Social media and online fundraising campaigns go together like peanut butter and jelly. And while you know you should post and share on social media, you may not know exactly what kinds of things you should be posting, how to engage others to share for you, and how to schedule posts.
Don’t just wing your campaign social sharing strategy- some planning ahead of time can help you reach your audience and promote your campaign well.
This social media guide and template will help guide you on what content you can create, what to post, how often you should post, and provide the tips you need to effectively engage your audience to become your strongest social sharing asset.
Let’s take a look at how you can best promote your campaign on social media.
Content For Social Media
While social media posts differ from platform to platform, each platform is centered around sharing content. To do social media promotion well, start by preparing your social sharing content in advance.
Here’s some kinds of content you’ll want to create to share across platforms, which will also help you tell a unified story about your campaign:
Blog posts: Use the blog on your campaign to write up various posts about your campaign’s story, updates on your campaign (Launch, reaching part of your goal), reflections on related news, stories of impact, interviews with staff, and more.
Videos: You’ll want to create one main campaign video that helps the audience emotionally connect to the cause by telling one unified story about the impact your organization made on someone’s life. Throughout your campaign, you’ll also want to record short videos that show impact, highlight an important moment, or display what staff is doing behind the scenes.
Images: High quality images really work to engage your audience on social media on all platforms. Take photos that help show who is benefiting from the campaign, what your nonprofit is doing, where your nonprofit is working, and how your nonprofit is helping.
Over the years @Africa_Found provided 4000+ Hippo Rollers moving 2m litres of water pm! Today we’re in Hluhluwe, KZN to see the impact there pic.twitter.com/YfAFFVTXDl
— Hippo Roller (@hipporoller) March 28, 2017
Infographics and text on pictures: Infographics work to take numbers and concepts and visualize them in a way that is easily digestible. These can work to educate people about your campaign. Using text on a picture can also draw greater attention to your overall message, and be used to communicate impact, share a testimonial, create urgency, and more.
Related News Stories: Finding related news stories to share can really help keep your campaign relevant to culture. Set up a google alert for key terms relating to your cause, and share news throughout your campaign that relates back to your campaign, offering donors a way to take action.
Every school should have a farm to feed its students https://t.co/NpyHogzOS9 via @SchoolyardFarms
— GOOD (@good) December 6, 2013
A Note On Campaign Hashtags
Hashtags aren’t just something to do because it’s “in”- they really help to track any posts relating to your cause across platforms and can really unify your campaign.
Try and come up with a short but catchy campaign hashtag to use on all your posts and for your supporters to use on theirs.
Here’s more info on Developing The Perfect Crowdfunding Campaign Hashtag.
Where and What To Post:
Since most traffic to your campaign site will come from Facebook and Twitter, with the help of some awareness from Instagram, it’s best to focus most of your energies on those platforms. However- consider also posting on Linkedin and engaging your audience on Snapchat!
Let’s take a look at a few examples of what kinds of things you can post before, during, and after your campaign on across social media platforms. While you’ll see that the content is similar, there are some minor but key indicators about how to translate a post from platform to platform:
Twitter is a very public arena where groups form and fade, and audiences are relatively easy to come by.
Twitter’s main restriction is that all posts must be 140 characters or less, which means it is mainly useful as a place to get the word out rather than develop relationships and commitments.
Here’s some sample posts you can adapt for your own campaign:
Before/Upon Launch:
We’re so excited to introduce our {Enter Campaign Title Here} Campaign! Together, we can make an impact. *Share Campaign Video* #yourhashtag
We’re gearing up to launch a new effort to help {insert campaign cause}. Who wants in? *Attach photo of who the campaign benefits* #yourhashtag
Our campaign is live! You can make a difference for {insert who the campaign benefits} Here’s how: {insert campaign URL} *Attach photo of who the campaign benefits* #yourhashtag
During:
Did you know that {insert statistic}? But that doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. Learn more at {insert campaign URL} *Attach infographic* #yourhashtag
THANK YOU ALL for helping us reach 50% of our campaign goal! You’re part of making a huge difference. {insert blog post URL} #yourhashtag *attach image or gif*
“Insert quote from a blog post that talks about your organization’s impact” Read the full story here: {insert blog post URL} #yourhashtag *attach image*
“Insert quote from a fundraiser blog post” Read more about why {insert character name} is raising funds for {insert nonprofit}: {insert blog post URL} #yourhashtag *attach image*
See how {Insert character name}, {insert who they are} is changing their world. {insert blog post URL} #yourhashtag *attach image*
{Insert fundraiser name} has committed to raise funds with {insert campaign name} to benefit {your nonprofit}.
You can join the challenge here: {insert campaign URL} *Attach photo of fundraiser* #yourhashtag
Take your #yourhashtag pledge to the next level and help fundraise for @YourTwitter! {insert campaign URL} *Attach photo with text*
You can make a difference! You can be part of changing lives by giving: {insert campaign URL} *Attach infographic* #yourhashtag
There’s only 1 day left of our campaign! It’s not too late to late to make an impact. Donate here: {insert campaign URL} *Attach photo with text* #yourhashtag
End/After:
Thank you for making a difference in {insert approximate number of people helped} lives! You helped our campaign raise {insert amount raised} to help {insert cause}. *Attach infographic* #yourhashtag
Our campaign raised {insert amount raised} to help {insert cause}! Thank you for making a difference! #yourhashtag *insert photo with text*
Frequency:
We recommend building some excitement for the campaign 1-2 weeks before.
You can post on twitter up to 5 times a day, and we recommend posting at least twice a day with a link back to your campaign.
Types of content:
Facebook still remains the king of social media. With no character limit, you’re able to elaborate on your Twitter posts and share more details.
It’s the place you go to share things with your friends and see what they are up to.
Because of this, Facebook is a great environment to grow your crowdfunding campaign. If people in your audience believe in your cause, they will happily share it with their networks. Since the basis for interaction on Facebook is friendship, there tends to be a higher level of trust.
Substantial posts with videos and eye-catching visuals that link to articles and pages with more information work really well. Forbes cited research showing that posts with images get an 85% interaction rate on Facebook and 35% Retweet rate on Twitter.
Before/Upon Launch:
We’re so excited to introduce our {Enter Campaign Title Here} Campaign! Next week, we’ll be launching a campaign that aims to raise {fundraising goal} to help {insert brief description of cause.} Together, we can make an impact. *Insert image with text* #yourhashtag
Our campaign is live! You can make a difference for {insert who the campaign benefits} by partnering with us to provide {explanation of what services you’re giving}. Here’s how: {insert campaign URL} *Attach photo of who the campaign benefits* #yourhashtag
During:
Before {help from your organization}, {insert character name} would have to {insert their situation}. Now, {he/she} is able to {insert the impact}. Learn more about how {your nonprofit} is empowering people like {insert character name} to make a difference. #yourhashtag *insert campaign video*
“Insert quote from a blog post that tells a story about someone impact by your cause” Read {insert character name}’s full story here: {insert blog post URL} #yourhashtag *attach image*
“Insert quote from a fundraiser blog post” Read more about why {insert character name} is raising funds for {insert nonprofit}: {insert blog post URL} #yourhashtag *attach image*
{Insert fundraiser name} has committed to raise funds with {insert campaign name} to {insert your cause}. So far, they’ve raised {insert dollar amount} by {insert how they did it}. That means they’ve impact {insert number} of lives! Thank you {Insert fundraiser name}! What can you do to make a difference? Find out: {insert campaign URL} *Attach photo of fundraiser* #yourhashtag
Meet the staff who are helping {insert cause} every day. *insert short interview video or blog post*
Your generous support empowers {the who the campaign benefits} to {outcome of your assistance}. Explore our campaign and show your support here: {insert campaign URL} *Attach photo* #yourhashtag
There’s only 1 day left of our campaign! It’s not too late to late to make an impact. Donate here: {insert campaign URL} *Attach photo with text* #yourhashtag
End/After:
Thank you for making a difference in {insert approximate number of people helped} lives! You helped our campaign raise {insert amount raised} to help {insert cause}. *Attach infographic* #yourhashtag
Frequency:
You should post on Facebook a maximum of once per day and at least 3 times a week.
Types of content:
With over 300 million monthly active users, Instagram is key- especially for sharing high quality image content.
Instagram photos aren’t just eye-catching, though, nonprofits with powerful images can really make their story known to their audience.
With the addition of Instagram Stories and the new carousel feature, you’re able to even communicate more with multiple images and share quick videos of your team to show day-to-day impact or behind the scenes at your nonprofit.
Before:
*Upload image* We’re so excited to introduce our {Enter Campaign Title Here} Campaign! Next week, we’ll be launching a campaign that aims to raise {fundraising goal} to help {insert brief description of cause.} Together, we can make an impact. #yourhashtag
*Upload image of who the campaign benefits* Our campaign is live! You can make a difference for {insert who the campaign benefits} by partnering with us to provide {explanation of what services you’re giving}. Here’s how… (Link in bio) {insert campaign URL in bio} #yourhashtag
During:
{Insert fundraiser name} has committed to raise funds with {insert campaign name} to {insert your cause}. So far, they’ve raised {insert dollar amount} by {insert how they did it}. That means they’ve impact {insert number} of lives! Thank you {Insert fundraiser name}! What can you do to make a difference? Find out (link in bio) {insert campaign URL link in bio} *Attach photo of fundraiser* #yourhashtag
Meet the staff who are helping {insert cause} every day. “Insert quote they said about working at the organization” *insert short video or image of the staff member* #yourhashtag
“Insert quote from a blog post that tells a story about someone impact by your cause” Read {insert character name}’s full story in our blog post (link in bio) {insert blog post URL link in bio} #yourhashtag *attach image*
Because of the work our organization does, we get the privilege to see people like {insert a person the campaign benefits} get to {insert important moment}. Way to go, {insert a person the campaign benefits}! Want to help people like {insert a person the campaign benefits}? Donate to our campaign! (Link in bio) {insert link in bio}
End/After:
Thank you for making a difference in {insert approximate number of people helped} lives! You helped our campaign raise {insert amount raised} to help {insert cause}. *Attach image with text* #yourhashtag
Frequency:
We recommend posting as frequently as once per day but at least twice a week.
Engage Fundraisers And Donors To Share On Social Media
One way to increase your campaign’s reach on social media is to encourage your supporters to engage with the campaign on social media. This will exponentially increase your campaign’s reach to new audiences and, since social media works as a form of social proof, can help you raise more. Here’s a few things you can do to encourage fundraisers to share:
Provide A Social Media Toolkit
Similar to the social media posts provided above, providing a template your fundraisers can use to help promote your campaign can really help increase sharing. A few things to include in your social sharing toolkit include:
- Your campaign hashtag
- Social media tweet template
- Social media calendar- what days would you like them to post certain tweets on?
- Images, images with text, logos, video links, and infographics
Providing a framework for your supporters to promote your campaign on social media will go far to help them promote your campaign!
Incentivize Sharing
One of the best ways to inspire your supporters to post about your campaign is to incentivize it. This will create a buzz around your campaign and can help it easily spread. Here’s a few ways to incentivize sharing:
- Start a video challenge (think: Ice Bucket Challenge)
- Photo contest
- Find major donor willing to match a dollar amount for photo shares
- Storytelling competition (you can use the CauseVox blog for this!)
Any way you can gamify social sharing and encourage supporters to use social media for activism will certainly elevate your campaign’s social media presence to a whole new level
Interact With Supporters
The goal of interacting with your followers is to be an active participant in the discussions happening online, which in turn encourages further follower engagement.
When a follower realizes their posts matter to an organization, they will be empowered to post more and feel included in your nonprofit community. A few ways you can interact with your supporters is:
- Highlighting donors or fundraisers and tagging them in posts
- Posting a fundraiser’s blog post and tagging them
- Retweeting or Sharing their posts about your organization
- Replying to any posts about your organization
Any interaction with supporters helps show that you really care about their dedication to your cause!
Scheduling Tools
While there’s now many tools to help you schedule your social media, here’s a few of the best that make doing social media across platforms easy.
Hootsuite
The industry leader, Hootsuite serves as a hub for managing all your social media streams and keeping your finger on the pulse of your social communities. Hootsuite also allows you to manage post scheduling on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin, but without pro-level features, scheduling large batches can be a pain. Which leads us to our next tool.
Buffer
Buffer does one thing and one thing only: schedule content and push it to your various social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. It does this in a steady controlled stream instead of a single overwhelming blast that your audience will miss or resent.
Tweetdeck
Tweetdeck allows you to organize and build custom timelines, keep track of lists, searches, and activity while also scheduling content for Twitter. Tweetdeck is great for keeping track of the use of your campaign hashtag as well.
Crowdfire
To schedule Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook in one go, Crowdfire is your best bet! Simple to use, Crowdfire will have you put in content, automatically schedule it, and will even learn your organization’s interest and suggest posts.
Customize Your Social Sharing
Before you get started promoting your campaign at all, the first thing you must do is ensure you’ve got a custom social sharing image and description set for your campaign in your Settings.
Your social sharing image and description create what your campaign looks like when it’s shared on Facebook.
Different social media sharing sites have different and specific requirements. To create an effective link preview, the format of your sharing image and description needs to adhere to Facebook’s requirements so that it looks best when shared. Here’s a few things to keep in mind about creating your social sharing image and description:
- The image size should be about 1200px W x 630px H
- The Share Title should be about a max of 60 characters
- The Description has about a 240 character limit
Let’s take a look at the characteristics of a good social sharing image and description through a couple of examples:
Save The Syrian Children:
In their post, they’ve used some simple best practices to help drive people to click on their link from social media:
- A high resolution photo with only one or two subjects (this establishes an emotional connection with the viewer) that depicts a representation of who the donations are going towards
- A title depicts what your campaign is hoping to accomplish
- A brief description of how your campaigns will accomplish your goal
Franklin Court Garden Upgrades
In their post, here’s some of the best practices they used to help drive people to click on their link from social media:
- High resolution photo depicting the impact the campaign will create
- Introduced the central character of their campaign story in the description
- Used the description to intrigue the reader to click on the campaign to learn more
While these are just a couple of examples, some other engaging sharing images include:
- Using a title and description that addresses the audience directly and shares how they can make an impact. (Ex: You Can Help Provide Education For A Girl)
- Adding powerful text to your sharing image or a logo using photoshop or an easy tool like Canva.
Tip: Don’t have a high resolution photo on hand? Pick a free royalty free photo on unsplash that is representative of your campaign.
