Talisman Thinking Out Loud

Last Quarter Social Media Moves: Fundraising

September 29, 2009 at 6:23 pm Barbara Talisman, CFRE 2 comments

Hey guys! Sending a hard copy newsletter and/or electronic version to your supporters? Getting your end of year appeal ready? Maybe this is the time of year you distribute your annual report? How about adding some social media to the mix?

Do you have a Facebook page or group, a Twitter account or two or a group on LinkedIn – take some time to review your friends and followers. Who in your group has lots of fans, friends and followers? Those folks could help you increase your last quarter bottom line. These social media “major donors” may not be on your email or mailing list. Besides the updates you post, they may not be receiving the same detailed information as your land-based donors.

Are you planning to launch a Causes campaign on Facebook or Tweetathon as part of your end of the year appeal? Why not? To date, we are not seeing five or six figure results from causes and Tweetathons. But when we launch an online campaign in addition to the support from the traditional end of year campaigning – those $1,200+ online campaigns can add up.

Reach out to your friends and followers. Find the leaders amongst them. Make friends on and off line. Send a few messages, get a few responses. See if they are willing to lead the charge to raise money to support your organization. Set up a challenge or competition to see who can raise the most money. Make it short and sweet – fundraising with social media needs to be quick and to the point.

Start now forming relationships beyond a status update. Social media provides us with unprecendented access to supporters’ likes and dislikes. It can be easy to start a “conversation” about your organization and their interest. Engage them in making a difference to your organization by raising money needed to make your mission real.

Last quarter of the year – make some new friends. Form a new kind of annual campaign committee – online. Add these folks to your major gift list and cultivate a win-win relationship.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Furl | Newsvine

Entry filed under: Fundraising, Social Media. Tags: fund raising, Fundraising, non-profit, Social Media.