Social Fundraising Goes Viral at AFP Event

Social fundraising has become a popular way to give to charity because it allows donors to get involved in spreading the word about your cause. And when enough people share your message socially, it can really take off fast and propel giving.

This was the case at the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ (AFP) National Philanthropy Day (NPD) luncheon.

To celebrate NPD, Peer Giving Solutions offered the 700 attendees at the AFP luncheon $10 (charitable dollars) each to give to the Canadian charity of their choice. The kicker? Attendees had to claim their $10 with a tweet. To qualify, the tweets had to use the #AFPvanNPD and #chimpNPD hashtags, and mention the recipient charity.

Chimp sponsored the event’s Twitter wall, streaming the hundreds of hashtagged tweets, retweets and responses to a large screen in the conference room. Even the event’s keynote speaker and founder of Free the Children, Craig Kielburger, got in on the action.

In the span of a few hours, event participants directed $1,620 to 60 charities, which Peer Giving sent using a Giving Group called You Tweet, We Give. on Chimp.

The exposure on Twitter also resulted in the @PeerGiving and @wearechimp handles trending in Canada as the message spread far and wide.

Tips for Fundraising Socially with a Twitter Wall

Want to run your own social fundraising Twitter wall? Here’s how:

1. Enlist a sponsor: Find an event sponsor or partner to offer charitable dollars to participants at your event.
2. Pick your tech: Determine how you’ll run your Twitter wall (we used Hootsuite’s HootFeed).
3. Decide on your ask: Set the parameters around your ask (ie: Between 9 am and 5 pm today, event participants can give $10 to the charity of their choice by tweeting with our hashtag).
4. Choose a hashtag: Select a hashtag or two to promote your event and/or sponsor and to filter eligible tweets to your Twitter wall.
5. Send the first tweet: Kick it off with an initial tweet that participants can retweet and copy for their own tweets.
6. Be active on Twitter: Promote the ask on Twitter. Retweet supporters’ tweets and favourite every tweet in support of your campaign.
7. Follow up: Re-engage participants after the event by sharing the results of the campaign — both on Twitter and via email if possible.

Ready to use social fundraising for your next event or campaign? Talk to us, we can help! Call us at 1-877-531-0580 or email [email protected].