Facebook recently made an announcement about new tools available for fundraising on the popular social media platform. One new feature that could have a substantially positive impact on your nonprofit’s ability to generate donations is that users are now able to pledge to match donations.
In the past, we’ve seen how effective Facebook can be when it comes to raising funds and awareness for a particular cause, remember the ice bucket challenge? But if you’re organization isn’t properly set up to accept donations on Facebook, you could be missing out on a valuable opportunity.
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To make sure you’re nonprofit is set up to accept donations, follow these helpful steps.
- Make sure you’re on Facebook. If you haven’t created a page exclusively to promote your nonprofit, do it now!
- Make sure your company is actually listed as a nonprofit.
- Sign up on Facebook to accept payments and fundraising directly from Facebook. At this point, you will also need to verify that your organization is a registered 501(c)(3) organization, that you have a valid tax ID and that you also have a bank account with a registered financial services institution.
- Don’t forget to add the “donate” button to your page and to update your content regularly as there are a variety of ways to collect donations on Facebook. For example:
- You can add the donate button to your page and collect donations that way – the “set it and forget it” approach.
- The donate button can also be added to your posts, which puts it in front of more potential videos.
- Do you produce live videos? The donate button can be added there as well – again, more eyes = more donations.
- Finally, (and another reason to complete step 3) gives others a chance to advocate for your cause. Sometimes the best way to tell your story is to let others tell it for you.
- Share, share and share! Share content. Share success stories. Share the impact your nonprofit has on the community. And, above all, be sure to share the reasons why people should consider donating.
Facebook is a powerful tool for sharing stories, updates others on the happenings of our lives and raising general awareness about the people, places and things that matter most to us. Don’t miss out a valuable opportunity to get social while increasing donations. Email Rea & Associates to learn more.
By Rebecca Weiand (New Philadelphia office)
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