The most important part of fundraising is connecting with your supporters on a personal level. People are more likely to respond when the cause affects them, or someone they know, personally. Nonprofits today have an advantage that their counterparts years ago did not: social media. With the rise of sites such as Facebook and Twitter, nonprofits have the opportunity to connect their cause with volunteers, donors and prospective contributors. Keep the following tips in mind when considering using social media to further your fundraising efforts.
Sharing
Social media is all about sharing information. Whether personal, humorous or compelling, the media that people transmit to one another can take on a life of its own and reach a large amount of people. Requesting people to draft their own status updates and tweets about your charitable cause is a lot to ask, but simply embedding a “like” or “share” button on your website, blog or specific pages is an easy way to engage your supporters. When preparing for an event, be sure to embed a “Like” button on the event’s webpage, email invitation and other digital communications related to the event. It’s not only easy to do, but it also helps spread the message about your event and, ultimately, about your organization.
Lots of Links
Search engines such as Google are always updating their algorithms that govern how certain terms appear on results pages. Once social media was determined to be a staying force, search engines took social media into account in the results pages. The more links a page has to blogs, Facebook, Google+ and other services, the more likely it will be deemed worthwhile and deserving of attention by search engines. Make sure that your organization can be found on all of the major social media networks, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn. At a minimum, claim your organization’s profile or page and include a link back to your website. Each tweet or status update builds new links to your cause. Once you have established your presence, begin connecting and interacting with related causes. All of these efforts will make it easier for people to find you online and learn more about your cause.
Turn Links and Likes Into Donations
Social media is successful for many reasons; however, it’s primary benefit to organizations is that it allows for feedback from your constituents, donors and supporters. Donors want to know that they are doing something tangible to help a cause. The addition of platforms that allow them to contribute their own thoughts and feelings about a topic keeps them engaged and committed to the organization for a long time.
Of course, social media is not the end-all to be all of fundraising, but using technology to build support does give you an advantage. With the abundance of information, not to mention the accessibility, many people turn to the web to look for causes to join. Don’t let technology leave you behind; use it to gain an even greater following and, ultimately, more donations.