3 WAYS to Optomize your WAITT Donations:

1) Amped-Up Social Media

We all have Facebook and Twitter, perhaps even Google+ and Instagram. But have you leveraged all that’s available just within Facebook? Of course, you’ll need to make full use of your organization’s Facebook Page but don’t forget about Facebook Groups that can be used to connect supporters and WAITT Members on the topics of the day. This would include your special initiatives and fundraisers.

In addition, Facebook Events can help you organize your events and get out all your critical communications in support of those events. We also like Facebook Ads which can help you reach people that wouldn’t normally even find your organization. For more information, look at Nonprofits on Facebook and their Raise Awareness section.

Don’t stop with Facebook either. YouTube has a nonprofit program which provides a number of tools and resources to help you tell your organization’s story using video, the most powerful medium in our tool kit. Plus, Google for Nonprofits provides tools and ad grants to help get your message out to a broader audience. There are also Twitter Ads that can help tell your story.

As soon as you know that a WAITT business is locked in to give to your organization its always a good idea to promote the day/month that they will be donating to you. This will help your supporters engage more with the businesses that give to you and in turn the businesses will take notice.

2) Awareness Days and Months

With all the nonprofit organizations focusing on these key dates it is a perfect way to bring your story to the forefront. But you need to take the time to prepare for that special day. This can include:

• Creating a webpage that recommends the actions your supporters should take on that day.
• Hosting a Tweet Chat with a special hashtag for the day.
• Providing graphics that your supporters can share.
• Sending invitations to your supporter lists asking them to participate.
• Tweeting and post your messages throughout your awareness day.
• Following up with a report on the interest and perhaps donations you raised as a result.

3) Celebrate an Event or Milestone

This is somewhat related to awareness days, but instead it is an event or milestone that is specifically about your organization. It could be the anniversary of your founding as an organization or it could recognize a major milestone from the past or one that’s just been achieved.

This type of celebration not only raises awareness but also engages your supporters in the event itself. As just one example, I like the concept of super events where you recruit several hosts for smaller group events that all happen on the same day. That could be a gathering over coffee, lunch, or dinner.

Hitting a big fundraising target could also be a superb milestone to celebrate. And don’t forget about all the lead up to hitting that milestone that can serve to activate existing supporters and bring in new supporters as well.

Use our canva template to share your appreciation for WAITT donations on all your social medias!