We’ve covered why Facebook still matters, how to build your content engine and the built-in tools to take advantage of. In the last part of our Facebook for Advancement series we’re talking about how to prioritize your game plan.
Alright. You’re feeling good and confident about this Facebook strategy thing. But, as anyone who makes stuff will tell you, actually getting started is always the hardest part.
To make it a little less daunting, here’s a guide to breaking things up a little bit. This is how we suggest approaching it: What you can do on Facebook today, soon and next year. By tackling one thing at a time, you’ll have a robust Facebook approach before you know it.
What to Do Today
- Improve communication with your digital team. We get it. Your digital or social team probably isn’t super tight with your advancement team. But that’s alright. There’s nothing stopping you from re-introducing yourself to them today. The sooner you build a good working relationship, the sooner you’ll start to see it pay off.
- Put $25 towards a Facebook Ads spend. Your boss isn’t going to get too worked up over twenty-five bucks. Start experimenting with tiny budgets so you can learn what works and what doesn’t. Plus, you’ll have real data to back you up when you want to make an impact with big dollars.
- Try Facebook events. Whether it’s an in-person tailgate or a virtual Q+A, just see what happens when you add Facebook events to your usual registration process. It’s not going to make attendance go down, we can promise you that.
What to Do Soon
- Get your content engine up and running. Start with a plan. Define themes, personas and stories you want to tell. Then pick a few and start producing. Experiment with form, check the data and keep evolving. But most importantly, just keep creating and posting.
- Start using Facebook Donate. No one is going to click on it if it’s not on their screen. Surface the button for people when the time is right and see what happens.
- Create Facebook groups. Some of this is probably already done for you. Get in contact with the admins of groups that align with your goals to open up lines of communication. Then create groups to fill in any gaps that are missing and start posting content that speaks to those people.
What to Do Next Year
- Add dedicated social/digital roles to your team. Whether it’s content creators, community managers or digital gift officers (best yet, all three – and more), start adding digital experts to your team.
- Shift resources to more measurable ad spends. We’re not saying you should abandon your phonathons or magazine. But reallocate some of the massive budget poured into those legacy initiatives towards digital-forward tactics that require less manpower and often offer more measurable results.
- Adopt a year-round digital strategy. Instead of digital being an afterthought or nice-to-have, make it the star of the show. We don’t need to tell you that people spend more time online than anywhere else. But you (or your boss) might need a reminder to focus your fundraising efforts there.
- Make EverTrue part of your team’s day to day operations. Once you start investing a ton of effort into digital content, you want to make sure that work turns into actual dollars. EverTrue helps your team assess what potential donors are engaging with so you can start relevant, personalized conversations with them about making gifts.
It’s going to take some work, sure. But you won’t find out what works for your team and resonates with your audience if you don’t start somewhere. The best part about Facebook, and digital in general, is that it has a short memory. Keep publishing, keep experimenting and before long you’ll hit your groove and be churning out incredible content…which will help you uncover new donors and close gifts that get you to your goals.
