All That Nonprofits Need to Know About Facebook Fundraising

Fundraising on Facebook for Nonprofits in Numbers

In a 2021 post by Facebook, it indicated that people had donated around $5 billion to nonprofits and personal causes through its fundraising tools. This number, without a doubt, has increased significantly since then.

Now, you can find Facebook in just about every successful nonprofit marketing strategy. While increasing awareness is one way in which this platform helps, it also serves as a great tool for fundraising.

According to statistics collated by Nonprofits Source:

• 18% of donors the world over have made donations using Facebook’s fundraising tools.
• 88% of them feel there’s a likelihood of their using Facebook’s tools to make donations in the future.
• On GivingTuesday, close to 30% of traffic leading to donation pages originates from Facebook.
• 15% to 18% of donations in average peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns come from Facebook.
• 44% of marketers opine that this platform plays an important role in their line of work.
• 93% of social media marketers advertise on this platform regularly.

Finding Success With Facebook Fundraising

Fortunately, it’s possible to run successful Facebook fundraisers, provided you know how to play your cards right. If you feel you don’t have enough time to devote to the process or lack the technical know-how, you may consider partnering with a nonprofit digital marketing agency.

Get the Description Right

More often than not, people who visit your Facebook page start by looking at your description to get insight into what you do. This is where you get the opportunity to catch their attention and encourage them to partake in your cause. Irrespective of the type of nonprofit you run, it’s crucial to keep your description clear and concise, while ensuring that it is compelling as well.

When it comes to using Facebook fundraising tools, make sure you highlight the cause for which you are seeking donations and your goal. It’s also important to provide specific details. Sharing why you are passionate about the cause and how it affects people at large helps build personal connections, as does using emotion and empathy.

If your description runs long, break it up by using suitable headings, small paragraphs, and bullet points so it is easy to read.

Engage With Supporters

While you might be tempted to direct your Facebook followers to other channels like your website or blog, if you stick to using this platform as no more than a broadcasting tool, you stand to lose out on much of its functionality. Besides, when users choose to engage with you on Facebook, there’s a reason they select this channel over others, so it’s best that you engage with them on the platform of their choice.

If you plan to collect donations on Facebook by using its fundraising tools, you need to focus on building in-channel engagement. To do this:

• Create Facebook groups for audiences with similar interests.
• Share content your audience finds informative, relevant, and beneficial.
• Ask questions in your posts to spark conversations.
• Run polls and contests to get people involved.
• Use Facebook Stories to share behind-the-scenes glimpses and real-time updates.
• Use Facebook Messenger to have one-on-one conversations with supporters.
• Encourage user-generated content (UGC), share posts from your followers, and tag them for recognition.
• Respond to comments and messages promptly.
• Encourage supporters to share your posts.
• Use Facebook Insights to understand when your audience is most active online and schedule posts accordingly.

Embrace Facebook Fundraising Tools

Facebook launched the “Donate” button in December 2013, followed by its fundraising feature around two years later. Since then, it has made several tools available to enhance a nonprofit’s fundraising capabilities, and if you wish to make the most of this platform, you need to know how best to use them. While a Facebook fundraising app can make for a nice addition, there is none as of now.

• Facebook Live. Facebook Live is a great platform to host live fundraising events, all the more so because you may add a donate button to your live streams. You may also consider partnering with influencers or celebrities to reach a wider audience. While this tool can help build a sense of urgency, it works well in boosting engagement and increasing donations as well.
• Facebook Stories. When you share stories of the people your organization helps, volunteers who make a difference, and glimpses into your day-to-day operations, it helps help viewers connect with your cause on a deeper level. However, you need to include clear calls to action, encouraging viewers to donate or share your stories. You can also host live fundraising campaigns through Facebook Stories.
• Facebook Events. You may turn to Facebook Events to draw attention to your in-person fundraising events. To do this, create an informative and engaging Facebook Event page for your fundraiser, ensuring that you include a clear description of the event, its purpose, and how you intend to use the funds. You may use the platform to send event invites to targeted audiences. Live streaming your event is also an option.
• Facebook Ads. While you need to spend money on Facebook ads, they can serve as an effective way to raise funds for your nonprofit organization. However, getting your ads to work well requires paying attention to different aspects such as targeting the right audience, creating compelling content, testing different ad formats, tracking results, and optimizing your campaign. Given the intricacies of the process, getting an internet marketing agency to handle this aspect might be the best way forward.
• Facebook Challenges. Nonprofits can create Fundraiser Challenges on Facebook that appear as ads in their audience’s feed. If they join, Facebook prompts them to create their own fundraisers. People then get to make donations in the same way as they would to any other Facebook fundraiser.

Be Specific

When you share specific goals and plans, it shows potential donors exactly where their money will go. This transparency builds trust and demonstrates that you’ve carefully considered how to achieve your objectives. After all, vague requests like “We need money for a good cause” tend to leave donors unsure of the impact they create.

In addition, if you clearly outline your purpose, you get to tailor your message to resonate with specific donor groups. For instance, if you’re raising money for a new animal shelter wing, highlight details like the number of additional animals it will house. This speaks directly to animal lovers who might be more inclined to donate.

Segment Supporter Communication

Generic fundraising messages feel impersonal and fail to connect with donors, whereas segmentation enables you to come up with messages that speak directly to a supporter’s interests and motivations. This involves communicating in a manner that increases the likelihood of grabbing the attention of specific segments and encouraging positive responses.

Facebook Challenges can serve as a great fundraising funnel. This is because you know who has clicked on your ads, joined your challenges, and is actually raising funds. In this case, refrain from sending blanket messages to everyone. Instead, send targeted, relevant, and timely messages, reminding users to register for your fundraisers, or activate or share their fundraisers.

Bear in mind that segmentation demonstrates your appreciation for your supporters and shows them that you understand their unique relationship with your organization. This fosters stronger relationships and reduces donor churn.

Show Appreciation

Whether you get donations on Facebook or through any other channel, know that appreciation goes beyond saying thank you. It’s about building a relationship with your donors and keeping them connected to your mission. If you thank donors and show them the impact of their contribution, they’re more likely to donate in the future. This is particularly important because acquiring new donors is considerably more expensive than retaining existing ones.

In addition, donors who feel good about their giving experiences are likely to donate more generously in the future as it motivates them to be a bigger part of the picture.

Why Can’t I Create a Fundraiser on Facebook?

While Facebook fundraisers can work well in raising funds for different causes, not everyone can create a fundraiser on this platform. For example, Facebook stopped personal and community fundraisers in 2023. When it comes to nonprofits running fundraisers on this platform, you might not be able to because of the country in which you operate or if you violate Facebook’s terms and conditions.

Facebook Fundraising Countries

If you live outside of the U.S. and are wondering why you can’t create a Facebook fundraiser, there’s a possibility it’s because of where your nonprofit operates. The countries/regions other than the U.S. from which you may create a Facebook fundraiser for your nonprofit include:

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Canada
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Puerto Rico
• Spain
• Sweden
• United Kingdom

Other than these countries/regions, depending on where you live, Facebook allows you to run fundraisers to raise money for charities based outside of your country/region. Examples of countries/regions in which Facebook lets you create fundraisers outside your country include:

• American Samoa
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Estonia
• Hong Kong
• Hungary
• Lithuania
• Philippines
• Slovakia
• South Africa
• Taiwan
• S. Virgin Islands

Other Facebook Fundraising Rules

You might not be able to access Facebook fundraising tools if your organization violates the company’s legal terms, community standards, and/or other policies. Does Facebook block fundraisers? Yes, even if you have an existing fundraiser, Facebook might stop it at any point if it finds that your organization has violated or is violating any of its policies. These include:

• Your organization or its leadership supports hate speech or violence.
• As a U.S.-based nonprofit, you opt out of Candid.
• Your organization is on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Franchise Tax Board (FTB), or Attorney General of California’s official blocklist.

If your organization appears on one or more of these blocklists, it is possible to get access to Facebook’s fundraising tools again. For this to happen, you need to ensure that your name no longer appears on the blocklists and then ask Facebook to reset your account. Once this happens, you may reapply to use its fundraising tools.

Facebook Ad Grants for Nonprofits

There was a petition on Change.org in December 2013 that asked Facebook to step up its support for nonprofits and launch an Ad Grants program. However, it found just 4,159 supporters and did not result in much. Then, there was some online chatter about a Facebook Ad Grants program in 2015, but it appears that nothing has materialized on this front since then.

It’s about time Facebook takes a page out of Google’s Ad Grants designed specifically for nonprofits. With Google, you might be eligible for a grant of up to $10,000 per month to spend on text ads. To qualify, you should have a registered nonprofit organization with a valid charity status.

Conclusion

If you’re new to Facebook fundraising, it’s best to learn the ropes before you create your first campaign or challenge. This is because you want to leave a good first impression on the people who wish to support your cause. Besides, you also need to build a strong relationship with your audience to drive optimum results. If you feel you need help to seek donations on Facebook, you can always use the services of a digital marketing agency that specializes in this realm. With experts at the helm, you may expect a great return on investment.