Can your charity use social media to make your events more successful?
Positive East, a charity that helps people in east London affected by HIV, used social media to really make a difference to the success of its fundraising event, the 5k Red Run, in 2011. The charity doubled the number of people registering for the run, which raised three times more than the previous year.
We’ve been speaking to Mark Butcher, community and events fundraising officer, about how Positive East achieved these great results:
“Leading up to 5K Red Run in 2011 we plugged the event through Twitter and Facebook a lot, more or less abandoning traditional print marketing. Our stats show us that almost 25% of traffic to the 5K Red Run website last year was generated through social media.”
Want to follow in Positive East’s footsteps? Here are Mark’s top tips for a successful social media campaign:
1. Create separate accounts for your events
Make your event stand out by creating a separate social media identity for it.
Positive East has created a separate Twitter account for its 5K Red Run. This means it can target its information better and be more relevant to its followers.
2. Champion your fundraisers
A retweet or a Facebook call-out is a simple way to start building a relationship with your followers and you’d be amazed how much they’ll appreciate it.
Positive East has a ‘fundraiser of the week’ whose efforts get promoted on Twitter and Facebook. The team also welcome any new runners with a ‘welcome’ tweet.
3. Talk about more than just the event
If your supporters are taking part in your event, they are almost certainly interested in issues that relate to your charity too. While you have their attention, make them more likely to continue supporting your charity by introducing them to the work your charity does.
Positive East gives updates on its own news as well as wider HIV-related news and issues.
4. Give a little extra
Everyone loves a freebie, whether that’s free advice or free goodies – and your supporters are no exception. It’s not always easy for charities to give things away but partnering with an outside organisation is one way to make this possible.
Positive East has teamed up with Running Fitness magazine, so they can offer running tips and even a few subscription and sports equipment giveaways.
Would you like to see how other charities are using social media? Take a look at our top five charity Facebook Timelines
Tags: Events, Facebook, Social media, twitter