THE CITIZEN BLOG
THE CITIZEN BLOG
3 tips for creating fresh Social Media content
Hands on Atlanta is excited to partner with Be Consulting on the upcoming Instagram for Nonprofits 101 workshop happening on Wednesday, May 23. Keep reading for tips and tricks on keeping content fresh from Be Consulting co-founders, Christina Edwards and Jessi Ford Bacon.
Hands on Atlanta is excited to partner with Be Consulting on the upcoming Instagram for Nonprofits 101 workshop happening on Wednesday, May 23. Keep reading for tips and tricks on keeping content fresh from Be Consulting co-founders, Christina Edwards and Jessi Ford Bacon.
So, you’ve gotten into a rhythm of creating content for your social media strategy and you see that it’s starting to pay off. Congratulations! Now the real work begins. Keeping your community engaged and interested is the key to success, which means continuously producing fresh and unique content.
If you’ve found yourself in a content rut, you're not alone. Here are 3 ways to keep your content fresh and evolving.
1.) Relate to Current Events and Trending Topics
When in doubt, turn to the news for content ideas based on trending topics. Is there a particularly interesting article or new development that you can share your organizations opinion on? Or is there a relevant pop culture reference that could make for a fun meme? Utilizing an existing trend is a great way to keep your audience engaged.
2.) Team Spotlight
Your audience wants to get to know the people behind your organization or business. Spotlighting a team member on your digital marketing platforms is a way to give them a peek into day-to-day operations, or even the hobbies of a familiar face.
3.) Change Your Post Time
If you aren’t able to immediately create a new perspective on your content, there are other variables that can have a fresh impact. By simply switching up the time of day that you choose to post, you can have a completely different outcome on your engagement. You never know – posting content after 9:00 p.m. could attract new community members or even sell a few more tickets to your upcoming event.
About Be Consulting:
Your company has a mission to inspire change, make a positive impact and leave your community a little better than you found it. Be Consulting can help.
Jessi Ford Bacon and Christina Edwards have each been advising socially conscious organizations on how to deliver their unique messaging through digital marketing for over 10 years. As co-founders of BOFCreative, a full-service social media marketing and PR agency in Atlanta, Jessi and Christina have been working together to create digital marketing success since 2011.
Looking Back: The 2018 High Five Party
The week of April 15, 2018 will go down in the record books for our team here at Hands On Atlanta. We kicked off National Volunteer Week with a weekend of service projects for Good Deeds Day, and highlighted 5 outstanding volunteer leaders (1 per day) on The Citizen. Over the course of the week, we filled 450 volunteer opportunities through our calendar, and on Saturday, April 21, we partnered up with the Coke Scholars for a Global Youth Service Day project - mobilizing over 150 youth in service. To cap off this exciting (and exhausting) week of service, we partied with 300 civic and service leaders at our High Five Party!
Hands On Atlanta celebrates service at annual High Five Party, raising over $130,000 to help engage and mobilize volunteers, and support education and hunger programs.
The week of April 15, 2018 will go down in the record books for our team here at Hands On Atlanta. We kicked off National Volunteer Week with a weekend of service projects for Good Deeds Day, and highlighted 5 outstanding volunteer leaders (1 per day) on The Citizen. Over the course of the week, we filled 450 volunteer opportunities through our calendar, and on Saturday, April 21, we partnered up with the Coke Scholars for a Global Youth Service Day project - mobilizing over 150 youth in service. To cap off this exciting (and exhausting) week of service, we partied with 300 civic and service leaders at our High Five Party!
Attendees arrived at The Gathering Spot and got things rolling with drinks, appetizers, and on-site service projects (including packing 125 literacy kits)! There was also a chance to bid on some of our awesome silent auction items, spread throughout the venue.
The program kicked off with a little trivia from The Big Game show and really set the takeaway for the evening - FUN. Jay Cranman, Hands On Atlanta President and CEO (left) formally welcomed attendees and David Richardson, Hands On Atlanta Chairman of the Board (right), followed with a heartfelt and personal story about the impact volunteers recently made on his family.
One of the highlighted moments of the night came with the announcement of the 2018 Holly Palmer Rhodes Changemaker of the Year Award. This year's recipient, Arthur Blank, was unable to attend in person, but he requested we send a team of our best and brightest journalists to interview him on the importance of giving back to kids in Atlanta, entrepreneurship best practices, and more! Enjoy this special segment of Between Two Fans:
After dinner the guys from The Big Game Show came back for a hilarious, "Jeopardy style" game show that included a few of our friends - CARE CEO, Michelle Nunn (Hands On Atlanta co-founder/former CEO), Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Meria Carstarphen, and Executive Director of the Atlanta Speech School, Comer Yates, and a few special guests from our Discovery program.
After the game show, guests settled in for an impact story from one of our Discovery program volunteers, Priscilla "Granny" McDowell. Priscilla spoke to the importance of exposing her grandchildren to different cultures, different people, and different experiences the program provides. It was a great reminder of why we had all gathered for the evening, emphasizing why supporting Hands On Atlanta matters.
Jessica "It's All Good" Williams came out to help with our live auction and a few motivated attendees left with tickets to Hamilton, a dream vacation to Antigua, and a chance to watch a Falcons or United game from Arthur Blank's suite! It was a great start to the giving, but things were just heating up. After a brief announcement from Mr. Blank (with a match of up to $15,000) our audience blew passed our goal and gave over $20,000 in less than 10 minutes!
Attendees poured out of the ballroom and onto the dance floor where Oh No Stereo was keeping the good vibes (and guests) moving at our High Five Late Night party, hosted by our Changemakers Board. Young professionals from across metro Atlanta joined the party and 1 guest won weekend getaway to Charleston, South Carolina!
We can't thank our sponsors and supporters enough, but we're going to try. Huge thank you's and high fives to the Arthur Blank Family Foundation, Publix Charities, Chick-fil-A Foundation, Congizant, Cox, KMS Technology, UPS, Evelyn and Bernie Wedge and all of our sponsors! Our work isn't possible without you, thank you!
In total we raised over $130,000 on the evening, raised awareness around some big challenges facing our communities, shared a few moving stories and a few great dance moves, recognized and connected changemakers, mobilized volunteers in service, and had an absolute blast doing it!
Feeling inspired and want to get in on the High Five Party action? It's not too late, you can make a donation and help our efforts to engage volunteers and/or support our impact programs.
Atlanta Unites Over Supper and Service
“And one of the great liabilities of life is that all too many people find themselves living amid a great period of social change, and yet they fail to develop the new attitudes, the new mental responses, that the new situation demands. They end up sleeping through a revolution.”
Reverend Dr. King's passion for service and helping others is at the core of our work. Our mission and values to ignite a passion for service and create life-long community volunteers through civic engagement, diversity and inclusion, community partnerships, and the pursuit of excellence read more like a quote from one of his iconic speeches than something we try to pursue everyday.
To say the MLK Day holiday is important to us is an understatement. Our small, but mighty team, dedicates months of our year to planning and executing a series of events to try and honor his legacy and commitment to service the best we can. Because this year is the 50th Anniversary of his assassination and the MLK Day of service fell on his birthday, we went big and asked you to go big with us. Once again, you stepped up and 1,800 volunteers showed up to serve at 30 projects across metro Atlanta!
Special thank you to all of our sponsors, volunteers, nonprofits, and schools who came together to help make it all happen. Keep reading to view more details and to view photos from our 2018 MLK Day events.
2018 hands on atlanta signature sunday supper
On Sunday, January 14, 2018, nearly 200 corporate and civic leaders came together at The Gathering Spot to break bread and barriers at the Hands On Atlanta Signature Sunday Supper. Hosted by 11Alive's Cheryl Preheim, the evening was full of meaningful dialogue and featured a moving performance from actor Leon Rogers, as he relived portions of Reverend Dr. King's "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution."
The focus of the night was a fireside chat with Prosperity Now's Dedrick Asante-Muhammad and Nathaniel Smith of Partnership for Southern Equity. The two shared the stage to explore Reverend Dr. King's "Poor People's Campaign" and take a closer look at the issue of economic inequality then and now. Dedrick brought a national perspective, while Nathaniel held a local lens on the challenges (and work) being done right here in Atlanta. Other speakers included Jay Cranman, Hands On Atlanta President and CEO, V.P. of Community Relations for Coca-Cola North America, Lori George Billingsley, and the CEO of Points of Light, Natalye Paquin.
The diverse room of attendees had a chance to then discuss the issues presented to learn from each other and form some solutions on how to solve the problem of economic inequality.
Watch the Signature Sunday Supper in it's entirety:
The Signature Sunday Supper was complimented by 50 self-hosted Sunday Suppers across metro Atlanta. In partnership with Civic Dinners, changemakers stepped up to host and attend these unique and fun events, sharing dinner and dialogue. Final numbers of attendees are still rolling in, but you can see some of the highlights here.
2018 mlk day of service
To celebrate Reverend Dr. King's birthday, it was back to what we do best: rally ATLiens in service! In total we had 30 projects and almost 1900 volunteers come out from English Ave. all the way up Buford Highway.
It was cold, but that didn't stop volunteers from making their impact felt across the city. Parks, nature preserves and schools hosted several beautification projects, building benches, gardens, painting, and more! Volunteers delivered meals to seniors, planted trees at several cemeteries, packed medical supplies, and more.
The day of service was larger than anticipated, thanks to the incredible support from the 20+ corporate sponsors who came out help us celebrate. A huge thank you and special shout out to our title sponsor The Coca-Cola Company, who's been supporting our MLK Day of Service efforts for almost 30 years!
Inspired to act? Consider making a donation or sign up to volunteer!
Thousands of Volunteers Rise Up for Hands On Atlanta Day
You did it Atlanta. You showed up by the thousands and helped celebrate the city's biggest day of service in grand fashion. From helping raise funds for hurricane relief efforts at our Kick-Off Party, to rolling up your sleeves and getting to work, you showed what it means to be an ATLien. You showcased what empathy and inclusion looks like and more importantly, what can be accomplished when service unites!
In a word, wow!
You did it Atlanta. You showed up by the thousands and helped celebrate the city's biggest day of service in grand fashion. From helping raise funds for hurricane relief efforts at our Kick-Off Party, to rolling up your sleeves and getting to work, you showed what it means to be an ATLien. You showcased what empathy and inclusion looks like and more importantly, what can be accomplished when service unites!
Let's take a look back at some of the special moments from the 64 projects and 3,000 volunteers that made the 28th Annual Hands On Atlanta Day such a success.
The Kick-Off Party
Changemakers turned up and turned out for the Hands On Atlanta Day Kick-Off Party. The fundraiser for our sister HandsOn Affiliate organizations impacted by the recent hurricanes saw over 300 attendees who helped with a service project, enjoyed the finest brews Monday Night Brewing has to offer, ate delicious BBQ and helped honor Mayor Reed and First Lady Sarah-Elizabeth Reed with our Changemaker Award for their commitment and dedication to service.
The Mayor and his family surprised attendees with an announcement to match all donations during the event, giving us a total of $5,000 that we'll donate to hurricane relief!
Kaboom! Playground Build with KIPP Vision
Delta and Kaboom! got things started at KIPP Vision Primary School with the energy and excitement we've grown to expect from their annual playground build. The DJ blasted tunes, the volunteer vibes were plentiful, and Atlanta's own Silento surprised everyone with a fun performance! The build ended with King of Pops and a surprise $20,000 donation from Delta to KIPP! The tone was set for the rest of the day as 63 other projects were rockin' and rollin'.
We couldn't make it to all of them, but check out these highlights from around the day.
TREES Atlanta at Oakland City MARTA
More than 150 volunteers chipped in for a beautification project with TREES Atlanta. Lee Street was buzzing with community leaders and teammates from Mercedes-Benz, Nebo Agency, and Crosslink. Planting a tree is no easy task, so the pro's started the day with step-by-step instructions and then the volunteers broke out into groups and got to planting. A camera crew from Major League Soccer's Beyond the Stands was on-site to feature the community focused work Atlanta United support club, Terminous Legion gets into every month.
By 1:00pm we were the top trend on Twitter!
Not only did volunteers show up in person, but they shared their volunteer vibes all across the internet! Our Instagram and Twitter accounts were on fire all day, and for the week #handsonatl surpassed 3.7 million impressions.
Discovery at Parklane Elementary
Over 100 kids showed up for a morning full of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programming. Volunteers from FirstData and Mercedes-Benz worked through the curriculum and finished the day with plenty of high fives!
Changemakers at Peyton Forest Elementary
The all-new Hands On Atlanta Changemakers Board teamed up with FirstData at Peyton Forest Elementary to help with some paint projects throughout the building. They arrived ready to add some color and energy, but ended up taking away much more than they gave.
“What we’re trying to do here is change the trajectory of children’s lives. And the way we do this is to offer them an alternative to what life can be. And one of those things is coming to a place that makes them feel like they deserve it, to let them know that they are worth it.”
Hustlin' with 48in48
Skills based volunteers crammed into an all-new co-working space in Underground Atlanta to build 48 websites for 48 nonprofits in 48 hours. The social innovation hack-a-thon brought together some of Atlanta's top creatives and developers to pull it all off.
Thank You!
Thank you to the 3,000+ volunteers who came out, to the more than 30 corporate sponsors who helped make it happen (especially our Title sponsor, Delta). Thank you to the 64 nonprofits and schools for your hard work in planning and preparation. Thank you to our partners (TEDxPeachtree, 48in48, and A3C), and a special thanks our team - the hardest working service nerds in the business! THANK YOU all for the impact you helped create.
What's next?
Go volunteer! We have projects listed on our site every day of the week. Our next annual day of service will be our MLK Day of Service, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the King Holiday.
The complete guide to Hands On Atlanta Day 2017!
Hop over to our Hands On Atlanta Day page to view a map of our projects, quickly sign up to volunteer, and to access tools and resources to help share the service.
On Saturday, October 7, 2017, Hands On Atlanta will mobilize thousands of volunteers to serve metro Atlanta communities, schools, and nonprofits for the 27th Annual Hands On Atlanta Day.
If you've been looking for an excuse to do something good for your community, this is your chance! Volunteers will help out with projects throughout metro Atlanta focused on primary community needs including: education and youth development, literacy, child hunger, and parental engagement.
We have over 50 organizations and schools participating this year. That means a ton of fresh paint, new landscaping and gardens, essential hygiene kits, safe playgrounds, and more!
What are you waiting for? Stop reading this...
Hop over to our Hands On Atlanta Day page to view a map of projects, access tools and resources to share, and more!
Innovation, inspiration, and social justice all packed into an eventful first week of October.
As Atlanta's hub for all things volunteering and service, we've partnered up with some of the coolest events to hit "The city too busy to hate" for a weekend of good. Learn how (or join) skills based volunteers will transform the future of 48 nonprofits in just 48 hours, take a deep dive into innovation and inspiration with stories from some of Georgia's top changemakers, and uncover how hip culture is influencing social change. Meet our partners:
From Oct. 6th - 8th, 48in48 will deliver over $1,200,000 of value to 48 nonprofits in the form of 48 websites, a few logos, and other marketing collateral to help nonprofits grow.
The ninth annual TEDxPeachtree is Oct. 6 and will feature some of Georgia's most innovative thinkers and doers who will each go beyond the headlines to share ideas that drive the future, help spark change and that celebrate human ingenuity!
GET YOUR TICKETS
The A3C Action Summit invites activists, academics and artists to discuss and address social justice challenges. The 2-day summit (Oct. 5th - 6th) will host a series of panels, workshops, the 3rd annual A3C Action Pitch Competition.
RSVP NOW
Do you love Atlanta? Do like rubbing elbows with fellow changemakers?
If you're nodding yes, then don't miss our Hands On Atlanta Day Kick-Off Party!
Join us, Wednesday, October 4 from 6:30pm -9:00pm, in The Garage at all-new Monday Night Brewery West End location! Tickets are $20 in advance, but Hands On Atlanta Day volunteers get in FREE! Simply sign up for a project to get your discount code!
We know what you're thinking, how can we possibly pull all of this off?
It's possible because of our awesome sponsors. These companies not only financially support Hands On Atlanta Day, but engage their employees to participate on the day of service as well. A tip of the cap to those who make it happen:
Still want more?
Hop over to our Hands On Atlanta Day page to view a map of our projects, quickly sign up to volunteer, and to access tools and resources to help share the service.