People donated more than $1 billion to nonprofits through Facebook fundraisers in 2018. To those of us with a bird's-eye view of this phenomenon, when it comes to Facebook fundraisers, organizations seem to fall into one of three camps:
- Those who are crushing it
- Those who could be crushing it
- Those who refuse to crush it
Let's look at three nonprofits who are crushing it, how they're doing it, and what you can learn from them:
Save the Children
This organization raised over $7.5 million in 24 months. They used the money to help 6.5 million children in crisis. Save the Children is a great example of how to use storytelling to motivate donors. Their rich Facebook content includes excellent photos, real-life impact stories, and videos. Scroll through their feed and notice how positive words and language permeate their posts: "our commitment", "empowerment", "your support", "dreams come true". And, they regularly promote their Donate button.
Marine Mammal Center
This small nonprofit raised $30,000 to buy 15 tons of herring to feed their seal and sea lion patients for two months. How? Through storytelling and videos. This is a great example of how investing time in your Facebook content and in building your community can pay big dividends. Their content is always fresh and interesting. Log on and you'll read stories of individual seal patients, you might see a video interview with a veterinarian, or you might find yourself in a seal enclosure seeing your donations at work. Marine Mammal Center also excels at connecting every post back to the donations their community gives through Facebook. "Without you, we're just a bunch of people in waterproof pants," one post reads.
International Rescue Committee
IRC received over 27,000 donations last year to aid their mission of helping people in the path of conflicts and disasters. How do they excel at Facebook fundraisers? Every post shares a story or a fact, and their posts have a visual consistency that encourages sharing. Be sure your Facebook strategy includes a brand strategy for aesthetic and tone, and ensure every post is compelling enough that your community will want to share it.
2018 gave nonprofits 1 billion reasons to devote resources to developing their Facebook fundraiser strategies for 2019. How will you crush it next year?