“Of all social media worldwide, Facebook dominates and its new fundraising tools will likely transform global giving.” - 2018 GLOBAL Trends in Giving Report

If you're on staff at a nonprofit you already know that Facebook fundraising tools can be frustrating and confounding. Nobody will argue that, including Facebook. However, as the results roll in from Facebook fundraisers' first full year, it's clear to the few of us with a bird's eye view that the new fundraising tools have hit a sweet spot with the way people want to give, and are motivated to give. Facebook fundraisers are literally changing the way people all over the world are donating.

For fundraisers, this is nothing short of discovering a massive oasis in the middle of a giving desert. Philanthropic giving has been on a steady decline for years, and landing donors is extremely expensive.

In fact, it costs a nonprofit between $41 and $201 to acquire just ONE donor through traditional advertising channels.

Enter Facebook fundraisers - nonprofits don't actually have to do anything to get people to give. A whole new audience is doing the work for them.

Over 90% of the people who create fundraisers for you on Facebook don't even follow your organization on Facebook.

What's more, they are giving new dollars. Meaning, people giving to Facebook fundraisers are giving money that wouldn't have been given to another nonprofit.

It's an entirely new audience, and an entirely new revenue stream.

The shift is entirely unprecedented.

Managing Facebook fundraisers is confusing, frustrating, and time-consuming on the back end. We know because it's our mission to help nonprofits harness the power of this new giving platform. However, if you can shift your perspective to accept Facebook's giving tools as the new normal, you'll see that Facebook fundraisers are exactly what you've been dreaming of. 

Secret #1: Focus on the fundraisers

We know that managing Facebook fundraisers can easily overwhelm nonprofit staff who are already stretched thin. If you only do one thing to leverage Facebook fundraisers, focus on the people who are starting fundraisers for you.

Donors don't necessarily care about your organization as much as they care about the person who started the fundraiser. Fundraisers have the highest affinity for your organization; they've expressed interest and taken action. They also have hundreds of connections to potential donors. Take time to thank them and encourage them as soon as you see they've started a fundraiser for you.

We've written specifically about how to do this, and you can find those topics here:

How to find and thank Facebook fundraisers

How to know when someones starts a fundraiser for you

Creating a User Guide for Facebook fundraisers

By focusing on fundraisers, some nonprofits have seen their fundraising revenue jump from $30,000 a month to over $400,000 a month. There is no better definition of game-changer than the ability to increase your revenue exponentially.

If you are a smaller nonprofit and $30,000 a month sounds like a dream - take heart. Follow the same steps outlined in the links above to find, thank, and encourage fundraisers and you can increase your revenue and make Facebook fundraisers a reliable source of new donations.