Social media is a fantastic tool for building awareness for a campaign and raising money using your friends and networks. Follow some of these hints and tips to raise as much money as possible through social media.
Start a blog
If you feel strongly about an issue like the DRC Crisis, starting a blog can be a powerful tool to raise awareness. One of the biggest success stories has been schoolgirl Martha Payne’s blog NeverSeconds, which she has used to raise more than £100,000 for children in Malawi – proof that blogging works.
What to write about? You could chronicle your training for a marathon, share your views on an issue, post pictures of a comedy moustache you’re growing or talk about your baking exploits if you raise money selling your cakes – anything you feel comfortable writing about.
There are a few basic things to bear in mind to make sure your blog’s a roaring success:
- Post regularly, preferably on the same day every week so your readers know when to check back for new content
- Include keywords (things your readers might be searching for) in the post and as tags
- Share photos or videos wherever possible. They go down well with readers and are perfect if writing’s not your thing.
And remember to promote it through other social media channels…
Get your Facebook friends involved
Never underestimate the power of your network of friends and families: Facebook is a powerful way to raise money for your charity of choice. These are just some ideas:
- Post links to your blog
- If you’re staging an event to raise money, round up as many attendees as possible by setting up a Facebook event
- Ask people to share your status update with their friends so you reach even more people
- Put up photos of your fundraising efforts, as people are much more likely to share or like a photo
Like your blog, you’ll want to update your Facebook page regularly, perhaps 3-4 times a week, to make sure your friends notice you in their news feed. But don’t bombard them or they’ll start hiding your updates from their feed.
Tweet your way to fundraising success
Twitter can help drive traffic to your JustGiving page or fundraising blog and reach people far outside your immediate circle of friends.
You could even try tweeting @ celebrities, journalists or politicians in your local area, asking them for a retweet: they are usually happy to support a good cause and you might even get your efforts covered by a local paper if you play your cards right.
One of the biggest Twitter mistakes is tweeting the same thing too often and simply asking for money. Your tweets should add value – a link to an article about an issue relating to your cause is a good example.
Fundraising and crowdfunding platforms
Bring your fundraising efforts into the digital age by setting up a profile on a fundraising platform like
JustGiving or Causes. This will give your campaign maximum exposure and make it easy as pie for your friends and family to donate.
If you want to start a larger project and want support from outside your social network, think about pitching your idea on a crowdfunding platform like Crowdfunder or Wefund, telling people all about your plans and making a good business case for why they should invest money in your project.
Engage with your charity on social media
Don’t forget to support your favourite charity’s social media page. Share their status updates, follow and retweet them on Twitter and read their blog to keep up with what they’re doing. See if they’ve got a Twibbon (an online equivalent of a charity wristband) which you can use as your profile picture to help them out. If not, create your own!
They’ll be over the moon to hear that you’re raising money for them and will happily promote your efforts to all their social media followers too. Find out which seven emergency crises that need donations.
Are you raising money for a good cause through social media? Tell us all about it and share the links to your blog or social media profiles with us.
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