Do you have a Facebook profile or a Twitter account and do you spend a certain number of hours on it each week? On there you share your news, your photos, your moods with others (loved ones, colleagues, true friends and Facebook friends.) Did you know that your social media presence could serve a purpose? And it doesn’t cost anything but giving a mention to your favourite cause once a week.
Has your cause or organization struggled to find sponsors? This is a problem that a large number of not-for-profit organizations encounter. Does your organization have a Facebook page or an account on another social media site? If so, how many people are following it?
“What is the relation between the number of subscribers and sponsors?”
They are directly related. Imagine you are the owner of a company from which someone is soliciting a sponsorship of millions of dollars in exchange for visibility on social media. You consult, for example, the organizations Facebook page and you only see 1000 “likes.” A disappointing finding…for the requesting organization. This is because the business owner, whether he’s directly or indirectly involved with the cause, will find the exchange to be disproportional.
You may respond by saying: “But me and my whole family have already liked the page. What else can I do?”
Give the page a hand simply by sharing a few interesting things. What attracts people to follow certain profiles and to interact with their owners is relevant and current content. You should surely be seeing one or more interesting post per week. Take the opportunity to share it with your organization and you will help it attract more followers.
“But why doesn’t the organization do that?”
It’s not an easy task to manage the official page for an organization. It’s even more difficult still, if that means running several bilingual profiles that reach national or international audiences. This person is obligated to respect the brand’s image, to look after the organizations reputation, to satisfy the public’s diverse tastes, etc. It is quite likely that your organization doesn’t have sufficient resources to regularly supply their profiles with new content and that they are happy with publishing content from time to time. Moreover, they have probably already put out several calls for help. Have you noticed them? Have your shared them?
“I’m not on social media. That doesn’t concern me,” some say.
You’re not? Lucky you. But within your circle, there are people who are. Ask them… no, make them support your cause on social media. It doesn’t cost anything, but it pays off.
Of course, the number of subscribers is not the most important criteria, but it certainly adds value to the organization’s image. And it’s not the number of “likes” that count, but also the impact on the community. On social media, you can’t cheat, it seems. This interaction between the organization and it’s subscribers represents solid proof of a strong community and increases the chances of attracting sponsors and donators. And, ultimately, it’s the whole community that benefits from that success.