How Facebook Advertising Can Help Double Donations
Every time you share your GoFundMe fundraiser on Facebook, it helps raise an average of $43. Sharing a fundraiser on social media helps spread the word to your online community. Now, imagine the possibilities when you reach Facebook users outside of your friend circle. You never know who will stumble upon your story, and if it resonates with them, they may be inspired to donate and help you reach your goal.
How do you reach those potential donors outside of your Facebook friend circle? Here are our best practices for using Facebook advertising to help your fundraiser succeed.
1. Advertise from your personal Facebook or a Facebook page
Here are two easy ways to advertise your fundraiser on Facebook. One way is to create a right-hand column ad (Facebook’s first form of advertising) from your personal account. Better still, according to HubSpot, ads in the News Feed are likely to get higher, engagement metrics; this means more people will be compelled to donate.
To create a News Feed ad, you can easily set up your Facebook business page.
We suggest testing both right-hand column and News Feed ads to decide which form of advertising works best for your fundraiser.
2. Choose your objective
The next step in your fundraising success is to choose the objective for your ad. Facebook offers users a variety of different advertising goals. Two key options are the ‘Boost your posts’ and ‘Send people to your website’ options.
To boost a post means to advertise on a post that has already been posted previously to your page. For organizers who have already posted links to your fundraiser on your Facebook page, use this approach.
If your fundraiser has just begun and you want to start advertising right away, choose ‘Send people to your website’ option. You will create this ad from scratch, and follow the next three steps for a seamless and profitable process.
3. Target an audience and set a budget
Now that you have a goal, who should you target? On Facebook, you can target people who have ‘liked’ your page, or focus on audience characteristics, such as gender, age, and interests.
In the budget and scheduling section, decide how much you want to spend on your ad and how long it will run. You can also choose whether to pay per day or set a lifetime budget for your ad fundraiser.
4. Collect quality photos that will tell your story
One of the most important steps in creating an ad is choosing images that bring your cause to life. High-quality images help the reader develop empathy and compassion for your story. Selecting an eye-catching picture will inspire readers to lend their support towards your fundraiser.
For example, Gunnar’s Wheels, a nonprofit that began as a GoFundMe fundraiser, regularly posts photos and videos of dogs who have received wheelchair carts to help with their mobility This increases engagement, resulting in more “likes.” Gunnar’s Wheels now have over 9,000 likes and still gets donations.
Keep in mind that Facebook’s Advertising Policy excludes ads with more than 20 percent text in the image. Remember, aim to share your story with a compelling picture and save the text for the text box.
5. Monitor and analyze your ad performance
Once you have created and run your ad, it’s time to sit back, relax, and monitor the Facebook community helping your cause.
The most efficient way to tell if your ad is performing well is to head to your Facebook Ad Manager page. Here you can see the data collected from each ad that you ran for your fundraiser.
Analyze your ad performance most effectively by testing different ads that link to the same fundraiser. This way, you can find which picture, text, or audience generated the most clicks to your fundraiser, thus producing the most donations.
Use Facebook advertising to help your fundraiser shine
Facebook is an amazing tool that allows you to connect with friends, family, and even people you don’t know, who are willing to listen to your story and lend a hand.