As part of the Santa Cruz Marketing & Communications Meetup, Kelly Mercer presented on social media best practices for nonprofit event promotion. More information: http://www.meetup.com/Santa-Cruz-Mar-Com-Meetup-nonprofit-education-charity/

1. Mobilizing a Community to Show Up.

2.  Social Media Actions
 “Like”
 “Share”
 “Comment”
 “Retweet”
 Nonprofit Actions
 Volunteering
 Donating
 Attending an
event

3. 73%
21%
6%
Nonprofit Revenue Sources
Government Contracts and fees
Contributions, gifts and grants
Special events, net sales from goods, rental income
“The average
charity spends
$1.33 to raise $1.00
in special event
contributions”
(Charity Navigator, 2007)
*According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics (2012)

4. Special Events can:
 Build and deepen relationships with supporters
 Provide an opportunity to bring in new donors and
introduce them to the organization
 Generate publicity and awareness around a
cause
For a nonprofit organization, building
visibility in the community is crucial to
successful fundraising

5. “Fundraisers create the bridge between the mission and the marketplace”
(Duronio and Temple)

6.  More control and flexibility,
 Giving on their own time and
 Link to it with the online tools that are
available.
*David Hessekiel of Peer to Peer Professional Forum

8. • Grassroots idea
• From a couple people who were
affected by the disease
• Perfect storm:
• Right situation
• Right idea
• Right time
• Right people
• Right medium

9.  People are shaving their heads
for childhood cancer research,
 Donors are cracking eggs on
their heads in memory of a
friend who had diabetes,
 Throwing pies in their face for
suicide prevention
 Growing mustaches for men's
health

10.  The dramatic shift in styles of
fundraising, and their relative
effectiveness is keeping many
nonprofits on their toes, encouraging
innovative and memorable
experiences for the donor.

11. In 2014, the 30 largest walkathons and similar
events raised $41 million less overall than they did
the year before.
The ice bucket challenge fundraising idea spread
widely, with millions of videos posted on social
media of throwing cold water on his or her head —
raising more than $220 million.

12. 180,000
190,000
200,000
210,000
220,000
230,000
240,000
250,000
2011 2012 2013 2014
Total Amount Raised
Total Amount Raised Linear (Total Amount Raised)

13. • Rally influencers
• Host free unique memorable events
• Tool-based listening

17. In 2014, we raised over
$202,000
In 2015, raised over:
$247,000

19.  Complete an overall
assessment
 What are you doing well?
 Where are you falling short?
Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/ and
http://www.socialbrite.org/2012/02/15/the-7-elements-of-a-social-media-strategic-plan/

20.  Set your goals
 Spell out your organizational goals from
ED level to key stakeholders and
decision makers
 What does your impact look like?
 Where do you want to be six months
from now?
 A year from now?
Source: http://www.socialbrite.org/2012/02/15/the-7-elements-of-a-social-media-strategic-plan/

21.  Love thy metrics
 Tie goals to metrics.
 How will you track success?
Source: http://www.socialbrite.org/2012/02/15/the-7-elements-of-a-social-media-strategic-plan/

22.  Assess the community
 Who is in your online community?
 How you want them to be involved?
Source: http://www.socialbrite.org/2012/02/15/the-7-elements-of-a-social-media-strategic-plan/

24. Kelly Mercer, Director of Community Engagement
Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County
humanrace@scvolunteercenter.org