Fundraising for sure is the lifeblood of any charity.
And it never, ever stops.
It’s the all consuming, 24/7, beast of every charity.
It’s often why charities are forced to hire CEOs who are skilled in fundraising, but have meager marketing or social media skills.
“But while critical, fundraising should be the last application.
Prior to that, how are you bringing people into your fold? How are you getting people bought into your mission?”
By issue raising, I mean helping your donors and followers become aware of the issues you are fighting. Getting them to become emotionally involved and committed to your goals. Getting them to be champions to your cause. And frankly, in this age of Covid 19, when people’s worlds are turning upside down, getting your donors to still care about your cause.
“It’s also clear in the age of Covid 19, people will be even more careful with their money and skeptical of how it’s being used. ”
People want to see where their dollars are going, to hear the tale of how their donations were utilized and changed lives. They want to see that film where bringing water to a village changes lives, to hear that young child in Nepal describe what it means for her village to get its first school. That’s what moves people, makes them advocates, and champions of your cause.
And it will take every bit of that emotion and demonstrations of your commitment to your cause, to get your donors to commit to you.
“Quite simply, issue raising is what ultimately drives your fundraising. ”
Issue raising is the true 24/7 job every charity should focus on, while driving towards your annual fundraiser.
If you can’t get them to emotionally connect to your cause, why should they care about or even attend your annual fundraiser?
“Issue raising will help you create themes in your social media platform. Issue raising will drive more emotional content. Issue raising is what will emotionally connect people to your mission. Issue raising is what will make people show up to your fundraiser. ”
You can’t circle your fundraiser on the calendar and spend all of your charity’s time and effort on the fundraiser. That is simply a long term strategy to failure.
It has to be the other way around. Charities need to create social media posts and content: powerful stories and films of what they have accomplished on the ground that will help develop a relationship with donors, keep them coming back and become emotionally vested.
“Donors need to be emotionally invested in your cause if you have any hope of them becoming financially invested. ”
So where does issue raising begin? It begins with your brand mission statement. Why have you added yourself to the endless list of charities? Why do you exist? What is your purpose? This will guide all issue raising and even your social media calendar.
What questions should you ask of your issue raising? While you may be moved by your mission, can you make others care like you do? Can you make them understand what you are doing on the ground? Can you make them feel how you are changing lives?
So how do we do this?
The main theme of your social media needs to hammer home clear examples of your work on the ground that have positive results. You also need to make sure these posts are not only clear cut examples of your mission success, but they also need to be emotional.
As a former member of Facebook’s Creative Council, I have learned several things about the emergence of content and the role film is rapidly filling in the content world.
“First a post with film has on average 50 percent more engagement than the same post with a photograph. ”
How do I know? I saw a post (a photograph of a woman and copy) about a woman in Tanzania that used to be a poacher but was now a successful seamstress. That post received 183 likes. Not bad. I reached out and told the client that perhaps it would make a more emotional film. So they hired me to do so. Six months later the two minute film of that same woman that was posted received 1163 likes and multiple shares. That’s a 600 percent increase in likes.
A filmic post of this woman garnered a 600 percent increase in likes versus a photographic post.
Second, studies show that people would rather watch a short film than read a post.
Three, behavioralists have discovered 95% of viewers people retain a message when viewing a video versus 10% when reading it in text. Astounding actually.
Shooting an ex-poacher now turned beekeeper for Grumeti Fund in Tanzania.
“Four, 46% of consumers act after watching a video on social media. ”
Finally, Facebook’s and Instagram’s algorithm favors film over photographic content.
The point of all of this data is that film connects people, tells your story in a more compelling fashion, and drives people to act.
Now while you can’t run a film every night, it should be part of social media calendar.
You don’t want 12 months of social media posts culminating in a fundraiser with a five minute video. You want multiple pieces of filmic content each quarter driving connection, engagement, shares (let your advocates become your media partners) and conversation throughout the year, so they can’t wait to sit at the fundraiser and see your year end summary, in film.
“Lastly, issue raising has, I believe, a positive effect on organizations. Those same films you are posting on social media, can be used for corporate outings, quarterly fundraisers and more importantly within the organization and to your board.
”
The effect of showing a film in house re-confirms for people that their mission is real, powerful, and worthwhile. It boosts energy, confidence and drive.
If that’s the case, who wouldn’t want to be an issue raiser instead of being simply a fundraiser.
Rob Feakins is the founder of For All Humankind, www.forallhumankind.com, a company that consults on social media and shoots films designed for social media for charities.