Making Event Participants More Successful With Social-Media Tools

The evolution of Facebook as a tool for special-event fundraising can be broken down into three phases. Prior to 2009, participants tapped in to their social networks by manually posting their own status updates or sharing links on Facebook and other sites. These individuals were early innovators in terms of their use of social media to assist their fundraising efforts. In early 2009, event organizers began recognizing the growing impact of social networks on fundraising and became more proactive in prompting participants to tap in to their social networks to support their efforts. Following the release of integrated Facebook and event fundraising tools in 2009, the marketplace then experienced an accelerated use of social media by participants to help strengthen their fundraising. Organizations increasingly began using more sophisticated Facebook applications that automated status updates by prompting participants throughout event campaigns.