How to Use Social Media to Advance Generosity
Should your church have a social media strategy for increasing generosity? Consider these statistics:
- More than half of the world now uses social media (62.3%)
- 5.04 billion people around the world now use social media, and 266 million new users have come online within the last year.
- The average daily time spent using social media is 2h 23m.1.
After reading these statistics, the answer to my question is yes! If we want to engage our communities, we must be on social media. This Coach is entitled How to Use Social Media to Advance Generosity.
When it comes to increasing generosity through social media, here are what I call my Three A’s of social media. I advise using social media to…
Raise Awareness of what your church is doing and will be doing. Start telling and showing the story of what you are attempting to raise funds for. You should post pictures of the ministry or mission endeavor that the donations will support. We are helping your people become aware of the need for which you will ask for donations. What do you want your donors to be aware of that might touch their hearts?
Call to Action in support of what your church is doing. Posting pictures with captions like, “Your generous gift now will enable us to __________. Please donate at…” Then put the URL link to your online giving page, making it easy for them to give immediately. What can your donors do right now to help make a difference?
Give Appreciation for the impact their gift made on the Kingdom of God. Take the time to report back on how the generosity of your members allowed you to meet the appeal’s needs. Have pictures of the appeal’s results. A simple text attached to those pictures says, in essence, “Thanks to your generosity, ___________. Thank you, church!” Thanking your donors and showing them the results of their gifts with pictures sets the stage for more gifts.
What does this have to do with increasing giving? In my mind, social media is all about engagement that leads to giving. It’s not about raising dollars but raising awareness. It allows you to tell your story by showing your story. A compelling story is the best way to raise dollars. One of my key mantras for raising funds is:
Get a story, work your story, tell your story and people will give to support your story!
Social media is one of the best ways to show and tell your story, and it’s a crucial part of your Digital Lane strategy.
Check out my Bonus Section for more help and advice on using social media.
Start planning your social media strategy to increase awareness of stewardship’s impact, and you will see an increase in giving!
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Mark Brooks – The Stewardship Coach
mark@acts17generosity.com
OnlineGiving.org, the leading online giving processor in America, sponsors my writing. OG is owned and operated by committed Christians active in their local church. Find out more about their services at https://www.onlinegiving.org/. You can also read the blog post I wrote for them at https://www.onlinegiving.org/blog.