It’s hard to ignore Facebook’s impact on peer-to-peer fundraising – especially in light of the recent announcement that that its users have now raised more than $2 billion.
Many P2P fundraisers were rightly skeptical when Facebook entered the P2P space about five years ago.
But this latest milestone suggests that its foray into P2P has, so far at least, been good for the field.
Even better, we now have a better idea of what works.
We recently spoke with a number of early adopters to get their advice on how nonprofits can build and sustain successful Facebook fundraising campaigns. Here are four best practices:
Have an active non-fundraising Facebook presence — Many successful organizations said their fundraising success had been aided by building strong Facebook communities. No Kid Hungry, for example, manages an especially active Facebook page — and March of Dimes spends considerable time curating private communities that provide a safe space for parents and other caregivers.
Provide clear instructions — March of Dimes makes it very easy for walkers in its annual March for Babies to create Facebook fundraisers when they sign up to participate in one of the walks.
Market regularly — For organizations that manage existing peer-to-peer campaigns, it’s important to regularly reinforce messages about Facebook fundraising. Many groups are incorporating messaging about Facebook into all of their marketing materials – even those that aren’t produced online. Other organizations have developed how-to videos and other instructional tools that help individuals feel more comfortable using the platform.
Say thank you — It’s a fundraising basic, but the organizations that are seeing the greatest success with Facebook are very actively finding ways to thank those who are hosting fundraisers on their behalf. Even large organizations are taking the time to post thank you messages on the page of every fundraiser.
For more advice on how to make the most of Facebook’s peer-to-peer fundraising tools, check out my recent article in Forbes