Social Media for Fundraising?
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Social Media for Fundraising?
Fremont: The rise of social media has given a new dimension to various aspects like sharing information, marketing, and of late fund-raising. People these days spend more time on Facebook and Twitter, rather than read emails and newspapers, social media can be the perfect place to help raise funds. The personal fundraising web pages were first introduced in 1999, and have not looked back since then. The idea of using social media is that you tell some, they tell others, and so on. It is like a dominos effect, which leaves a visible impact on everyone in the loop. Different media help in a different way, like Twitter helps users to tweet and re-tweet their opinions, while Facebook helps them to dedicate a full page, and even link it to the fund- seeker's site. Generally, social used as a part of a multi-channel strategy, in the sense that the fund-seeker cannot avoid the other facets like emails, face-to-face events and reaching out through the mainstream media. Social media helps in getting a wider outreach than the traditional means, and touches people at a point which has the most impact on them. Studies have proved that participants, who use online fundraising tools, raise six times more money than those who don't. The fund-seekers should have a 'Share' page on every site that they link, so that the fund-givers or interested parties can get to know more about the same. The click philanthropy can let users spread the message and leverage the fund-raising. Raising funds through social media, helps not just you, but all those who are linked to you, as they can also take a similar approach in case they need funds. These days, the donors expect to be a partner, rather than have a one-time visit to donate. They tend to remain engaged by sharing their mission, programs, support systems, personal ties, and anything that the audience might be seeking. An emerging trend is that of deadline-driven appeals, in which funds must be made within a specific timeframe, which makes people more interested and is more effective than open-ended appeals. Social media helps by unifying a large number of individuals for a common cause. A report by the NTEN, Common Knowledge, and ThePort, states that Facebook is the most popular site for fund-raising. An important point to take note of is that social media should not be used as a direct tool to raise funds, as people prefer staying away from computer-generated messages, and respond more to personal messages. Fund seekers should remember that people are ready to fund something, only if it touches them.

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