How we used social media to our advantage when promoting our charity walk

We are working with The Mark Dombroski Foundation to plan the first ever “Mark Dombroski Foundation Fun Walk.” This walk is a fundraising event that will raise money for Mark’s Park. The foundation’s hope is to create an all inclusive park in Delaware County, PA honoring Mark and his amazing life. We have discovered the beauty of social media marketing and how we can utilize different tactics to reach out to the SJU community.

Reaching out to students’ parents is very important to keep in mind when reaching out to a college community. In our case, anyone outside of the student body is not allowed to attend the event due to Covid-19 restrictions, so it is crucial to be very communicative in explaining all the details. We have made sure to provide all the necessary information that parents need to know about signing up for the virtual event and making online donations. Facebook is a great platform to reach out to parents because the SJU Facebook parent community is large and active. It also encourages parents to start talking with their children about the event now that both parties are informed. 

The Facebook template we created to target SJU parents.

Our group has decided that utilizing social media like Instagram is a very effective way to raise money as well as to get our message across. Instagram Venmo boards have served as a great way to get peers in the SJU community to donate quickly and easily. Having the foundation's message on our social media and on our Venmo boards has proven to be the most efficient way to reach people our age that want to be involved in our project. 

The Venmo board template we created for students to use on their social media.

Pairing these boards with the “Why We walk” statements and pictures will also bring more awareness to the supporting community and allow them to participate in something special. These templates for why you are walking also allow us to include people outside of the SJU community that are participating in the walk virtually. 

Template for “Why We Walk" that we used on social media

We utilized an email marketing campaign in order to spread the word to the student body. This list included organizations, clubs and the chairs of departments at SJU. In our emails we included our purpose and explained how to get involved with the event. We made sure to include hyperlinks to the sites we were referring to and we attached QR codes so that the students could present a quick and easy way to sign up during their club meetings. 

When promoting a charity walk, hashtags can be a great way to organize what people are posting leading up to the event and during the event day of.  Hashtags can also act as a ‘folder’ on a desktop, organizing all the pictures and posts people are using at the event in one place. This is a great one to see the results or your work, but to also repost and share so others can see those who are involved. By reposting, we can attract other people to become a part of your event. The “Why We Walk” template is a good opportunity to give people a chance to share their story. Charity walks have a good cause and a deep meaning behind them so providing templates that allow for personal connection is a great way to interact with your participants. 

We found the best way to market our charity walk on social media is by using pre-made templates. These templates are versatile and can easily be modified to target a certain audience. The template explains when the event is, why it is happening, and how you can get involved. These templates should be clear, concise, and aesthetically pleasing to look at. 

On the day of the event we are going to be encouraging people to snap themselves at our stations to help document the event. With people snapping pictures of themselves with The Hawk, food from our sponsors, or just walking with their friends, they will be able to spread the word about the walk. We will encourage them to use our hashtags we created for the event as well. Although at that point it will be too late to sign up, it won’t be too late to spread the word about The Mark Dombroski Foundation and their mission!

Overall, it is important to stay consistent with your message throughout all of your marketing. It is also important to continue to be persistent when marketing to different clubs, organizations, and other groups to help spread the word about your event.