Social media is one of the easiest, most effective -- and not to mention free -- ways to promote your organization, event, campaign or cause. In this day and age, it is rare to come across an organization that isn’t connected on social media in some form, but how they utilize this platform is what can determine how much exposure and awareness can be brought to their organization or cause.
This is not to say that “going viral” shouldn’t be your ultimate goal, but there are many other options and avenues you can explore to grow your organization's social media network and increase awareness or bring attention to a particular campaign.
Showcase social
The first step is one of the simplest: Let people know how they can connect with you on social. On your website, linking to social platforms and promoting hashtags helps increase awareness of your social activity, and where else supporters can find you on the web. To even further increase awareness, consider connecting your social media feeds -- Twitter and Facebook specifically -- to your organization or event website. Embedding these live feeds on your website or fundraising campaign will entice the visitor to click through the link to your social media page where they can follow you or like your page.
Like and follow!
Once folks engage, surefire way to solidify this relationship is to like or follow them back. You can even go as far as giving them a shout out “thanks for the like/follow (insert name here).” It opens a line of communication and lets the visitor know they are appreciated.
Be part of the community
Another way to grow your subscriber base is to find like-minded philanthropic individuals and organizations and subscribe to their pages. In the world of social media, a like is often traded for a like or follow for follow, you just have to be the one who reaches out first sometimes.
As social media platforms are becoming increasingly popular, you might think to approach digital publications and well-known influencers for additional exposure. Asking them to mention or publish information about your organization can reach a much larger audience.
Livestream your impact
All of the above are steps you can take in the months leading up to an event, to grow your network so that on event day, you have a larger audience that you can then involve and interact with virtually. The most current and popular platforms for interacting with an audience before and during your charity event are Twitch and
Facebook Live.
Livestreaming platforms allow you to stream a video that provides a glimpse into the attendee experience and encourages the visitor to participate virtually. Visitors can comment or start a conversation in the live chat feature, where you can respond, calling the visitor out by name, and thank them for their participation. Giving the visitor a call to action such as “donate now to provide clean water for African School Children” or suggesting a dollar amount “your $10 will provide clean water for 25 children in Africa” gives a potential donor a tangible idea of where their funds would be going.
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Livestreaming integration for Peer-to-Peer Fundraising has the capability to add real-time thermometers and donor recognition to a livestream hosted on
Twitch,
Facebook Live and
YouTube Live, along with a “Donate” button so that a visitor can not only participate by watching the event, but also donate to the cause and see their donation amount reflect in the event total immediately.
Livestreaming an event or campaign isn’t the only way to showcase your organization or cause, video content in general can be a valuable tool when you want to give a potential donor a visual example of what your organization does and who the funds go to. Videos and photos are an effective method of communicating your organizations mission statement as well as tell success stories.
If you have a few minutes a day that you can dedicate to growing your social network and creating effective and relevant content that will keep visitors and potential donors coming back, it will grow the awareness around your organization and in turn, result in more dollars towards your cause!