By Wander Project Ambassador David Jackson
Running for a charity bib is a fantastic way to support a cause you care about, and social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are ideal for sharing your journey and asking for donations. The most effective posts often tell a compelling story. Think back to when you got sucked into a good book or a good story and how engaged you were and even lost hours of time! The more you can engage the reader the more successful your charity bib campaign will be. From my own experience, here are some tips to help you write an engaging story and boost your charity bib campaign.
Start With A Strong Idea: Your WHY
• Inspiration: Tap into your personal experiences, observations, or imagination.
• Originality: Share your unique angle or twist on your situation to make it personal and relatable.
Craft A Compelling Plot
• Structure: Use a clear beginning, middle, and end. Outline what you will tell your readers, tell them, and then summarize what you told them. Keep it simple!
• Conflict: Explain the challenges you’re facing and your solutions to keep readers interested and engaged.
Set The Scene
- Race Details: Describe what race and where you will be running, the distance, the time and date of the race.
- Charity Details: Are you running for one of the race charities or are you running for a charity of your choice. Again, make it personal, make it relatable, be vulnerable and speak from your heart.
- Impactful Media: Choose pictures and videos that will make an impact on your reader. A picture or video is worth a thousand words!
Call To Action
• Actionable Insight: Clearly state what you want your readers to do – donate, share, like, comment, or learn more about your charity.
• Fundraising Page Link: Always include a link to your fundraising page. Make it easy for supporters to donate and highlight that donations are tax-deductible.
Be Resourceful
• Leverage AI: I’m not a great writer but I do have great ideas. If writing isn’t your strong suit, use AI tools like ChatGPT. Input your information and let AI help you craft the perfect message.
ChatGPT Prompt Example: “Act as my public relations manager. I am running the (race details) for (specific charity), and this is the reason why (points 1-4 above). Write a social media post asking for donations.” Use the generated content as a starting point and refine it as needed.
Use Hashtags & @Tags
• Engage and Expand: At the end of your post or in the first comment, add relevant hashtags and tag supporters and contributors. Be creative and think big!
Examples I used when making my posts: #melanoma #cancer #research #melanomacancer #running #charitybib #runningforcharity #run #happy #zion100k #runforfun #100k #ultrarunning #trailrunning #trailrunner #ultrarunner @vacationraces @wanderproject18 @melanomaresearchalliance @nytimes @ultrarunningmag
By following these tips, you can create a powerful story that engages your audience and encourages them to support your cause. Don’t forget to check the fundraising checklist for more support.
Happy running and good luck with your fundraising!