Social Media and Influencer Marketing
Lesson 3
Watch and listen to a recording with slides, or read the full text below. NOTE: Some pieces of the video content may be outdated. Rely on the text below for the most up-to-date content.
As an online giving campaign, Give OUT Day relies primarily on digital marketing channels for its success. While it is most important to recruit fundraisers – their social media posts are more likely to drive donations than your own – social media can serve as a good supplement to your other fundraising efforts.
Over the years, organic reach on social media has steadily declined, making your organization’s social posts less than ideal for driving donations. However, you can think of social media as serving to reinforce your messages that your fundraisers deliver and that your organization delivers via email and other channels. Often, folks need to receive a message multiple times on multiple channels to be persuaded to take action, so use as many relevant channels as your organization has the capacity to manage.
Consider these tips when leveraging social media for Give OUT Day.
Platforms
Where should you be posting on social media for Give OUT Day? The data show that the majority of Give OUT Day donations coming from social media come from links on Facebook, so that’s a good place to start.
More generally, you should post on channels where you already have an active presence and where you expect your prospective donors and fundraisers to be spending their time. Don’t try to create a new channel with the start of this campaign!
Content mix
You'll want to use social media posts to make asks, but just as important is other content that serves to make your case and strengthen your brand, whether through stories, stats, quotes, or other content.
Trolls
Give OUT Day might bring out online trolls who make disrespectful comments, if not worse. Depending on the comment, you could try to educate the individual, or if the comment is particularly inflammatory, you can delete it and ban the user. You should have zero tolerance for bullying behavior.
Visuals
Enhance your posts with graphics, photos, and video. Use the graphics templates in the previous lesson on graphic design and branding. Content with visuals, especially video and live video, tends to outperform text-only posts. Think about what type of visuals could supplement and enhance the story you tell through your campaign.
Example: ORAM
ORAM created a simple but effective video clearly explaining the impact of donations. While it’s here on Twitter, it’s a good idea to cross-post your content across channels that make sense for your campaign.
ORAM is supporting an LGBTIQ refugee-led soap making business in Kakuma refugee camp! Can you help us reach our target of $2,500 on #GiveOUTDay tomorrow? To find more about our campaign, click here: https://t.co/IlwqYes8ux#refugee #Lgbt #donate #soap pic.twitter.com/4z1KMZmeQG
— ORAM (@ORAMrefugee) June 29, 2020
Advertising
Because of declining organic reach, it’s likely that your social media posts won’t reach all your followers. In fact, it is normal that your posts reach only a small fraction of your audience. But creating paid ads can help.
Consider making an ad on Facebook targeted to people who are already in your audience. Facebook custom audiences allow you to target your email list, people who have interacted with your page, and people who have visited your website – that is, people most likely to fundraise and give!
Hashtags
Using the #GiveOUTDay hashtag makes your posts more discoverable by new audiences and lets you join in on the conversation.
Influencers
Given that your own social media posts might have low organic reach, who else can post on your behalf? Your fundraisers, of course. But do you also have connections to individuals in your community with large followings who can post your organization’s fundraising page? Or even create their own?
We recommend you start planning early and get social media influencers to help post for you.
Resa Baudoin
The Freedom Center for Social Justice
Example: Third Wave Fund, Leaderboard Winner
Third Wave Fund, which works with sex workers to advance queer and trans liberation, had a prominent sex worker with hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers post about their Give OUT Day campaign.
Join me in donating to @3Wave’s #SWGivingCircle for #GiveOUTDay There is no queer or trans liberation without SWers. All donations from now until midnight tonight will be matched by an activist donor, up to $30,000. Donate here & learn more: https://t.co/8hB64W38xW pic.twitter.com/b6NMCuKOpz
— Stoya (@stoya) June 30, 2020
Example: Trans Lifeline, Leaderboard Winner
A single peer-to-peer fundraiser created by influencers was successful at securing nearly 200 donors for Trans Lifeline!
Sample Social Media Calendar
When planning how you’ll post on social media, don’t think about social in a vacuum. Instead, think about it in the context of all your communications. It’s essential that your communications be integrated: You’ll see that this sample social media calendar mirrors the sample calendar for email. In other words, what you send to your email subscribers should largely be consistent and cohesive with what you post on social media, for instance.
The templates below align with the following calendar, with a few additions at the end for other types of posts you can make throughout your campaign. But don't hesitate to post on social media more frequently than this!
When | Message |
|---|---|
12 weeks out | Save the date |
10 weeks out | Invitation to become fundraiser (see template in "Recruiting Fundraisers" lesson) |
8 weeks out | Reminder to become fundraiser |
4 weeks out (May 1) | Campaign starts today |
1 week out | One week out |
Day of (morning) | It's today |
Day of (evening) | Last chance to give |
Day after | Thank you |
Templates: Social Media
Don't forget that you can use the graphics templates from a previous lesson in your social media posts!
Save the date! #GiveOUTDay is May 30, but the campaign starts at the beginning of May. We'll have the chance to win thousands in prize money! We hope you'll join us!
This Give OUT Day, [LGBTQ Organization] is trying to [raise $5,000 to fund 1,000 calls with local youth seeking support.] As a #GiveOUTDay partner, we have the opportunity to win thousands in additional prize money if we have the most donors in our category! Giving starts today and ends May 30. Can you chip in $25? [insert link to organization’s fundraising page]
#GiveOUTDay is one week away! It’s the only national day of giving for the LGBTQ community. But you can make an early gift now to increase our chances of winning prize money! Please contribute $25, which funds [four calls for youth seeking support.] [insert link to organization’s fundraising page]
Today is #GiveOUTDay! Our goal is [to raise $5,000 to fund 1,000 calls with local youth seeking support.] We have until midnight tonight to reach our goal! Make a gift: [insert link to organization’s fundraising page]
Only a few hours left! We know we can reach our goal if we all pitch in. Can we count on you? [insert link to organization’s fundraising page]
Wow, what a day! Together, we raised [insert amount] from [insert number] donors! [Indicate whether you won a prize.] We could not have done this without your support. Thank you!
We are halfway to our goal! Can you keep up the momentum by sharing this post with three friends and asking them to give? [insert link to organization’s fundraising page]
[Insert brief client story.] A $20 donation to [LGBTQ Organization] helps us support people like them!
Out your wallet, and show your pride! When you make a gift to [LGBTQ Organization] during the month of May, you advance our Give OUT Day campaign and help us reach our goal of [funding 1,000 calls to LGBTQ youth seeking support.] Join us: [insert link to organization’s fundraising page]