The Role of Social Media in Fundraising
Social media is a great tool for your fundraising strategies. Not only are the posts on social platforms visually engaging but they’re easily shared with just one click of a button – two important aspects of fundraising online. The role of social media in fundraising is huge in such a virtual world.
According to The Pew Research Center, “…around seven-in-ten Americans use social media to connect with one another, engage with news content, share information, and entertain themselves.”
Social media is not only the preferred medium but also one of the best platforms for reaching your audience, promoting your campaign and message, and raising awareness. Social media platforms are a terrific way to spread the word far and wide. Not only is it easy, but it can also be a very effective communication tool and a valuable means of promoting your Fundraiser and raising money.
5 Benefits of Using Social Media for Fundraising
- Easy To Connect With Audience – A majority of Americans use social media every day.
In 2021:
- There are currently around 221.6 million Americans that use Facebook.
- 170 million Americans use Instagram.
- Twitter has 37 million active users in The USA.
- 80 million Americans use TikTok.
You do not have to be on every one of these platforms, just where your donors and prospects are.
- Meet Prospects You May Have Never Had The Chance to Reach – Social media is great for reaching people all over the country and even all over the world. This is very beneficial when it comes to fundraising. Have families and friends that live all over? Now they are able to support your fundraiser with just a few clicks – this could have never been achieved offline.
- Instant Updates – Social media lets you update your supporters in real-time. These platforms make it so easy to keep people up-to-date, whether it’s through standard posts, images, videos, or even Live videos – your supporters will be able to see your progress and stay in the know.
- Sharing – Encourage your supporters to share your social media postings! This will help your fundraiser reach an even wider audience – one you cannot do just on your own. You can encourage your supporters to share by mentioning it in your posts – give them a call-to-action and reminder to press that share button!
- Easy for supporters to find and connect with you – Many potential donors will look for causes, nonprofit organizations, and social media fundraising campaigns they care about to see how they can support or be involved. They will be more likely to support or follow if they see you have an active social presence.
How to Use Social Media For Your Fundraisers
Social media is a tool and it’s important to know how to use it right in order to succeed.
- Plan It Out – When planning out your social strategy, use the W rule:
Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?
How?
Who is your audience?
What is your goal?
When is the best time to post and share?
Where do you share?
Why should they support your cause?
How can you get their attention?
There are a lot of great tools out there that will help you keep track of your different posts, allow you to schedule them ahead of time, and some that will even automatically post for you. These tools help you save time, plan ahead, and not worry about missing a post when you’ve gotten too busy. We’ve listed a few of our favorites below:
- Customize – different platforms have different types of posts, not every social media site is the same and if you have more than one then knowing the difference will help!
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- Facebook: A great platform for photos, videos, and text. It’s easy to share links to your website and donation page right in the post. Facebook Live is a great way to share in-the-moment updates.
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- Instagram: their focus has always been on imagery – photos and now videos. The downside? You cannot post click-through links in your posts
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- Twitter: their main focus has always been on short and sweet, attention-grabbing content. This platform is great for conversations and link sharing.
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- TikTok: this platform has blown up in the last couple of years. Its content is all short videos that range in everything from recipes to cats. Use popular music to showcase information about your organization through the use of exciting imagery.
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- YouTube: this platform is a great way to make and share a video and have it be accessible to share the link on your other social platforms. It’s also a great place to keep all your videos in one place on your channel.
- Post, post, post – these platforms love when you continuously post and are constantly active. It’s a proven fact that the more active you are, the bigger you’ll grow, and the more people you will reach.
You can achieve this by:
- Using a social media calendar to plan ahead.
- Including hashtags in your posts.
- Sharing different types of content – not everything has to be sad or serious – share something that’ll brighten their day and make them laugh!
Different platforms have different frequency guidelines for posting. According to HootSuite, here are the latest recommendations:
- Instagram: 3-7 times a week.
- Facebook: 1 to 2 times daily.
- Twitter: 1 to 5 tweets a day.
- TikTok: 1 to 3 time per day.
- Use a Hook – always choose to post content that will grab attention. Research shows that you only have about 8 seconds to grab the attention of your audience on social media before they continue to scroll. As time goes on, that number (and our attention span) gets smaller.
- Include a Call-To-Action (CTA) – your posts need to include a call-to-action or else your supporters and potential supporters won’t know what to do with the information they were just given. Let them know exactly what action they need to take from your post. Include a link that directs them right to your donation page – make it as simple and quick as possible.
- Tell Your Audience a Story – share a story that shows the impact your organization has on you, your community, and anything else. Tell them a heartwarming story and don’t forget to use imagery!
- Respond Fast – be aware that people may comment on your posts or send you direct messages. Responding quickly lets your supporters know that you’re involved and responsive. It’s important to stay on top of all the different comments and questions that come in – these platforms like to see it as well.
- Make Your Posts Interactive – these platforms have created many different fun ways to interact with your followers. For example, Instagram Stories have many different stickers you can include such as polls, quizzes, ratings…etc. The more interactive your followers are with your posts, the more likely they are to keep seeing them. It’s important to engage with your followers outside of asking for donations. Use these fun tools to do so.
- Keep Up With Trends – lastly, trends. This is especially important on TikTok – where something new is trending every day. Whether it’s a fun dance or new audio – there’s always something.
Tips for Fundraising On Social Networks
- Facebook – SHARE, SHARE, SHARE – post pictures too! Pictures drive more engagement than text alone.
In an average peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, 15-18% of donations are referred directly from Facebook.
Try posting a variety of content types with pictures, links back to the fundraising company’s website. Ask the company you are working with for pictures– or take some of your own. Post updates on your group’s progress to reaching your fundraising goals. Post multiple times during your selling period.
- Twitter – Have kids and parents tweet about their favorite products or tweet about their sales status for some friendly competition. Use common hashtags e.g. #funpastafundraiser to gain popularity in what’s trending on Twitter.
Using Twitter during fundraising events can result in as much as ten times more money raised online. Don’t be shy about asking for retweets either. Over 28% of the retweets on Twitter are due to the inclusion of “please retweet”.
- YouTube– Do you have a YouTube channel? Have your class create a video sharing how they will benefit from your fundraising efforts. If you don’t have time for YouTube, Instagram and TikTok are great options.
If you are not sure how to do this – ask the kids! They know and they’ll be happy to show you what they know!
- Instagram – Post engaging photos and don’t forget to use Instagram Reels. In the last few months, Instagram has been promoting that their platform is no longer just made for images but that they are wanting more people to share videos alongside their typical photo posts. Don’t forget about Instagram Stories! These are a great way to make your posts more interactive through the use of their multiple stickers and gifs.
Since Instagram is different from Facebook where you can’t include a link directly in your posts for someone to click on, place the donation link in your bio and remind your followers that it’s there in your posts. Simply say, “To donate or find out more about {Organization} click the link in our bio!”
Use multiple creative communication methods across a variety of social media channels and reach more people for your next fundraiser. The larger your audience, the greater your opportunities for sales.
How have you used social media to promote your fundraiser? What role did social media have in your fundraisers? Have you experienced any challenges with social media marketing? Share in the comments!
*This post has been updated since the first post from September 2014.
