Top Social Media Fundraising Tips to Help Raise More Money

Social media promotion is a powerful and effective fundraising tool—and it’s vital to the success of your crowdfunding efforts. When you combine the power and reach of social media with a compelling fundraiser story, you’re far more likely to meet your fundraising goals.

Below, we offer our favorite social media fundraising tips and best practices to keep in mind when you’re ready to start promoting your fundraiser.

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Create a Facebook account for your fundraiser

Facebook can connect you to nearly everyone you know. It’s a powerful tool that can mean the difference between success and failure when it comes to raising money for your cause. Create your social media fundraising strategy with the Facebook tips below.

To create your Facebook account:

Go to facebook.com.

Complete the signup form and select, “Sign Up.”

Need help? See Facebook’s official tips about signing up on Facebook.

Getting started with Facebook

1. Connect to—or “friend”—the people you email

Facebook makes it easy to connect to everyone you know. The contacts in your personal email list are some of the most valuable people you can connect with on social media, and those with an established Facebook presence can help spread the word about your fundraiser the fastest.

2. Search for and “friend” people in these categories

Friends of your spouse
Friends of your children and/or their parents
Friends of your parents
Members of clubs or associations related to your cause
Current and former classmates
Current and former colleagues
Current and former acquaintances

3. Let Facebook do the work for you

As you build connections, Facebook will start recommending more connections. You’ll also start receiving friend requests from people you know. When promoting your fundraiser online, it’s important to connect to as many people as you can as quickly as you can.

Some friend requests won’t be accepted right away. But don’t worry—not everyone checks friend requests regularly, and some limit their friend lists. Just keep “friending” as many people you know.

Social media pitfalls to avoid

1. Sharing a fundraiser link without context 

If you aren’t sure how to ask for donations when sharing social media posts, our biggest tip is to give context to your posts.

Explain exactly why you need your friends’ help, and create a sense of urgency by letting them know when you need to meet your fundraising goal.
Each time you share your fundraiser, tell a different part of your story or include a new update.
Your friends and family members want to help you, but repeat blasts of a plea to send you money won’t be effective—in fact, it could lead to people unfollowing you.

2. Sharing too often—or not often enough

People will engage with you as you share your fundraiser, which can help you get more donations. But posting as often as possible isn’t always better. Posting about your fundraiser 10 times a day may lead many people to ignore or unfollow you instead. To avoid oversharing with your network, try mixing it up.

Share photos, stories, and videos. Sharing content once a day is fine, as long as the updates are different each time.
Don’t wait too long between posts, either. Share something about your fundraiser at least once a week.
Try sharing a photo or news article that relates to your cause along with a few words about why it stood out to you and how it ties in to your fundraiser.

3. Not engaging with others

Social media is all about engaging with others and building a connection that encourages people to take action. But the key to getting people to share your posts or support your fundraiser is to engage with them in a genuine way.

Engage with their posts as much as you do your own.
“Like” their photos and respond to their posts in a friendly and social way.
Let your contacts know that you’re on Facebook and that you care about them.

4. Not posting photos and videos

People love photos and videos—they’re some of the most popular content on Facebook and other social media platforms. Adding an interesting image or video to posts about your fundraiser can entice people to find out more.

When writing social media posts, be sure to include photos of yourself, your family, and the beneficiary of your fundraiser if you’re raising money on behalf of another person or organization.
Fundraisers that feature several high-quality photos in the story can potentially raise more donations than those with only text.
Keep each photo that you share relevant to your fundraiser.

3 social media fundraising tips that work

1. Hop on trending hashtags

Adding trending hashtags to your social media posts is an easy way to attract attention to your fundraiser. Sharing relevant and inspirational quotes for #MondayMotivation or old pictures for #ThrowbackThursday while adding your fundraiser link is great for your exposure and content strategy.

If you want to take it a step further, create a fundraiser hashtag that’s unique to your cause and encourage people to use it when posting about your fundraiser.

2. Use all of your social media accounts to spread the word

Sharing your fundraiser is important because it can potentially lead to more donations. These days, more and more people are beginning to fundraise on Twitter, TikTok, WhatsApp, and Nextdoor. People often use these social media apps to talk about ideas and causes they care about or find interesting. Platforms such as Twitter, TikTok, and Nextdoor are designed to encourage interactions between strangers, so it’s possible to reach new supporters with your social media posts.

3. Thank donors in social media posts

Public recognition is one way to show gratitude for your donors’ support and make them feel appreciated. You can do this by posting an update to your fundraiser that thanks specific people by name. Then, you can share this update on Facebook and other social media accounts. Publicly thanking your supporters can increase donor retention and encourage others to donate. Check out our blog posts on how to write a donation thank you letter and other ideas for how to say thank you to donors.

Are you ready to start fundraising using social media?

Now that you have a few fundraising ideas to help you step up your social media game, you’ll be able to develop a fundraising plan and meet your fundraising goals. GoFundMe offers a comprehensive blog full of fundraising tips and inspiration to help you raise more money. Check out how it works and start a fundraiser today.

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