Why You Should Invest More in Social Media Fundraising

Social media has become a vital engagement tool for nonprofits, but it often gets left behind when it comes to implementing an actual fundraising strategy.

I know the questions you’re inevitably asking yourself when you hear the term social media fundraising: “Am I posting too often? Too little?” “Will people block me if I ask them for money on Facebook?” “How do I even ask for donations on social?”

Whether it’s fear or just skepticism, I’m here to assure you that it’s worth pursuing.

In reality, social media is an untapped fundraising channel that’s inexpensive, yet extremely powerful. The potential for growth on social networks is unrivaled by any other medium. It’s a place where you can communicate your mission, share news, give updates and more without having to worry about getting a decent open rate. In fact, using social media on a regular basis can increase fundraising by 40%.

Sure, Facebook’s algorithm may present some cause for concern about how many newsfeeds content will land in, but as long as the content is great, your donor growth potential will far outweigh that of even the most extensive email list.

Here’s why you should be investing more time and resources into your social media fundraising:

1. It’s cheap and flexible

If you aren’t paying for an email service or designer, then you’re paying for it in the countless hours it takes to develop a perfect email appeal. Why only rely on fundraising methods that allow for little flexibility in both time and cost?

There aren’t really any barriers to using social media, especially when it comes to cost. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. are effective communications tools that are free for you to use. Although it’s sometimes necessary to pay for ads, which can help drive more traffic initially, it still doesn’t require a big budget. As long as you’re generating great content that followers love, more people will pay attention and your audience will grow.

Not only is social media inexpensive, it’s adaptable when you need it to be. You and your team can react when you need to and get a post or update published in a matter of minutes.

2. The donor growth potential

One of your goals is always to acquire new donors, right? Well, social media is where everybody’s hanging out these days, which means it’s an untapped source for donor growth.

Don’t get me wrong, direct mail and email marketing are great channels for communicating longer forms of updates and news. On the other hand, they’re not so successful at helping you acquire brand new donors. Social media has potential reach that can’t be rivaled.

Think about how many likes you have on Facebook. Now, think about how many friends each of those fans have on Facebook. That’s a lot of people who probably don’t know about your nonprofit that you can potentially reach on social. As long as you’re creating exciting, unique content, the opportunities for growth through your fans’ networks are endless!

3. It’s where people are

People spent up to 50 minutes per day on Facebook last year and the amount of monthly active users has soared to 1.65 billion. Clearly, social media isn’t going anywhere. In fact, it’s only getting bigger.

Meet the people where they are instead of making them come to you. This will make your organization more relevant and more human to donors and fans.

4. Increased donor loyalty, decreased churn

How many Facebook fans do you have? Whatever that number is, that’s the number of people who chose to publicly show their support for you. The best part is that you now have the ability to build a relationship with them.

Social media gives you a way to communicate your mission and impact to donors on a day-to-day basis. The steady communication of success stories, updates or emergencies and education will lead to a more loyal following and ultimately more donations.

Not only does social promote transparency of your brand, but it also allows you to develop lasting one-on-one relationships with fans without allocating too many resources. You should manage and build relationships with fans by liking their comments, replying to their questions, and thanking them whenever you can. Each of these personal interactions is helping your donors create positive, lasting relationships with your brand.

So the next time you’re creating a Facebook post or crafting a tweet, think about how it fits into the bigger picture of your fundraising strategy. Any post you create may be a form of engagement, but with social media fundraising you can turn those engagements into donations.

See, it’s not so scary anymore!

Need some help getting started? Check out our best practices for social media fundraising.