OVERARCHING PRINCIPLE
CREATE ONE C-19 CAMPAIGN AND ADAPT EXISTING MATERIALS TO SUPPORT IT. THE THEMED CAMPAIGN IS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN MANY DISCONNECTED POSTS AND WILL SAVE YOU TIME.
STEP ONE: DEVELOP YOUR CAMPAIGN
☐Have I focused my strategy on the social media platforms where I’ll have the most impact?
Example: If you have a robust Facebook following, develop a C-19 strategy that works for that, rather than for a Twitter platform where you have a negligible presence.
☐Have I developed a mission-related theme? Pick an aspect of your mission, a message that will resonate now, and post-Covid. You can anchor both your activities and appeals around this theme.
Tip: Post one explicit funding request for each 3-4 campaign posts.
☐Have I developed an engaging #hashtag that will work now and when we re-emerge?
Example: #BGResilience – Bartram’s Garden’s hashtag theme acknowledges their current struggle while projecting a positive, post-pandemic future.
☐Are we set up to track metrics, so we’ll know what works, what doesn’t, and can adapt accordingly? Setting this up at the beginning will save time later. Establishing goals and tracking can be a great project for a media-savvy student or volunteer.
STEP TWO: USE WHAT YOU HAVE TO INCREASE IMPACT BY PLATFORM
☐Am I using time-saving tools to layout the images, graphics and videos for my campaign?
Tip: Canva is a great tool to jumpstart your assembling branded, beautiful prints for sharing. While there are pricing plans available, basic templates are free. https://www.canva.com/templates/
☐Am I maximizing presence on image-driven platforms by leveraging what I already have? Choose an aesthetic that matches your Instagram color palette, story icons and layout with your other brand communications, such as your logo, website and/or newsletter. It will help you fold fundraising and non-fundraising posts together on Instagram so your profile feed seems like one continuous piece of art, an attractive whole.
Tip: Enliven your Instagram posts with gifs and boomerangs.
☐Am I maximizing presence on text-driven platforms by leveraging what I already have? Post campaign-related articles and blogs on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Plunder your archives for graphics, pictures and videos to enliven the text.
Tip: Post testimonial messages related to your campaign accompanied by your hashtag.
☐Am I maximizing my video content with vlogs, pictures and webinars I already have? You can also add current video and images to encourage supporters to donate to your campaign.
Examples: You can share a vlog or webinar on Instagram IGTV and FacebookTV. You can share brief (<=10 seconds) videos and pictures on your Instagram and Facebook stories.
STEP THREE: MULTIPLY YOUR REACH
☐Have I tied my campaign to hashtags with similar goals and broad audiences?
Example: The Mutter Museum tags itself with the City of Philadelphia’s #PhillyFromHome hashtag. This ensures the virtual tours of their museum appear to viewers scrolling through posts mentioning the #PhillyFromHome hashtag.
☐Have I made it easy for friends and colleagues to spread the word both personally and professionally? Don’t limit campaign posts to your nonprofit’s organizational profiles. Ask your staff, board and volunteers to post/re-post campaign messages on their own individual profiles.
Tips: Schedule a video conference with your nonprofit’s staff and close supporters, (board etc.). In the meeting, explain that you’d like them to promote your campaign on their individual LinkedIn profiles. Ask for volunteer social media ambassadors.
To encourage ongoing participation, have your social media manager (or a volunteer) monitor, thank and engage with team members who share your campaign posts.
WHAT OPPORTUNITIES DOES THIS PRESENT?
☐This is the perfect opportunity to boost social media literacy of the entire staff, which makes it easier to enlist their help in spreading our fundraising messages in future.
☐What can I learn from this crisis that can improve our future fundraising on social media?
Examples: Build a strong, categorized, accessible, archive of interactive pictures/video makes it easier to communicate with constituents when activities are cancelled/go virtual.
Developing capacity to receive voice activated donations, such as “Alexa, donate $50 to EducationWorks in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.” The innovation of AI voice recognition is just one way that trying new technology can elevate your nonprofit.
You’ll find more fundraising tips and techniques in Nonprofit Hero, Five Easy Steps to Successful Board Fundraising, available on Amazon, or for free from your local library. And via my LinkedIn pages. Schedule a game-changing board retreat that’ll turn your volunteers into Nonprofit Fundraising Heroes, contact info@vmja.com.