For many nonprofits, Facebook still provides a vital lifeline to drive messages, raise funds, and expand their reach. Since 2015, it's raised over $5bn for causes worldwide. But are you using it to its full potential?
Tap into the potential of Facebook to connect with a wider audience and drive greater impact for your cause.
Here’s everything you need to know about fundraising on Facebook. This is all you need to know on Facebook, from tools to campaigns, and how they'll grow your fundraising campaigns.
Table of Contents
What is Facebook Fundraising for Nonprofits?
Benefits of Using Facebook for Nonprofits
Facebook Tools and Features for Nonprofit Organizations
Facebook for Organizations: 10 Best Practices
Wrapping Up on Facebook for Nonprofits
FAQs on Facebook for Nonprofits
What is Facebook Fundraising for Nonprofits?
Facebook's immense reach, with billions of users worldwide, makes it an invaluable platform for nonprofits to amplify their fundraising efforts.
Fundraising on Facebook is possible via tools that allow organizations to create dedicated fundraising pages and campaigns directly on the platform. Supporters can easily set up and share fundraisers on behalf of the nonprofits they care about.
This model taps into existing networks while sharing causes with potential new donors at a large scale. Facebook users can easily start fundraisers on behalf of any nonprofit.
Users can promote causes they care about for events or birthdays, and nonprofits can also run fundraising campaigns on Facebook to make donating as easy as possible.
Are You Eligible to Apply for Facebook’s Fundraising Tools?
Your nonprofit must meet Facebook’s eligibility criteria to access its fundraising tools:
- You must be a registered nonprofit with a 501(c)(3) status in the U.S.
- You need a tax ID number and a bank account with a recognized bank. You’ll also need to enter the bank details and transaction records of the past 3 months.
- Your nonprofit’s dedicated Facebook page, which must be at least two days old. When applying, the page must specify your nonprofit’s category, its address, and should have at least one post.
After approval, you can access Facebook fundraising tools and fetch a detailed analysis of your fundraising campaign.
Benefits of Using Facebook for Nonprofits
Fundraising on Facebook means a wider reach for more donations. Since its launch, Facebook’s fundraising tools have helped raise over $3 billion for nonprofit initiatives.
The diversity and size of Facebook’s user base make it a useful channel for nonprofit organizations to raise money awareness. With the right strategy, your organzation can bring more donations from more people.
Here's why many nonprofits choose to use Facebook for nonprofit fundraising:
- Your supporters are there:
Facebook has around 2.9 billion active monthly users, and 18% of donors worldwide have contributed through Facebook.
- It’s easy to set up:
If your nonprofit is eligible for Facebook’s fundraising tools, applying for it does not take time. You can start fundraising almost immediately.
- It's easy for supporters, too:
People are likely to donate if they are familiar with the platform. The donation process is straightforward and can be completed in just a few clicks.
Facebook charges nonprofits processing fees of 1.99% + USD 0.49. For nonprofits wanting 100% free and quicker payouts, fundraising platforms like Zeffy provide a 100% zero-fee fundraising platform.
Facebook Tools and Features for Nonprofit Organizations
Facebook has a host of valuable tools to power your fundraising efforts. Here are the top 9 fundraising tools and features you can use:
1. Nonprofit Page Fundraiser
With Facebook fundraising, nonprofit organizations can raise funds quickly by providing information like a fundraiser description, deadline, and goals. You can personalize your fundraiser page by adding a cover photo.
Pro tip: Turn the ‘Similar Page Suggestions’ option on in the page settings. It will help people find you after interacting with content on a similar page.
Follow these 5 steps to set up your nonprofit page fundraiser:
Step 1: Visit Facebook.com/pages/create and create a page with your nonprofit’s name.
Step 2: Choose the category as ‘Nonprofit Organization’ to utilize exclusive benefits.
Step 3: Add a profile picture and a compelling cover photo. The profile photo should preferably be your organization’s logo.
The cover photo is the first thing people see when they visit your Facebook page. Ensure that it is relevant and reflects your nonprofit’s values and mission.
Step 4: Write a captivating ‘About’ section, explaining your nonprofit and highlighting your motivation to inspire visitors. Include compelling calls to action to encourage visitors to extend their support.
Step 5: Regularly publish engaging content on your Facebook page. These nonprofit Facebook posts can cover relevant information like:
- Updates about your ongoing programs
- Details of any upcoming programs
- Success stories of past initiatives
- Event promotion with donation option
2. Peer-to-Peer Fundraiser
Supporters can share fundraisers on your nonprofit’s behalf, spreading the word about your mission in their network and expanding your reach.
Your supporters may set up Facebook fundraisers on events like:
- A birthday, when they can encourage their family members and friends to donate to your nonprofit as their birthday gift
- The death anniversary of a loved one to remember them as they collect funds for a good cause
- A part of a Facebook challenge
- A personal fundraising effort
Facebook notifies you whenever someone raises over $50 for your cause. To track these fundraisers, go to the Fundraisers page on Facebook.
To encourage other donors, fundraisers are listed chronologically with details like title, supporter's name, campaign photo, donation goal, funds raised so far, and remaining time.
The "Sort & Filter" tool on the Facebook page helps you find and connect with supporters running fundraisers for your nonprofit. You can filter by things like status, type, creator info, and whether you've thanked them yet. This lets you engage early, say thanks, and share tips to help them meet your nonprofit fundraising goal.
3. Facebook Ads for Fundraising
Facebook Ads are paid promotions that appear in users' news feeds or sidebars, allowing you to target specific audiences and track performance. Any nonprofit onboarded to Facebook's fundraising tools can run a Facebook ad.
To create a donation ad campaign:
- Go to Ads Manager and select "Create." Choose "Auction" buying type and the "Sales" objective. Name your campaign.
- Confirm details and any special ad categories.
- Name your ad set, select "Facebook donation" as the conversion location. Set your budget, audience targeting, placements, and optimization for on-site conversions. Choose the "Manual placements" option and select "Facebook Feed" only.
- Name your ad, select the Page it'll run from, and choose a single image or video format.
- Review and publish your Facebook ad.
By running a Facebook ad, you can re-engage your supporters by targeting previous fundraiser hosts and donors through custom audiences.
With on-Facebook donation ads, you can track donations, conversion value, and donation return on advertising spending (ROAS).
These metrics can be found under "Standard events" when customizing your reporting columns.
4. Facebook Challenges
A Facebook Challenge is a fun way to raise for your cause: it's a virtual campaign to encourage supporters and followers to perform an activity within a set time. Supporters will join a Facebook group specifically created for the challenge.
Here’s how you can set up a Facebook Challenge:
- Choose an activity, like a 30-mile walk or completing 10000 steps daily.
- Create a Facebook group for participants of the challenge.
- Utilize Facebook Ads to promote the challenge.
- Regularly engage with supporters in the designated Facebook group.
Facebook Challenges help you reach a new audience rather than attracting existing supporters from your other campaigns. They also open doors for one-on-one conversations in the group, fostering a sense of community.
5. Nonprofit Manager
Meta has designed a convenient way to host all your Facebook fundraising activities in one place - the Nonprofit Manager.
With Nonprofit Manager, you can access tools for:
- Reacting or commenting on donation posts directly
- Categorizing supporters by activity and thanking status
- Communicate with opted-in supporters through Messenger
- Reviewing past campaigns and creating new ones through a centralized fundraising dashboard. You can analyze the performance of your own campaign and track fundraisers created on your behalf.
- Accessing your payout hub
- Analyzing key donation metrics with one click on the Insights tab
Note: You can only access the Insights dashboard if you enrolled in Facebook’s fundraising tools.
6. Donate Button
Making the payment process easier can encourage more donations. A Facebook Donate Button makes it easy for supporters to donate to your nonprofit without leaving the platform.
Add a Donate button to your fundraising page, promotional posts, and live videos, which will show up automatically when supporters share your posts on their social media accounts.
Here are the simple steps to include a Donate button on your nonprofit’s Facebook page:
- Log in to Facebook and visit your nonprofit’s profile page.
- Click on the three dots in the top right corner of the screen.
- Tap on the ‘Add Action’ button and choose the ‘Donate’ option.
- Click on Save.
Note: You will need to enroll in PayPal Giving Fund to use this tool.
7. Facebook Messenger
Building strong relationships with your supporters is essential to successful fundraising. Nonprofits can use Facebook Messenger to share fundraising campaigns, thank donors, and encourage more support.
With Messenger, you can also send updates and alerts to keep supporters informed about important news, events, and initiatives.
8. Automated Thanking
By appreciating and acknowledging donors’ contributions, build long-term relationships and encourage them to donate again.
While showing gratitude, ask them questions to learn more about their preferences. For example, you could ask why they decided to donate or how they’d like to continue their association with your nonprofit.
It doesn't have to drain your time: you can activate the automated thanking process in your Donation Settings. Three hours after it is created, a pre-written thank you comment will be added to each fundraiser page. You can also set up personalized messages for birthday fundraisers.
9. Facebook Live
If you feel online fundraisers lack that much-needed charm of in-person events, Facebook Live can fill that gap. With this streaming tool, you can go live and connect with potential donors in real-time.
Facebook has made live fundraising easier by letting nonprofit organizations and supporters include a ‘Donate’ button in their live videos. Viewers can easily contribute while interacting with you over video.
Facebook for Organizations: 10 Best Practices
1. Build a Facebook Marketing Strategy for Your Nonprofit
2. Focus on Your Content Strategy
7. Keep Your Profile Updated and Build it Out
8. Join Nonprofit Facebook Groups
1. Build a Facebook Marketing Strategy for Your Nonprofit
You know your nonprofit's goals. How can they translate to your social media presence?
Analyze how a nonprofit Facebook account fits your existing strategies and marketing plan. How will you integrate it with other social media accounts like Instagram or YouTube?
Discuss the following with your team to create a nonprofit Facebook marketing strategy that works:
- Your nonprofit Facebook account’s purpose - Is it for fundraising, brand building, or spreading awareness?
- Determine who will manage and run your nonprofit Facebook account.
- Identify your target audience and analyze their motivations and interests.
- Note down your nonprofit’s core message.
- Set precise goals and track the KPIs to measure success.
2. Focus on Your Content Strategy
To make the most of Facebook’s fundraising tools, you must post relevant and high-quality content that interests and encourages your potential supporters. Your posts should be regular and consistent, so making a content calendar might help. You're not alone: you can look to other charities in your niche for guidance here too.
- Add variety to your posts. Don’t stick to sharing your donations page. Engage your audience with links to your blog post and pictures.
- Post videos of your team actively working on your programs and initiatives. Share ‘Thank You’ posts.
- Ask your audiences what posts they would like to see. Conduct an email survey or ask on social media.
- Request engagement with CTAs. Use CTAs like ‘Follow if,’ ‘Comment,’ etc., to prompt people to engage with the post.
- Post content 1-4 times a day, depending on the size of your audience.
- Optimize the posts for mobile viewing.
Pro Tip: Follow the 70/20/10 Rule
Experts suggest that Facebook posts should have 70% value content. The content should be interesting, entertaining, and inspiring, offering value to the customers. 20% of the content should be shared posts or User Generated Content. The remaining 10% should be promotional content to market your mission, events, blogs, and more.
3. Share Link Posts
Users tend to click more on links shared in the preview format generated when pasting a URL, rather than links in photo captions. The preview offers additional context, making it likelier for people to click on. Recognizing this preference, Facebook now prioritizes preview-formatted links over those in captions or status updates.
Instead of posting photos with embedded links, add the links while drafting the post. This format means donors on their mobiles (which many are!) will see your content in the best possible light.
4. Prioritize Video Content
Including visual content can make your posts more appealing to your supporters. The world is video-centric, and videos on Facebook receives 10 times more shares than other posts. Videos can trigger emotions and have a higher potential to go viral than other content formats.
It increases your chances of spreading awareness among a larger audience.
- Publish videos on your Facebook page natively instead of sharing links.
- Facebook videos often play without music until you turn the sound on. Make your visuals interesting and captions engaging to click on.
- Post short videos to keep the audience hooked. Longer videos can cause people to lose interest and stop watching them.
- Post videos in square format to optimize them for mobile devices.
- Utilize Facebook Live to share real-time videos and build trust with your audience.
- Add a compelling title to the videos to make them easy to search.
5. Focus on Social Engagement
Social engagement on Facebook posts can involve replying to queries and direct messages and responding to comments and posts when someone tags or mentions your nonprofit. Use relevant hashtags to expand your reach and join new conversations.
You can also reach out to supporters separately to show you care and share behind-the-scenes videos. It will help create your organization’s brand identity and build trust with your audience. Supporters will feel that you appreciate their interests and support for your nonprofit.
6. Evaluate Your Strategies
While creating your Facebook strategy, how do you measure success? Select some crucial Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which can include:
- Growth: Number of followers, likes, and subscriptions
- Engagement: Reactions and comments on your posts or clicks and shares on links
- Conversions: Donations or event registrations from supporters
- Awareness: Facebook page Impressions, post views, and reach
Regularly reviewing these KPIs allows you to assess the impact of your Facebook efforts and make data-driven decisions.
If certain strategies are not working out, you can adjust your content strategy, targeting, or posting frequency accordingly. Continuously optimizing the approach based on KPI analysis ensures nonprofit organizations maximize the potential of their social media strategy.
7. Keep Your Profile Updated and Build it Out
Consistency is key when it comes to maintaining an active and engaging presence on your Facebook page. Simply posting a few pictures doesn’t cut it – update your page with fresh, relevant content to demonstrate that your organization is actively involved and committed to its cause.
Your Facebook page virtually represents your brand. Ensure it looks professional and distinct from any other accounts you may have. Keeping your page name and URL closely aligned with your nonprofit's official name will make it easier for supporters to find and recognize you.
8. Join Nonprofit Facebook Groups
Facebook groups are a valuable place to participate in discussions and build a sense of community among donors, supporters, and community members.
Here are some tips to run a Group on Facebook effectively:
- Promote your recurring giving programs, but avoid spamming. Offer valuable content and strike a balance when promoting your posts.
- Join other nonprofit groups with similar missions. Initiate conversations, share, and promote each other’s posts.
- Share stories of your work to showcase how you are using donor’s money.
Use your nonprofit's Facebook group to share updates, express gratitude to supporters, promote volunteer or job opportunities, make occasional donation requests, provide valuable resources, and stir discussions around relevant news and topics.
9. Adopt Meta Verified
Facebook’s verification process has changed. Earlier, its verified badge was reserved for known brands and personalities, but it was not available for small or medium nonprofit organizations.
Meta has changed that with its Meta Verified program. Brands of all sizes can now get verified, although it comes with a fee depending on where you subscribed from:
- Subscription form web - $11.99/month
- In-app subscription- $14.99/month
Facebook's Verification Program for nonprofits offers a verified badge, impersonation protection, dedicated customer service, and improved content reach. Although the paid Verification Program comes with costs, nonprofit organizations may want to consider it for potential benefits such as enhanced content reach.
10. Use Facebook Stars
Facebook Stars can help nonprofit organizations use the benefits of microgiving on Facebook. For every star you receive, Facebook will pay you $0.01 or 1 cent. Earlier, only influencers and brands with massive followings could utilize Facebook stars, but the new eligibility requirements have made them widely available.
To get this benefit, your Facebook page must have:
- 500 followers for 30 consecutive days
- Meet Community Standards
- Reside in a country that meets the eligibility
Check your nonprofit’s eligibility by accessing Meta Business Suite> Monetization> Status> View page eligibility. If you are eligible, you can sign up by entering your banking information.
When sharing content on Facebook, ensure your followers know they can give stars. Unlike before, when stars were limited to reels, they can now give stars on live streams and on-demand videos.
To send stars, donors must first buy stars for as low as $5 and transfer them with two taps. They can check their star balance under Home > Orders and payments > Facebook Stars > Balances.
Wrapping Up on Facebook for Nonprofits
Facebook fundraisers are an incredible way to generate funding for your nonprofits. Getting your campaigns in front of your supporters and their network can help you raise awareness and grow your community of supporters. And how many non-profits wouldn't want that?
Incorporate these best practices to get more eyes on your Facebook fundraising campaigns and make the most of them. And when you're ready, complement your Facebook fundraisers with an all-in-one online fundraising tool like Zeffy.
With 100% free, easy-to-use fundraising tools, Zeffy makes it easy for donors to support you. Nonprofits get 100% of the donations without any processing fee, unlike Facebook.
FAQs on Facebook for Nonprofits
How much does Facebook charge for nonprofit donations?
Nonprofits must pay a processing fee, which is:
- 1.6% + CAD 0.30 for Canada
- 1.99% + USD 0.49 for the US
You can increase the donation amount and ask donors to cover the cost. If the donors do not agree to pay taxes, the processing fee will be deducted from your account.
Are Facebook fundraisers worth it?
Using Facebook’s Fundraising Tools is worth the effort. It brings access to the kinds of resources that grow your support base, your donations, and help boost your nonprofit mission online.
Here are some advantages of Facebook fundraising:
- Reaching supporters on their preferred channels
- Expanding your audience base
- Encouraging donations and support through social proof
How to create a Facebook page for an organization without a personal account?
Only official members of nonprofit organizations can create a page for them using these steps:
- Go to facebook.com/pages/create
- Enter your Page name, bio, and category. In this case, the category would be Charitable or Charity organization.
- Click Create Page.
- Customize your Facebook page by adding a bio, profile picture, and cover photo.
- Click Done.
How do I change my Facebook page from business to nonprofit?
Convert your existing business page into your nonprofit Facebook page by changing the category. Here are the steps:
To edit your Page's category:
- Go to the page you want to use and click ‘About.’
- Select ‘Contact’ and ‘Basic Info’ from the menu on the left-hand side.
- Click on ‘Edit Category’ and choose the charity organization category.
- Click ‘Save’.
