundraising is an ongoing pursuit and you’ll
want to use your best efforts, and testimonials from your most senior or
high profile supporters to help you build trust.
3. When establishing a base using social media
fundraising, unless your message touches the emotions of your audience,
your cause is lost. Even if your pet project is raising money for a pet
sanctuary that uses a freeze drying process to preserve departed pets,
you must find a way to make you message both sincere and sensitive to
your potential donors.
4. Keep your party hat on standby. It is important
to understand that people are gregarious by nature and like to mingle in
a fun atmosphere. Find or create a team of pros at presenting parties
with a purpose. Your fan base will explode and your nonprofit will be
well on its way to a remarkable growth spurt.
5. Understand the high impact of a emotion charged,
hard hitting story. If you think about the Komen group or Pink Is
Powerful or any successful and growing nonprofit organization, you’ll
find that they have a compelling story that fuels their mission through
the use of social media fundraising.
Establish your own online fundraising success, hand in hand through the use of effective social media fundraising practices. And let your story and weld it
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