Making the most of social media for fundraising

Social media is a great way to get your fundraising campaign up and running. Gone are the days of wandering around with a change bucket or a sponsorship form, now you can spread the word about your campaign to your friends and family almost instantly.

Social networking is a great way to get your fundraising campaign off and running. Gone are the days of wandering around with a change bucket or a sponsorship form. Now you can spread the word about your campaign to your friends, your family, and even their friends and their families, instantly, all without leaving the house.
Fundraising on Facebook and Twitter has become the norm instead of something done by computer whizz-kids, so for a quick guide to getting started in the world of social media fundraising, read on - and if you get lost along the way, check out the glossary at the end which should break down all the jargon for you.
One of the best ways to get noticed is to make your fundraising campaign tell a story. Why are you raising money for charity? Why are you raising money for that charity? And what’s the money you’re raising going to do?
Social networks make it really easy for you to do this. Between all of Facebook and Twitter’s various features, you can keep people interested and informed instantly – the trick is knowing how to make the most of those them…
1. Status Updates
You should make sure that you post updates fairly regularly, but don’t overdo it. Two to three times a week (on each network) is acceptable, but make sure you include an actual news update each time - if you just end up spamming your link on your News Feed, you’re just going to annoy people. And don’t forget to always include a link to your Charity Choice page!
It’s also worth trying to get your friends on board. Try to get them to donate their statuses to you, or to retweet your posts. If your chosen charity has a Twitter or Facebook page, include them in your posts from time to time as well, using the @ or # tags. The more people your posts reach, the bigger your chance of hitting your target.
2. Link yourself to your cause
We know we’ve just mentioned this, but if your charity’s got a social network presence, become a fan, a friend, or a follower. Getting yourself onside with other fundraisers and putting your news out on their profile pages means that your story will reach more people – more like-minded people – and will get you on your way.
Try retweeting any news from your charity’s page too by clicking the Retweet button below their posts.
3. Photos & Video
Maximise the impact of your story by using photos and videos to tell your fundraising story. The Facebook Photo and Twitpic apps both work really well, so take advantage of the space they give and actually show people what you’re up to. Failing that, check out Flickr or Picasa for even more space.
Most websites and gadgets can handle video these days, too, and short clips can help get your point across really quickly. YouTube and Vimeo both have solid Facebook integration, and Facebook’s video app even lets you tag people, which can help you get your post across your friends’ networks really quickly.
Links can be pretty long sometimes, and Twitter only gives you 140 characters a post, so you might need to enlist the help of URL shorteners like bit.ly or ow.ly to get your message across.
4. Groups on Facebook
Facebook Groups are a great way to keep people up-to-date too, and posting in there will give people much more information that a quick tweet or status update. It’ll also prevent you from clogging up people’s News Feeds and attracting negative comments – the last thing you need when you’re fundraising is bad publicity.
Make sure you make your group public. Invite everyone you know, and enable your members to invite their friends too. It’s a good way to get people you don’t know involved, and maybe they’ll be able to get their friends in too. Before you know it, you’ll be well on your way to your fundraising goal.
5. Messages & Email
Outlook, Gmail, and Hotmail all have pretty good contacts databases, so they’re quite useful for keeping groups of people informed outside of the normal social network posts.
If you’ve got the time, try to message people individually. Personal notes work so much better than mass communications, so at the very least try to break your friends and followers down into groups. Different people from your various social groups will expect to hear different things from you, so make sure you write a couple of templates first. You don’t want to end up sending something you’d write to your schoolmates to your work colleagues -  or anyone, depending on your schoolmates.
Facebook’s messaging service (not that little chat window) is really good for this too. The bonus with this is that most people have their Facebook accounts set up to email them when they receive a message – which means you’re effectively reminding them twice, and you can also use the @ tag to mention your friends and sponsors, too.
6. Engage
Try to use your posts to kickstart conversations. If someone comments on your updates or retweets them, ask them why, and try to use their answers to start mini-debates. Just make sure you do so legitimately. Asking useless questions in a desperate attempt to keep your story on top of people’s News Feeds will probably just mean they ignore your next post. Asking people why they’ve sponsored you is also a good way to generate comments and keep your efforts in people’s minds.
7. Trends
Make the most of what’s so-hot-right-now on Twitter by taking a look at what’s trending and figuring out if you can engage with that. You probably can’t link your fundraising cause to Charlie Sheen, but if you can…
The #CharityTuesday hashtag is a great way to promote yourself to your followers.
And speaking of followers, throwing out an #ff (FollowFriday) tweet on Fridays is a great way to pick up new followers. Mention anyone who followed you recently using the @ tags and round off your post with a #ff, and chances are you’ll be able to snare a couple of new followers – and some new potential donors.
The hashtag functions are great if you’re part of an event, too. #londonmarathon and #raceforlife are recent successful examples, and they’re a good way to get your posts in amongst other fundraisers.
And don’t forget to mention us!
8. Say Thanks

One of the best ways to gain support is to make your fundraising campaign tell a story: why are you fundraising, why are you raising money for a specific charity, and what will the charity do with the money you raise?

Social media makes it really easy for you to do this. Facebook and Twitter’s various features mean you can get your message across quickly and easily. You can use social networking to update your friends and family on your fundraising efforts, making them feel like part of it and not just a financial backer. Here are a few tips on how you can use social media to help raise money for your favourite charities or causes.

 

1. Status Updates

You should make sure that you post updates fairly regularly, but don’t overdo it: two to three times a week on each network is acceptable. Make sure each update is informative and don't just update for the sake of getting your post in front of people - if you don't have anything to say, don't post, as spamming your link on your News Feed is just going to annoy people. And of course, don’t forget to always include a link to your Charity Choice page so people know how to sponsor you!

It’s also worth trying to get your friends on board. Try to get them to donate their statuses to you, or to retweet your posts.


2. Link yourself to your cause

If your chosen charity has a Twitter or Facebook page, include them in your posts from time to time as well, using the @ or # tags. The more people your posts reach, the bigger your chance of hitting your target. You should also become a fan, a friend or a follower. Getting yourself onside with other fundraisers and putting your news out on their profile pages means that your story will reach more people – more like-minded people – and will get you on your way.Try retweeting any news from your charity’s page too by clicking the Retweet button below their posts.


3. Photos & Video

Maximise the impact of your story by using photos and videos to tell your fundraising story. The Facebook Photo and Twitpic apps both work really well, so take advantage of the space they give and actually show people what you’re up to. It's also worth checking out Flickr or Picasa for creating an online album.

Most websites can handle video these days, and short clips can help get your point across really quickly. YouTube and Vimeo both have solid Facebook integration, and Facebook’s video app even lets you tag people, which can help you get your post across your friends’ networks really quickly. Links can sometimes be pretty long though, and Twitter only gives you 140 characters a post, so you may need to enlist the help of URL shorteners like bit.ly or ow.ly to get your message across.


4. Groups on Facebook

Facebook Groups are a great way to keep people up-to-date too and lets you give much more information than a quick tweet or status update. It’ll also prevent you from clogging up people’s News Feeds and attracting negative comments – the last thing you need when you’re fundraising is bad publicity.

Make sure you make your group public. Invite everyone you know, and enable your members to invite their friends too. It’s a good way to get your message across to new people and before you know it, you’ll be well on your way to your fundraising goal.


5. Messages & Email

Outlook, Gmail, and Hotmail all have pretty good contact databases, so they’re quite useful for keeping groups of people informed outside of the normal social network posts.

If you’ve got the time, try to message people individually. Personal notes work so much better than mass communications, so at the very least try to break your friends and followers down into groups. Different people from your various social groups will expect to hear different things from you, so make sure you think about your target audience first. Facebook’s messaging service is good for this too, and you can also use the @ tag to mention your friends and sponsors.


6. Trends

Make the most of what’s so-hot-right-now on Twitter by taking a look at what’s trending and figuring out if you can engage with that. You probably can’t link your fundraising cause to Charlie Sheen, but if you can…

The #CharityTuesday hashtag is a great way to promote yourself, and throwing out an #ff (FollowFriday) tweet on Fridays is a great way to pick up new followers. Mention anyone who followed you recently using the @ tags and round off your post with a #ff - chances are you’ll be able to snare a couple of new followers which could lead to more sponsorship for your fundraising efforts.

The hashtag functions are great if you’re part of an organised event too. #londonmarathon and #raceforlife are recent successful examples, and they’re a good way to get your posts in amongst other fundraisers. And don’t forget to mention us!


7. Say Thanks

Don’t forget to thank people. While it’s easy to get distracted by your target and chase down people for that extra bit of cash, make sure you don’t leave your sponsors behind. They’ve done you and your cause a good turn – return the favour by mentioning them in your posts using the @ or # tags.

 

And Charity Choice have made it even easier to connect to your social networking sites. Setting your preferences in the user admin area of the site allows your Charity Choice account to link through to other pages such as Facebook and Twitter - meaning that you can update your page on here, and it will immediately let your friends and family know what you are up to.