Facebook, Fundraising and the Dawn of a New Age

Five years ago, many of us believed that social media in general, and Facebook in particular, were going to be big — “the future of fundraising” and how we’d acquire many of our new donors. We saw the fundamental desires of people to share things they’re passionate about and their natural inclination to come together in communities as signs that Facebook would soon play a major role in nonprofit fundraising. And … it didn’t happen. Let’s face it: With a few exceptions, Facebook has been a bust from the perspective of fundraising and donor acquisition — and even volunteer recruitment and advocacy. (Just ask Roger Craver, who uses far more flowery language than the editors of FundRaising Success allow in print!)