Recap of #18NTC, Part 2: Facebook Fundraising Tools

What’s the Deal With Facebook Fundraising Tools?  

I was thrilled to have been selected to present a session this year, all about one of my favorite topics, Facebook Fundraising! Joining me to share insights from the trenches were Joe Gallant from Polaris and Jennifer Cheang from Mental Health America.

Our session was smack in the middle of Mark Zuckerberg’s two days of Congressional testimony, but that did not prevent the room from being filled with nonprofits eager to learn more about how to raise money on the world’s biggest social network.

I briefly discussed the five main tools that Facebook provides nonprofits to receive donations:

• Facebook Page Donate button
• Facebook Page posts Donate button
• Facebook ads Donate button
• Facebook Live Donate button
• Facebook Fundraisers

To see if you qualify, and to register your nonprofit to use these tools, go to: https://www.facebook.com/donate/signup

The No. 1 concern raised in the session revolved around Facebook not sharing much, if any, donor contact information with the nonprofit receiving the donation. Often, nonprofits only receive the first and last name, let alone contact information like their email. Reporting can also be slow and complicated.

The nonprofits can cross reference these reports with their database, but since most donations on Facebook come from peer-to-peer campaigns, these donors may be completely new to the organization.

This lack of donor information received and the inability to cultivate these new donors is certainly a huge issue and one that has been debated heavily, and one that I have written about extensively.

Joe and Jennifer had some on-the-ground advice for social media managers looking to continue to build relationships with donors via Facebook:

• Thank the people who set up Facebook Fundraisers for your organization;
• Write on the Fundraiser page and thank everyone who contributes;
• Reply to all comments;

Send thank-you emails.

In my experience and in my observation, this concern around Facebook fundraising tools and the lack of donor information is largely generational.

Younger fundraisers and social media managers (like Joe and Jennifer) are not as bothered by the lack of donor acquisition potential. They see Facebook Fundraising as a way to create deeper connections with their donor rock stars—those people who run fundraisers for them, by soliciting their personal networks, friends and family.