Social Media Summer School Day 5 - Engage //Raffle.it
Can Charities Raise money using Social Media?

Monetising social media is something often frowned upon in the industry. Many people will tell you it’s about adding value - I couldn’t agree more, but for charities in an ideal world you’d be able to achieve both. 

Charities and social media come hand in hand, and I find them some of the most prelevant and interesting tweeters out there. Many are getting involved with regular meet ups like #NFPTweetup (organised by Beautiful World), which is usually packed to the rafters. I’m thrilled that an industry usually notorious for being slow and ‘one step behind’ is so ahead when it comes to social media.

What’s in it for the charities? Can they make money from it? Most charities I know would never ask for donations via social media, however there are a few examples of where it’s been of benefit.

Dogs Trust launched a Valentines Twibbon Campaign. It was their first attempt to monetise their twitter page. Supporters were invited to add a ‘twibbon’ (in this case, a little picture of a dog in a heart) to their profile picture. Once the twibbon was added, users were led to a justgiving page with the option to donate to Dogs Trust. It was not mandatory. This was so successful they raised enough money to feel all the dogs across all their homes for 3 weeks through this campaign alone! There were 3 factors I believe led to the success of this campaign:

1. They were providing something in return for the donation.  Therefore adding value. Supporters should always get something for their effort and goodwill.

***2. It was not a mandatory donation.

3. Dogs Trust built a community of dedicated followers and supporters before asking for a donation.

Another example is Bullying UK. They have a huge following on Twitter and Facebook. A few months ago they announced they were going under and urgently needed funding to stay afloat. This led to a huge uproar with people campaigning and donating. Our own service, Raffle.it, received a great influx of activity as a fun way of giving to Bullying UK. With Raffle.it you can play for prizes and 80% of the profit from every ticket you buy goes to the charity if your choice. Safe to say - Bullying UK are still going strong! I think a future lesson for Bullying UK would be to learn to ask on a more regular basis. The concept of asking was rather alien to them which almost led to their decline. So make sure your community know there’s the option, but try thinking of ways to add value to the donation.

These examples are great. They worked really well. However, from my experience in Raffle.it I think the key is ‘ask without asking’. We encourage our charity partners to tweet about their Raffle.it pages. When they do it’s not asking directly for money, but asking people to play a game with the potential of winning prizes. Again this leads back to adding value. The other key to this was they were both preaching to well established communities they’d built up over time.

I think for most charities the value is in having the community. This may actually lead to monetary donations without you even realising. One charity who I find are particularly effective at building and managing a community is Whizz Kidz. On facebook they have not only their fan page, but also Whizz Kidz ‘people’, eg. Jessica Whizz Kidz. With these accounts they’ve built a community, especially with their marathon runners. This engagement gets people fired up and more likely to raise more money.

If you want to raise money using social media I would recommend that most of it is incremental as a result of building a passionate community. Try to ask without directly asking for cash.If supporters are your life blood, give them as much value as possible and the money should take care of itself. Finally, don’t be afraid to ask! It’s what you’re there for!

***Please note, Dogs Trust were able to collect gift aid on this donation as it was not mandatory and the money was collected after. If you’re offering something directly in exchange for a donation you can not take gift aid.

Raffle.it is the fastest growing raffle network in the UK, offering charities additional fundraising and buzz without additional administration or hassle. The raffle has evolved.