Social media is here to stay-and fortunately for all of the groups and organizations out there trying to raise both dollars and awareness through successful fundraisers, social networking outlets like Twitter and Facebook really make short work of getting the word out. Today, let's take a look at Twitter-and how to use the constantly-growing web service to promote your fundraiser.
Step One: Make A Plan.
At first, it almost seems like the only way to start is to just to dig right in and begin posting messages to Twitter through your members' personal accounts. A scattershot approach, however, just doesn't have the focus and impact needed to be really effective. It's best to draft a plan on how and when you'll post tweets about your fundraiser-one way is to actually think about your themes, sketch the topics out, and make a dedicated calendar that spells out exactly when to post a new message to Twitter and what it should say.
Step Two: Use A Dedicated Twitter Account.
It takes about 2 minutes to setup a new dedicated Twitter account for your organization's fundraiser, complete with a nice background and all. Even if you'll be using another Twitter account associated with your organization, or plan to synergize with multiple accounts of your members, be sure to centralize your messages on their own specific account and then re-tweet from there. A traditional hub and spoke model like this still works very nicely with today's modern web communications.
Step Three: Build A Profile.
The "About Us" blurb allowed by Twitter is very limited-anything more than a short sentence will get cut off. If you have a website with a page about your organization-or even better, a web page just for your fundraiser-then be sure to link to it here from your Twitter profile. And then on an ongoing basis, be sure to post tweets that contain helpful details about your fundraiser; these posts will serve as kind of a dynamic, ongoing "About" profile to keep readers informed.
Step Four: Connect, Connect, And Connect.
Ensure that all members of your organization or group are following the fundraiser's Twitter feed from their own Twitter accounts. This is square one. Also very important is connecting with community partners and the local media through Twitter. Local media outlets will often scan the feeds of those they follow to pick up on newsworthy events and activities (and don't be afraid to ask them to do a story on your event either-this is a perfect informal way to get their attention).
Step Five: Share & Communicate.
This is what Twitter is all about, right? Post and post often. It's all about creating awareness, and as long as you can find something interesting to say, and then share it-that's what your followers want to see on Twitter. While it's always well advised to be creative and come up with new things to share, it's also okay to continue re-purposing your core message time and time again. Multiple impressions over time are most likely to get the attention they command. And finally, be sure to participate in the greater community by interacting with others and reposting. After all, Twitter isn't just a one-way street.
One Final Piece Of Advice…
Keep it active, fresh, and lively-the rest will fall right into place. Follow and build upon these five essential steps of using Twitter to promote your fundraiser and you'll have all of the bases covered. Here's to the best of success with your next fundraiser!
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