Five tips to get you ready for a social media giving day

July 15 is officially Social Media Giving Day. This ‘holiday’ began in 2013, when Givver.com promoted it as an opportunity to leverage social media platforms for donations. Since then, a lot has changed. Meta and TikTok have made donations even easier, giving potential donors the opportunity to donate without leaving the platform. Now, you can donate without interrupting your scrolling.  

While giving directly on platforms is still low compared with traditional giving methods, a survey by Classy found that 57% of traffic to fundraising campaign pages comes from social media. This means that while you may not see gifts coming in directly from these platforms, they still play an important role.   

Need more convincing? Nonprofit Source found that 55% of people who engage with nonprofits on social media end up taking some sort of action: 

• 59% of those people donate money. 
• 53% volunteer. 
• 52% donate clothing, food, or other personal items. 
• 43% attend or participate in charitable events in their community because of social media. 

If you’re ready to fully leverage social media for any giving day, whether July 15, Giving Tuesday, or some other day, here’s four tips to get you started. 

1. Make sure all your social media accounts are accurate.

This is basic, but important. Before you start promoting and sharing your nonprofit, make sure all your accounts are accurate. Use this checklist to get started: 

• Is the name of your nonprofit accurate? (your handle doesn’t need to be the same, but the name should be to ensure people know they’re interacting with the correct organization). 
• Are you using the same logo or image as a profile picture? Is it accurate? 

• Does the about section clearly showcase your mission, and is it correct? 
• Is the contact information accurate?  

If you’re planning on running a fundraiser directly on Instagram or Facebook, you’ll also want to update your profile on Candid’s GuideStar. Meta uses your data from GuideStar, so you’ll want to make sure that profile has an updated logo, mission statement, and contact information. It takes about 24 hours for that information to update, so make sure to check a couple days before you begin the fundraiser. Learn more about Meta donations and setting them up from our Knowledge Base Article.

2. Warn people in advance.

If you want to raise money on a specific day, like Social Media Giving Day or Giving Tuesday, you want to warn your audience that the ask is coming. When done well, countdown style posts can build anticipation and excitement. 

The post can be as simple as a quick reminder of what is coming, or you can have a little fun with a countdown. This is a great time to remind people of the impact that a donation has, an important part of retaining donors, by showcasing what past donations have allowed you to accomplish. Perhaps share photographs of past events, programs, or volunteers to remind your audience about why they matter.  

3. On the day, have a compelling post and a clear call to action. 

You’ll want to think a little in advance what type of content is going to get the most attention for your nonprofit, and therefore drive the most donations.  

For most, the best choice is going to be doing a video. 57% of people who watch nonprofit videos go on to make a donation. It also allows you to share more than you would in a traditional graphic or text based message.  

It doesn’t need to be flashy or highly produced; it just needs to be authentic and have a clear call to action. Viewers should leave your videos with a clear understanding of why your nonprofit matters and the next steps for getting involved.  

Your primary call to action should be clear instructions on how people can donate to your nonprofit. Also consider having a secondary call to action to share the video. While one of your followers may not be able to give money, they can help out by sharing your message with their friends, which leads us to…  

4. Staff, volunteers, and friends are your biggest asset.

Social media content shared by staff gets up to 8x more engagement than brand shared content. Why? Because social media is about sharing with friends! People are more trusting of content that comes from a friend than they are a brand.  

Once your post is live, ask staff, volunteers, and friends if they are willing to like, comment, and reshare. Once they do, make sure to thank them! This is itself a form of giving that we should be celebrating. 

The more that people are liking and sharing, the higher chance other people will see your post and take action. 

5. Don’t be discouraged if not much happens on that specific day.

Blame this on the algorithms, but there is a good chance that someone will see your post for the first time up to a day or two (or more) after it actually goes live. Depending on the type of post, the traffic it is getting, and whether anything is trending that day, your post may not be seen immediately by your audience.  

Give your audience a chance to see, share, and take action. The more likes, comments, and shares the post gets, the more it will be seen, and that type of momentum can take time.  

If nothing happens, don’t get too discouraged. Social media can be quite fickle, and it may take some time to figure out what type of content and strategy works for your audience. Don’t’ give up; try again. 

Good luck!