If I was a charity or other non-profit organisation

Charities and other non-profit organisations rely on a steady stream of donations or government/corporate funding to keep afloat. These types of organisations are placed extremely well in a corporate world, where supporting a charity is seen as an extremely favourable act.

Due to the lack of funding, getting the word out about your organisation is a little trickly, through offline methods. Originally it was only those that had completely capitalised on the donation market (World Vision, Salvation Army, etc) that were able to drive a publicity campaign to the masses.

Now, it's very easy to get eyes on your campaign for good, at little to no expense at all. As a bonus, most Social Media users are environmentally aware and would like to, subconsciously, help the world in some way.

Here's some tools you should be using to increase awareness:

Website: Make it easy to find, easy to understand your mission statement, and even easier to make a donation, it should appeal to the masses
Twitter: Get your word out here. This is an incredibly powerful tool, because most Social Media users are aware of the green/good movement and would somehow like to take part
Facebook Group/Page: Here you can gain 'Fans/Likes' and really drive home the message to your 'supporters'. Facebook is a great way to directly lead masses into a donation frenzy
YouTube: If you've got footage, here is where it will be seen. Make sure you drive the potential traffic back to your website for a donation
PayPal: Use this for quick/easy/trusted donations... No one likes handing over their credit card details at the best of times
Viral Marketing: Make your efforts go viral by using sites like Digg/Delicious/StumbleUpon to get your message heard
The best thing you could ever do is ask anyone that is sympathetic to your cause to do one of two things:

Donate
Spread the Word
Spreading the Word, Socially, costs nothing, but has immense impact. This is because the 'message' gets seen by more and more social groups, that are outside the scope of your reach. Once the word is spreading, your ability to gain donations and increase awareness of your charity will be mind-boggling.

Look at it this way - any charity which is in tune with the sympathetic consumer, is in tune with their habits. The consumer's ability to connect your efforts with their activities will have a direct translation of mutual benefits.

If you run a charity or other non-profit organisation, we can help you spread the word: http://ping.fm/UnUfe

Until Next Time,

Tomer Garzberg (Keynote Social Media Speaker).

http://ping.fm/abkRl