We’re all about making sure you have the tools you need to succeed in the online world, so we’ve asked Abby Jarvis, the communications coordinator for online fundraising service Qgiv, to share some of her expertise on promoting a donations page on social media. Take it away, Abby!
———–
Your nonprofit likely has some kind of communications or outreach strategy for getting the word out about your cause. You probably use a combination of online and traditional methods to get in touch with donors and ask them for their support.
Within your umbrella communications strategy, you should have a few ways to promote your online donation page!
And, while you may feel that you have your email strategy down pat, you might feel overwhelmed when you’re planning your social media strategies.
There’s a reason planning a social media strategy is so difficult!
Social media as a whole has grown and diversified in the past decade and now includes thousands of sites with billions of users.
How could a nonprofit possibly create a comprehensive strategy to reach as many people as possible?
That’s the question we’ll seek to answer here.
We’ll be going over the best practices for promoting nonprofit donation pages across four of the most popular social media sites out there:
1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Instagram
4. Pinterest
For more info about donation page best practices, check out Qgiv’s Ultimate Guide.
1. Facebook
With 1.44 billion active users each month, Facebook is one of the most recognizable social media platforms in the world.
Therefore, it makes sense, to start there when promoting your online donation page.
You can promote your donation form on Facebook by:
- Posting a weekly status with a link to your donation page.
- Uploading a photo of the people, animals, or communities you help with a link in the description.
- Posting a video with instructions on how to contribute via your donation page.
- Including a link to your donation page in your “About” tab.
Make sure that you’re also interacting with your followers and talking with them, not at them. Social media should be a conversation, not a monologue.
Takeaway: You can use Facebook to promote your online donation page in a few different ways, as long as you don’t turn your Facebook activity into a constant stream of donation requests.
Bonus tip: Check out these four tools for measuring social media marketing success!
2. Twitter
Since there are only 140 characters to work with on Twitter, you’ll need to get straight to the point.
Write up a quick tweet and include your donation page’s URL. When possible, include a picture that grabs your followers’ attentions.
You shouldn’t constantly be bombarding donors with appeals for donations, though.
The focus shouldn’t be on what you want to say, but rather what your followers need and want to hear. Post other content so that when you do tweet about your donation page, people will listen.
Takeaway: Use Twitter to promote your online donation form, but make it short and sweet.
Bonus tip: Take a look at these social media best practices for even more success!
3. Instagram
One of the fastest growing social media sites/apps out there, Instagram is an image-based site with a young user demographic.
While you can’t post links in the descriptions of your images, you can use the “Bio” section of your nonprofit’s profile to direct your followers to your online donation page.
When you post a photo to Instagram, make sure that you tell followers to check out the link in your bio for information about donating to your nonprofit!
Don’t count on Instagram as a major fundraising channel, but make sure you let people know how to support you if they’re especially moved by an amazing photo you post.
Takeaway: Just because Instagram is an image-based site doesn’t mean that you can’t use it to promote your donation form. Include a link in your bio to direct followers to the donation page.
4. Pinterest
Like Instagram, Pinterest is an image-based social media site that has grown in popularity over the last few years.
The brilliance of Pinterest is that users are able to categorize their different interests into “Boards” that they create, organize, and add to. Users “repin” other content that they see from the other accounts they follow.
Since Pinterest is a very visual social channel, you’ll want to post high-quality images with subjects that are emotionally appealing and will catch users’ attention. You can make an even bigger impression on users by adding short, informational captions to your pins, then linking them to relevant content on your website if they’re interested in learning more.
Your nonprofit can create a designated board just for donation appeals and information about your online donation page.
This is a good strategy if you have a group of Pinterest followers who are already involved in your programs in other ways. If you’ve got a group of volunteers who follow you on Pinterest, you can use your boards to organize materials they may want to access on a regular basis.
For instance, you could:
• Post and repin information about your upcoming capital campaign.
• Repin instructions about a peer-to-peer fundraiser you just launched.
• Post industry-relevant content, such as upcoming changes to your fundraising software.
• Repin instructions for followers who wish to text-to-give to your organization.
• And more!
Takeaway: Pinterest is an easy way to boost your organization’s visibility and direct followers to your nonprofit’s online donation page.
Bonus tip: Check out the social media metrics you need to start measuring!
Want to see more donations? Start using social media!
Promoting your donation page across social media sites doesn’t have to be a challenge!
In fact, when you put together a cohesive communications and outreach strategy that includes these four sites, you’ll begin to see more visitors to your online donation form.
What about your organization? What tips do you have for using these four social media sites? Are there any others you would include? Let me know!
Guest Author
Abby Jarvis is a blogger, marketer, and communications coordinator for Qgiv, an online fundraising service provider. Qgiv offers industry-leading online giving and peer to peer fundraising tools for nonprofit, faith-based, and political organizations of all sizes. When she’s not working at Qgiv, Abby can usually be found writing for local magazines, catching up on her favorite blogs, or binge-watching sci-fi shows on Netflix.
