With more content being published than ever before, advocates must fight not only for donations but also for attention. In a real sense, your mindshare—the space your cause occupies in people’s hearts and minds—has very limited room to be in. What’s more, even if you earned a person’s attention, you need to find ways to keep it.
Thankfully, gaining and keeping valuable mindshare for your advocacies is pretty straightforward. The more frequently and positively your message is seen or heard, the more likely people are to remember and support it. Whatever your cause, building that mental footprint is critical and you’ll want to take every opportunity to promote your cause so that it reaches and remains at the top of your supporters’ minds. If you’re trying to gain mindshare or funding for a cause, these time-tested ideas might be just what you were looking for.
- Distribute Meaningful Wearables Like Wristbands
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Simple, affordable, and surprisingly effective, silicone wristbands are a go-to for many awareness campaigns. Whether you hand them out at events, include them in thank-you packages, or use them to secure other promotional items like t-shirts, posters, and calendars, wristbands serve as visible and lasting symbols of your cause. Best of all, they remain looking vibrant for years, keeping your message well in your audiences’ minds.
- Invest in Your Social Media Presence
A well-executed social media strategy will significantly amplify your cause, especially if you choose platforms where your potential supporters are already active. Create visually appealing, authentic posts that explain your mission, show behind-the-scenes efforts, or celebrate key milestones. If you’re raising funds, always include a call-to-action link and wear promotional merchandise to drive your message home.
- Set Up an Online Donation Page
Free platforms like GoFundMe have made it easier than ever to collect donations without much hassle. As with your social media posts, the key is to be authentic and compelling. Be sure to set a realistic goal and to tell your donors about how their donations will be used. Consider offering small gifts like wristbands, shirts, or pens to donors who reach a certain threshold.
- Partner with Relevant Local Businesses
Many small businesses are open to community partnerships, particularly if the cause is something that aligns with their immediate goals. Ask business owners if they’d be willing to display flyers or share your campaign on their social media. If you’ve already built up some trust, you can even ask them to match individual donations or dedicate a portion of a day’s sales to your cause.
You can also offer to sponsor co-branded merchandise for your partners to cultivate even more good will. If tastefully done, these items can be a wonderful, cost-effective idea for spreading your message.
- Launch a Themed Social Media Challenge
Though themed challenges are usually fads, they do have a way of resonating even several years down the road. For example, the ice bucket challenge still continues to raise awareness for ALS over a decade after it peaked.
You don’t always have to do anything novel, either. Simple, classic challenges like walk-a-thons or 10-day pledges can be just as engaging if planned and launched right. The key is to make things simple and easily shareable on social media to convince people to raise awareness for your advocacy.
- Create High-Quality, Shareable Educational Content
Good quality infographics, expert videos, or even in-depth blog posts that clearly explain your advocacy can be powerful tools that can keep informing new audiences years or even decades on.
To make these materials more effective, make sure to set goals. First, make sure your audience can easily understand the problem. Next, try to get them emotionally invested so they’re primed to act. Lastly, let them know what can be done to help. Through well-made content with these goals, you can more easily convince your audiences to be involved with your cause.
- Tap Into Related Community Events
If your advocacy is a good fit, local events can be useful for outreach. Whether it’s a school fair, farmers’ market, or open mic night, meet with the organizers to determine if the event’s a good use of your time. In any case, once you’re in, prepare and give away flyers, wristbands, and other merchandise. When you do, don’t forget to talk to people about your cause.
- Offer Limited-Time Merchandise
Exclusive merchandise like limited-edition shirts, stickers, or tote bags with your logo or campaign slogan can tap into a basic human desire for exclusivity or uniqueness. So long as your designs are stylish and have the right amount of subtlety, you’ll get plenty of people championing your advocacy.
- Encourage Your Followers to Do Their Own Fundraising
Your most passionate followers can become powerful fundraisers in their own right. Make it easy for them by providing a brand toolkit that includes templates, suggested social captions, and clear instructions. With the right support, your message can spread far beyond your initial reach.
Always Keep Trying and See What Sticks
While you don’t need a massive budget or loads of corporate sponsors to make a difference, you do need heart and a bit of creativity. Of those two things, heart does matter a lot more as you may have to try many, many different approaches before you get to something that keeps working for your advocacy. Thankfully, once you get momentum, your advocacy can begin growing by itself, far beyond your original circle of followers.
Try the more low-commitment, low-cost approaches first and work from there. Give things time to work and get a good feel for what truly resonates most with your audience. You might be surprised by just how far a small idea can go when you have it in you to see things through.
