Takeaways and Links from SMBME 66 – Fundraising for Your Business with Social Media

What a great lineup of speakers we had at our 66th Social Media Breakfast Maine. Each presentation complimented the next. We hope you all walked away feeling inspired and smarter. I know I did.

Andrea Berry of Firefly Partners kicked things off with an overview of best practices for fundraising with social media. She talked about why you shouldn’t ask for money and reminded us how important it is to say thank you and provide recognition. Another thing that seems simple, but is often forgotten, is giving supporters the tools and content to share with their networks. Andrea also talked about telling people “why you.” This is where content is key. Use infographics and other content types to show people where their money went, or where it will go.

Holly Sherburne of Bowdoin College followed with her peer-to-peer #bowdoinoneday fundraising campaign that provided examples of many of the things that Andrea previously touched on. One of the things she said really summed it up: “people are your social currency for content and calls to action.” Direct asks will not work. You need your supporters to do it for you. Without the participation of alumni, her campaign would not have surpassed its goals. She also used video content throughout the campaign.

BowdoinOne Day – Participation Matters from Bowdoin College on Vimeo.

BowdoinOne Day – Thank You! from Bowdoin College on Vimeo.

Holly also mentioned that she used tintup.com to aggregate all #bowdoinoneday content on the Bowdoin website.

Ryan Peters, aka Spose, finished the morning by sharing how he used Kickstarter to tap his loyal fan base and raise over $28k to create videos to make sure that his music was heard by as many new listeners as possible. Why videos? Because visuals matter and as Ryan put it himself, “you don’t have a song unless you have a video for that song.” This was a 30-day campaign so he knew he had to work to keep things fresh. Keys to success? Create urgency. Make it exclusive. And show people, don’t tell them. If you tell them before you show them, they won’t care because you already told them. In this fast moving river that is social media, you only have a second to grab people’s attention. Ryan knows how to make that second count. And he respects the karma of social currency.

Here’s the full campaign details and video.

Thanks to everyone who came out, to our speakers for dropping all of their knowledge and to our sponsors for making it all possible: Portland Press Herald, Agents of Change Digital Marketing, Conference, Gorham Savings Bank, Vreeland Marketing, and Others! Fair Trade Coffee