How to fundraise on Facebook

With 1.35 billion users worldwide, Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms in the world and offers big opportunities for charities to reach more people and raise income. Here are five tips:

1. Content must stand out

Ross McCulloch, director of Third Sector Lab, says: “Too many charities assume that people will be interested in their news. The reality is that people are on Facebook to connect with family and friends. You’re competing with photos of someone’s baby and videos of cats falling off TVs - your content has to be really good to compete with that. My advice would be to take a step back, think about who makes up your core audience on Facebook and what content is likely to strike a chord with them. Use Facebook Insights to really understand what types of posts work and put your effort in to those in future.”

2. Positivity is powerful

Dave Gooderham, fundraising manager of West Suffolk Hospital Charity uses its Facebook page to share news, as well as fundraising campaigns. The charity recently received a donation for a birthing pool from the fiancee of a young midwife, Hannah Seeley, who tragically died in a road traffic accident. It posted photos of the room on Facebook and gave people the chance to pay tribute to the midwife and the maternity unit as a whole. The story reached more than 40,000 people, had 866 likes, 40 comments and 58 shares. The focus on news means that the charity has gained more than 200 likes in the past two months. Gooderham says that they now, “have a bigger audience to promote some of our fundraising events and messages”.

3. Integrate across media

MND Scotland raised nearly £500,000 from the #icebucketchallenge, using Facebook as a core driver. The team, which consisted of two fundraisers, used Facebook alongside traditional media. They majored on celebrity participation so that their brand was synonymous with the Ice Bucket Challenge in Scotland, getting Alex Salmond and Alastair Darling among others involved. Ross McCulloch says: “This presence across TV, radio and press drove traffic to their Facebook page and encouraged people to tag MND Scotland in their Ice Bucket Challenge statuses. Ultimately, this resulted in the charity’s biggest ever online fundraising campaign.”

4. Let images do the talking

When Leonard Cheshire’s garden at its day centre in Farnham was vandalised, they shared the photo on Facebook, attracting more than 700 comments and more than 300 shares. David Hunt, its digital manager, says: “It’s an emotive subject that people could grasp in an instant. There was a clear photo of the damage that had been done, and there was one simple ask: help us rebuild.

“We exceeded our fundraising target to rebuild the garden, which meant we could not only rebuild but further improve the garden with a new watering system. 40% of the online donations we received over the course of the week came via this Facebook post.”

5. Do use Facebook ads

Beate Sørum of fundraising consultancy b.bold, helped the Norwegian Cancer Society create two simple ads asking people to become members This generated 7,22 kroner in new membership fees for every 1 krone invested in the campaign. Beate says: “Facebook has given the Cancer Society an opportunity to directly connect with people who are affected by cancer, but may not yet be in an age group where it is possible for us to reach them through traditional channels. The main reason the ads succeed, is because the rest of the time, the focus is on really high-quality content on the Facebook page. Patient stories, advice, impact, thank-yous - letting people know how the money is spent and how they are helping.”

In summary, compelling reasons to give, a simple ask and making content sharable will help boost your Facebook fundraising strategy.

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