Last week’s Twitter Q&A had some great questions asked and we
hope that these highlights and expanded answers help you towards your
online fundraising goals.
Q: When you don’t have a huge following, what are 3 good tips to get people to pledge?
Tip 1: Reach out to your small following and ask them to
share with their contacts on social networking sites.
Facebook has over
350 million active users and the average user has about 130 friends.
With these facts in mind, it’s obvious why social media fundraising
should be a top priority in your fundraising strategy. Even if you only
have a following of 20 people on Facebook, it means you have the
potential to get your organization’s name out to 2,600 people if each
supporter shares your post or link. If just ten percent of those people
are inspired by your mission enough to share with their contacts, you
could possibly reach another 33,800 potential donors. Realistically not
every one of the 130 friends checks their messages daily and the average
post lasts on a page about 20 minutes, but where else can you spend a
few minutes and zero dollars to reach so many potential donors? This is
why it is critical to create thoughtful posts on a regular basis with
intriguing pictures to stand out from the crowd.
Tip 2: Create an engaging story that is easy for people with
a shared interest to relate to and rally behind. While Facebook is an
awesome hook, there needs to some great bait on the line for donors to
bite. Your story needs to be relatable, cause an emotional reaction, and
honest. It’s not the most eloquent or detailed story that gets the best
response, but one that is inspirational and heartfelt.
For each story, it is also important to include a photo to increase
the memorable factor for the reader. In a society that is as visually
driven as ours, we connect more with a person or location when we know
what it looks like.
Tip 3: Contact local news and related websites to ask for
coverage of your fundraiser. Not only does this provide legitimacy for
people who are unfamiliar with your cause, but it connects you with
people who are like-minded. Facebook casts a broad net, but partnering
with related websites narrows down the audience to those who care about a
similar cause. Local media is also a great resource to rally your
community around your online fundraising campaign.
* This question also received an answer from another Fundly Campaign, Bruce Funds. They suggested: “Humanize your cause. Put a face on your needs, if possible.”
Q: Can online fundraising be used in conjunction with “old-school” fundraising events?
A: Online fundraising is a great way to rally supporters before the
event and allow donations for those unable to attend. It is great for
advertising, taking RSVPs, asking for volunteers, requesting donations
for an auction, and for posting pictures after the event and thanking
those who participated. We did a series back in May pertaining to event
fundraising that you may want to check out: Event Fundraising Using Social Media.
Q: Is it ok for a kid to run a campaign?
A: Yes! Kid participation helps people become more invested. Here are a couple of examples: MAKE-A-STAND! and Jack’s FUNraising Page.
I also wrote an article on this topic that will give you helpful tips
and ideas for getting the next generation involved in philanthropic
work: Getting Kids Involved in Online Fundraising.
Do you have a question about online fundraising that you want to
ask one of our Fundly professionals? Follow #fundraisingtips on Twitter
every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time. We look forward to helping
you create successful online fundraising campaigns to promote your
cause. If you won’t be able to attend the Q&A, leave your question
in the comment section below and look for it in the recap next week!
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