SCT Charity

After I presented SCT with a social media masterclass, I supported a new strategy to use social channels to help raise funds and support for the charity message.

The SCT and Brad Chuck social media strategy: 

As with any fundraising campaign, it’s important to make a clear plan and timeline with your team so you can keep all the moving parts organised. Here are some steps to think about:

1. Create a title for your campaign.
2. Create a hashtag to use across your social platforms.
3. Decide how long the campaign will run, and which aspects will happen when.
4. Draft a content plan, deciding what will be posted and on which platforms (You might want to use a project management system like Trello or Asana, which charities can get as a donated product on the Charity Digital Exchange).
5. Design a unique landing page for the campaign.
6. Set up a plan to track benchmarks along the way.
7. Decide which team member will be responsible for each aspect of the campaign.
8. Consider using a social media management tool like HubSpot or Hootsuite to schedule posts in advance.

DECIDE WHICH SOCIAL PLATFORMS ARE THE MOST RELEVANT

Before launching your fundraising campaign, it’s important to assess which platforms will be best for your target audience. It’s no good designing a strategy based around Instagram, for instance, when it turns out your most engaged audience is not there. Use analytics tools on each platform to decide where to focus your efforts, and research into the audience types for each. Facebook may have a billion users, but you will be competing with many other charities and brands, so it’s a good idea to think beyond the biggest platforms if you want to find the people who are truly relevant to your cause. You may want to explore niche social media platforms with more targeted audiences based on specific interest groups.

REACH OUT TO INFLUENCERS

Sometimes, especially as a smaller organisation, it can be difficult to get the word out about your fundraising campaign. This is where social media influencers can help. Social media influencers are people with a large following on social media who can use their influence to get more people engaged with your cause. Identify the people who are most active in the community or industry that you’re trying to target, and get in contact. For example, baby charity Tommy’s reached out to parents in Facebook groups who were active in conversations about baby swimming lessons, as part of their Splashathon campaign. It helped to facilitate conversations in an organic way and spread the word.

SELECT APPROPRIATE FUNDRAISING TOOLS

Before you can launch your campaign, you’ll need to get set up with fundraising tools. Luckily, there are lots of low-cost or free options available that charities can use to launch their campaigns. To help you get started, Charity Digital Exchange offers tools such as Charity Checkout - a tool which helps charities empower their supporters to set up their own fundraising pages on your website. Even social media channels offer tools for fundraising. For example, Facebook’s Charitable Giving Tools are designed to make it easier to fundraise online. Instagram has recently added features like donation stickers and 24-hour fundraising campaigns for people to donate directly through the platform.

TAILOR YOUR MESSAGE TO EACH PLATFORM

While it’s important to be consistent, social media strategies must not involve a ’cut and paste’ of content from one platform to another. Different platforms demand different tones and approaches and have different audiences. 

SHOW YOUR SUPPORTERS HOW THEIR DONATION CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

The power of social media lies in its potential for storytelling, and this is where you can make your fundraising campaign stand out. Use photos and videos to show your nonprofit in action so your audience can see how their donations can help your organization pursue its mission. Videos are particularly powerful for projecting your message (Facebook videos receive 135% more organic reach than Facebook photos). If your audience can connect with your story and mission, they will be more inclined to donate.

CELEBRATE MILESTONES AND THANK YOUR DONORS

Don’t forget to celebrate your successes along the way! When you’re making your campaign plan, set some fundraising and campaign benchmarks and post on your social media channels each time you meet one - make sure they are tied to the difference you’re making. You should also engage with your donors on social media and thank them for their donations; it can be as simple as retweeting their tweet or leaving a comment on their Facebook post

Using the Brad Chuck template for social media, the SCT team has increased charity fundraising levels by 15% and attracted a 20% increase in followers across each platform.