Facebook Is Not For Fundraising
That got your attention, huh?!
This headline, given to a speech by a Facebook exec at the recent International Fundraising Congress, has created a minor stir around the fundraising blogging world.
Here’s the analysis of blogger and fundraiser Bryan Miller at Giving in a Digital World, who attended the session. He points out that the exec, Canadian Elmer Sotto, was making a far less sensational point — Sotto was merely noting that Facebook was better at relationship building and donor stewardship than direct fundraising. He said that direct mail and email fundraising were the better tools for actually asking for money from established donors. Most of us wouldn’t dispute Sotto on that. Read more on Sotto’s presentation here.
That said, Miller’s article give several illustrations of successful Facebook fundraising campaigns that you might want to look at.
Tom
P.S. Heads up for next Monday — The Agitator’s own Roger Craver and Phyllis Freedman, veteran fundraiser at SmartGiving and formerly Epsilon, are hosting a DonorTrends webinar on ‘Build a Successful Planned Giving Program’ on Monday November 1 at 2:00 pm ET. Here’s a link for registration.
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2 responses to “Facebook Is Not For Fundraising”
Behavioral Science Q & A
Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]
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Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]
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Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]
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I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
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sad to think that even the facebook exec uses an old definition of fundraising. When will fundraising be considered a wholistic enterprise? That fundraising is all of finding, attracting & retaining (stewardship)?
I agree with Jay. Facebook has been a wonderful addition to our fundraising system. It has given me the opportunity to tell those closest to our organization about breaking news – even easier and faster than email since there aren’t formatting issues, or having to pay more if we go over our allocation. It even gives me an accepted format to talk to or supporters about what interests them, and to simply say “Happy Birthday!” each day to our friends who are having birthdays. Little things that build relationships. Facebook is a great way to engage the young people that we serve in hopes of cultivating them into future donors. Finally, Facebook is a very useful tool for recruiting volunteers.