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The end of the year is rapidly approaching and your non-profit might be contemplating one last fundraising campaign, you may be wondering if there is a way to harness social media to make the most of the campaign. According to Rita Soronen, president and & CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, “Social media is a very effective and cost-efficient tool for nonprofits to spread messages, but it’s proven difficult to parlay that into a donation.”, but The Dave Thomas Foundation has found a way to successfully integrate social media into their fundraising campaigns.

They carefully considered what social media method best suits their organization and then found a way to convert that into a successful campaign.

An end of the year campaign is no different from any other social-media based fundraising campaign; the most successful ones are well planned and rely on an established social media channel to maximize the organization’s network.

#Giving Tuesday
If your organization is active on Twitter, you might consider participating in this year’s #GivingTuesday. #GivingTuesday is a national day of giving that falls on the Tuesday after Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This year #GivingTuesday is set for December 3.

Statistics from #GivingTuesday.org indicate that over 2,500 organizations participated in the 2012 #GivingTuesday. To participate your organization must register with #GivingTuesday.org. After registering, your organization can harness the power of Twitter to spread the word about your campaign on #GivingTuesday. Your network spreads the word about your campaign.

Social Media Reaction
Another way to use the power of social media is to collaborate with a corporation that will commit to a donation for each social media reaction made by your followers. For example, a re-tweet or a ‘like‘ translates into a monetary donation from the corporation.

This model works well for the Dave Thomas Foundation, Rita Soronen explains, “One of the best models I’ve seen for using social media to raise funds is when an organization partners with a corporation who commits to making a set donation for each social media action – a re-tweet, a ‘like,’ etc. People are happy to spread the word for their favorite product AND a worthy cause and even more happy to do so if it generates funds for that cause. And ultimately, with even more individuals being exposed to a nonprofit’s message, perhaps that organization will be top-of-mind when they are ready to donate this holiday season!”

Fundraising Challenges
Online fundraising challenges such as the Holiday Challenge by CrowdRise gamify giving. They make giving to the non-profit a contest. CrowdRise’s Holiday Challenge lets nonprofits rally their networks to win cash prizes for the organization. “So often organizations are telling us that they're looking for something way more notable than their next charity dinner, that they want something awesome for their supporters to rally around,” said CrowdRise Co-founder and CEO, Robert Wolfe.

CrowdRise launched its first Holiday Challenge in 2011; during the challenge, the $60,000 in donation prizes and challenges sparked more than $600,000 raised for nonprofits.

The best part, participating in CrowdRise’s Holiday Challenge is simple to join and your organization is using an existing platform, so all the technical details are taken care of for you. Robert Wolfe, “The Challenge is entirely open and fun and a charity needs little bandwidth to make it work because we take care of all the email messaging for 'em. And, even if you don't win you still keep the money you raise.”

Getting the Word Out
The best part about social media is its instant reaction, so while the end of the year isn’t that far off, your organization can use your social media network to finish the year with a strong campaign.

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