Using social networking websites has become a daily routine for many Australians living their everyday lives. In fact, millions of Australians are on social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram more than once a day.

Today we look a little deeper and found out how can we use social networking to our advantage when it comes to fundraising online. Below are 3 social networking websites and suggestions of the best ways to use each in order to execute your fundraising goal.

1) Facebook

Facebook is the largest and most popular social networking website for Australians. Statistically, out of million Australians, over 40% of internet users are active on Facebook. For this reason, you will find that there is more activity and therefore more chances for you to get donations. There are a few tips that can help provide you with the best results possible for your People Pledge fundraising page.

Firstly, you should share updates on a consistent basis to your own networks by providing a ‘status update’. This appears on your news feed of all your networks. Encourage friends and family to support by donating, sharing or liking your status update. The more attention you get for your status update, the more likely your status update will stay on the news feed. This allows you to attract more supporters throughout the day.

You can also create a ‘facebook page’ for your People Pledge Fundraiser page. Share your story here as well, and post up some photos. This will give you another opportunity to get more supporters and donors. Add the URL link of your People Pledge fundraising page to your post to create a direct link to your online fundraising page. Most of the time, your supporters will want an easy way to donate to you, so providing that direct link will give you more donations.

2) Twitter

Twitter is a easy but effective way to get your fundraising page out there. Although you only have 140 characters for your description, you can find many ways of delivering the same message to your followers.

When using Twitter, ensure that you add the URL of your People Pledge fundraiser page with every tweet. This will help supporters become donors.

To encourage the spread of your tweets, remember to add “RT” to the front of your tweet. This tells all fellow twitters who end up reading your tweet to ‘re-tweet’ your message. By doing so, you will be able to access more networks.

Placing a hash-tag allows to set your tweets according to topics. Individuals who are on Twitter can search various hash-tags of their interest and find a list of tweets that have used this. It helps organize tweets for twitter users and can be a great way for people to find your tweet and make a donation. An example could be using the hash-tag #medicalexpenses or #supportmycause.

3) Youtube

With over 10 million views on Youtube daily in Australia, it is always good to tap into the potential and see if you can get donations from this as well. Creating Youtube videos can be helpful to give a personal insight to your daily struggles or share uplifting moments during the course of your treatment. How ever you decide to use Youtube videos, you will be sure that your supporters will gain a personal and emotional connection to you and your cause.

Once you’ve created your first Youtube video, ensure that you share the Youtube link on your social networking accounts. This will help encourage your contacts to watch and then perhaps donate.