Social networking and raising funds

MySpace, Facebook, Bebo – what have the tools of the teenage and twenty-something generation got to do with fundraising and charities?

All charities want to raise awareness, get more people involved and raise more money. Social networking is just another means to make it happen…

What is social networking?

Social networking sites allow individuals to share personal and political identities and actions with peer groups. Or put another way, they’re a means for people to come together with a shared interest, meet new people (virtually or in reality) and contribute.

Social networks are not new… it’s just easier to make connections and join conversations we would never have known about before. – Steve Bridger, nfp 2.0

From the classics MySpace, Facebook and Bebo through LinkedIn and SagaZone (not exclusively for the over 50s) there are many opportunities to link with friends and supporters, share ideas, messages and link to opportunities for relationship building and encouraging supporters to contribute, whether financially or otherwise.

Social networks in action

A number of charities are using already social networks with positive effects, linking users as well as raising awareness and funds.

  • By creating a page on a Bebo, (a popular site with teenagers), the NSPCC not only raised awareness of their work but also provided an easy and accessible way for children to contact them. www.bebo.com/DontHideItAnymore
  • MySpace helps promote the work of Cancer Research and raise the profile of events such as Breast Cancer Awareness month. Perhaps most importantly it also gives people who have been affected by cancer in some way a chance to make contact with each other and share experiences and support each other. http://profile.myspace.com
  • Oxfam are using a Facebook group to link to their videos on YouTube and to promote campaigns they are running. (You need to be registered on Facebook to view Oxfam on Facebook but registration is free). www.facebook.com
  • Passionately Pink for the Cure on Flickr is a group that has been created on Flickr to promote breast cancer awareness. Users posted their pink themed photos and for each photo uploaded Yahoo (owners of Flickr) contributed $1 to the charity.

The sites aren’t yet generating huge revenues but the opportunities are there to be built on.

But what about small community groups

The classic examples (and early adopters) are all large charities. What are the local community organisations running on a few thousand pounds a year doing?

The internet is as valuable to people at the end of your street as the other side of the world. You can connect with local people as well as those far away. Civic societies are already using blogging for community participation. Facebook and MySpace tools won’t be far behind as organisations strive to keep time-poor but issue-committed individuals in touch with each other from the other side of the street.

Yes, it would be great to meet more face to face but if we can achieve what we need (and make the best use of our resources) using virtual tools, why not? Isn’t it better to communicate virtually and raise a few extra pounds than write it off as ‘too hard’ and lose the extra income?

Where does money fit in?

There’s little evidence to date that social networks are generating large sums of money for the charities that use them but that may change despite concerns to the contrary. The networks are attracting large numbers of ‘activists’ and simply raising awareness is the first step to developing potential donors. Fundraising will get harder as more causes compete for funds but if your friends help ‘sell’ your message, you might well generate new relationships. Remember to look after them though…
Justgiving.com has a fundraising application which allows Facebook users to add a Justgiving element to their profile, allowing them to track their fundraising progress and raise more funds from their network of online 'friends'  facebook/justgiving. There’s a similar tool for MySpace users www.myspace.com/justgiving

It’s about communities


The one thing social networks do well is link people together in a community. The ‘widgits’ and ‘apps’ allow you to share details and resources but you need to invest time and effort. You need to get to know people. You need to offer something – even if it’s only a shared vision and details of the impacts you make.
I have many people who leave comments, but I also suspect that I have lurkers too. What Facebook has been able to do is help know my readers a little better. What constantly amazes me is that I am able to connect with people who I may not have met otherwise, but we're interested in a lot of the same topics – Beth Kanter

How many friends and relationships do you need anyway?

I’m sceptical about people who have thousands of friends and what that says about the quality of their relationships. Sure, you can manage interactions quickly and easily but how much of this is about real relationships and how much about the numbers. It’s a bit like charities with millions of ‘supporters’ who don’t have any degree of personalisation so keep bombarding regular donors with more requests for money.

Be practical

Social networking offers opportunities. Friends of friends can be a great help in sharing a message and the various sites offer a way of bringing communities together. It won’t change the world overnight and won’t mean you can give up your other efforts but it might make a difference. So what’s stopping you?

Time for action

So with a little time, some forethought and planning, why don’t you spend some time over December and January planning how social networking will make a difference to your charity or community group? You could call it a New Year’s Resolution.

Take a look at Wild Apricot’s top ten list for opportunities to see what your organisation might do and check out the best practice resources at the end of the article.

Uses for social networking

  1. To raise funds for your organization's fundraising campaign
  2. To find and communicate with potential supporters
  3. To stir and broaden support for important social issues
  4. To empower members to engage in their own actions
  5. To organize, promote and manage events
  6. To promote your organization's blog, latest news and meetings
  7. To raise public awareness and money for advocacy efforts
  8. To find and recruit volunteers
  9. To create a single branded page of your organization's work
  10. To stay in touch with core audiences on an ongoing basis

The journey of a thousand miles starts with but a single step. Time to get walking…


Resources

 

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