Social media has become a fundraising staple for many nonprofit organizations, thanks to its popularity and prevalence around the world.
According to Nonprofit Tech for Good’s survey of 1,732 professionals in the sector, 87% of nonprofits regularly use these online platforms in their digital marketing and fundraising efforts.
However, to tap into the full potential of social media, your organization needs an optimized strategy that aligns with your specific goals and resources.
In this guide, we’ll discuss four essential tips for deepening your interactions with supporters and boosting their engagement with your cause:
- Empower Your Supporters to Fundraise
- Engage Supporters Through Conversational Messaging
- Thank Social Media Supporters
- Ask for Feedback
By investing in more meaningful interactions with social media users, you can expand your nonprofit’s reach, build a dedicated community around your mission, and retain crucial support to boost your impact. Let’s get started!
1. Empower Your Supporters to Fundraise
While your nonprofit’s website is a key place for donors to go and make a gift to your nonprofit, there are many social media tools that facilitate giving and encourage more users to get involved. For instance, rather than having to navigate away from the Facebook feed they’re scrolling through, people can contribute to fundraisers directly on the platform.
By leveraging the power of Facebook fundraising for nonprofits, you can enlist dedicated supporters to raise funds on your organization’s behalf, amplifying your online revenue. The process typically follows this path:
- A Facebook user creates a fundraiser and selects your nonprofit to receive donated funds.
- The user adds a cover photo and other important details, such as the fundraising goal and a brief description of the fundraiser.
- Upon sharing the fundraiser with their friends and family members on the platform, the user accepts donations on your nonprofit’s behalf.
- Once the fundraiser ends, your organization receives 100% of all funds collected.
Allow supporters to take the lead in your nonprofit’s impact by encouraging them to create these fundraisers for your organization. This will deepen their relationship with your cause and keep them invested in the long run. To set your supporters up for success, consider providing them with a brand guide that includes compelling images and templates for them to use in their individual fundraisers.
2. Engage Supporters Through Conversational Messaging
Social media has become a popular way for people to connect and stay in touch, especially among younger demographics. While creating compelling posts is one way to catch supporters’ attention on these platforms, engaging in one-on-one conversations is critical to cultivating relationships that are built to last.
According to GoodUnited’s rundown on Facebook birthday fundraisers, your nonprofit can use conversational messaging to:
- encourage users to start a fundraiser on your behalf;
- provide tips and guidance to supporters who’ve created fundraisers;
- update users with your nonprofit’s news and event details;
- individually thank your supporters;
- quickly respond to supporter comments and questions; and,
- stay in touch with supporters.
This type of real-time communication makes it easy for social media users to actively interact with your nonprofit in the same way they interact with their friends and family online. Whether they decide to share your posts or start fundraisers for your organization, you can use conversational messaging to offer various options for supporting your mission.
3. Thank Social Media Supporters
Your donors and volunteers are essential to your nonprofit’s impact. Their contributions make it possible for you to continue changing the lives of those your serve. To weave more powerful ties between social media supporters and your organization, remember to thank them frequently and sincerely.
As with any nonprofit thank-you message, it’s important to be as specific and personalized as possible. For instance, after a supporter creates a social media fundraiser for your organization, follow this template:
[User’s Name], thank you for creating a fundraiser on [Nonprofit’s Name]’s behalf. Because of your efforts, we’re able to make a greater difference in the lives of [nonprofit’s beneficiaries].
The $[donation amount] you raised has empowered us to [specific impact, such as “provide medical treatment for 17 birds in our rehabilitation program so that they can be released back into the wild”].
We’re so grateful for your commitment to our cause and hope you’ll stay connected with us as we continue our work. If you’d like to learn more about how you can get involved, [add a specific call to action, such as “please visit our website” or “sign up for our email newsletter”]!
By tailoring your messaging to fit each supporter and their contributions, you’ll ensure that they feel individually recognized and valued by your nonprofit. While you can send this thank-you as a social media post, you have quite a few options for expressing your gratitude online. For instance, you can make a thank-you video to appreciate your supporters collectively, or you can make the thank-you feel more personal by sharing it through conversational messaging.
4. Ask for Feedback
One of the most effective ways to figure out how to improve your nonprofit’s relationships with supporters is to ask them directly. By collecting information on users’ interests, values, and preferences, you can hone your social media strategy to better appeal to them. NPOInfo’s nonprofit data collection guide recommends monitoring donor information such as:
- Engagement: There are several ways to determine whether your supporters are engaging with your nonprofit’s social media presence, from their comments on your posts to real-time responses via conversational messaging.
- Satisfaction: Ensure that your social media supporters have a positive and impactful experience with your nonprofit by tailoring your strategy to the types of content they like best and how often they prefer to hear from you.
- Giving history: Keep an eye on each supporter’s giving history, such as when they last made a gift and how much they typically contribute. This will inform how you communicate with them and make future asks for support.
To fill in any gaps in your data, simply ask users on the platform through surveys or one-on-one messaging.
Additionally, you can take the opportunity to delve into how supporters are personally connected to your cause and encourage them to share those stories with their personal networks. Stories are a powerful way to stir up empathy and compel people to take action, so use them to strengthen your existing supporter relationships and start nurturing new ones.
Social media has opened up so many options for nonprofits to interact with donors and secure more support for their causes. No matter which particular tools you leverage, the key to a successful nonprofit social media strategy lies in prioritizing deep, meaningful interactions with your supporters online. By doing so, you’ll make them feel like a part of your impact and generate increased support for your nonprofit.