Donor Communication & Social Media: 7 Effective Strategies

Making meaningful connections with donors on social media can be tough. Since sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are filled to the brim with content, many nonprofits struggle to capture the sustained attention from supporters that they need to translate into fundraising success.

Yet, at its core, social media¹ seems uniquely suited to build robust donor communities and forge lasting relationships with inspired givers. Why? By capitalizing on the proximity to supporters these sites afford, your nonprofit can find new ways to meaningfully connect with donors.

Ready to take charge of your nonprofit’s social media communication strategy? Try out some of our essential strategies for building a better donor community online. These include:

1. Actively engage on multiple social media platforms
2. Promote social media-friendly fundraising
3. Leverage social media to share your events
4. Get creative with the way you show donor appreciation
5. Account for the smartphone user experience
6. Market alternative ways to show support
7. Know your social media audience

When your donor community is effectively engaged on social media, you’ll be able to count on this active channel as a reliable fundraising source for all of your campaigns to come. Let’s check out these smart social media strategies and start boosting your donor communication efforts!

1. Actively engage on multiple social media platforms

Your donors aren’t all alike, so why would you limit your social media channels to just one or two platforms?

In order to effectively engage your donors on social media, your team needs to start growing your presence on social media. Depending on your ideal donor community, branch out by setting up profiles on:

• Facebook. Every nonprofit needs a dedicated Facebook page.² After your official website, Facebook will be the go-to place individuals look to learn more about your cause.
• Twitter. Most nonprofits should set up a Twitter account, especially if they are event-oriented. Here you can focus on strengthening your day-to-day relationships with supporters.
• Instagram. This platform is great for maintaining a close relationship with donors,³ but also does a lot of the legwork for building the brand of your organization.
• LinkedIn. Often overlooked in social media strategy discussions, this professional networking site is a good platform for strengthening serious donor relationships.

The bottom line? Don’t waste time (and resources) with active presences on sites your community simply doesn’t engage on, but always make sure you have roots on each of the major social media platforms to help grow awareness of your cause online.

2. Promote social media-friendly fundraising

Communicating with donors on social media channels shouldn’t just be limited to stewardship and engagement, though. You can leverage social media communications to boost fundraising, too.

There are several fundraising methods that are uniquely suited to social media channels (like peer-to-peer fundraising and mobile giving). Your communications with donors on social sites should be oriented toward educating them on these methods and promoting them to constituents.

One of the most effective fundraising methods on social media is embedding your online giving form directly onto your profile. By offering donors the chance to give directly on your social media profile, you minimize the risk of them losing interest on the path to your website.⁴

In your regular social media posts, remind donors about this unique giving opportunity. Many won’t know it’s an option until you direct them to that part of your profile.

Another smart way to boost fundraising through your social media communications is to educate followers on text-to-give. Post simple how-to guides outlining this convenient giving method as a way to spread the word to your online community.

3. Leverage social media to share your events

If your nonprofit wants to get more supporters to attend your fundraising events, promoting them on social media should be your first step.

Your team can post videos, share images, and write blog posts in the weeks leading up to your events. After the events end, you can share media relating to them to maintain your connection to new and returning supporters.

On Facebook, be sure to create event reminders and invite supporters so they can receive notifications. In the description of your events, link out to your official event page so invitees can register, purchase tickets, and learn more about the event.

Alternatively, your social media team may choose to set up live streaming of your fundraising events to connect with supporters who couldn’t make it. This way, they can still be involved with the festivities, and you mitigate the risk of them losing interest.

4. Get creative with the way you show donor appreciation

Think the only benefit of social media is keeping your donors informed about fundraising or engagement opportunities? Then you’re missing out on social media’s stewardship potential.

Not only can you use this channel to become a day-to-date fixture of your supporters’ online lives, but you can also move individuals further through the giving pipeline by making meaningful connections on these sites and showing them how much you value their support.

Try some of these effective ways to show donor appreciation on social media:

• Post shoutouts thanking high-ranking volunteer fundraisers from your latest peer-to-peer fundraising campaign.
• Share videos interviewing highly motivated donors and thanking them for their important contributions to your cause.
• Host appreciation events and live-stream them across social media sites. Award prizes to stand-out supporters.
• Arrange giveaways for followers who like, share, or comment on your nonprofit’s content.
• Upload an album of images that spotlight long-term supporters and keep updating it as a regular fixture of your profile.

On social media, the same stewardship rules apply as on any other channel. However, with so many creative opportunities for showing appreciation and steering individuals towards future giving, your nonprofit can try out all kinds of new strategies.

5. Take into account the smartphone user experience

Even to social media novices, it’s no surprise to find out that a large portion of social media users interact with these sites through smartphones.

Smartphone use is absolutely ubiquitous now, which means that your nonprofit should seriously consider how your social media strategy will be affected by these devices.

Certain social media platforms, like Twitter and Instagram, are primarily used by smartphone users, not traditional desktop users. On these channels especially, you should emphasize engagement and giving opportunities that cater to smartphone users.

One example of how to implement this is by promoting text giving opportunities.⁵ Text giving, also called text-to-give fundraising, enables donors to make gifts by texting a special fundraising phone number. In a few clicks, they’ll have made a donation right from their smartphone.

Promoting text giving on smartphone-heavy social channels boosts the chance of these users engaging further with your content and making a gift.

Another way to address smartphone users in your social media strategy is to share mobile-friendly content, including mobile-optimized images, videos, giving forms, and event invitations. This way, users are less likely to abandon your content due to accessibility issues.

6. Market alternative ways to show support

Social media is such a powerful channel for nonprofits because it opens up your community to a more diverse range of supporters.

By the same token, though, this means that not all of your followers will be interested in the same engagement opportunities and will look for varied ways to show their support for your cause.

Luckily, social media channels offer a wide range of ways to promote alternative methods of showing support.

Your team can promote methods like:

• Matching gifts. Billions of dollars in donations are left unmatched each year. Share a link to your matching gift database⁶ across social channels to boost matching gift revenue.
• Volunteer opportunities. Not all of your motivated supporters are able to give regularly, so your team can also emphasize volunteer opportunities on social media.
• Attending live streams. The more people who attend your live streams, the more social sites will promote your video. Call on followers to attend these events to boost your viewership.
• Sharing social posts. Simply getting the word out about your nonprofit is half the battle. Ask social media followers to share your posts with friends and family to grow your community.
• Peer-to-peer fundraising. This social media-driven fundraising method enhances the power of your supporters with gamification tools⁷ and easy-to-use donation forms to drive giving to your cause.

When your nonprofit grows its social media community, you’re bound to encounter a more diverse cross section of donors than ever before. Be sure to incorporate alternative support methods into your communications strategy so you don’t alienate new community members.

7. Know your social media audience

By far, the best way to improve communications with donors on social media is to track accurate data on your social media channels.

When your nonprofit has the data⁸ to back up your social media strategy, you’ll be able to experiment with new and improved communication tactics. Since social media is continually evolving as a channel, knowing what risks to take is crucial.

Maintain a robust donor database with data tracking your different social media channels.⁹ Monitor which sites produce the best results for different goals and then use this data to influence how you engage on these platforms.

For example, sharing links to your donation form may be more effective on Twitter than on Facebook. What does this say about your communities on each site?

Above all, periodically revisit which data your team collects and how you analyze it as part of your strategy discussions. Since there are always new social media sites on the horizon, your team could miss out on important insights if you don’t regularly update your collection strategy.

Social media is one of the best ways to connect and communicate with your nonprofit’s supporters. Now that you’ve reviewed these key strategies, your team can get started strengthening your social media strategy!

Additional Resources

1. https://thehhub.com/2018/04/06/social-media-trends-try-2018/
2. https://www.qgiv.com/blog/animal-shelters-facebook/
3. https://thehhub.com/2018/05/07/grow-your-instagram-with-feature-pages/
4. https://thehhub.com/2018/04/12/5-must-haves-every-creators-website/
5. https://www.qgiv.com/blog/text-giving-guide/
6. https://doublethedonation.com/matching-gift-database/
7. https://www.qgiv.com/blog/why-fundraising-thermometer-works/
8. https://www.dnlomnimedia.com/blog/nonprofit-data-management-strategies
9. https://thehhub.com/2018/02/22/tips-managing-multiple-social-media-accounts/