3 Tips to Make the Most of Your Social Media Fundraising

Social media can be a powerful part of a comprehensive fundraising strategy when planned ahead with an understanding of how it fits into the mix. Combining social media marketing with fundraising can offer a new source of donations and data, and also serve as a preliminary point of interaction for a potential donor or an auxiliary touch-point for a current donor.

Before you start using in-platform fundraising tools (i.e., Facebook fundraising), know the limits of each platform and set expectations around the value that the tool provides. Most notably, data on donors who give via in-platform fundraising tools is limited. However, you can find ways to pair it with more robust data sets you already have access to, like your constituent relationship management (CRM) software or your organic social media audiences. Use this data every step of the way, from pre-campaign planning, through acknowledgements, and beyond. 

Here are three tips on how you can make the most of your social media fundraising efforts.

1. Learn How the Fundraising Platform Functions and Develop a Process Around It

Since each platform’s fundraising tools are slightly different, be prepared to test every element to learn about its functionality. For example, Facebook only stores donation data for up to 90 days, so figure out a solid schedule for when to export data out of the platform and import into your CRM. Similarly, once a donation is made there may be a 48-hour delay until it appears on a report, which may have an impact on your gift tracking. 

2. Recognize That Social Media Donors Are Their Own Unique Donor Persona

Take time to assess the current demographic and engagement patterns of your organic social media audiences within each platform to help inform the best way to tailor the ask. The more research you do ahead of time, the more you will help your audiences feel understood. Avoid turning off your social media audiences by using the same style of asking for donations as you do with your offline donors. Instead, leverage what you learn about their digital behavior to meet them where they are. 

For example, try telling your Instagram audience about a fundraiser through a few well-curated slides on Instagram Stories or create a Reel instead of copying and pasting the exact messaging from your print piece into static image posts. By adjusting the messaging and/or format of the ask, it will resonate with each of your social media target audiences while also working cohesively with your other marketing channel efforts.

Once the campaign is launched and donations start coming in, compare your social media donors to your organic audiences and see if there is any overlap among those groups. If there is, then you can start to develop a new segment within your donor base. If there is no alignment between these audiences, you can still use data from the donation reporting tools to learn more about this unique donor segment and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Lastly, those who decide to donate via social media are looking for a very quick and painless way to make that transaction. Cater any other solicitations to those preferences and make sure to thank them in a timely manner.

3. Track Everything and Improve the Process

Set up methods to track your efforts and be aware of helpful in-platform donation reporting tools that may offer valuable insights. For example, Facebook’s donation reports include a “Source Name” field, or the precise touch point from which a donation was made (ex: stories, post, donate button on page, etc). Knowing which entry points worked for your donors is vital information for your social media campaigns moving forward.

Fundraising via social media can offer a range of value depending on your organization’s goals and willingness to allocate time and resources. Your methods of utilizing social media fundraising could simply be for campaign awareness. Or, you may take advantage of peer-to-peer/crowdfunding campaigns. No matter how you use social media in your fundraising strategy, the bottom line is this: Using the unique insights that social media can offer is key to effectively reaching those who are most likely to take out their card and donate while scrolling their feed.

The preceding blog was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.