Social media fundraising is a fairly new development, so it’s understandable if your nonprofit feels apprehensive about jumping in feet-first and adding it to your fundraising calendar.

However, multiple major nonprofits are publicly embracing social fundraising in their efforts. Check out the following examples to inspire your team:

• Color the Spectrum. In a three-hour livestreamed event, Color The Spectrum raised 3.6 million for NEXT for AUTISM. The event received 20,857 donations from 67 different countries, fueled by social fundraising.
• American Cancer Society. In 2020, ACS broke Facebook’s record for the most money raised by a single organization in a single day. The nonprofit brought in 23,000 donations in one day in October 2020, as part of its Facebook Challenge fundraisers.
• Susan G. Komen. In 2021, Komen hosted a month-long Facebook Challenge in which it connected with over 13,000 supporters, 90% of whom were new to the organization. Not only did they raise funds, but they connected with new supporters as well!
• No Kid Hungry. Across their TikTok page, you’ll see “Stories from the Field” and the young faces of individuals working to end child hunger in the U.S. On each quick video, you’ll also notice that the nonprofit is making the most of TikTok’s donation buttons!

If your nonprofit already has an established social media presence, you’re ready to get started with social media fundraising. If not, no worries — just create your accounts and start following and interacting with your supporters on the platforms!

From there, you can tailor your social media strategy to the amount of time and effort you want to put into the platforms. Here are a few ideas that cover a range of time needed, depending on your team’s capacity:

• Adding donate buttons to your posts and live streams. This is just one extra step for your organization; when you create a social media post, include your donate button and a quick sentence informing supporters that they can donate to your organization through the social network!
• Educating supporters about hosting fundraisers. Consider creating a one-pager that explains how supporters can create a Facebook fundraising campaign on behalf of your nonprofit. These are essentially peer-to-peer campaigns that take place on the network. Outline the steps that supporters will need to follow to start a campaign and share the resource in your next newsletter!
• Host a Challenge fundraiser. A Challenge fundraiser involves supporters completing a task (such as walking 10k steps per day) for a certain duration of time (such as 1 month), while raising funds for your cause. Begin by choosing a Challenge task, duration, and start date. Then, invite your supporters to join in on the fun and create their own personal Facebook fundraisers alongside the campaign. This is what they’ll use to raise peer-to-peer funds for the duration of the campaign. When the fundraiser starts, you simply create Facebook posts to check in with supporters each day and encourage them to complete their task and raise funds!

 You can easily tailor your social fundraising strategy to the capacity of your team. Whether you’re simply adding a few buttons to your regularly scheduled social posts or hosting full social campaigns, it’s a worthwhile addition to your nonprofit’s fundraising calendar!

• Online Fundraising: The Ultimate Guide. Explore this comprehensive guide to online fundraising for tips for social media fundraising and beyond.
• Peer-to-Peer Fundraising: The Nonprofit’s Guide. Much of social fundraising is built on the general premise of peer-to-peer fundraising. Explore P2P in more depth in this guide.
• Social Giving: The Fundraising Guide for Nonprofits. This guide defines social giving, discusses how it is evolving, and covers tips for how you can drive social giving in your strategy.