If you were Social Media Director for a major humanitarian aid organization, how would you create awareness?

[Lilithia]

If you were Social Media Director for a major humanitarian aid organization, how would you create awareness & raise money via social media in the aftermath of a global disaster?

[Garrett Moon]

Well, do you already have a presence on some of the big social networks like Facebook and Twitter? I will assume that you do.

The two big keys to creating awareness are publishing consistently and finding things that people want to share. So, to start with, don't just talk about your organization. Find something of value that will get them talking and sharing.

I don't know what type of organization you are, but getting involved in the Japan relief could be good. People are very concerned about what is going on over there, so if you can become a gateway for that you will definitely get some awareness. Research the Twitter hashtags that are being used and start getting yourself in that conversation. Perhaps you ask people to donate monetarily or donate by simply sharing your effort/organization with their friends. They could do this using Facebook or Twitter or even with a blog post.

You could easily use a Donate button from Paypal to collect the funds. The Causes app for Facebook would be another good option.

The other thing you could do would be a simple contest in exchange for sharing something about your organization, or somehow attaching people to your cause.

You could also create some funny/interesting/creative videos and share then on YouTube and Facebook and then ask for some relief effort assistance through them.

Good luck!