How to Fundraise on Facebook

Facebook has released a new set of fundraising tools specifically for non-profit organizations to fundraise on Facebook, which makes it easier for organizations to accept donations and to improve the overall donation experience for your audience. The Fundraising Tools are free to use and has a “Donate Now” button available in two places: on the Page Header and on Page Posts, but it is not enabled to be added as a Page Post’s Call to Action.

This makes it easier for donors to share their donation experience with friends. After a successful donation transaction, a receipt is sent to donors, which is branded with your organization’s information. With this update, it is now easier to find and donate to organizations.

When you fundraise on Facebook, the donations will go directly to your non-profit. Your organization has full control on how to use the funds to support either a specific cause or a general fund.

But first, you need to become a Facebook-certified non-profit.

Once certified, your organization can raise both awareness and contributions through Facebook’s new fundraising tools. On Facebook, you can now accept donations and also create fundraisers. As of July 1, 2016, Facebook had just over 100 certified organizations and only non-profits registered in the United States can become certified. The audience reaches across 40 countries, which means that so far, there is a relatively small amount of organizations who have been accepted and certified, but a large audience to whom it can reach. The value is in this audience reach. This is good news for non-profit organizations and certainly a reason to get started now.

First things first, though, in order to fundraise on Facebook … Let’s take care of the basics:

1. Are you a United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit?
2. Does your page have a cover photo, icon photo, US address and ‘Nonprofit Organization’ as its category? If not, you can set one up right here: Create Your Page
3. Does your page have an active community? Having a Facebook Page gives your organization a front door to its home on Facebook. By being active on Facebook, your organization can create a welcoming community for its members. Spread the word about your page and connect with your audience. Focus on creating quality posts that are useful or generate likes and comments. By doing so, this will help you show up more prominently in your audience’s newsfeed and thus you will be able to receive more attention and reach.
4. Do you have a Campaign Strategy? Having a campaign strategy not just in mind, but written down, can help with your fundraising and community goals. Does your strategy involve ways to tell your organization’s story with photos, engaging videos and links? When people feel connected to your organization, they are more likely to make a donation and participate in your community.
5. Do you have a budget for (optional) Facebook Ads? You will be able to target ads to your audience based on location, age, gender and interests. Facebook Ads can lead your audience to your website to learn more.        
6. Have you set measurement goals?