Use Social Media as your Tool in Communication
Social media is unparalleled at getting people connected to the ministry. You can update, discuss, and ask for prayer all on the same platform.
HOW NOT TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA
The lure of quick funds through a platform like GoFundMe can be so tempting. However, if you're fundraising for long term missions, using GoFundMe or links on Facebook is simply unsustainable.
Pages such as GoFundMe should be used for truly short term and extremely specific needs. There must be urgency, it should be project-based funding, during a short and specific timeline, with a specific goal. And it must be used sparingly throughout your fundraising. People tire of online fundraising quickly.
"The worst is treating long term funding as if it's the same as a two week mission trip."
In fact, only 7% of giving in 2017 happened online. The greatest amount of giving is happening in person; this part of our world hasn't shifted to online. It's still relational, personal, one on one connecting with another that allows people to give generously.
A GREAT WAY TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA
Strengthening the personal relationship will often happen outside of social media, but the advantage of social media is regular ministry updates. Building and maintaining a really solid partnership through consistent interaction is a great way to use social media as a tool.
If you choose to use social media as a platform for updates, do it well. Create a ministry group, a business page, or use your personal page. Create a direct connection from social media to a relationship with you. You can ask people to like a post, comment, or message you so you can make the step to begin or deepen a personal relationship.
The worst is treating long term funding as if it's a two week mission trip. This means you don't provide a direct link to giving or really talk about the dollars of funding. Your goal should be to get the information out about the vision and the mission, social media is a starting point of a deeper partnership to impact others.
POST TO SOCIAL MEDIA DAILY
Absolutely post every day, beginning now. It should be or become a habit. It only takes a minute to accomplish, but it does have to be on your mind each day. Keep it in the back of your head to be sure to post something on a regular basis. To do this well, keep a balance of three types of posts.
1- Personal or Family
Keep transparency going, be a real person and be real about celebrating your normal life. Selfie your new haircut, celebrate your children's accomplishments, share a link to your favorite new song. There's not a lot of instruction needed here, be yourself.
2- Culture
People find it interesting to see things done differently but still beautifully. Show what a typical grocery market looks like, or the unusual things you pass daily.
Miss the picture opportunity? Get the picture from a friend in order to post it to your followers and funding partners. Instagram is one of the quickest and easiest platforms to begin a daily rhythm of posting and updating.
3- Ministry
Think to post things specifically focused on fulfilling the mission you set out to accomplish. Photos are helpful here and action shots over and above posed shots allow people to feel what it's really like in the midst of ministry happening.
Are you stationed in a closed country? You can still protect privacy, you just have to be more creative. You can capture and share pictures of shoes piled at the door for a "meeting", bicycles parked in the garage, the mess of the kitchen after a gathering of interested people. No faces are absolutely needed to show life and ministry happening.
Set aside a block of time on a regular basis, like once a week, to maintain personal communication with your financial partners so that your social media updates will be simply a tool of instant communication.