How to create digital content for fundraising

Creating content from your archives

With lockdown in place, it could also be time to dust off those archives. New content can be created with unused video footage without the need to commission content film creators.

Advertisement agency WPNC announced its willingness to help charities develop new media to combat coronavirus. John Eversley, WPNC Agency Managing Director said: “Face-to-face fundraising is impossible, out of home is seeing a huge drop-off in budgets and exposure, and a large number of events have either been postponed or cancelled. We’re launching the emergency ad service to protect charities’ incomes by taking advantage of people spending more time online and watching TV.” For charities with older video footage, the agency can help remake media into digital campaign content.

Sharing fundraising content on platforms and channels

Charity digital leaders can plan ahead by deciding what type of content to create, from text, images, video, GIFs, memes, quizzes, to infographics. Charities battling coronavirus impacts can also think about sharing content demonstrating the impact of the virus.

When choosing media, it’s important to tailor that content to the distribution channel. Alan Moody, CEO of Microsoft shows off his content and distribution skills. HaircutForCharity rides on the coronavirus-themed digital fundraising and has been tailored for specific social media channels. Charity digital fundraisers post before and after photos of their self-inflicted haircuts, raising money for charity at the same time. Perfect for sharing on Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn, the campaign has already motivated 279 donations. For charity digital leaders, ‘shareability’ can help turn a digital fundraising campaign viral.

Choose your channels wisely

More sophisticated coronavirus campaigns can also be managed by social media platforms. Lightful, the social media management platform, offers strategic advice for content launch and management. Across the social media platforms, best practice includes:

Facebook – is all about the engagement and conversation. Content posted on Facebook should focus on quality and not quantity. Lightful recommends posted 2-4 times per week.

Twitter – real-time reactions achieve the most impact. Charity digital leaders can think about posting tweets a few times per day.

LinkedIn – for formal or professional announcements, LinkedIn is best for networking and thought leadership. Post here when there is something significant to say.

Instagram – a great outlet for high-quality videos and images. Lightful suggests posting here once or twice a week.

Generating a conversation on social media platforms can also be streamlined through social media management platforms. Platforms can empower charity digital marketing and communications teams to schedule content and track engagement.

Tracking your content

Coming full circle to Charity Digital’s Aidan Paterson, tracking content and assessing whether content is helping to get the message across is an important measure of success. Whether it’s by number of reads, shares, likes, or amount of funding raised, content should be tracked so that efforts can be refined going forward.