Largely because of its extensive reach and low costs, social media has rapidly become an important tool for social causes and nonprofit organizations. Through the use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, email marketing, and numerous other platforms, organizations are able to target and reach huge numbers of potential donors and followers.
Being able to reach such a wide audience can also be a two-edged sword. Particularly in these financially troubled times, social causes and nonprofit organizations are inundating a target audience who is increasingly becoming less responsive and more thick-skinned to their postings. This in turn requires that each of these organizations develop and implement an effective strategy designed to meet their specific goals, which can include increasing awareness, fund raising, attending a conference, etc.
I recently began working with several organizations including Vassar Hospital/Dyson Center, Mid-Hudson Workshop for the Disabled and Kiwanis Club of Poughkeepsie in the following promotion which we posted as a Facebook event (scheduled for March 31st of this year):
Leukemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow, which many children are dying from. You know what’s sad? A lot of us can help them. A simple cotton swab of your mouth to collect DNA can register you as a donor and a simple procedure can extract your bone marrow to save a life. Consider the HUGE impact you will have if you are a match for someone with leukemia!
(This event is scheduled on Thursday, March 31 from 3-7 pm at Vassar Brother’s Medical Center/Dyson Center for Cancer Care)
As we plan on making this an annual event, here are some more ways that we plan on promoting it using social media:
- We will be visiting the www.facebook.com/causes app, which currently has over 21 million active users. We will also be visiting the causes exchange (exchange.causes.com). This Facebook app will allow us to interact with many people and groups while enabling us to reach out to our Facebook friends.
- We will probably also create a simple blog on Tumblr because it”™s quick and easy (and free).
- Since there are already numerous organizations involved with Leukemia and DKMS (“where Leukemia meets its match”) ”“ with whom we are already working, we will enhance their Facebook and Twitter efforts by enlisting support and followers. This includes the loading of pictures onto their websites. One thing we don”™t want to do is be in competition with anyone while still getting out our message.
- We also won”™t be doing any videos at this point. Although they can be highly effective, if you don”™t have a reasonable budget, thousands of fans or a celebrity, they may not generate many completed views or results. Besides, for our specific cause, videos already exist including one by Shaquille O”™Neal. If you do decide to use videos, I strongly recommend that you create several of them while making sure that you maintain a consistent theme across every video. (A consistent thread is crucial to a successful social media campaign.)
- Discussions are also very useful. It”™s a great way of building relationships, strategies and followers ”“ particularly if it involves good, thoughtful content. This can be done on Facebook or on a site that promotes groups such as Yahoo Groups or Ning, which primarily focuses on the development of a community. The reason why we probably will not use Ning is because we can”™t donate the necessary time it requires to maintain and grow a group. Nevertheless, it can be a highly effective platform.
- We will also use an email campaign to maintain contact with people who have expressed an interest in being a donor. This may include invitations to events, discussions, etc. throughout the year.
- One thing you should always use social media for is to request help from others. We will be asking all of our friends and contacts to forward or retweet our message to their friends and followers. Remember, it”™s social media; it”™s supposed to be social and this is for a good cause.
In short, I will be participating in a social cause to help people suffering from childhood leukemia. I have included several of the steps in the social media campaign we recently started as a guide for anyone who would like to work with us or any person or organization looking to promote a social cause.
Bruce Newman is the vice president at The Productivity Institute L.L.C. He is also the editor of the Productivity Institute Newsletter, a free content-is-king newsletter and thought leader. Follow him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and the Productivity Institute blog. He can be reached at bnewman@prodinst.com.
I would love to help.. Public relations goes a long way.