It comes to you, the online world: you’re scrolling through the feed with the latest news, cute pictures of pets, and funny memes but here you see an appeal from a local charity. Want to raise money for some urgent needs, this article is written around how to use social media to drive donations and fundraising.

As if you don’t have a choice, this non-threatening kitten grabs the attention of a caring heart, and before you have thought of it, you have pushed the button that says donate and share this post.

This is the power of social media; this is the nightmarish and ominous potential to which social media is rapidly evolving. But how can this be utilized to a benefit for your cause and your fundraising endeavors?

It can be very challenging for any given non-profit organization, community group or a hard-working individual who feels that his or her cause is worth fighting for to embark on using social media for fundraising and donation.

You may be thinking, I understand that social media can make a difference but how? Or how do I get people to care as well as take action? Well the truth is if done right, social media is your best fundraising tool. Now let me elaborate how it can be done.

This article aims to analyses the potential of social media.

Before we dive deeper into what has been, what is, and what will be in terms of social media, it is pertinent to ask the question, why social media? Having billions of active users globally, the utilizing of Facebook, Instagram, Tweeter, and LinkedIn is incomparable.

They are available such in the social media platforms where people are spending most of their time making it easier to reach out to the potential donors. The use of social media should enable you share your story, your audience as well as the community behind a particular cause.

The Problem

Nevertheless, it is the fact that a vast number of organizations fail to leverage social media in fundraising properly. They may be posting occasionally but there is no enough engagement let alone the much needed donation.

The content may not be culturally sensitive or some relevant content may not be getting to the masses. Sometimes it is due to the incoherent direction or rather a poor understanding of the presence of the tools in this platform by individuals.

The Solution

Arising from the above discussion, it is possible to state that for social media to facilitate its goals of donations and fundraising, there has to be a proper strategy.

This includes knowing your audience, creating great content, and posting frequently while knowing how best to use the features of the platform. Now it is high time that I am going to detail each of these components.

Know Your Audience

So, be sure you know your audience before you began communicating with them. Are your potential donors young professionals, established parents or are they within the retirement age or a combination of the lot. If one understands the audience then this will help in framing the message in a way that will be acceptable with the targeted audience.

Strategies for Defining the Target Public

• Analyze Your Current Donors: Rock for example, what your current supporters look like. How old are the addicts? Are they male or female? Where are the addicts from? What are their hobbies?

• Use Social Media Insights: Facebook, Instagram and other platforms have audiences’ analytics that provide information regarding followers’ gender, age, and activity on the profile.

• Create Donor Personas: Create specific avatars of the target donors and their needs, goals, pain points, and behavior concerning causes.

Craft Compelling Content

It has been observed that content is the supreme ruler in the social media platform. It is for this reason that the content that has to be created for the purpose of fundraising should be engaging, honest and shareable. Here are some tips:

Tell Your Story

The public relates with narratives and not figures. Organizations should share the process that is in place, the struggles of the activity, and the functions of the funds. Emphasize testimonials of people who ultimately receive a benefit from the work being done.

Use Visuals

It presents findings that visual content is effective than the textual content in social media platforms.

It is very important to utilize high-quality pictures or videos in favor of your cause. Other forms such as infographics and animations can also be used to bring out an aspect or explain an issue or substantiate with a given impact of donations.

Be Authentic

Authenticity builds trust. This means that you admit your requirements are lawful and truthful, in the way the funds are utilized, and sincere regards towards the benefactors. Provide glimpses of work done by the organization to demystify the process and bring it closer to people.

Engage Consistently

One cannot deny social media any longer, but it is not just a platform of giving out information. For one to have a pool of supporters in their network, people must engage the network frequently.

React to the Comments and Messages

Always reply to the comments and messages that you get. This makes your supporters feel appreciated and acknowledged the fact that you hearing what they are saying.

Host Q&A Sessions

Get on Facebook live or IG live and do Q&A sessions. This enables one to respond to queries they post, inform them of new posts and even communicate with them directly.

Encourage User-Generated Content

Encourage your followers to write their stories, post pictures, or record videos concerning the issue you advocate for. This does not only give you with new content to read but it also helps in boosting the spirit of togetherness.

Utilize Platform-Specific Features

Every social media site has special characteristics that can be effective in fundraising. Here's how to make the most of them:

Facebook

• Facebook Fundraisers: Set up a fund that will allow people to contribute following the specific link provided. Make your supporters start and manage their own fundraisers for the various causes that you support.

• Facebook Live: Conduct a live session to attend to the audience, convey new information, or exhibit your work at the exact time.

• Groups: It is recommended that a Facebook Group be established for your supporters so that they can interact with each other.

Instagram

• Instagram Stories: Tell stories to pass daily posts, extra posts, and posts that are more important than others. It is also recommended to put a ‘Donate’ button and stick it on the stories so that it becomes convenient for the fans to give their contribution.

• Instagram Live: Go live to test yourself with the real-time interactions with the viewers. Use this feature for question and answer, the live broadcast/telecast, or for publicizing your benefactors.

• IGTV: Upload more intensive videos that describe your organization’s work and results in detail.

Twitter

• Hashtags: Hashtags make your posts more visible; therefore, you should incorporate appropriate hashtags. In order to monitor the level of engagement of your audience to the campaign you have set, it is advisable to come up with a tag for the campaign that will only be used for that particular campaign.

• Twitter Chats: Hold a tweet-up and ask questions that relate to your cause to be answered on Twitter. This is where a specific hashtag should be used to encourage the conversation.

• Pinned Tweets: Highlight a tweet that you want to be seen by your viewer by pinning it at the top of your profile. This could be the link where a person can donate, a testimony, or an emergency call.

LinkedIn

• Company Page: This include updating The LinkedIn Company Page with some news, stories and impact reports.

• LinkedIn Articles: Write extended pieces on topics related to your cause, cases of acute need for funds and the results of giving.

• Professional Network: Look for your professional contacts as the best place to market your campaign. Hint to employees and volunteers to share your posts.

Handling Objections

This is the case even if you have the best strategy formulated and in place, anticipate to face objections. Major donors may not trust to whom they are donating, may not know the impact or results that may be expected, or be reluctant to give online. Here's how to address these concerns:

Transparency

Similarly to health, one should not hide the financial situation from the partner. Explain how the donations are being utilized and the changes/certainties that it brings forth. Always post a regular output or give updates or a report every now and then to ensure that the people trusts its source.

Testimonials

Any form of testimonial from the beneficiaries as well as previous donors should be shared. Thus, true life testimonials from the persons, who had a positive experience with your work, may be persuasive.
Security

Worry the potential donors not to worry as their information is safe with you. Select reliable payment services and pay attention to your safety measures.

That’s why it is crucial to keep them interested through the creation of open loops. Promote events that are yet to transpire, reveal on-going stories and suggest more stories that will be produced in the future. This drives people’s repeat patronage and the probability of them one day donating.

Measuring Success

Thus, to be sure that your efforts are effective, you need to define the key performance indicators in your niche. Monitor interaction level such as the number of people liking, following or sharing your page, and of course, the amount of money you’re raising.

These are some tips that one can employ in order to make enhancement on the results that he or she is obtaining in the course of playing the game.

Conclusion

Social media fundraising is in part science and part art. It involves various aspects, including learning your audience, creating good content, interacting frequently and optimally using available attributes.

The obstacles can be met and turned into opportunities through addressing the objections, constructing open loops, and measuring the results to transform social media into an almighty fundraising weapon.

Thus, it’s imperative to be genuine, disclose information, and be reliable and dependable. Social media is all about how people relate to cause and since they felt related to a cause, they will be willing to support it.

Therefore, begin to share your story, interact with your audience and notice the improvements in the number of donations received. Happy fundraising!

SOURCE: https://socialhub.com.ng/how-to-drive-donations-and-fundraising/