Tips: Fundraising in Social Media Land

Today I had the pleasure of speaking to the University of Denver’s Executive Leadership Program on the topic of fundraising via social media. I left the presentation thinking that many of our blog readers might find this content interesting too. So, I decided that perhaps I would post the key highlights from the presentation here on our blog.

My thesis for the presentation was that social media has its place in fundraising, but that it is better to think of fundraising as the cheese on the social media hamburger. And, just like cheese, it adds additional flavor and enhances that meaty bit at the bottom.

So you may want to know why I don’t see social media as the greatest fundraising tool. But before I get to that, let me preface this by saying that I am well aware of organizations doing great things around fundraising in the social media space. However, they’re the outliers.

A few key statistics to support my thesis (taken from Non-profit Social Benchmark Report, 2010):

• Only 3.5 percent of organizations have raised over $10,000 via social media fundraising campaigns.
  
• The average amount raised via a social media fundraising campaign is $1,000.
  

Not such a rosy outlook, huh? So what can an organization do to raise funds via social media?

One. Build Fundraising Asks Into Your Content Strategy.
Many organizations are too afraid to ask their social media followers to make a contribution to the organization. I get it. It takes a lot of work to build a social media following and the last thing that you want to do is turn people off by asking them to donate to your cause, but that doesn’t mean you are not entitled to make the ask.

I’d propose that you want the ask to be a soft-sell. Don’t get pushy. Don’t be obnoxious about it. A once a month “please donate” message is acceptable, and I assure you it won’t turn off your followers. The trick is making the pitch while still providing content that is valuable to your followers.

Your ask should be clever. Let’s pretend you work at an organization that feeds the hungry. What about posting a photo with a pile of food and an accompanying question like, “How much do you think this costs to buy this much food?” Have your fans guess. Then reveal the answer with the ask, “This is $25 worth of food. Think how much food we can serve if we could raise $25 from everyone! Donate Now (with URL to donation page).” That’s a fun and entertaining approach that engages the audience.

Two. Ask your followers to share.
The power of social media fundraising is not how many people you can blast your message to, it’s how effectively you can get your supporters to share your ask with their friends.

Make it easy for them. The best example I have seen worked something like this… I made a donation. On the page that confirmed my donation was a sharing feature that allowed me to share with my friends that I just bought $25 worth of food for a family. This appeased my selfish side of course (all my friends got to see what I great person I was) but it also posted an update that included a link to the organization with accompanying message asking my friends to make a donation as well. It was very easy for me – just one click – and very effective at spreading the message.

Three. Don’t be afraid to try a gimmick.
Before I talk about the gimmick, please understand that the gimmick is a one-time play. Every fundraising campaign can’t include a gimmick.

I absolutely love what the Wooly Mammoth Theatre Company did (see their case study here). What I loved about it was:

1. It was very simple and required a minimal investment of time
   
2. It was funny… I thought the “prove our Director wrong” focus was refreshingly different
   
3. They leveraged the power of sharing (as evidenced by the fact that the Washington, D.C. based theatre company secured donates from 23 different states.)
   

People want to have fun and be entertained in the social media space. The gimmick appeals to both desires.

So that is what you can do to fold fundraising into your social media strategy. Will you receive millions of dollars worth of donations? Unlikely. But, with a fairly minimal effort and a focused approach your fundraising campaign can surely be ROI positive.

That’s not to say those three tactics alone will lead to fundraising success in the social media space. You have to be prepared to face the biggest challenge of them all, and it’s got an unofficial name, slacktivism.

Changing your profile picture on Facebook to be a green box or posting the “I like it on ____” status update are both examples of slacktivism. The first example was used to show your support of the Green Revolution during the elections in Iran. The second was a campaign that was designed raise awareness for breast cancer awareness month.

Slacktivism is a portmanteau formed out of the words slacker and activism. The word describes "feel-good" measures, in support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it feel satisfaction. The acts also tend to require little personal effort from the slacktivist.

The problem is that people feel they are doing something good for the organization by doing these things – and in a roundabout way I suppose they are by raising awareness. However, if they really wanted to make a difference they would be supporting the organization financially or by donating their time.

You have to get past people’s slacktivist tendencies. How you do that is going to take some trial and error. No one has a panacea. I don't proclaim to have the answer for you. I am sharing this with you so that you understand why it is that your fans and followers are willing to “like” something or “share” something but not actually donate. If you can find a way to overcome those slacktivist tendencies you’re well on your way to fundraising success in the social media space.

So there it is. I know it’s a bit of a bummer. Don’t be discouraged. You can have a solid social media fundraising campaign but you must first have realistic expectations. Try employing the tactics I suggest above to increase your odds of success. Finally, find a way to make your followers realize that you need support beyond a click of the “like” button.

Remember, fundraising in the social media space can and does work… so long as you remember that your fundraising is just the cheese on your social media hamburger.

Share your thoughts in the comments below!