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Reaching out to other people has become easier than ever nowadays. The more communication technology advances, the easier it is to get the word out. However, the tricky part is making sure the communications reach the right people. Here are a few ways any individual or business can use technology/IT to improve their outreach efforts.
Fundraising
Businesses or individuals can use fundraising technology to raise money for just about any cause. Online fundraising events are most commonly used to raise money to pay for hospital bills, school trips, and charities. Fundraising software does not usually care what a person uses the technology for, so long as it is to pay for something that is not illegal.
When using online fundraising software, make sure to check whether or not you will need to pay taxes on the money you collect. This may vary by state or the reason you are fundraising. Most modern fundraising software and websites will have the option to share the fundraiser both on the platform in which it is created and on social media. If the fundraiser is made public, anyone can search for it and donate through the fundraising website. Fundraisers posted on social media cannot usually be searched for on the social media platform, and instead will need to be "shared" on a profile or group page.
Social Media
There are so many social media websites online today and all of them can be used for outreach. Most social media platforms have the option to share posts for free or spread them around the site for a fee (which works like advertising). The best part is that any adult can use social media, on a base level, for free. There are usually no sign-up costs.
When posting on social media for outreach, it's best to make sure the post is sharable. Not every social media website allows the post to be shared directly by reposting, but will allow for the post to be sent to other people through a link or in-platform messaging service. When using the free posting options on most social media platforms, only people who follow the posting account will be able to see the post. This is, unless a person directly searches for the post or the post is shared to him or her. If a post is being paid for, often called a sponsored post, then it will be randomly displayed to people using the social media site, even if they do not follow the posting page.
Event Planning
Social media is one of the best kinds of technology that can be used to plan an event, but it's not the only option. People can also plan events directly on his or her website, if they have the right plugins. Let's take a look at how each of these works.
Some social media sites have the option to create events. Facebook is one of the sites that implement this feature the best. Facebook Events is a tool that anyone can use to make a private or public event, either for an individual or business. This tool is free for anyone to use. Like posts, they can be sponsored and spread around Facebook for a fee. Once the event is created, the event creator can share the event to his or her personal page, a group, or share it via link or Facebook Messenger.
Website designers can also add an event plugin to a website. For the sake of this article, let's look at WordPress. There are a variety of ways to add events on WordPress, with or without plugins. One of the best plugins to use is a calendar plugin which will show events. The events can be linked to blog posts or an external link where readers can learn more about the event.
Outreach and IT go hand in hand. Any adult can use technology to boost his or her outreach by trying any or all of the three options above. Happy sharing!
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