Community First, Monetize Later
That’s the mantra recommended by social media strategist and blogger Ephraim Gopin in his recent Fundraising Success article, Attention! Social Media Does Not Equal Fundraising!
Says Gopin: “If you’re going into social media thinking dollars and cents, get out now. If you go in looking to engage, interact and build up a community of people who are interested in your mission/brand, then down the road you have a better chance of successfully running a fundraising campaign.”
Now, if your nonprofit has been fooling around with social media, you’ve probably already come to that conclusion.
But I was impressed by Ephraim’s step-by-step walk-through of how a nonprofit should conceive and implement its social media presence.
He poses and suggests answers to a series of questions (I’ve re-ordered a bit to suit my own logic) …
- How will social media fit into your organization’s overall PR and marketing strategy?
- What are the short- and long-term goals of your program?
- Who to engage?
- How will you help your community?
- Where’s your target audience hanging out?
- Which platforms are best suited for your organization?
- Who will do the engaging?
- How will you measure return on engagement?
- What kind of content will you be pushing out?
- When should you post content?
- How can you get people to read your content?
- What are the guidelines for your community manager?
- How will you deal with negative comments?
I’d put this article in the Social Media 101 category. It deals well with the basics.
Tom
P.S. Ephraim’s blog is fundraisin is fun.
One response to “Community First, Monetize Later”
Behavioral Science Q & A
Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the orgās brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]
Read Full Answer
Iām not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language.Ā I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, hereās a couple […]
Read Full Answer
Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology ā creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]
Read Full Answer
Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Hereās another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]
Read Full Answer
Thereās just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they āseeā and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]
Read Full Answer
Iām not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019ās charitable giving. The researchers didnāt find a reduction. Actually, they observed an āincrease in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
Read Full Answer
Great post with lots of useful information. Thanks so much for sharing (and I’m now following Ephraim!) I’m tweeting the article too. š