It’s becoming increasingly difficult for non-profits to be successful using traditional methods of fundraising, such as large, in-person events, dinners, auctions, etc. In most of our communities, our non-profits are struggling. In light of this, our local county foundation asked Kristi Fickert, Senior VP of Engagement and Growth from 30 Lines Marketing, and me to provide a free three-part series to our non-profits on how to pivot from traditional fundraising to online events using social media and digital tools. What follows is a summary of those presentations, including the slide decks.
In part one of our Outside the Box, Fundraising on Social Media series, we discussed top fundraising tools we recommend for online events and collecting donations.
Social Media Donations Statistics
- 18% of donors worldwide have given through FB
- Facebook refers 29.4% of traffic to donation pages on #GivingTuesday
- 30% of nonprofits use Instagram to raise money and awareness
- 6 in 10 online adults ages 18-29 use Instagram
- 26% of Instagram users make more than $75,000 per year
- 84% of users share Facebook donations to show support
Benefits of Online Fundraising
Less Expensive to set up
Online fundraising is generally much less expensive than traditional as there is very little overhead, has a potential for a much higher reach, and is no longer location dependent.
Less Planning
When you pivot to online fundraising you no longer have a big event to plan with all the trimmings. No mailed invitations, no catering, no nametags etc.
Potential for Higher Reach
Because your fundraising event or campaign is online, you aren’t limited to a specific location or group of people. It’s possible your supporters will share the event with friends across the country or across the world, and there’s no limit to the number of attendees!
Get your Website Ready
Before you start pushing out social media posts, you’ll want to make sure your website is ready to accept donations. Create a landing page, or at the very least place a button in the header and on your homepage where people can click to make a donation.
Make sure, too, that your page is mobile friendly. Remember if you’re pushing people from social media to your website, they are most likely coming from a mobile device.
Using Facebook Donations
Facebook donations are easy and free to set up. Chances are you’ve probably seen, or even given a donation, through Facebook Donations when one of your friends created a fundraiser on his or her birthday to support a cause. Hint: Pages that qualify should make sure they have enabled this function so users can select them as a destination for donations.
Using Instagram Donations
Earlier this year Instagram rolled out donation stickers for stories, which allow users to donate directly to causes through a click. Non-profit accounts who’ve enabled the business version of Instagram can also place a donate button directly on their bio. For both Instagram and Facebook donations, users must be enrolled and approved in Facebook’s giving tools.
Other Online Fundraising Options
Network for Good
Network for Good is a full featured fundraising software. Monthly fees apply, but if you’re looking for something with event ticketing, email management and direct mail management that includes a landing page builder and training and coaching, this is an excellent option.
PayPal
PayPal is trusted around the world as a safe and easy way to collect online payments, whether donations or payments for goods and services. Paypal’s fundraising tools accept major credit cards and offer some customization, donate buttons for website and social posts, and can be configured to accept recurring donations. Processing fees apply so check the fine print.
Go Fund Me
Go Fund Me can also be a good option for social fundraising, and is becoming increasly common for use among individuals. Go Fund Me offers donation buttons for your website, branded landing pages, ticket sales, campaign tools and encourages storytelling to increase reach.
FundRazr
FundRazr does have a free version; however, you can expect the site to ask your donors to give an optional tip. It includes social sharing, storytelling options, and a customizable page with image, video and description of your campaign. Even better, they’ve built an easy setup wizard to allow you to create your campaign. FundRazr is integrated with PayPal, WePay and Stripe, so fees from PayPal will apply.
Here’s a handy chart to allow you to compare all the features of each platform!
These certainly aren’t all the options for online fundraising, but they are familiar to most people which increases the likelihood of trust and contribution. What digital fundraising tools do you recommend? Let me know in the comments.
The next in the series: Outside the Box Session 2 – Top Social Media Tools, will go over our recommendations for scheduling, design, and analytics tools to measure your success.
Consulting | Coaching | Communicating 