If you're planning on using Twitter, Facebook or another social platform to generate much-needed revenue for your organization — don't. Stick to direct mail and e-mail campaigns. Social media isn't a fundraising tool; it's a means to an end, not the end itself.
But hey, didn't The Red Cross raise 32 gazillion dollars via text messages and social media after the Haiti disaster? The answer may be yes, with one very minor caveat: Your organization isn't The Red Cross. (Didn't we already establish that at the beginning of this article?) The Red Cross is large, has thousands of donors and works very hard at social media so that now it has hundreds of thousands of followers. If your CEO is using this as a gauge for what your organization can do with socia media, better tell him or her to take a seat, take it easy and take things one step at a time.
Attention! Social Media Does Not Equal Fundraising!
If you're planning on using Twitter, Facebook or another social platform to generate much-needed revenue for your organization — don't. Stick to direct mail and e-mail campaigns. Social media isn't a fundraising tool; it's a means to an end, not the end itself.
But hey, didn't The Red Cross raise 32 gazillion dollars via text messages and social media after the Haiti disaster? The answer may be yes, with one very minor caveat: Your organization isn't The Red Cross. (Didn't we already establish that at the beginning of this article?) The Red Cross is large, has thousands of donors and works very hard at social media so that now it has hundreds of thousands of followers. If your CEO is using this as a gauge for what your organization can do with socia media, better tell him or her to take a seat, take it easy and take things one step at a time.