The commercial world finds ways to deploy digital strategy to good use. Ty Sullivan, director of marketing and social media at New York restaurateur Café Metro/S.T. Management Group described reaching out to groups, charities, organizations to do social good. “They saw our impressions on Twitter and social media and said, ‘we need you.’” Sullivan works with numerous charitable organizations: MDA, Autism Speaks, NoKidHungry,Equal Rights/EqualLove, LGBT News, Friends of Karen and many anti-bullying initiatives.
“Hashtags on Twitter prompt donations. Facebook also does this. Direct links and pages are like any form of marketing,” Sullivan noted. “People gravitate toward Twitter – it generates a young audience. The #NoKidHungry and #GenerationNKH became a young person’s platform for social good.”
Sullivan added that many celebrities with a social presence and a sense of social improvement tend to embrace charity projects. He’s worked with actor Kevin Bacon and his SixDegrees.Org, with musician Pink, and with actresses Amanda Seyfried and Jennifer Aniston, among others. “We did a Thunderclap for #NoKidHungry and the Twitter boards exploded. It expanded the reach, more money came in.”
Sullivan explained that social media works for grassroots fundraising. “Anyone can build a fundraiser page. Money filters in, but it’s your page so you own the campaign. People want to develop their own fundraising sources; that plus social technology builds grassroots. There’s a bake sale, garage sale, a lemonade stand – they tweet, make a Facebook page. A hashtag gets pushed by a larger organization – it keeps people engaged. People are heard, rewarded, a public benefit is shown. Little Johnny’s lemonade stand raises money for a major charity – that gets tweeted, posted on Facebook. Johnny is proud, his friends and family see it, the charity gains and everybody wins.”
Sullivan summed it up: “Find the outlet, know what groups are out there, hashtag it, whatever the issue or passion. [It’s] the perfect combination of grassroots and technology.”
The bottom line in digital strategy for social good is simple: Use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, websites and blogs. Be certain the message is consistent with the group or organization. Post with frequency, connect with others, and allow viral forces to broaden your reach, increase awareness and encourage responses to campaigns for social good.
Dean Landsman is principal of Landsman Communications Group, based in New York City.