Tell Your Story Through Social Media

Tell Your Story Through Social Media

Over the past several months, we have witnessed how social media has been at the forefront for not-for-profits —allowing them to tell their story through social media —and one of the extremely successful, viral campaigns being the Ice Bucket Challenge. As BBC News Magazine points out, there have been in excess of 2.4 million ice bucket-related videos posted on Facebook, and 28 million people have uploaded, commented on or liked ice bucket-related posts. On, image sharing website, Instagram there have been 3.7 million videos uploaded with the hashtags #ALSicebucketchallenge and #icebucketchallenge.

This campaign has done an incredible job of not only fundraising but also increasing overall awareness of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Prior to the social phenomenon of the Ice Bucket Challenge, ALS remained a relatively overlooked disease that the average individual was unaware of.

Though the social craze behind it will likely not be recreated anytime soon, there are many lessons to take away from the success of the Ice Bucket Challenge regarding how social media can be leveraged to help your not-for-profit fulfill its mission.

Here are several tips that virtually any organization can easily take advantage of at little or no cost.

LinkedIn Company Page

A LinkedIn page is free and will create an official presence for your organization on the LinkedIn corporate network. It enables you to not only market your organization but also communicate with followers on a regular basis. The page also acts as a forum for dialogue, which leads to increased engagement. LinkedIn reports that there are more than 259 million registered professionals on LinkedIn, and that 82% of them are interested in volunteering. By posting an opportunity for a skilled volunteer, you can find volunteers with the skills and experience your organization needs. In addition, LinkedIn’s Board Connect is a program that helps not-for-profit leaders find high quality professionals to join their boards.

Facebook Company Page

This page will give Facebook users an idea of what your organization does in real life. Through this page, an organization can plug events, meetings and other activities, publish insightful and interesting information in its status updates, ask its fans what they think with polls and post videos, photos, or other links. Word-of-mouth discussion for an organization is readily accommodated through the sharing functions which allow for friends of fans of a network to find out about your organization. Facebook, in summary, is best used to foster a community for an organization as well as engage with it.

Twitter Account

Another large and established network of people, comparable to Facebook in its free and easy-to-setup interface and the ability to engage with people in conversation directly. What distinguishes a Twitter account, however, is its ability to report in real-time, giving it the feel of a news station for your organization. Tweet articles or blog posts by your favorite newspapers, bloggers or other not-for-profits. If it is a good read or a good resource, it reflects well upon your organization that you Tweeted it.

YouTube

Leverage the power of video to spread your mission. If you have a story to tell, why not film someone telling it. Include images of the places you’ve been and the people you’ve helped – what better way to truly show what your organization does.

As the world has discovered, through the social phenomenon of the Ice Bucket Challenge, media can be a powerful tool when it comes to building a community that cares about your organization’s mission, driving awareness, sharing your story and connecting the advocates to the public. It provides a place where people can share the work they are doing in the real world and gain a sense of momentum and community by seeing similar stories from around the world.

Need More Information?

If you have any questions about this not-for-profit update, please contact your WithumSmith+Brown professional, a member of Withum’s Not-for-Profit & Education Services Group by filling out the form below.

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