Free ebook Download Guide to Sharing your Fundraising Page with Social Media
Introduction Peer-to-peer fundraising is an exciting opportunity to leverage the online community around you when raising money for a cause close to your heart. An important part of any online fundraising strategy revolves around maximizing social media and sharing your page online. For those new to this, we ve put together an easy to read guide to help you on your way. Chapters are broken into four color coded social media realms for convenience: 1.Facebook 2.Twitter 3.Video 4.Email Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Facebook Facebook With 845 million active users and growing, Facebook is the undeniable social media leader. Take advantage of this familiarity and leverage Facebook to increase your online fundraising support. Photo courtesy of Marco Paköeningrat 2007 3
Chapter 1: Facebook Here s a great example of a fundraiser that shared their fundraising page on our FirstGiving Facebook fan page: Share your page everywhere Facebook offers many avenues to share your fundraising page, including, but of course not limited to:! -Your Facebook wall! -Your Facebook Fan Pages! -Your Facebook groups Post on these areas more than once throughout your fundraising campaign. Don t go overboard with the number of posts but a friendly reminder once or twice a week will be sufficient. 4
Chapter 1: Facebook Vanessa gave up her birthday in favor of donations for her chosen organization. Expand your network exponentially With sharing just a click away, let your Facebook friends know that you re looking to spread the word. Remember that your audience has their own unique audience. Leverage their network to your advantage and see how many times you can get your message shared. We must stress the personal touch factor. Social media is still ultimately a conversation. Someone is always more likely to make a donation to a person they know or someone their friend s know. But a compelling story can help encourage people to give beyond their immediate circle. 5
Chapter 1: Facebook Create a Facebook event to draw attention Pull attention to your fundraising page by creating a Facebook event. Before sharing the event with your friends, make sure you include the following event details: Your personal fundraising goal Some information about the chosen nonprofit Participant information for your friends to join the event Any fundraising incentives you may be offering (i.e. shaving your head when you reach your goal) Get creative with your event title. For example, if you are fundraising for Breast Cancer Awareness, try an inviting message like: Help me raise awareness for Breast Cancer! Donate today. Breast Cancer 5K Walk/Run! Join us! Donate to my Breast Cancer fundraising page! A link to your FirstGiving fundraising page Messaging those who attend your event them is direct and easy. Be sure to give your Facebook friends a reason to opt into the event and make a donation to your page. 6
Chapter 2: Twitter Twitter Twitter is a micro blogging social network that consists of individuals posting 140-character messages. Its open and flexible nature has made integration into other online services easy and has slowly become a standard in online conversation and information democratization. As a fundraiser, this is a tool you should not overlook. Photo courtesy of Andreas Eldh 2011 8
Chapter 2: Twitter Don t be vague with your tweets Make sure you are properly communicating what it is you are doing and what you d like your audience to do. While competing for individuals attention, you can t afford to be vague or unactionable. Tweets must be mindfully crafted, especially within the 140-character constraint. Michelle kept her tweet within 140 characters and still communicated all the needed information. Use hashtags to your advantage Hashtags are a great way to add your tweets to a larger, on-going Twitter conversation. Once you tag a tweet with a hashtag, it will appear categorized in a unique feed with other tagged tweets. This fundraiser used hashtags for their upcoming zumbathon. 9
Chapter 2: Twitter Tweet more often Chances are not everyone will get to see your tweet the first time. It is important to post new tweets every once in a while so that you stay fresh in your audience s mind and guarantee that everyone has had a chance to read your message. For avid Twitter users, best practice suggests 20 tweets a day, however for the average fundraiser, that may be too much to take on on a regular basis. Know that all your tweets don t have to revolve around a single call-to-action. Tweet about 4 times a day with a link to your fundraising page and the rest, simply to engage your network. Be sure to change up the wording of your tweets. Social media is not a broadcast tool so don t treat it like one by pushing out the same message over and over again. Tools like HootSuite are great for scheduling a large amount of tweets on a daily basis. 10
Chapter 2: Twitter Don t forget the link! Finally, do not forget to include a link to your fundraising page in your tweets. This is a crucial step that many unfortunately forget about. Tweets are about context. Give your network a call-toaction and help direct them by including a link. This way they are more likely to support your efforts. Kelly made sure to include a link to her fundraising page Don t stress about asking to be shared Ask your Twitter followers to share your message. Remember that your audience has their own unique audience. Even if you land just one retweet, it could potentially mean a whole new network of supporters. Be honest, kind, and relatable and you should be fine connecting with others. That s exponential growth. 11
Video
Chapter 3: Video Video Note that this chapter is geared towards the use of a computer webcam. If you have access to a higher quality camera, more power to you. This chapter is still applicable though. Photo Courtesy by phylevn 13
Chapter 3: Video Speak from the heart Experiment with your webcam Webcam video is nothing too fancy. Ultimately it s just another digital tool to drive traffic to your fundraising page. Make your video personal and be sure to speak from the heart. Individuals are more likely to share something that is relatable than a generic, uninspired body of text. Most new computers these days come with their own built-in webcams. This is a powerful tool that you may already have experience with. Shoot a quick video of yourself explaining the story behind your fundraising campaign. Why are you fundraising? How do you plan to do it? Adding an interesting, human story behind your efforts can create a strong personal connection with your network of supporters. One of our successful fundraisers Rachel Carrick shares her reasons for fundraising for tornado relief last year in a personal video. http://youtu.be/kh_6bglnk5w 14
Chapter 3: Video Upload your video online and share it Back in November, The HeadStrong Foundation had a very successful campaign for Movember. This fundraiser shared his mustache in a video on his fundraising page. Once you are happy with your video message, it s time to post it online. Use any of the various free video hosting sites, such as YouTube or Vimeo. You can also upload your YouTube videos directly to your FirstGiving fundraising page. Then of course, don t forget to share your video on your Facebook wall, Twitter, YouTube, and via email and watch those donations start pouring in! http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/maggieroot/score4acure 15
Chapter 4: Email Email Email is the most effective way to share your fundraising page with your network of family, friends, and colleagues. Use it to reach your goal faster and easily spread the word about your fundraising efforts. FirstGiving makes it even easier with our Fundraiser Communication tool. Photo Courtesy by Cairo 2011 17
Chapter 4: Email Create some personal text Though we provide email templates, we like to think of them as guidelines. Try adding a personal touch to connect with your supporters. We ve created templates for three important instances for when you should communicate to your network of donors:! -Asking for donations! -Updating supporters on your fundraising progress! -Thanking your supporters for their donations Make sure you keep your supporters in the loop and send out emails for these mentioned moments as well as any others you may believe to be important. If you re feeling ambitious, the post event ask is also another way to get in a few last minute donations; it s a great place to demonstrate the impact your donors have made so far. Ask your supporters to share your story Once you have landed in their inboxes, ask your supporters to pass your message along. A personal connection is key during any fundraising campaign and others are more likely to donate to a person s cause whom they know through one of their friends or family members. Sometimes all you have to do is ask! 18
Chapter 4: Email Use FirstGiving s fundraiser communication tool Here s a great example of a thank you and fundraising update email from an active fundraiser: Hi there! I hope you're enjoying your Thanksgiving with family, friends and, of course, plenty of good food. In the spirit of the holiday, I wanted express a BIG thank you for your generous donation to Girls on the Run, and give you a quick update on our season: It's almost race day! It's crazy how quickly this season has flown by. On Saturday, December 3rd, our girls from East Palo Alto Charter School will join 300+ other elementary school girls from the Bay Area at Golden Gate Park for the Lollipop 5K run. The girls got to meet their running buddies last week, and they're so excited to cross the finish line with them. When you create your free FirstGiving fundraising page, you have a lot of tools available for use. One of the most effective is our fundraiser communication tool. By logging into your fundraising page account and clicking on the Your Fundraising tab, you will see a an option to Email your page. Start by easily importing your contacts from any email account. Then segment your contacts, customize your email, and hit send! New shoes! Thanks to the GOTR program and lovely donors like you, we were able to present all 12 of our girls with presents yesterday: brand new running shoes! Some of the girls have never owned a pair of running shoes before -- one of them has been running in her aunt's hand-me-down tennis shoes all season -- and they were thrilled with the presents. I've attached a picture of the girls and my fellow coaches -- if you're wondering why the girls are wearing pajamas, it's because we rounded them up for a photo on pajama day :) 19
Recap
Recap Chapter 1: Facebook Share your fundraising page on your Facebook wall, Fan Pages, and Groups. Create a Facebook event and invite all your friends to donate. Be personable and encourage others to share your message. Chapter 2: Twitter Make sure your Twitter followers have a clear idea of what you are trying to do in a single tweet. Being vague or hard to understand will not help your fundraising goals. Use hashtags as a way to add your tweets to a larger, catalogued Twitter conversation. Ask your Twitter followers to RT (retweet) your tweets for exponential exposure. With the incredible pace of Twitter, it s okay to tweet more than once. In fact, it s encouraged. Don t forget to always include a link to your fundraising page. Chapter 3: Video Don t be afraid of your computer s built in webcam. Use it to create a quick video. Videos are a fun way to share your story. Give it an honest try. Post it online through a video hosting site like YouTube and embed it to your fundraising page. Worry more about the message, not the production. Chapter 4: Email Utilize FirstGiving s Fundraiser Communication tool to import and organize your email contacts and send customized emails to your potential supporters. Create some engaging email text. Though we offer templates, consider them guidelines. Adding a personal touch connects your network to you and your cause. Ask your contacts to share your fundraising page with their network of friends and family. Expand your network through theirs. 21
Wrap Up It s not enough to simply create a FirstGiving fundraising page. As an online fundraiser, you must know how to properly market and share your pages in order to reach potential donors. By implementing social media best practices, peer-to-peer fundraisers can engage their network of friends and family for the good of the community more effectively. We hope we ve armed you with enough information to get your social media fundraising campaign up and running. Good luck and happy fundraising!
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