Not-so-random Acts of kindness

The Social Issue

Research into this issue was focused primarily on combining the hard facts of the issue, with an audience that would be sympathetic to the personal aspects of the issue. 

 

As such initial research targeted interesting aspects of the issue such as the demographics of who is likely to donate, what they are likely to donate to and what motivates them. To support these insights, stories of victims and sufferers help contextualise why these issues matter and why it is important for young people to share more.

 

To find statistics about demographics U.S research centres such as PEW were very helpful. To compliment this information there was further specificity that could be found by narrowing keywords. This allowed a greater targeting of information and, as a result, a greater understanding of how this issue might be implemented in a social media campaign. 

 

As mentioned above this information was then combined with personal stories of people who have received help from charities. This type of information was best found via news outlets and journalists. As such keywords were input into news websites to find these stories. This research helps to further frame and clarify why this issue is important.

 

Previous examples of social media campaigns are vast, many charities struggle with marketing themselves and as such, this project attempts to depart from these styles. According to Define Financial (2022), the most successful crowdfunding non-profit campaigns had four things in common;

 

• Regular updates for supporters

• Campaign descriptions of 300 to 500 words

• Videos

And of course, 

• Social media sharing

 

These insights are invaluable and upon this information’s discovery, it became the basis of how the social media campaign would be approached.

 

Audience Overview

The primary reason why this issue has such resonance with this course is because it focuses on a shared demographic. That being young, social media users. The Big Five social media platforms share the same majority demographics as the target audience of this project. Meaning this project, and importantly its success, lends itself to the use of social media platforms and strategy. 

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Demographic targeting

While donations have long been associated with an older, wealthier demographic, a shift is underway, and marketing and social media campaigns must optimise their material to adapt to the emerging audience.

 

This campaign will focus on capitalising on this demographic shift. Most significantly in the past, the average age of donors has been high at 64 According to Define Financial’s Charitable  giving statistics (2022). In contrast however, Fidelity Charitable Entrepreneurs' philanthropy across generational divides (2015), while older, suggests that Millennials are defying stereotypes and demographic assumptions and contributing $13,654 per annum to charity, while Gen X and baby boomers trail at $6,200 and $6,192 respectively. 

 

For this project understanding attitudes and psychology (why and how) will yield more insightful information than most demographic indicators, however for marketing purposes specifics of who and when will be discussed too. 

 

Why and How

Define Financial’s analysis (2022) found that there are 7 proven reasons someone might become a donor. In short they are:

Giving release dopamine=happy feeling

Empowered by giving and seeing good done as a result

Personal and emotional affiliation with the cause

Trustworthiness, tangible, measured change caused by charity

To feel synergistic with a cause. 

Effective marketing has brought it to their attention

And, Tax purposes.

 

In addition, Fidelity Charitable’s study raises the importance of conspicuous donation behaviour, finding that 74% of millennials surveyed responded that they valued having their donations recognized publicly, a far greater share than baby boomers (19%). Furthermore, Define Financial found that millennials are most likely to donate to the following;

Local social and human services organisations

Animal organisations

Children’s charities

Local places of worship

 

These reasons are vital for determining marketing strategy, now an angle of who and when can contextualise how these messages will be targeted. 

 

Who, When and where

As the focus of this project will be millennials, specificity regarding their methods of donation will be important. Define Financial found that phones, tablets, and laptops were the most likely avenue for Millennials to research, advocate and donate to a charity or cause. Further, determining a donor’s proximity to the issue provides better information for targeting. The Case Foundation’s Millennial Impact Report (2017) found that Millennials are more inclined to engage locally rather than nationally.

 

With the above information regarding successful non-profit campaigns it was necessary to consider how this might be aligned with a target audience. This meant considering, at a very narrowed level, which content would best capture the target audience. Define Financial’s analysis (2022) found that there are 7 proven reasons someone might become a donor, in short they are:

• Giving release dopamine=happy feeling

• Empowered by giving and seeing good done as a result

• Personal and emotional affiliation with the cause

• Trustworthiness, tangible, measured change caused by charity

• To feel synergistic with a cause. 

• Effective marketing has brought it to their attention

And, 

• Tax purposes.

 

When adapted and combined with the above ‘four things in common’ a very specific understanding of what is required begins to appear. This will be further elaborated on in the Engagement strategy toward the conclusion.

 

Platforms

After research into the broad array of platforms it was decided based on engagement statistics with similar projects that Instagram, Facebook and Twitter were the most successful in the past (Carim & Warwick, 2013). Between these huge conglomerates there are almost 5 billion profiles (Dixon, 2022). Each platform has different functionality both for users and for this campaign. 

 

Instagram most notably has stories, linear ‘feed’ and a strong focus on profile curation. This platform is not taken too seriously with many of its users using it to present themselves, to connect with friends and follow current events and public figures.

 

Facebook, part of the meta ecosystem (same as Instagram), has some overlap with Instagram however has been around for longer and thus different demographics. Despite its long reign it  remains the most used platform. In terms of functionality it focuses more on social-personal connection rather than curated content and group engagement for the user.

 

Twitter, while it may be the least used out of the three, manages to remain incredibly important for this social media campaign. In recent times this platform has become the go-to for social issues and thus makes it a natural choice for this project. Its short form functionality also works in favour of this project.

 

And YouTube, while YouTube is also a huge platform, it will not be directly used in this campaign. This is because it does not fit into the ‘highly shareable and interactive platform’ mould that is being used in this project. It will however play a role in sharing awareness, but this will be through links, not ‘Project Share’d’ posted content.

 

Furthermore, according to Define Financial (2022) the mobile devices which these platforms are primarily accessed by are also the device Millennials are also the most likely to use to “ to research charities, donate money, and advocate for their latest cause.”

 

Community Manager Approaches

With this platform research and demographic information in mind, community management will be important in ensuring a successful campaign. This approach will prioritise shareability and specific initial audience targeting. Together these two aspects of the approach will help to strengthen user engagement and regulate the community that this project may create.

 

Audience Engagement strategy

Audience engagement will rely on a strategy that combines the characteristics of social media platforms with the understanding of user habits and motivations.

 

As such strategy will be defined by adapting and combining the ‘7 proven reasons’  with the ‘four things in common’ to create a very specific understanding of what is required to engage an audience. In the plan this will appear as posts that directly address each of these research elements. In doing so this will create a comprehensive way to cover each of these issues through social media. The statistical and psychological approach will address the audience’s mental engagement while the design of the posts and the platforms on which they appear will encourage social engagement.

 

Timings on my content calendar reflect these understandings. The convergence of information and emotional appeals is reflective of the above methods of engagement. Toward the start of the week the content provides information and toward the end of the week they provide personal testaments to the validity of the social issue. 

 

Resources

Carim, L., & Warwick, C. (2013). Use of social media for corporate communications by research-funding organisations in the UK. Public relations review, 39(5), 521-525.

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Dixon, S (2022.). Biggest social media platforms 2022. Statista. Retrieved 25 October 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/

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Fidelity Charitable, (2023). How One Family Got Creative to Feed Hungry Children. Retrieved from https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/articles/how-one-family-got-creative-to-feed-hungry-children.html

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Schulte, T. (2023). Charitable Giving Statistics for 2023. Retrieved from https://www.definefinancial.com/blog/charitable-giving-statistics/#:~:text=Nonprofit%20Source%20reports%20that%20charities,time%20givers%2C%20claims%20Nonprofit%20Source

 

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