[ad_1]
Learn how to use social media tools to elevate your next fundraising campaign.
Guest blog post from Nick Black, CEO of GoodUnited
More and more frequently, when you read about Facebook fundraising campaigns, the conversation revolves around Facebook’s peer-to-peer social tools and birthday fundraisers.
But, what about when you want to leverage the platform to boost another type of fundraising campaign — such as to host a successful crowdfunding campaign on par with these stand-out efforts from 2020?
At GoodUnited, we work with nonprofits to scale up their social fundraising efforts — from virtual peer-to-peer fundraising to Facebook challenges. We’ve found that true success with social fundraising (of any kind) is built off a foundation of strong supporter relationships. And, those same relationships can be built regardless of the type of campaign you’re running!
So, let’s walk through four tips that you can use to raise your relationships with each social supporter and leverage those connections to boost your next crowdfunding campaign:
- Equip supporters with everything they need to spread the word.
- Express gratitude for every action your social supporters take.
- Activate your social supporters using Facebook groups.
- Use Facebook Messenger to cultivate ongoing relationships.
These tips focus on boosting a crowdfunding campaign that brings in true donations — rather than receiving funds in exchange for rewards — for nonprofit organizations. However, these same tips could be used for independent creators, small businesses, and other groups looking to raise funds through crowdfunding.
Throughout the guide, we’ll include suggestions for how you can align these tips with your unique circumstances, whether you’re a nonprofit, for-profit, or an individual. With that in mind, let’s dive in.
According to 360MatchPro’s fundraising statistics page, 56% of donors who are inspired to give by social media outreach say that Facebook had the biggest impact on their decision.
But, prospective donors to your crowdfunding campaign can only be inspired by Facebook if they encounter a post about the campaign. For them to encounter a post about the campaign, your organization and your supporters need to spread the word.
Now, we know that the majority of your supporters aren’t fundraising professionals. They’re likely not equipped with the best practices to successfully market your crowdfunding campaign and inspire their friends and family members to donate.
So, what resources should you give your supporters to help them effectively spread the word about your campaign? Provide the following to set them up for successful posting:
- Suggested Language: Think of this as an elevator pitch that they can include when making a post linking to your campaign. Suggested language should include an overview of what a crowdfunding campaign is, how donors can give, and what you’re raising funds for.
- Images and Graphic Design Assets: For example, pictures of your nonprofit’s staff and volunteers at work, donations in action, or even graphics describing your plans for the funds raised would all work well.
- Posting Tips: For example, if they post about the campaign multiple times and do so within the 12 p.m. — 3 p.m. block of the afternoon, it’s more likely that their friends and family members will see the post.
Providing these resources upfront shows your supporters that you appreciate their efforts and want to make spreading the word as easy as possible.
Let’s step away from the social fundraising concept for a second. What is the first step you take after a volunteer gives their time, a donor makes a gift, or an advocate makes a few calls on behalf of your organization? Whether it’s through letters, phone calls, or quick emails — your next step is saying thank you.
With other aspects of your organization’s operations, you wouldn’t hesitate to express gratitude to everyone that helped along the way. So, why would it be any different for your social media supporters?
We recommend expressing gratitude for every action your social supporters take to advance your fundraiser. For example, if you provided suggested language as mentioned in the previous section, include a point asking all supporters to tag your nonprofit in the posts they make about the campaign. Then, respond to all of the posts you’re tagged in, thanking that user for spreading the word. Something along the lines of the following can go a long way:
“Thank you [Name of User] for sharing our campaign! Efforts like yours are what fuel our goal to [Describe Goal].”
For your team, this is a quick thank-you note. But for the user, it shows them that their individual efforts are seen, appreciated, and crucial for fueling your campaign. Use this as an opportunity to invite those users to engage with your organization further — such as through Facebook groups and conversational messaging, which we’ll discuss in the next sections.
In the past year, human interaction has pivoted to the digital sphere — holiday celebrations, doctor’s appointments, religious services, birthday parties… we could continue. While fundraising events too pivoted to the digital sphere, something integral was missing from the experience — the in-person camaraderie and community of experiencing the event alongside other supporters.
Crowdfunding campaigns aren’t immune to this challenge, considering in pre-pandemic times, many donation-based crowdfunding campaigns wrapped up with some sort of in-person celebration to acknowledge the supporters who contributed along the way.
According to this GoodUnited guide to virtual fundraising, fostering community and camaraderie with digital fundraisers is entirely possible, even with the limitations that online engagement creates. You simply need to use Facebook groups to do so.
For example, create a Facebook group pertaining to your crowdfunding campaign and invite your supporters to join. Within the group:
- Share updates about the campaign.
- Use questions and conversation starters to spur engagement.
- Encourage group members to connect with one another over their shared support of your organization.
- Remind users to share your campaign with their friends and spread the word.
- Acknowledge supporters who have been particularly influential in advancing your campaign.
With this, you rally your social supporters around a cause they’re all interested in, encourage them to connect with one another, and share all of the information they need to engage effectively. Plus, because Facebook’s algorithm naturally favours posts made in groups over posts made on individual profiles, you’ll inherently increase the visibility of updates about your campaign by sharing them within a group.
Giving supporters the tools to post about your campaign and thanking them for doing so advances your campaign by spreading the word. Creating Facebook groups advances your campaign by creating a movement behind it.
But, what if you could further your campaign on an individual, hyper-personal basis, by creating personal connections between your campaign and each individual social supporter you engage with?
According to this guide to online fundraising, “You need to build a unique, one-to-one relationship with each and every supporter so they’ll stick around for the long run.” You can do exactly that with Facebook Messenger, which enables you to have one-on-one, customized conversations with each individual supporter of your organization.
First, invite supporters to connect with your organization over Messenger. You can include this invite in the thank-you notes you leave on posts or send a mass invitation to everyone in your Facebook groups. Then, within Messenger, do the following:
- Share the crowdfunding campaign you’ve created and any resources you’ve created to help supporters share it effectively.
- Discuss the supporter’s personal interest in your campaign, ask questions about what draws them to your mission, and learn how they would like to engage in the future.
- Express gratitude to thank them for their individual contribution, whether that’s sharing the campaign or making an impactful donation.
The main appeal of using Messenger is that you can customize your communication to the specific supporter. And of course, your connection with crowdfunding supporters doesn’t end after the campaign ends itself. With Facebook Messenger, you can stay in touch with those that elevated your campaign throughout the year — whether sharing an update on what the funds achieved or even sharing additional opportunities to give back down the line.
When it comes to elevating your next fundraising campaign using Facebook, the best strategy is to build strong relationships with the donors from whom you’re hoping to raise funds. By equipping supporters with the tools to spread the word, expressing gratitude, activating them with an online community, and cultivating relationships using Messenger, you’ll be off to a great start. Good luck!
[ad_2]
Source link