Up until recently, fundraising for colleges and universities has been a difficult task. According to an article by Diverse Education, it took the efforts of Columbia University to illustrate the magnitude a social and online presence can have in fundraising. The university raised nearly $8 million in 24 hours in 2013 during a social media driven campaign. This got the attention of many fundraising managers around the country.
The technique involved identifying key social media influencers in the alumni directory to help with the initial push of such an earnest campaign. The results are in, though. Implementing these techniques has brought in millions of dollars for colleges and universities across the country.
Online Success
Taking the fundraising to online platforms was a necessity for colleges and universities looking to set the pace for a new era of raising funds. Alfred Harrell III, executive director of the Southern University System Foundation states, “I don’t care if it’s an HBCU or a PWI or nonprofit, you need to be moving your fundraising model online for people to give virtually.” The point can be validated by the many solid fundraising tools we see on the market today, along with the success stories that are involved with each one.
Social Media Fundraising For the Win!
The key to successful fundraising is to leverage multiple platforms. Sites like GoFundMe.com can be used to set up a custom campaign and landing page, but social conversions can be low considering the amount of steps involved in getting a customer to a landing page to donate. A key differentiator in your campaign can be the use of social media to take payments IN-STREAM, or within the platform.
Are you utilizing tools that allow you to take payments in-video on your website or social platforms like Facebook? Can you imagine the increased reach a tool like this could develop? Are you using Twitter to take payments from your audience in that platform? If not, it’s time to examine these additional fundraising tool to add to your arsenal. Feel free to checkout our Video platform as well as our Twitter donation platform. If you’ve used social media to raise funds, we’d love to hear your success stories. Feel free to comment below and fill us in on what worked for you.