Hashtag challenges and viral videos can be powerful nonprofit marketing tools to raise awareness, create buzz around your cause and ultimately boost donations. They engage supporters in new ways that allow them to feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves.
In this blog, we’ll show you how these two marketing techniques can be used to help step-up donations and engagement for your organization while creating unforgettable fundraisers.
What is a Hashtag Challenge?
Hashtags are a way to categorize and find content on social media. A hashtag challenge is when someone posts a photo or video with the #hashtag of the challenge, and other users respond by posting their own photos, videos, or memes that fit the same category. The more people join in on a viral meme like this, the faster it will go around social media circles.
Hastags are also used by organizations to highlight specific causes like breast cancer awareness month.
How do Hashtag Challenges Work for Nonprofits?
Hashtags for nonprofits are everywhere these days. They’re a great way to get people talking about your nonprofit’s brand and cause. But how do they actually work?
Here are a few tips on how to create a great hashtag fundraiser to get your nonprofit and its cause into the spotlight:
- Engagement: Create an engaging hashtag that’s unique, catchy, and memorable to get your audience involved.
- Clear Goals: Identify your nonprofit’s fundraising goals and how you’ll carry out your hashtag challenge.
- Fun: Make it fun by using a creative theme and adding in some prizes!
- Shareable: Encourage participants to share the content on their social media channels for more exposure.
Fundraising with Nonprofit Hashtags
The power of fundraiser hashtags and viral videos to increase donations is something that has been proven time and time again. One recent example was the #IceBucketChallenge. This challenge went viral on social media, with people posting videos of themselves dumping a bucket of ice water over their heads for charity. The campaign raised awareness about ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and helped raise $220 million worldwide.
Don’t forget the importance of generating donations when sharing your nonprofit hashtags. It’s great to have a huge following online, but without monetary contributions, you’ll never reach your fundraising goals. Direct supporters to an online donation page to learn more about your nonprofit’s mission and encourage valuable donations.
What is a Viral Video Challenge?
A viral video challenge is a fundraising campaign that encourages people to make videos and share them on social media. The campaigns are usually based on an issue or cause, and they often have specific goals for the funds raised.
The defining feature of a viral fundraiser video is how quickly it spreads via the internet. The challenge is to create your own version of a song, dance move, voiceover, movie quote, or other chosen activity and post it on social media channels for others to enjoy and reshare. Ultimately, anyone can create a viral video for a fundraising campaign using a platform that hosts video content. YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are among the most popular.
Tips for Creating a Video Challenge for your Organization
When creating a video challenge, you want to do something that stands out, so people want to share it. Remember to always be appropriate and stick to subjects that align with your brand, values, and nonprofit’s mission.
Here are a few pointers to create a powerful video challenge that will go viral and bring attention to your nonprofit and its cause:
- Be Clear, Relevant and Relatable: Create an engaging fundraiser video thattells the story of your cause. Be transparent about your goals, know your target audience, and make sure you’re up-to-date with all the cultural and current trends.
- Keep it short and sweet! There’s so much competition out there with countless fundraising videos. We live in an age of scrolling, so bear this in mind and make a snappy, stand-out viral video that will grab the audience’s attention.
- Share: Ask people to share it with their friends and family. The more views, likes, shares and comments your fundraiser video gets the more money you raise for your cause.
How Viral Videos and Hashtags Benefit Fundraising Campaigns
Every day, we are inundated with videos and fundraiser hashtags that go viral, but how can they really help your nonprofit?
Here are some of the top benefits viral videos and hashtags bring to your fundraising campaign and nonprofit’s brand:
- It’s a fun, free, and easy way to raise money for your favorite cause.
- Fundraiser hashtags make it easier for people to find your nonprofit and the cause you’re raising money and awareness for.
- 100% of the money you raise goes directly to the cause.
- You can add donation buttons to your fundraiser videos to make it quick and easy to give from any device from anywhere at any time.
- It’s a creative way to let people know what you’re doing and why it matters.
- The more views, likes, shares, and comments your viral video gets, the more money you raise for your cause.
- Build a community of supporters. When people take part in fundraiser videos they become part of a group of likeminded people coming together for a good cause. This sense of community is priceless for future fundraisers and building strong relationships with your donors.
- Save time and money on marketing – viral videos are like free video marketing campaigns that won’t eat into your nonprofit’s fundraising budget.
Hashtag and Viral Video Ideas to Create Unforgettable Fundraisers
In such a competitive market, it can be scary to know where to start when creating a viral video or hashtags for nonprofits. To help you out, we’ve come up with a few tips to get you off the ground.
1. Make it Funny
Make people laugh, and you’ve immediately grabbed their attention. Funny fundraising videos with babies, children, and animals are always winners. Laughing is contagious, and this can lead to multiple shares, which is perfect for expanding your donor base.
2. Make a Challenge
Create a fundraising challenge that gets people talking, moving, and giving. Invent a 15-second dance routine, share tips and tricks, cook something or create an exercise challenge. Make sure you have a clear call to action and that the challenge is accessible to everyone of all abilities to optimize participation.
3. Make it Musical
Music viral videos are always popular. Whether you’re already a musician, choose to lip-sync, or decide to invent new lyrics to a famous song, it’s a great way to get people to join in and learn about your fundraising mission. Why not add a dance-a-thon into the mix to keep up the giving momentum?
4. Make a Prank
Rightly or not, people love watching others fall victim to a prank. Practical jokes and harmless funny pranks on friends and family can generate high viewing figures, which is great news for your fundraising campaign.
5. Make it a Q & A Format
Viral videos for fundraising can be as simple as a question-and-answer format. Q&As allow your followers to interact with you while also inspiring new content ideas.
Conclusions
Hashtag fundraisers and viral videos are an excellent way for non-profits to engage supporters and boost donations. Use them to increase fundraising success and optimize awareness of your nonprofit’s brand. You might not know it yet, but they’re one of the most powerful tools in social media today and a fun way to get people involved in what you’re doing while also giving.
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