Using social media for fundraising!

I've mentioned many times on this blog about the necessity of social media in companies and organizations. I came across an article from http://www.blueavocado.org/ that showed a concrete example of what social media can do.

Nelson Layag was able to raise $1,000 on Facebook without breaking a sweat. He used the Facebook Causes Birthday Wish application to send out notifications to his friends to raise money for a local non profit, the Women's Cancer Resource Center. Instead of birthday gifts for his upcoming 40th birthday, he wanted a donation made to the non profit. In just 3 days he had raised $1,000!

Nelson reflected on a few things that he learned from his experience:

• A couple of his favorite non profits were not set up on the application so he could not select them
• He was surprised that no one from the Women's Cancer Resource Center had contacted him to acknowledge what he was doing
• Even people who he had not spoken to in years had donated to his cause

I realize that this method is not going to become the main source of donations for an organization but it is a great way to get people involved and "lets people hear about your organization from a trusted source." Even people Nelson did not directly interact with were willing to support him. It is an easy tool to utilize and every non profit should be set up on the application (it's free!).

This is a great example of how social media can give non profits the extra boost not only to raise more money but build an awareness and a sense of community. This is grassroots fundraising at its best!

Has anyone used the Facebook Causes application before? If so, what has been your experience with it? If your organization needs help setting this up, please contact me!

--L