HOW TO HARNESS THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND HELP RAISE FUNDS! Over the last few years social media sites like facebook and twitter have revolutionised the way we communicate with people. They can also be used to increase fundraising and help you spread the message further about your activities. We hope you find the below hints and tips useful in getting started. Keep up to date with what’s happening at Malaria No More UK: • • • • Facebook: “like” www.facebook.com/MalariaNoMoreUK Twitter: follow @malarianomoreuk YouTube: Subscribe to our channel www.youtube.com/malarianomoreuk Pinterest: Follow http://pinterest.com/malarianomoreuk/ HOW TO SPREAD THE MESSAGE ABOUT YOUR FUNDRAISING BEFORE YOUR EVENT: • • • • • • • • • • • • As soon as you have pinned down your event or booked onto your challenge update your facebook profile with your event details and including links to your online fundraising page If you are on twitter start tweeting about your event and again include the link to your online giving page If you are organising a ticketed event, facebook and twitter are the perfect places to get the ball rolling. You can set up an event on facebook and invite people. (Don’t forget that not everyone will be on facebook , so this may not capture your whole invite list) How about changing your timeline cover image or twitter profile picture to reflect your event. For example if you are doing a cake sale, upload an inviting picture of different cakes! If others are helping you organise your event you could set up your own facebook group and ask people to join. This then enables you to talk to those who are involved separately Post regular updates about your fundraising, training progress or plans. Include pictures and videos to keep up the interest If you are doing a big personal challenge, for example, climbing Kilimanjaro or taking part in something like Live Below the Line, it may be a good idea to start writing a blog and detailing your progress and any interesting or funny stories. Every time you update you blog, post the link on facebook and twitter -‐ Friends and family will love hearing your latest news! Pin pictures that are related to your challenge or from your blog on Pinterest Ask your friends and family to share your facebook posts and retweet your tweets so news of your challenge or activity can travel even further If you hit a milestone or have something big to shout about, do it via facebook and twitter. Obviously every donation needs thanking, but if you get a really big one, why not highlight it more on facebook and twitter. This may encourage others to give too! Keep reminding people why you are doing the challenge and how their money can help (We’ve included some malaria facts below to help). Include links to our website so they can find out more about the difference their support is making. HOW TO HARNESS THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND HELP RAISE FUNDS! DURING YOUR EVENT: • • • Think whether you can post live updates. This maintains momentum and gets everyone excited about your event. Take photos on your phone and upload them so people can see what is happening. Dont forget to get the permission from a parent or guardian if taking pictures with children. Don’t forget to let people know that it’s not too late to donate – include your online page link as much as you can AFTER YOUR EVENT: • • • Let your friends and followers know how it went – upload photos and videos, write a blog about how it went Thank everyone involved – you could record a special thank you video and upload it on to YouTube the post it on facebook and twitter Many people may not have got round to donating or sponsoring you so include your online page link again DON’T FORGET TO: • • • • • Keep tweets short – there is a 140 character limit so shortener your fundraising page url using free sites like bit.ly Send regular updates, but don’t overload people Always tag Malaria No More UK on facebook and use @malarianomoreuk in Tweets so we can promote your activity too Use appropriate language and content Respond to people quickly if they tweet back or comment on your posts Malaria facts you can use to inspire others... The facts Follow a fact with a positive Malaria is a leading cause of poverty in Africa, costing the continent £8 billion every year / some families up to 25% of their annual income A child dies needlessly from malaria every minute 655,000 people die every year from malaria, over 90% of these deaths are in Africa Over half of all the countries in the world are affected by malaria Around half of the world’s population is at risk from malaria Money I raise will be invested in lifesaving projects to prevent, diagnose and treat malaria in Africa and help fight poverty Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease Malaria No More UK has already helped to protect over 10 million people in Ghana, Botswana and Namibia and by fundraising for them I am helping them protect even more Around 100 countries have already eliminated malaria and Western Europe has been malaria free since 1960’s Malaria No More UK is supporting Namibia’s goal to become malaria free by 2020 OR Malaria No More UK is part of the effort to make HOW TO HARNESS THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND HELP RAISE FUNDS! sure everyone in Ghana has access to a mosquito net by the end of the 2012