The document discusses incorporating social media into fundraising strategies. It begins by noting that social media has become central rather than peripheral. It then provides an overview of major social media channels and their uses before discussing how to use social media for fundraising. The key aspects are acquiring an audience through adding value and flexibility, involving the audience through engagement and appreciation, and optimizing efforts through variety, specific targeting, and tools. The overall goal is to build relationships and provide valuable content to eventually solicit donations.

1. Incorporating Social Media into the Fundraising Strategy
Inna Tarabukhina
2013

2. Attitude shift – from periphery into the
center
 Brief overview of top Social Media
Channels
 Social Media in fundraising
 Streamlining Social Media – how not to
get caught up


3. Social Media has moved from the
peripheral to the central
 It has become elaborate and userfriendly, making it

 Accessible
 Easy to use
 Effective and reliable

Embracing Social Media will determine
success of a campaign or effort

4. Primarily an internet-based tool for sharing
and discussing information
 Can take various shapes – think broadly!
 Facebook, Twitter, etc are optimization
channels for Social Media

 All Facebook is Social Media, but not all Social
Media is Facebook

Social Media is a conversation on the
Internet, that has been localized to various
platforms

5. Being engaged with your donors is key
 Relationships underlie both your cause and
how you plan to achieve it
 Conversations on Social Media are nonstop

 This means you can tap into the conversation,
and engage people to your advantage
 You cannot control the exchange of information
at large, but you can manipulate it and become
a key interlocutor

6. Facebook
Twitter
Google Plus
Tumblr
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Flickr
Instagram
YouTube
Vimeo

7. 
Different platforms are optimized for
different content
Content
Visual
Instagram
Pinterest
Content
Heavy
Video
YouTube
Vimeo
Instagram
Tumblr
Facebook
Interactive
Twitter
Facebook

8. 
Before you can get donations, you must
have donors – Audience Acquisition
Value
Flexibility
Involving
Audience

9. Value
 Your posts must add value to the
conversation
 You must give to get
 Share expertise, insights and opinions
Your Social Media followers are not
numbers – they are people, in real time
 Approach every post as you would a
conversation

 No one wants to talk about you all the time!

10. Use value to engage your audience with
your cause
 Provide sufficient background to make it
obvious that your cause is worthwhile
 Show that supporting the cause will add
even more value
 Use the cause or effort as a valuable
contribution to the existing conversation

 Make bridges, show connections and
applications

11. Flexibility
 Stay in beta – be prepared to tailor and
tweak your strategy at any point
 Maintains an open mind to new
opportunities
 Allows for effective troubleshooting and
alternatives
 Keeps the door open for continuous
improvement

12. Keeping an eye on the trends
 Allows to tap into the influencers quickly

 People or organizations who already have a
distinct presence in the target community
 Jumping on the band wagon gives access to a
broader network
 Credibility by association

Social Media is evolving all the time (eg.
Video feature on Instagram)
 A flexible strategy allows for effortless
adaptation

13. Involving
 Maintain an ongoing reciprocal relationship
with your audience/potential donors:
 Reply to comments
 Encourage and then acknowledge Likes/Shares
 Follow back
 Retweet/reply to tweets
 Show appreciation
 Conduct opinion poles; discuss results; facilitate
discussion

14. Your activity on Social Media mirrors
your commitment and your vision of your
donors
 Appreciation fosters mutual respect and
credibility
 Make the community want to be
associated with your cause or mission


15. 
Share your story and do your research
 Make your perspective relatable and easy to
understand
 Find organizations or people with similar
backgrounds/passions/missions and connect!
○ Pool networks to build Internet presence

Action Points:
 Video testimonials or success stories
 An engaging blog/website posts on the origins
and direction

16. 
Embrace Variety
 Internet allows for anything from text to videos
and images – use them!
 Visual images are easy to share
 Videos are engaging and allow a break from
text-based material
○ Show, not tell

Action Points
 Develop an archive of visual posts optimized for
sharing
 Create a small video series captioning the
essence of the organization. Show the donors
where and money will go and why

17. 
Go from specific to the general
 Find the influencers in the community and foster
relationships with them
 Show your support for associated organizations

Action Points:
 Scout Twitter and Facebook for similar
organizations
 Engage with these organizations by linking their
page, following them on Twitter and tweeting a
conversation
 Use action words and make donations easy
“Like for More” “Donate Now”
 Track the flow – use popular hashtags and tags

18. Social Media is extensive. Take
advantage of existing optimization tools
 HootSuite

 Allows you to keep track of all your social
media platforms and post from one common
site
 Avoids having to log into multiple sites
 Registered non-profits receive a 15%
discount (free version has limitations)

19. 
It is key that posts are regular, valuable
and relevant
 Use websites that allow for queuing of posts
 Pre-scheduled Twitter posts
○ FutureTweets.com
 Queued Tumblr posts
 Link multiple accounts – Facebook with
Twitter; Twitter and Facebook plug-ins for
Websites, for cross-sharing

20. 
Take advantage of apps!
 StayClassy.org
○ “Nonprofits can accept donations from a
website, create custom fundraising campaigns
for marketing, launch peer-to-peer fundraising
campaigns, and sell tickets or registrations to
events.”
○ Can be incorporated into Facebook

21. 
To get the most from Social Media,
understand how it works
 Internet likes content. Your content is your
value.
 Internet likes reliability. Post regularly, in a
variety of formats.
 Internet is a platform for Conversation 2.0.
Give to get
 Internet “evolves.” So should your strategy.
Look for trends and use them to your
advantage.

22. Donations
Building
relationships via
Social Media
Valuable Content

23. 





Identify an organization with a similar mission
Using LinkedIn and the organization’s Website, find
the structural hierarchy and identify key decision
makers
Follow the organization on Twitter and tweet an
introductory tweet
Like the organization on Facebook and post an
invitation to an upcoming event/share an image/like
and share an event or recent post by the
organization
Contact the key decision makers to negotiate
cooperation, a partnership or cross-promotion
The organization’s existing network will be an asset
for building community presence and awareness

24. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at
i.tarabukhina@gmail.com