Social Media for Fundraising

Social media is about all different kinds of engagement. From someone “liking” your page, “reblogging” your Tumblr post, or sharing your YouTube video, these are all actions followers and donors can take to engage with your NGO over social media.

Another form of engagement is engagement through donation. For this, social media has proven to be an effective tool for NGOs. A study looking into digital persuasion found that 68% of people who engaged with an NGO over social media then donated to that cause. That same report found that more than half of people prefer supporting a cause over social media versus engaging with that organization offline.

So while your social media feed shouldn’t be filled with requests for donation, do know that it is the primary source of information for people interested in finding out more about your work and your cause. Your job is to share the content that will persuade those people to turn from interested followers to interested donors.

Themed Online Days

Be aware of specific themed days that may increase your NGO’s chance of soliciting donations online. For example, 2016 marks the fifth year for #GivingTuesday, an online initiative each November to encourage social medial users to donate to causes they believe in. Last year alone, Giving Tuesday benefited organizations in 71 countries with $116.7 million raised online. The website has a helpful ‘Get Started’ guide to walk NGOs through participating in the day’s events.

In addition, hundreds of causes have their own themed day. If your NGO works with animal conservation, you may wish to be extra active on social media during World Animal Day on October 4 or World Elephant Day on August 12. If your organization benefits women in a specific region, try a special online campaign celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8.

By adding these events to your calendar, your team can make sure it’s best prepared to engage with current and future donors. Themed days are also a great time to connect with other like-minded organizations working in your region and in other parts of the world. Build your donor network and your social network all at once.

Saying ‘Thanks’ Online

Finally, social media is an excellent place to express gratitude to donors, big and small, online and off. Donor stewardship is an important part of fundraising, and studies show between 60 to 70% of new donors fail to become repeat donors — much of this is due to a lack of communication and gratitude expressed by the receiving organizations. Social media can be a place to express these thanks.

In addition to sending traditional thank you letters, try something like “We want to thank @DonorX for their generosity in supporting early childhood health in Arequipa Region.” Your message doesn’t have to be complicated. By tweeting to or tagging a donor over social media, you will have expressed your gratitude in another way, shown donors that you are social media savvy, and perhaps gained new followers as the donor re-tweets or shares your post.

What Comes Next?

It’s time to take a good hard look at the social media tools your NGO is currently using, and the ones it thinks it may want to use in the future. Come up with a list of goals and objectives for your social media use.

Using the pros and cons charts listed in this resource guide, look at which platform may best help accomplish those goals. Remember that the Internet has some fantastic resources and inspiration when it comes to NGOs using social media platforms in creative and engaging ways. Research some pages you like and consider how you could apply their ideas to your own organization. Reflecting on the social media strengths of other NGOs will be a big help when it comes to creating your NGO’s very own social media strategy.

In the meantime, you can follow Funds for NGOs on its social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

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