Soapbox Engage Blog

Social media can be a central part of attracting and retaining current and potential donors. It's a fantastic tool for keeping people updated and developing a vibrant community around your cause.

Still, it's not enough to create a Twitter or Facebook account and wait for the donations to start rolling in. It's critical to get strategic and understand how to leverage the power of social media to help boost your overall fundraising. Even when social media engagement is high, it takes strategy to lead someone from being a follower to a committed financial supporter.

Have no fear! We've gathered some wisdom and insight from industry experts to help you convert social media followers to donors.

Table of Contents

1. Benefits of using social media in your fundraising strategy
2. How to get more donors from social media followers

Benefits of Using Social Media In Your Fundraising Strategy

Social media can be a powerful fundraising tool for nonprofits of every shape and size with the right strategy and approach. Here are five key benefits.

Budget-friendly: Unless you're paying for social media advertising or "boosts," social media is actually free! So, even if you're operating on a shoestring budget, you can afford a quality social media strategy as part of your overall fundraising efforts.

Expand your audience: With just a few clicks, you can reach an audience of billions around the world. That means you're not limited to fundraising from your local network--the sky's the limit here!

Interactive content can educate and mobilize people: Posting helpful, educational content can go a long way to raise awareness about your cause. People have a hard time being passionate about something they don't understand. Your social media platforms can become an all-access education point around your cause or mission!

Keep donors and volunteers engaged: it's not always possible (or practical) to write a full newsletter update every time something significant happens around your organization. But it doesn't take much to write a quick social media post or even do a Facebook Live event to update "on location." Social media empowers you to keep your audience updated and engaged as things unfold. In turn, this increases their sense of belonging and "buy-in" to the mission!

Share about financial needs quickly: Social media makes it easy to keep people updated about immediate or long-term financial needs. Recurring donors appreciate knowing the current financial state, and potential donors can learn how to get involved. You can include a link to your custom donation page at strategic times and on social media platforms that allow it.

The bottom line is that many high-profile (and small) nonprofits use social media to boost their fundraising strategy. Many nonprofits consider social media a central part of fundraising communication, just like thank you notes, appeal letters, and other traditional fundraising content.

How To Get More Donors From Social Media Followers

This is the million-dollar question, how do you move your social media followers to become generous donors? This process usually involves several stages for the individual.

Here are a few strategies and tips to help you boost your social media presence and move your followers toward becoming valuable donors.

Share the right mix of content on your social media platforms

Many businesses and nonprofits only post on social media to share the occasional video or announce an upcoming event or milestone. Social media is more like a megaphone announcing information that people may not care about or feel connected to when used in this way.

A more effective approach is to think of social media as a platform to begin conversations with people.

Start by posting regularly and changing the topics. Here are three categories that can really engage your followers and help them feel closer to your organization:

Educate: Share helpful and insightful information about your cause. In other words, use your pages to educate. The great news is you don't need to create all that educational content! It's ok to share both internal and external content with your audience.

Be sure to ask questions or even create opportunities to have an actual conversation! Facebook Live is a great way to host virtual gatherings to get people engaged.

Show gratitude: Social media is an excellent place to publicly acknowledge and thank your donors and volunteers. This is an effective donor care strategy that can motivate other people to get involved. You can even share interviews with key donors and offer an opportunity to share about any personal benefits they enjoy from supporting your organization. Hearing from current donors can inspire others to begin making regular contributions.

Make the ask: It's good to include some strategic appeals on your social media pages as long as they are balanced with the other content categories. As in many things in life, balance is critical, and that balance tends to be unique to each community. Too many appeal posts can have the undesired effect of driving people away.

The "two to one" approach is a great place to start. Make sure you have at least two posts unrelated to fundraising for every one appeal you share.

Create space for two-way interaction on your social media

These days it seems like we're constantly glued to our phones and computers, making the internet an extension of our sense of community and belonging. Many people now experience social media as a hyperconnected society where they can connect with people who share common values, interests, and beliefs.

While psychologists and sociologists parse out the pros and cons of this development, you can leverage it to your advantage! Think of social media as a platform for virtual two-way conversations with people. Create opportunities to hear from and speak directly with followers on social media.

Share content that's designed to ignite spirited conversations. Depending on your organization's culture and personality, this might include controversial content that sparks dialogue, educational information, or uplifting content that people can read, apply to their lives, or even take a specific action around.

You might ask your followers to sign a petition or take a poll. Host a live event where you can engage your audience more directly. Pose a question and ask people to share thoughts or photos in the comments. Don't be afraid to ask your followers to share their opinions, questions, or feelings. This is a healthy part of cultivating a community around your organization.

Think of each post as a communication WITH someone, not just an information blast TO a large audience. Remember, the goal is to develop authentic connections with your followers and cultivate relationships with current donors.

Dedicating time to respond to posts on your social media pages and actually participate in that "two-way" conversation can go a long way to help followers become donors.

Tell compelling stories on your nonprofit social media

People love stories, and they're an effective tool for connecting and communicating, especially on social media. Share stories on your social media platforms that offer concrete evidence of what your nonprofit is accomplishing. People want tangible results, and stories are an effective way to celebrate accomplishments together and entice others to join in!

Don't be afraid to get creative with your storytelling! Post photos, videos, and infographics to boost engagement and make things more "sharable" and interesting.

Share your "wish list" to social media to compel followers to become donors

This strategy is especially valuable for nonprofits who need or accept gifts in kind. Rather than exclusively asking for financial donations, share specific items your organization needs and offer instructions on how someone can donate the item.

A great example of an organization doing this is Into the Neighborhood. During their annual "Mardi Bras" donation drive, the organization added a link to an Amazon wish list of items they need to continue supporting women in prisons and recovery homes to their list of ways to support the nonprofit. This empowered many of their social media followers to purchase bras, underwear, and personal hygiene items for the organization.

Often, purchasing a needed item can break that final "barrier" and move a social media follower toward becoming an enthusiastic donor.

Identify and contact "regular" social media followers directly

One benefit of taking the time to read and respond to comments and engagements on your social media platforms is to identify the "regulars" who are active in the conversations but aren't yet financial supporters. Those are the social media followers you should reach out to directly and start a one-on-one conversation!

Some nonprofits reach out with a direct message (DM) on the social media platform, asking to connect more personally. You may already have their contact information. No matter how you're able to make the connection, thank them for their involvement on your social media platforms and start working your relationship-building magic to guide them toward becoming a donor.

Keep your asks to a minimum

This might sound a bit counter-intuitive, but one way to encourage your followers to become donors is to use donation appeals very strategically. These posts should only make up a small portion of your overall social media content.

Bombarding your followers with too many hard asks can undermine the sense of community you're cultivating on your social media platforms and actually turn people away.

We mentioned the "two to one" approach earlier as an excellent starting ratio of "asks" to "other" posts. This ratio can flex and adjust to reflect your overall fundraising efforts. For example, you'll probably want to post more frequent financial updates and asks when you're in the middle of a big fundraising campaign. Then you can balance that out with other content when your campaign is finished.

Use the right content in your social media appeals

A solid social media appeal should incorporate a combination of:

• Visual content: a photo, video, infographic, or other visually appealing and exciting content.
• A link to your donation page: you might be surprised how many nonprofits forget to add a link to their website or donation page in their social media appeals. (Currently, Instagram does not allow links within a post.)
• Information about what you'll accomplish with the money.

Whenever applicable, it's also helpful to post regular updates about your progress toward the fundraising goal. This can often prompt people to make additional gifts or provide that last little nudge toward an initial donation.

It's important to remember that this strategy of inviting social media followers to become donors takes time, a little skill, and experimenting to learn what works best for your audience. The great news is that social media remains a powerful tool for nonprofits to cultivate strong relationships with current and potential donors. And, really, strong relationships are at the core of any effective fundraising strategy!

Now that you're on your way to making strong connections with your social media followers, here are three more resources to continue growing your fundraising efforts.

• Facebook Pages v. Groups: Optimize Your Nonprofit's Facebook Presence: Overall, Facebook offers many benefits to charities and nonprofits, but there are lots of options and settings to choose from. What's the difference between Facebook Pages and Facebook Groups? Which option is best for your nonprofit? This blog will help you understand the features, pros, and cons of Facebook Groups and Pages so you can make an informed social media strategy for your nonprofit.
• 5 Easy Ways To Maximize Your Fundraising On Facebook: Social media is a central part of our culture. Facebook is the most popular social media platform and Facebook users donated over $2 billion to date, proving that social media platforms are significantly changing fundraising. This blog offers five things you should know that will help you ask for donations effectively on Facebook.
• 6 Easy Ways to Boost Your Facebook Event Marketing: More than 700 million people use Facebook to market their events each month. At least 35 million people view those public events each day. That's a lot of traffic and potential visibility for your nonprofit! But how do you stand out in all that noise? There are a few things you can do to stand out and make your event more visible and attractive on Facebook. This blog offers some key tips to help you get greater visibility for your next fundraising event.