Post by caitlindavis on Oct 8, 2014 14:21:07 GMT -5
I decided to write this post on Susan G. Komen because this nonprofit uses social media to help its fundraising efforts in a very successful way even in times of a crisis. Building a strong relationship with the community through social media is this organization’s first key to success. According to the Susan G. Komen 3-Day official website, you don’t just commit to walking 60 miles when you sign up for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day because as soon as you sign up you become part of a close family that is committed to ending breast cancer. Also, according to the official page members of this family can share photos on Instagram, discuss cancer prevention tips on the organization’s blog or even share fundraising successes on Facebook. Creating a relationship with members of the community makes more people want to “like” and “follow” Susan G. Komen’s social media pages, which in return makes more people want to donate.
This relationship Susan G. Komen has developed with the community has become even more important right now because the organization has fallen under bad light. According to an article in The Nonprofit Times called, “Cancer Walk Competitors Busy In Wake of Komen Debacle,” the Avon Foundation for Women has decided to take advantage of all the bad publicity that is surrounding Susan G. Komen right now because the organization pulled funding from Planned Parenthood. The article goes over how Avon has amped up their social media efforts during this time by spreading their mission and talking more about their walks, but thanks to Susan G. Komen’s loyal community, the nonprofit will still be holding the largest breast cancer walk in the world.
In our second Google Handout we heard from Gloria Huang, who is FEMA’s Digital Training and Capacity Building Leader. FEMA is an extremely successful nonprofit that deals with disasters and emergencies. Their social media fundraising strategy stems out of this organizations number one philosophy. This philosophy is “unity of effort,” which means FEMA uses social media to show people how important it is during a disaster for the community to come together and how each person fits into the puzzle. Even though social media is only one way this organization fundraises, it is still so successful because FEMA uses it from day to day to start convocations in the community. We learned in the Google Hangout with Sarah Milston, the founder and CEO of The Spark Mill, in order for you to be successful with fundraising through social media you must first build a relationship with the community before you start asking for money, which is exactly what FEMA is doing when they are having this conversation over different social media platforms with the community.
Another great social media fundraising tip Sarah Milston provided us with was how important it is to not just hit the ground running when it comes to using social media to help raise money for your non-profit. She suggested that we build a very large social media presence among the community, which in the long run will help create a better relationship between your organization and the community. One of the other social media fundraising practices she told us about was how important it is to have strong relationships with individuals in the community. This relationship is so important because when an individual makes a post on social media asking for money for your organization they are much more likely to get donations than your nonprofit would from your own posts. Also, another practice she explained was how a nonprofit should try and partner up with another organization that has a strong social media presence, so you have more opportunities to get your mission out to the community.
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