Stay Ahead of Your Nonprofit Competitors With Expiring Content

Do you find that your organization is trying to figure out how to stay ahead of other groups that share a similar mission to yours?

Have you realized that your nonprofit has a lot of support from Millennials and Gen Z?

Do you want to do something different for a unique fundraising, marketing or mission awareness campaign?

The answer for you may be to add expiring content to your marketing strategy.

Fear of Missing Out

Expiring content is quickly becoming a staple in social media marketing efforts in business because it is driven by the "fear of missing out," or FOMO for short. Marketers have known for decades that people don't want to miss out on an opportunity. The best salespeople understand that to make a sale you want to appeal to emotion and then help the consumer, or in the case of nonprofits, donors rationalize it.

Your charitable organization or group can take advantage of the fear of missing out and the ability in today's world to create expiring content.

What is expiring content?

In short, expiring content is content that expires and "erased" from social media after a duration of typically 24 hours. Snapchat was the social networking platform that originated disappearing content. However, Instagram and Facebook followed suit with Instagram Stories and Facebook Stories, both which have a limited duration and views per person.

If you happen to have young supporters, then developing expiring content is particularly relevant to you.

• 78 percent of Millennials prefer an "experience" over owning something.
• 69 percent of Millennials experience FOMO.

How to Use Expiring Content?

The younger your supporters and donor base, the more susceptible they are to the fear of missing out. They are also more inclined to want to "share" their experiences with their friends and will do everything they can to avoid not being part of the experiential party.

Whereas older generations found satisfaction in owning material products, for Millennials and Gen Z, their status comes from the experiences they have in their lives and what they do. A second, but an essential element, is then to share their experiences on their social networking platforms.

So, how can you create a campaign that taps into those feelings of urgency and community?

1. Create a campaign for your social media followers and make sure you have lots of fun images, use of filters and gifs that you can use to attract your supporters and the public.
2. Determine which platforms you will use, consistently, to promote your campaign.
3. Think of your expiring content as an opportunity to invite your supports "behind the scenes" or to experience the totality of your campaign that they would otherwise not see. For instance, perhaps they can attend virtual events or look at the people you're serving in a whole new experience on social media. Forget about slick end-products. Instead, invite your donors and supporters to see in 24 hours expiring content which helps them understand why they need to get involved.
4. Create daily "stories" for a broader narrative related to your campaign that people can follow and share in segments.
5. Drive the urgency by telling your supporters the deadline for support and the great success you're having along the way, which they too will want to experience.

Everywhere you look, young and old are sharing their experiences through their social media platforms. Your organization can take advantage and create entire fundraising, brand or mission awareness campaigns in ways that drive up the urgency, involve your supporters in sharing their experiences with you and your work and target peoples' fears of missing out.

To read the complete article with accompanying backlinks, please visit Not Your Father's Charity.

Author of "Not Your Father's Charity: Grip & Rip Leadership for Social Impact" (Free Digital Download available at http://notyourfatherscharity.com/free-resources/ )

© 2017 Wayne Elsey and Not Your Father's Charity. All Rights Reserved.