This year, the Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh embarked on our inaugural social media fundraiser. Seeing how many people we were able to reach was eye opening. At the same time I realized how many people we could have reached.
I learned that on my own, I could put a lot of effort into this type of project but it could only go so far. This experiment illustrated just how much more we could accomplish if others were involved. Involving others helps to ensure that you will reach a larger audience of potential donors. Thus, my goal for future fundraisers is to assemble a team that will share the responsibility.
This fundraiser also showed clearly having a narrow focus made our efforts more fruitful. This year we raised money in memory of a very special young woman whose life was taken prematurely. In the short time she was on this earth, she touched many people, both young and old. Our appeal gave people an opportunity to make an enduring impact in her memory.
As we brainstorm future social media fundraisers, I am going to continue to look to our community for ideas of what will be particularly meaningful to and for them.
The Jewish Day School Social Media Academy is an intensive program designed to help Jewish Day Schools advance their strategic use of social media in areas such as communication, marketing, community building, alumni relations and development. The 2013-14 nationwide cohort of 15 schools was generously supported by The AVI CHAI Foundation. Each of the schools will be sharing insights from their experience through blog posts here with the tag #jdsacademy
Complete the Social Media Self Assessment for your school at http://www.dayschoolacademy.org/assessment