Fundraising the SMART Way: Using Social Media Right, Part 3

Ellen Bristol

June 25, 2012

About the Author

Ellen Bristol

Ellen Bristol, President of Bristol Strategy Group, is a nonprofit thought leader in fundraising effectiveness and nonprofit management optimization. She has a passion for helping small to medium sized nonprofit organizations, NGO’s, and social enterprises build and grow fundraising capacity, adapting classic principles of the process-management discipline to this all-important strategic function.

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This is the last in our series of three posts on how nonprofit organizations can use Social Media Right, with thanks to Ken Okel.  In Part 2, Ken explores some of the effectives ways your use of Social Media helps to manage successful fundraising performance.

8.  Does Your Social Media Campaign Go to Disney World?
People go on vacation and they get sick. When this happens, does your social media output stop? Make sure there is a structure in place to ensure new content is created and distributed. 

Does your “backup” person feels comfortable with the process? Don’t give him or her the assignment 15 minutes before you leave the office for a visit with Mickey and Minnie.

Ellen’s comment:  If you’ve got ten minutes to do something, spend the first nine planning.  Try to keep a reserve of content, posts, or simply titles at all times, so they are there when you need them.  You can even establish a performance metric for this, like “always have at least four concepts for posts in reserve” or something like that.  Helps to hold your marketing staff accountable!

 9. Repurpose and Repeat
Don’t think that you need to come up with unique content for Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and your blog. If it’s good information, then it should be shared across all platforms.

Your mission is to format the content for each social media site. Can your blog post be recorded as a YouTube video? Can the video be represented by a still picture, even if it’s a behind the scenes shot of the video being recorded?

Ellen’s comment:  Remember the difference between “get it done” and “get it perfect.”  In this case, repetition is in your favor!

10.  No Sneaky Stuff
Do not “like” your own posts. This smells of desperation.

Do tell people about your social media presence. This information should be featured in your lobby, on your printed materials, and in your email signature. If you don’t tell people about your social media efforts, how are they supposed to follow you?

Make sure your posts stay on topic. Over time you can recycle ones that were popular. This is acceptable. Do not post things like, “It’s a beautiful day,” or “What are your plans for the weekend?” When your updates contain no value to your followers, you become very easy to ignore. Once you lose their trust, it’s hard to win them back.

Ellen’s comment:  Think of every follower as a potential client, volunteer, donor, employee or member of your board.  Your social presence helps you establish their trust early.  Don’t blow it.

Ken Okel is a former TV journalist and a veteran of the nonprofit world who helps organizations harness the power of social media. For more on how to pump up your nonprofit’s online profile, visit www.SocialMediaNonprofits.com or call 561-737-4321.

How has Social Media helped – or hurt – your fundraising efforts?  How well aligned are your Social Media messages with your strategic objectives?  How big is your following?  We would love to hear from you!  We invite your comments and you can email me or call me any time at 305-935-6676.

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