So, you’re wondering how to ask for donations on Facebook?
How do you actually go out there and promote your fundraiser for a nonprofit, cause, or charity?
Whether you’re doing a crowdfunding campaign (Get the free audio book with Audible’s 30-day Free Trial), peer to peer fundraiser, or just an online giving initiative, the tips that I share in this article will radically up your marketing game.
These techniques will empower you to not only reach more potential donors, but to also to get them to CARE about what you’re doing. They’ll get a gut feeling that what you’re doing is important and matters.
If you’d like to learn about other hacks, techniques, and psychological tricks to get people to give, then sign up to find out about my upcoming book going through all the Nonprofit Psychological Fundraising Hacks.
Hope you enjoy and shoot me a message if you do!
1. Be personal, not promotional…
One of the biggest MISTAKES that nonprofits make is that they will come off as “promotional” and “spammy” to potential donors. It’s like they have a megaphone and they’re telling everyone to donate to their charity.
This is the WORST way to go about promoting on Facebook. Here’s why…
Facebook is a network for friends and families. If you sound like you’re advertising something, then people are going to tune you out, just like they do to all the other marketers.
Instead, you want to come off as an actual human being when you share an update with your friends and family. You want to speak to your friends and share with them just WHY this is such a big event in your life. If possible tell a story.
2. Use images instead of links
Rather than just posting an update and then a link to your online giving campaign, you’re going to want to upload an actual image to Facebook that is on your post.
This will help you rank better in the Facebook algorithm. A high quality image will also draw attention far more than a simple article thumbnail. It will have more people reading what you have to say.
By using images instead of links, you’ll ensure that more people see your post, that they engage with it to a higher degree, and that you get more clicks to your link!
3. Ask direct questions
One of the biggest mistakes that I see when fundraising on Facebook is that students don’t ask direct questions of their friends!
By asking a direct question, you can spur engagement, conversation, and comments. This helps the post to be noticed by more and more people, thus enhancing the overall message.
When you’re asking friends or family through messenger, it also makes it so that people can’t ignore your message. They have to reply yes/no to your ask. For many beginners, being direct is difficult and can be a bit stressful, but it certainly will get you better results.
4. Create a FB group
A Facebook group serves as your own little personal universe where you can engage with donors, share news, and get them rallied up about a new cause you’re working on.
Online forums used to be a thing, but now, it’s super easy to set up your own Facebook group to serve as a “club” for your most devoted followers and even potential donors.
As more potential donors see existing donors interacting, it gets them even more excited to become a part of the charity and join the community. It provides that “social proof” which is crucial when turning a stranger into a donor.
5. Do Facebook and IG Lives
Facebook and Instagram have empowered you to basically create your own television network. You can reach hundreds of people instantly from your smartphone!
It’s definitely scary at first, but FB and IG lives give you the ability to connect with your donors in a way that it FEELS like it’s one-on-one. They get to see your face, hear your voice, and get a sense for your personality.
This is an incredible way to build trust with your potential donors and those people on the fence who aren’t sure whether or not you’re legit. Do them frequently to build engagement.
I’ve put together a new GUIDE that’s packed with science-backed nonprofit fundraising methods, resources, strategies, and killer marketing methods.
You should check it out if you want to get more donations and you want to fast-track the entire process.
6. Direct Messaging is King
Everyone wants to just post a status update and see a flood of donations. This does happen occasionally, but more often than not, a little hand-holding is required.
With my students, I’ve seen the best ROI come from direct messaging friends and family about the project. You then have a chance to combat objections and get a feel for the common questions that popup up.
Now, there is certainly a format for this (and you can reach out if you’d like me to share more). Basically, you want to come off as personal as possible. You don’t want it to seem like you’re copy and pasting the same message to everyone.
7. Build a Chat Bot
Chat bots are all the rage. And for good reason.
Many marketers report that chat bots see higher engagement than traditional email marketing. Marketers are using it to build up rapport and to get people to click on links to products or fundraisers.
A chat bot will allow you to respond to questions, send valuable insightful information, and move them along the path towards becoming a hardcore fan of your charity or nonprofit.
You can build a chat bot using a service like Chat Fuel or Many Chat. This is definitely more of an advanced strategy, but it can pay off big time!
8. Create Social Proof
Social proof can take many forms. It can include things like:
- Testimonials
- Number of followers
- Likes, shares, and comments
- Media mentions, etc.
Basically, it serves to generate trust with your prospective donors so that they know you’re not one of those charities that just is gonna take their money and run.
You know what I mean. Those charities who only donate $.20 out of $1 given to the actual cause. No one wants to feel like their money is going to waste.
9. Do a Facebook Fundraiser
Along with doing a fundraiser on one of these websites, you can also do one on Facebook itself. You can launch a fundraiser around a birthday, do one for yourself, for someone else, or in the name of a nonprofit.
It’s super simple and people who are connected to you on Facebook will see that you’ve launched one. Very powerful.
Naturally, it’s difficult to promote that fundraiser outside of the Facebook network, but it is one way to engage with people through a medium that they feel more familiar with.
10. Celebrate, Thank, and Tell Stories
You want to find as many excuses as possible to talk about your cause. An easy way to do this is to celebrate milestones, thank donors, and tell stories about the people you’re helping.
People don’t want to just see you selfishly promoting your cause again and again on Facebook. They’ll quickly tune you out.
Instead, you can peak their interest by telling compelling emotional stories about the people you’re helping or the people on your team. This will hook donors much better than pure promotion.
Celebrating milestones and thanking donors is also a form of social proof. It shows that your cause has merit and that others are joining it!
11. Facebook Event
Creating an event around your fundraiser is a quick and easy way to put on the radar of your friends and family. You can invite people to the event and make it a kick-off celebration!
That Facebook even could be for an actual physical event that you hold in person or it could be for the virtual event of you launching your fundraising campaign.
I tend to find that an in-person even works much better, because they you can meet your donors one-on-one. You can hear their concerns, address any questions, and get them excited about participating in your nonprofit.
The more fun and enjoyable that you make it to give money, the more others will want to be a part of that experience.
12. Facebook Ads
I wouldn’t recommend that beginners start using Facebook ads to target cold users and try to get them interested in their fundraiser.
This is a recipe for wasted funds and disaster.
However, you could use Facebook to extend the reach of your posts and get the attention of more people in your existing community. You could also use these ads to target people who have visited your website in the past 30 days.
I these are far more effective ways to use Facebook ads, especially if you don’t have a marketing background.
Lastly, Facebook loves it when you upload video on their website. It gives an instant boost to your posts (as opposed to sharing it off of YouTube).
If you create a video that gets comments, shares, and engagement, then you’ll see even more reach with the post and more people will discover your message.
Most Facebook videos that get shared tend to elicit some kind of emotional reaction, whether that’s surprise, anger, happiness, or laughter. Focus on the stories that you can tell that will bring out these types of emotions.
I hope you’ve liked some of these tips and if you’d like to learn about other hacks, techniques, and psychological tricks to get people to give, then sign up to find out about my upcoming book going through all the Nonprofit Psychological Fundraising Hacks.
I’ve put together a new GUIDE that’s packed with science-backed nonprofit fundraising methods, resources, strategies, and killer marketing methods.
You should check it out if you want to get more donations and you want to fast-track the entire process.
Good luck with your fundraiser!
