by Daria Parfenova
On February 23rd, Illinois State University students came together for a day of giving back to their school through the “Birds Give Back” campaign. The SMACC lab was monitoring social media activity and analyzing the outcomes of this philanthropic event. Through exploring social media engagement, fundraising efforts, and other metrics, we will uncover insights into the success of this initiative and the university’s ability to mobilize its community for the common good. So, let’s take a closer look at #BirdsGiveBack and the power of collective philanthropy at Illinois State University.
Overall, the social media discussion engaged many ISU students, alumni, faculty, staff, friends, and departments. The campaign had 1.2 thousand posts with about 9.7k engagement on social media channels and attracted 340 unique authors.
The day of Birds Give Back saw the most activity on social media on February 23, with 968 posts shared across platforms. However, there were also posts leading up to the event, preparing the ISU community for the big day, as well as follow-up posts after the event, summarizing its outcomes.
Looking at the day of campaign, the most active time period was between 7 am and 4 pm, when the community was most engaged in supporting their favorite philanthropic initiatives.
Various communities engaged in conversations about Birds Give Back, utilizing diverse narratives to draw attention and increase donations. One of the most impressive and creative narratives that emerged from Birds Give Back was the Dance Button. This idea started with introducing a secret button, which, when hit on the day of the campaign, initiated a dance challenge among students and faculty. This strategy not only created continuity and generated excitement leading up to the event, but also provided an opportunity to showcase the fun side of professors and create a sense of family within the community. The Dance Button served as a great example of the power of storytelling and incorporating humor to engage audiences.
Analyzing the engagement techniques used in social media posts, we can identify several strategies that were effective in motivating the community to contribute to Birds Give Back.
- The rhetoric of anticipation, pushing limits, and counting down proved to be a successful engagement technique for the campaign. It generated excitement and created a sense of urgency, motivating people to participate in the event. The countdown clock, which appeared on various social media platforms, kept people informed about how much time was left to donate.
- Showcasing past achievements and encouraging people to donate based on those accomplishments was another effective engagement technique.
- Featuring events that were happening “right now” during the campaign was an excellent way to attract not only online but also offline engagement. By showcasing events and activities that were taking place during the campaign, social media posts were able to generate interest and excitement.
- Using logical arguments and providing a rationale for why people should donate was a persuasive engagement technique. It highlighted the importance of contributing to the school’s development and the positive impact that donations would have on students and faculty.
- Alumni played a crucial role in the Birds Give Back campaign, and highlighting their participation was a successful engagement technique. Posts from alumni expressing their gratitude and sharing their experiences at ISU generated a sense of pride and loyalty to the university. This, in turn, encouraged other alumni to donate and participate in the campaign.
The keywords that emerged from social media posts, including “unlock challenge,” “support,” “donate,” “annual,” and “student,” reflect the core message of Birds Give Back: to encourage contributions to the development of Illinois State University.
The sentiment analysis of social media posts showed that the overall messages were positive, with 89.3% of posts expressing positivity.
However, there were also spikes in negative connotations, particularly related to the graduate worker’s concerns about high fees and unfair wages. It is also indicated in the keyword “pay,” highlighted in red.
In conclusion, Birds Give Back was a highly successful initiative that showcased the power of collective philanthropy at Illinois State University. Social media played a crucial role in engaging the community and motivating people to contribute to the campaign. As a result, The ISU community’s remarkable involvement catapulted the #BirdsGiveBack hashtag to the #1 social trend in Illinois that day.