Social Media Kit

1) Make It Personal

This is the #1 way to make your fundraising efforts a success. People want to know who you are and why the Ruby’s Rainbow mission is so important to YOU!

Each member of the Pledge Committee brings their own, unique perspective. Some of us have a child, sibling, or other loved one who happens to have Down syndrome. Others don’t have a personal or family connection to the Down syndrome community. But we ALL share a passion and commitment to supporting these amazing, inspiring peeps who are rockin’ that extra chromosome as they pursue higher education!

When you post on social media or send out an email, you can use our suggestions as-is or tailor your message to your own experiences and hopes for these incredible people. If you include a sentence or two about your connection to the Down syndrome community, your network will get a wonderful window into why this particular cause speaks to your heart!

Want to post a Reel? We think that’s a GREAT idea!! Watch our Reel Bootcamp, hosted by Kelle Hampton, to learn how to make meaningful social media posts!

You can also watch last year’s recorded 3/21 Pledge Committee Happy Hour with Liz and Kelle by clicking this link – it’s full of tons of great information and inspiration for ROCKING the Pledge!

2) Include a Photo

3) Include a Ruby’s Rainbow Video

4) Include Some Ruby’s Rainbow Facts and History

Your network may not know anything about RR, or even about people with Down syndrome, including what their lives are like or what they’re capable of… So telling a bit of the RR story, or including some facts & statistics about what we’ve managed to accomplish in just a few short years, can be really helpful for your fundraising!

How Ruby’s Rainbow Got Started:

When Ruby Plachta was born early, tiny, and rockin’ an extra chromosome, her parents, Liz and Tim Plachta, knew they wanted to do something to help this incredible community of people…they just weren’t sure what. After a bit of time and research, Liz realized there was plenty of “stuff” out there for the little guys — early intervention therapies, special education in public schools, play groups for kids, even free classes to contribute to their physical and social development… But there wasn’t a lot offered to people with Down syndrome once they graduated from high school.

Well, Liz knew perfectly well that life and learning don’t stop after high school — and after a bit of research, she learned there was a growing number of college programs out there for people with intellectual disabilities. A lot of those programs were very expensive, however — not just due to tuition and books but also due to the extra supports and mentoring that students with Down syndrome need to succeed. Liz and Tim decided they would like to raise just one $2,000 scholarship for a student rockin’ that extra chromosome who was going to college… And that’s how the seed of what would become Ruby’s Rainbow was planted.

Ruby’s Rainbow granted its first scholarships to 11 Rockin’ Recipients in 2012. Since 2012, this homegrown, grassroots organization has awarded 741 scholarships totaling over $2.67 MILLION to students with Down syndrome across the country who are following their dreams of higher education and independence!!

Our official goal this year is to raise $700,000 during the two weeks of the 3/21 Pledge, so we can grant scholarships to at least 140 new Rockin’ Recipients this Fall!! And of course we are hoping we can soar past that goal and provide even more scholarships to support students who are rockin’ that extra chromosome as they pursue their dreams of higher education and independence!!

Read a personal story from Ruby’s Rainbow Executive Director & Co-Founder Liz Plachta about how Ruby’s Rainbow came into being!

5) Be Sure to Include Your Personal Impact Page Share Link So Your Peeps Can Donate Under You and Show up on Your Page!

You receive your Personal Impact Page link in the email that you receive after making your first Pledge donation this year. You can also find it linked up on your profile on the Pledge Committee page on the Ruby’s Rainbow site. (If it’s not yet linked there, please email it to Catherine@rubysrainbow.org so she can add it! If you’ve already provided your link, it will be added soon!)

USING YOUR PERSONAL IMPACT PAGE AND TOOLS ON THE 3/21 PLEDGE SITE:

Once you have made your initial donation, you will get an email to “Activate your Personal Impact Page.” This will allow you to log into the site where you have access to some amazing tools to help make this campaign as successful as possible!! If you already have an account, then you just need to log in. If this is your very first time logging in, simply click “forgot password” and you’ll receive an email with instructions to set a new password and log into the site. You will see “My Pledge” at the top once logged in!

Here’s how to…

• View your network’s donation history: Once logged in, you can go to “My Pledge” to see your history and who has donated under your link this year — and even in years past!! Then you can send them a THANK YOU…
• Thank your peeps: We are HUGE on gratitude around here, so I wanted to make it easy for you to thank anyone who donates in your honor! Under your “History” tab you will also see a “Thanked?” column where you can easily use our thank-you template or create your own personalized thank-you message!! 
• Add your profile picture: Adding a profile picture to the 321Pledge.org site is a great way to personalize the experience and help your peeps find you more easily! Once logged in, go to “My Profile” at the BOTTOM of the site. From there, you can upload a photo. Under “Edit Profile” it says “Profile Picture” and you can choose an image to upload! Tips: Max size is 1 MB. There isn’t a way to adjust your photo once uploaded, so you may need to crop it before uploading to center and size the photo so it shows up the way you want it to look.

6) Social Media Is Not the Only Way to Fundraise – Email Works Great, Too!

Please feel free to use our handy-dandy email templates to connect with your network. Some of us have a very active social media presence and network, while others of us might want to reach out to relatives and others who aren’t on Facebook or Instagram; some of us might not even be on social media ourselves. Whatever your situation is, we want to make it super-duper easy for you to fundraise!

7) Post Often, but Not Too Often!

There’s a balance in posting on social media and emailing your peeps — you want to reach out often enough to make sure people notice, but you don’t want friends to start tuning you out, and you don’t want your message to get drowned out in all the “noise” on social media (or the noise of daily life and an overflowing email inbox).

A good posting-frequency rule of thumb: Post about the 3/21 Pledge no more than once a day, and don’t let it be the only thing you post about. Keep posting about your daily life, too!! (If you’re emailing your network, the same frequency rule applies!)

As donations start rolling in, you can start posting Pledge total updates. People love hearing about the progress that’s being made! You might share something like, “WOW – the 3/21 Pledge total is currently at $[X amount] which is [X number of] full scholarships so far!” Another example: “So grateful to the [X number of] people who have donated to the 3/21 Pledge through my personal page!!” These kinds of posts tend to get a lot of attention!

Speaking of which…

8) Be Sure to Tag Ruby’s Rainbow and Also Thank the Generous People Who Donate Through Your Personal Impact Page Link!!