Selfies4Good: Turning Your Donors and Volunteers into Ambassadors

Last week the Richmond region participated in its 4th annual Amazing Raise, raising $1,837,100.69 for area nonprofits.  The Spark Mill once again collaborated with Give Richmond, sponsoring a "Selfies for Good" social media prize in an effort to promote a more effective use of social media. (Check out the gallery of selected images at the end of this post)

In case you missed it the past two years, donors were invited to use a "Selfies for Good" sheet to declare who they support and why, and to post their selfies via social media.  Last year the contest ran for 3 hours and included both Instagram and Twitter.  This year The Spark Mill limited the contest to 1 hour and asked that all selfies be submitted via Instagram only, using #AmzgRz.  Since this was 1 hour shorter and included only one form of social media, we weren't sure exactly what to expect. The results were INCREDIBLE!

In one hour we tallied almost 3000 posts...that is approximately 50 posts per minute...just short of one picture per second!  

There were 42 different organizations represented and a variety of themes among them.  Henrico Humane society appeared to have taken a cats vs. dogs approach to motivate participants, while the Westmoreland County Museum embraced moustaches on a stick.  The winner with almost 500 "Selfies for Good", Inspire International, represented their name with beautiful, inspirational pictures that seemed to come from all over the world.  What a cool moment for The Spark Mill, to see our social media contest had global reach.  What an awesome moment for fundraisers and development coordinators to see just how far social media can broaden a donor base!

Here is a fun fact that is truly a testament to the potential fundraising power of effective social media:  With 6.5 hours left in the 36 hour campaign, Give Richmond announced that donations had been received from 49 states and Puerto Rico.

Let us help you

At The Spark Mill we know that planning + implementation is the key to success. We are happy to work with clients to investigate their marketing and social media, craft plans that resonate with the small staffing of nonprofits and still produce results. Contact us to learn more about how we can help grow your brand through one on one support or customized trainings and classes.