Saying that social media has revolutionised fundraising is no exaggeration. Social media platforms allow users to form communities and rally around causes, including philanthropy, and any message can reach thousands or even millions of people in no time at all when compared to pre-social media days. This massive advancement in the ability to spread your message, along with features that facilitate fundraising such as ‘Donate now’ buttons and crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe, have enabled charities and foundations to directly connect with potential donors at a fraction of the time and cost it would otherwise take.

Alright, it’s easy to see how social media can impact how fast a message spreads, but do people actually donate to charitable causes or simply scroll past them?

Although these are admittedly outlier examples, viral challenges and causes can raise millions for charities, foundations, or research. A prime example of this is the 2014 ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which saw millions of people dump buckets of ice-cold water on their heads, nominate the next person to do the same, and make a donation towards ALS research. 17 million ice buckets later, $115 million (£91 million) had been donated in support of 500 research projects around the world (ALS Association). Similarly, the #NoMakeUpSelfie challenge raised £8 million towards cancer research (Arney).

While not every charitable cause on social media will raise millions the way ALS and cancer research have done, it’s nevertheless worth your time to spread your message across various platforms. If you follow these simple, yet impactful steps below, you too can maximise your social media impact and reach or surpass your fundraising goals for your cause. 

 

Understand social media user bases

Different social media platforms have vastly different user bases. If you’re trying to target Gen Z, spending hundreds of hours and thousands of pounds on targeted Facebook ads likely won’t have nearly the impact that half the time and a fraction of the money would have if you had focused on TikTok instead. Similarly, trying to reach sixty-year-old, well-to-do philanthropists on TikTok will likely end in disappointment. 

Even though you can find charitable communities built around all manner of causes on every social media platform, understanding their user base and demographics allows you to more accurately and effectively target your efforts. 

 

Partner with influencers and ambassadors

Many social media influencers have regular audiences and follower numbers that organisations and charities can only dream of. By partnering with influencers who align with your charity’s values, your message can be significantly amplified and endorsed by individuals capable of motivating their audiences to contribute to your cause. 

Finding the right influencer for your cause can be a hassle. You could always personally reach out to influencers and hope for the best, but tools such as BuzzSumo, HypeAuditor, and Followerwonk offer all the tools you need to connect to influencers in your niche and on your chosen platforms. 

 

Leverage storytelling

Storytelling is an incredibly powerful tool for maximising social media impact for fundraising. Instead of simply being another charity asking for support, a compelling story that explains your mission and impact humanises the cause and creates emotional connections that inspire action. 

Personal stories from those who have benefited from your fundraising efforts, behind-the-scenes glimpses of your charity’s day-to-day operations, and stories that unfold over time in multiple posts keep people engaged and motivate them to share your cause with others. 

 

Create shareable content

Social sharing, a hallmark of social media, is a great way to spread your message without having to invest in targeted ads or influencer support. Infographics, impactful images, and hashtags all encourage users to share your content with others, dramatically increasing visibility and engagement without additional costs.

While small or independent fundraisers might worry about the costs of developing shareable content, new and emerging AI models allow anyone to create stunning visual aids and graphics without the need for any specialised design skills. Free design software such as Canva can then be used to finalise or ‘polish’ your posts before sharing them with your community.

 

Engage with your community

Reaching an audience is one thing. Keeping them engaged with your content and motivating them to share it with others is another thing entirely. 

Actively engaging with your community means responding to questions and comments on a regular basis, participating in conversations, and creating interactive content such as polls and challenges. This shows your community that you’re active and working towards your goals, inspiring donations and contributions.

 

Use targeted advertising

Although targeted ads mean spending your hard-earned capital, sophisticated targeting options allow you to target potential donors with pinpoint accuracy. Other benefits of targeted ads include being able to slightly modify your posts for a specific audience for maximum effect and being able to set daily limits on expenditure. This allows you to analyse how users are interacting with your ads and further modify them without blowing through your entire marketing budget with an ineffective campaign.

 

Analyse and adapt

Social media platforms have introduced powerful analytic tools for measuring your campaigns’ performance. They allow you to measure engagement metrics such as likes, reactions, shares, and comments; the total number of people reached and impressions made; audience demographics such as age, gender, location, and language; traffic data such as click-through and conversion rates; and even sentiment analysis that gauges the emotional tone of comments to understand public perception.

By paying close attention to these metrics, you can make informed decisions and strategically plan your next move for maximum engagement and impact.

To summarise, social media campaigns can make the world’s difference to your fundraising efforts. Even costly traditional media campaigns, such as TV or radio appeals for support, struggle to match the reach of a well-run social media campaign. By following the advice laid out in this article, you can ensure that yours doesn’t disappear into a sea of competition and help generate the funds your charity needs to continue acting as a force for good. 

 

Works Cited

ALS Association. “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.” The ALS Association, ALS Association, https://www.als.org/IBC. Accessed 21 February 2024.

Arney, Kat. “#nomakeupselfie – some questions answered.” Cancer News, 25 March 2014, https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2014/03/25/nomakeupselfie-some-questions-answered/. Accessed 21 February 2024.