Fundraising and Facebook
For the past several years I have had non-profit jobs which required me to raise money. Since I was also a social media early adopter I utilized many online tools for fundraising. I have field tested many different ideas and tools and failed miserably.
Now I find myself on the opposite side as I receive requests from many different people ranging from my kids are selling things for their sports team to I’m walking/running/golfing for cancer/heart disease/MS. People think that they can ask their friends on Facebook one time and instantly the money will appear. Raising money is hard work. Don’t be lazy!
This blog post is based on my observations and failures and I hope will help someone raise more money for their cause.
Facebook has made it easier to raise money by collecting our friends both past and present into one online location. With relative ease I can post to Facebook and ask 1000 friends for help. The problem is that very few will respond—which leads to frustration and perhaps hard feelings toward our friends.
Recent stats have shown that only 7% of your friends/fans see each post you make. Remember people consume Facebook posts in their news feed. You are competing for their attention against all of their other friends’ posts and the posts of all the pages they like. The time of day and the day of week matters when you post. Posting in the evening and on weekends will increase the odds that your friends will see your request for support.
Posting more than one time asking for funds is not spam unless you post in rapid succession over a period of hours. Making a post and asking for support on a Monday at 6:00 pm, then Tuesday at 8:00 am, then Wednesday at noon, and etc. is acceptable as long as you post other “normal” things in between.
When you are raising money for a project it is best to define the time-frame for the campaign. Start off slow and build momentum as the deadline nears. It depends on the project but posting 4-6 weeks out allows you to prepare people for the ask. These posts should be simple introductions to your mission and goal. Fight the temptation to make the ask as now is not the time. Instead post links to the non-profits Facebook page and website. You can also post informative links to articles about your cause.
Ideally the online campaign should be no longer than 2 weeks. Daily posts (at different times of the day) should lead to multiple posts a day increasing in intensity as the deadline nears. People need deadlines to motivate them to act.
Don’t just post: I’m raising money for XYZ charity please donate now. Very few people will give to a request like that—unless they gave last year, have been personally touched by the cause, or are your parents.
Don’t just post the same thing over and over. Vary your wording on your posts and include photos or videos. People are drawn to pictures in their news feed and it will help your request stand out on! Photos can also be “shared” on Facebook which can help spread the word to your friends’ friends.
Don’t say if my Facebook friends would just donate $1 each I would raise my goal. A majority of your friends will not give anything to your cause and those who do will give much more than $1.
Is your goal to get 25 people to donate $25? Are you trying to get 50 people to sponsor you per mile? Post a countdown: Only 10 more to go! Only two days left!
Thank everyone publicly on Facebook who gives (unless they request to be anonymous) by “tagging” them (@name).
The idea is that 4-6 weeks out we casually notice your cause and project. During the two weeks of the campaign we see your request a couple of times and then we see the deadline approaching and act.
Don’t be offended when some of your friends don’t give. Maybe they are on vacation and haven’t been online. Maybe they are having a tough time financially right now. Maybe they gave last week to another cause.
Don’t constantly be doing fundraising projects. My experience says that the more projects you do the less money you will raise. I would suggest no more than 3 projects per year.
While some of what I have suggested could be applied for raising ongoing financial support I am specifically talking about short-term charity projects. Also many large charities are developing applications to help in raising funds on Facebook. This post is for those who don’t have that option.
I wish you the best in your fundraising efforts! We are the richest nation in the world and I believe we have the responsibility to give a lot away!
