As a nonprofit professional, you’re well aware of the importance of thanking donors to continue stewarding them for long-term support. However, there are a few questions that arise when it comes to thanking Facebook fundraiser donors, in particular.
For example, how do you find donors to Facebook fundraisers and Challenges? And, how do you thank these donors even though you may not have their contact information?
At GoodUnited, we’re dedicated to researching and optimizing the Facebook fundraising process for nonprofits. This research has provided us with valuable insights into how nonprofits can build lifelong relationships with Facebook donors. We’ll cover the basics of thanking Facebook donors through the following topics:
- The Importance of Thanking Donors on Facebook
- How to See Who Donated on Facebook
- How to Thank Donors on Facebook: 4 Strategies
- Thanking Donors on Facebook: A Final Note
Are you ready to begin thanking and engaging Facebook donors? Let’s get started.
The Importance of Thanking Donors on Facebook
Thanking donors is essential for building relationships that can last for years to come. That said, there are a variety of reasons why it’s so important to thank Facebook fundraiser donors in particular. These include:
- Maintaining a positive reputation. Nonprofits that don’t engage their Facebook donors with gratitude risk being seen as ingenuine or ungrateful.
- Capturing information about social media donors. While thanking donors through methods such as conversational messaging on Messenger, you can collect valuable information about their motivations for giving and how they would prefer to stay involved going forward.
- Opening the door for continuous stewardship. Keeping donors is significantly more cost-efficient than finding new ones—when you gain a new Facebook donor, you want to keep them! By showing gratitude, you’ll increase the odds that they’ll be open to future communications from your nonprofit through conversational messaging and other channels.
Thanking donors is a key step in making the most of Facebook fundraising. This channel often connects nonprofits like yours with supporters you may not have reached otherwise. Thanking these donors is one important way to keep the newly acquired first-time donors around and grow your nonprofit’s audience over time.
How to See Who Donated on Facebook
The first step to thanking donors on Facebook is discovering who those donors are! That said, there are a few unique challenges you may face when determining who has given to your nonprofit on Facebook. For example:
- There is a decent chance these donors aren’t in your database already, and this is their first time interacting with your organization.
- Facebook only shares a limited amount of information about donors, with no contact information guaranteed.
- If you’re not signed up for Meta Pay, all donors are reported as anonymous.
- Facebook will report your nonprofit’s page as spam if you manually monitor fundraisers and contact every donor one at a time.
For some nonprofits, these challenges are enough to write off Facebook giving as a whole and instead ask donors to give using another platform. However, considering Facebook fundraising is incredibly popular and has zero processing fees, we think it’s worth the donor discovery challenge. So, let’s walk through how you can discover Facebook fundraiser and Challenge donors.
Can you access your nonprofit’s Facebook donation history?
You can technically access a history of all gifts made to your nonprofit through Facebook. But, this history isn’t necessarily helpful on its own when it comes to thanking donors.
This is because the history of donations made to your nonprofit is available through the Daily Transaction Report. This is a massive file containing a variety of information, some of which do little more than clutter the information you receive and make it more challenging to decipher. For example, this report contains:
- Payment ID
- Charge Time
- Donation Amount
- Payout Currency
- Sender Currency
- Charge Action Type
- Donor First and Last Name
- Donor Email Address
- Campaign ID
- Fundraiser Title
- Source Name (ex: donate button, fundraiser)
- Permalink
- Charity ID
- Campaign Owner Name
- Matching Donations
- Fundraiser Type (ex: birthday, API, groups)
- Charge Time
This is a ton of information! Plus, all of these details may not be available for each supporter. For example, donor identification information (their name) will be reported as anonymous if your nonprofit isn’t signed up for Meta Pay and instead relies on Network for Good. Furthermore, the donor’s email address will only be reported if the donor has opted to share it with the social platform.
This can make gleaning valuable information from the Daily Transaction Report a complicated process. And, there can be major gaps when it comes to actually contacting your donors. For example:
- When you only have donors’ first and last names, you don’t have any actionable ways to make contact. If “Adam Smith” donated to your organization via Facebook, there is no way you’ll find the right Adam Smith’s email address to say thank you.
- The Daily Transaction Report shows all donations in one mass .CSV file. If you receive a decent amount of donations, this can be a ton of information and a challenge to sift through.
Luckily, we’ve discovered a process that your organization can use to make the Daily Transaction Report a more useful resource. Continue reading to learn how.
Discovering Donors Using Facebook Donation Reports
To make the Daily Transaction Report useful, your nonprofit will need to turn it into a usable spreadsheet first. Because you download this report in a .CSV file, you can import the data directly into Excel or Google Sheets. After doing so, follow these steps to discover top donors for your organization:
- Organize the data into useful spreadsheet columns.
- Apply a filter to view the donation data only.
- Sort the donation data by donation amount, highest to lowest. Identify donors who gave in the highest amounts, including their name and potentially their contact email address.
From here, we recommend prioritizing contacting those donors that have made the highest donations.
At GoodUnited, we understand that data manipulation isn’t a task for everyone. Because of this, we use the information from the Daily Transaction Report to create an insightful dashboard that contains the most important information such as:
- Names of fundraisers and donors
- Verified email addresses of fundraisers and donors (if available)
- How many fundraisers were thanked
- How many fundraisers opted-in to messaging
- The average revenue lift due to messaging
- Demographics of respondents
- Why users are fundraising
- The success of calls-to-action
This dashboard summarizes details found in the Daily Transaction Report as well as any information collected while carrying out our services. This information can help your team connect more effectively with both fundraisers and donors alike, whether through Facebook Challenges or conversational messaging. Now, let’s look at how you might use the donor information available to thank donors on Facebook.
How to Thank Donors on Facebook: 4 Strategies
So, you have a first name, a last name, a donation amount, and—if you’re lucky—an email address. How can you use this information to craft effective thank-you’s to donors? We have a few ideas.
Make the most of the donor information provided.
Let’s say you’ve unlocked a gold mine of Facebook donor information, and your donors have opted into providing an email address to your nonprofit. In that scenario, we recommend sending a thank-you email to those donors.
This email should be personalized and informative. Here’s why:
- A personal letter begins forging a positive connection. An impersonal thank-you feels distant and disconnected. Oftentimes, Facebook fundraising donors are first-time givers to your organization. In addition to expressing gratitude, the goal of the email should be to draw those donors closer to your organization and encourage them to engage in new ways.
- An informative letter gives donors clear next steps. New donors to your organization may be interested in continued support, but they may not know how to pursue it. Providing specific instructions and informative resources is key.
How can you write an email that hits these key points? Well, reflecting the donor’s giving history, such as including a reference to the campaign they gave to, is a great start. And, listing out upcoming events, online campaigns, and even tips to create their own fundraiser are great ways to provide actionable next steps.
Here’s a short template to spur your imagination, written from the perspective of an animal welfare nonprofit:
“Hi [Donor’s Name]!
We are so thankful for your donation to [Campaign Name]. Your donation provided 10 days of meals for dogs at our shelter— check it out!
[Insert image of donation at work]
At Southwest Animal Shelter, we help dogs and cats find their forever homes each day. This includes coordinating transportation, daily feeding, vet care, and of course enrichment! Donations just like yours are how that work is possible.
We would love to keep in touch with you going forward. Here are a few resources where you can learn more about our organization and how to get involved:
- Learn more about homeless pets in your area
- Learn more about Southwest Animal Shelter
- Get Involved: Volunteer, Give, Start a Fundraiser
From the pups and kittens at Southwest Animal Shelter, thank you!”
We’ve found that there are a variety of ways to engage with Facebook fundraisers directly on the platform. But, sending a thank-you letter to the donor’s email addresses is one of the most straightforward methods to engage donors in the long run. When you can access this information, make the most of it!
Ask the fundraiser to post a thank-you.
It’s easier to discover and connect with users who have created fundraisers rather than the donors to those fundraisers. So, why not leverage that connection to say thank you?
To do this, you first have to discover users who have started Facebook fundraisers or joined Challenges on behalf of your nonprofit. In our guide to Facebook fundraising for nonprofits, we break down the steps for how your organization can do this using the Daily Transaction Report and the newly released “Sort & Filter” function.
After you’ve discovered the top fundraisers for your nonprofit, you can begin engaging with the users that have started them. Consider writing a personalized thank-you note and sending it to the fundraisers. Thank the user who started the fundraiser, then ask them to share the note on their personal Facebook page to thank their donors as well.
Here’s a template to begin brainstorming:
“Hi [User]!
We are so thankful that you started a Facebook fundraiser on behalf of the Southwest Animal Shelter. Donations from your fundraiser [describe impact].
We would love to thank your donors as well. Would you be willing to share this note from us on your Facebook Timeline?
‘To the donors of [Campaign Name],
Thank you from the team at Southwest Animal Shelter! We can’t begin to express our gratitude for this gift, as it funded [describe impact].
We’d love to keep in touch with you and continue working together to benefit homeless dogs and cats. If you’re interested in getting involved, please reach out to us today!’
Thank you again for your generosity and effort in raising gifts on behalf of the Southwest Animal Shelter. We would love to keep in touch with you going forward. Here are a few resources where you can learn more about our organization and how to get involved:
- Learn more about homeless pets in your area
- Learn more about Southwest Animal Shelter
- Get Involved: Volunteer, Give, Start a Fundraiser
From the pups and kittens at Southwest Animal Shelter, thank you!”
This option knocks out two birds with one stone— stewarding both the fundraisers and the donors in one communication.
Post a thank-you and tag the fundraiser.
This is a great option if you haven’t already interacted with the fundraiser prior to the end of the campaign. Start with the same steps as before to discover the top campaigns created on behalf of your nonprofit, either using the “Sort & Filter” function within Facebook or the Daily Transaction Report.
Then, after discovering the highest-raising campaigns, consider publicly thanking them on your nonprofit’s Facebook page. Simply write a personalized message that reflects the impact of the campaign and tag the fundraiser that started it.
For example:
“Thank you [User’s Name] for dedicating your birthday to the Southwest Animal Shelter! The [Amount] you and your friends raised purchased 10 new dog beds for animals in need.
We can’t overstate how much gifts like yours benefit the animals in our community. We hope to connect with you again in the future!”
This is a straightforward way to acknowledge the gifts raised on behalf of your nonprofit on Facebook. That said, there are a few essential aspects to keep in mind:
- Personalize the message. Repetitive, copy-and-pasted messages across your Facebook page do not make a good impression. Make each message unique to its recipient.
- Continue engagement on the post. The user who started the fundraiser, and their donors, may comment on the post. Be sure to respond to these comments to continue building relationships with each supporter.
We realize this can be a time-consuming effort—especially if your nonprofit is lucky enough to have many ongoing fundraisers at any given time (such as during a Facebook Challenge). If you feel overwhelmed dedicating time to Facebook fundraising, consider contacting the GoodUnited team today. We can thank each and every user on your behalf and encourage further engagement through methods such as conversational messaging.
Respond to tags on the fundraiser itself.
Last but not least, connect with Facebook donors on the original fundraising post itself. There are a few ways to do this:
- Monitor Facebook fundraisers started on your behalf. If someone comments that they made a gift, thank them!
- Monitor when your nonprofit is tagged in posts. If a user tags your nonprofit saying they made a gift, comment back to them!
Here is a quick template that you can use for reference:
“Hi, [Donor Name]! Thank you for giving to our organization—we can’t overstate the impact of gifts just like yours! To learn more about the Southwest Animal Shelter and how you can help, check out this page. We’d love to keep in touch with you going forward!
The goal is to acknowledge those who are publicly announcing gifts to your organization and start a two-way conversation with them. Additionally, Facebook empowers your nonprofit to cultivate lasting connections with supporters through conversational messaging on Messenger.
Conversational messaging refers to two-way communication between your nonprofit and its supporters in real time. Messenger makes it easy to stay in touch with donors who’ve opted in to receive ongoing communications from your nonprofit. Beyond thanking supporters, you can leverage conversational messaging to encourage them to start fundraisers and share tips to help them maximize success.
Thanking Donors on Facebook: A Final Note
So far, we’ve covered why it’s important for your nonprofit to thank donors to Facebook fundraisers and Challenges. And, we’ve covered four strategies you can use to do so.
But, what if your internal team isn’t particularly data-savvy, and you’re struggling to find information about these donors? Or, if you’re lucky to have a huge number of fundraisers conducted on your behalf, and you simply don’t know how to engage with each and every one of them?
That’s where we can help. At GoodUnited, we specialize in helping nonprofits thank and continue stewarding each and every Facebook Challenge participant and donor.
We start off by ensuring that 100% of users that start fundraisers on your behalf receive a thank-you. Then, we invite that user to opt-in to a conversational messaging sequence conducted directly in Facebook Messenger. In the case of a Facebook Challenge, we also invite that user to join a dedicated, moderated Facebook group to connect with other participants.
Through conversational messaging, we steward the fundraiser, share tips and encouragement, and express gratitude every step of the way. In addition to creating stronger connections with the fundraiser, this opens a clear path to thank the donors as well.
Beyond that, we also simplify the Daily Transaction Report into a useful and intuitive dashboard full of actionable insights. To learn more about GoodUnited’s services, contact our team today.
For more information about thanking donors, conversational messaging, and Facebook fundraisers in general, explore the following additional resources:
- 20+ Engaging Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Ideas for Nonprofits. Learn how to maximize your nonprofit's fundraising efforts with these 20+ peer-to-peer fundraising ideas.
- The Nonprofit Guide to Facebook Donation & Tax Receipts. Explore the basics of Facebook donation and tax receipts in this useful nonprofit guide.
- 3 Essential Ways Small Nonprofits Can Leverage Social Media. Social media allows all nonprofits, from small to large, to cultivate massive support and raise significant funds. Learn how small nonprofits can make the most of social media with these three tips.
