#GivingTuesday is just around the corner, however, there is still plenty of time for you to make a big impact. One of the simplest ways to get involved is to use your social media presence. Social media is a key driver of traffic and donations to your #GivingTuesday campaign. It allows you to not only connect with current and past donors, but also with followers and other users. We’ve put together some top tips for you to consider to boost your visibility and help move your supporters to donate and share your campaign.

1. Use Hashtags
#GivingTuesday has a strong brand and thus millions of followers, include the hashtag with all social media posts to boost your posts’ reach. Social media posts with hashtags attract more engagement than posts without them. We encourage you to create your own hashtag specific to your organization and campaign. This will make it easy to monitor and collect posts about your campaign. Remember – be sure to make it something easy for people to remember.

2. Include Links to Drive Action
Engaging supporters to help spread awareness about your organization is important, however the ultimate goal of the campaign is to motivate supporters to donate to your cause. Including a link to your campaign or donation page is important for all posts. Be mindful of what words you are linking to drive the supporter to take action. If your post says “Donate Here” and it drives the donor to your campaign page rather than a donate page, they could become distracted and likely not follow through. Clean up your posts by using bit.ly.com to shorten your links – BONUS this also helps you track click-throughs on your link shares!

3. Draw Attention with Visuals
Increase your chances of people noticing, sharing, or responding to your post with a compelling image or video. Your visual content can range from vibrant photos, info-graphics of your impact or fundraising progress, or motivating quotes. Whatever you choose, ensure it is specific to your organization and inspires action. The #GivingTuesday site has many resources (including a social media kit!) for your organization to personalize and use with your posts.

4.Plan Ahead of Time
We’re in crunch time, but there’s still some planning of content in advance that will help free up time for more spontaneous posts on #GivingTuesday. Brainstorm content to post, prepare ambassadors or key supporters, and create a #GivingTuesday toolkit for your organization to be successful. Schedule your giving reminders across all major platforms. Try to analyze peak times when your followers are active and create content around then. You can schedule social media posts with HootSuite or Buffer.

5.Interact with Your Audience
It is important to monitor your social media channels in order to respond, thank, and engage your audience. Encourage your supporters to share their #UNselfie or story of why they donated allowing your supporters to not only share it with your organization, but also with their social networks, extending your reach even further. Show your appreciation by “liking”, sharing a post, or re-tweeting a supporter’s message and spread your gratitude by tagging the people involved. You’d be surprised the difference these little actions make to your success.

With these tips, we hope you get started today to make the most of your #GivingTuesday! Need some help? Contact us today, and together we will make an impact!