How to Succeed at Fundraising Marketing on Social Media
Your social media presence has the potential to be one of the most valuable avenues for fundraising marketing your nonprofit team has at its disposal. It’s all about how you use it.
Social media and networking platforms like LinkedIn can provide all the information you need to appeal to your ideal fundraising audience and connect with them in the most effective way possible. Good news: it won’t require reworking your social media presence from the ground up. In fact, you probably already have everything you need to make it happen.
These best practices can help you use your existing social media presence to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your marketing efforts for fundraising right now.
Keep your nonprofit’s LinkedIn Page up to date
One of the simplest ways you can set up your social media presence for fundraising success is simply to make sure that basic information is always complete and up to date.
The Donor Engagement Report from Classy and LinkedIn for Nonprofits found that 42% of active LinkedIn users leverage the platform to research companies and organizations — and 26% use it to discover donation opportunities. By keeping your nonprofit’s LinkedIn Page updated, you’ll be providing interested parties with all the information they need to take the next step.
Follow these best practices to ensure your LinkedIn Page is optimized for marketing to fundraising audiences. Consider updating your Page regularly with information relevant to what your potential donors need to know right now. For example, if you’re coordinating a fundraising drive for a particular event, you could create a dedicated banner image to display on your Page leading up to the event.
Post news regularly and tie it back to your fundraising goals and impact
Post regularly on social media platforms where your nonprofit has a presence, using the “2-2-1” model to create a healthy mix of valuable information that doesn’t overburden your audience with calls to action (CTAs).
Add a brief commentary on each post you share to express your nonprofit’s point of view. For example, when you share an inspirational story, show why this story connects with what your nonprofit is trying to accomplish. Think of every post as an opportunity to inform your audience about your mission and impact. When your organization’s passion comes through consistently and genuinely, it will resonate with an audience that shares your values, helping to build brand trust and affinity.
A great way to do this is to create appreciation posts for your existing donors and sponsors. After an event or a sizable donation, ask a volunteer or donor involved if you can create a post thanking them for their generosity. Tag the volunteer or donor and explain the impact that their support helped to create. Not only will your existing supporters appreciate the shout-out, but these posts can also show potential donors and volunteers how much good their support can help accomplish.
Promote your “tentpole” content regularly and in many different forms
When you follow the 2-2-1 rule, around one in every five of your nonprofit’s posts should include a CTA encouraging readers to take a specific action. For best results, these CTAs should ideally link to your top-performing, highest-quality marketing content.
For fundraising purposes, this “tentpole” content can speak directly to your Ideal Donor Profile audiences, expressing how they can make a real difference by donating.
After creating this content, point to it as one of the primary CTAs for your social media marketing campaigns. In addition to posting it organically on your platforms, you could also invest in social media tools and ads to help you promote this content to a highly targeted audience. For example, you could use Sponsored Content ads on LinkedIn to promote this content directly on the feeds of your Ideal Donor Profile audiences. You could also include the link in a personalized Text Ad or Dynamic Ad, or even send it with a personalized note in a Sponsored Message. You can learn more about the various marketing solutions from LinkedIn here.
Track engagement to know when to reach out
One major benefit of social media is the ability to track potential donor candidates’ activity on each platform. If you use LinkedIn Sales Navigator, a solution designed for sales and fundraising professionals, you could identify high-potential donors using strategic searches, save them as leads, then keep up with their activity to spot the ideal moment to reach out.
For example, if a lead interacts with a piece of content about an upcoming fundraising event, you would receive a notification through Sales Navigator. You could then send a tailored message to that lead personally inviting them to the event. If they’re already connected to someone at your nonprofit, you could even ask that person to make a warm introduction and help you get your foot in the door.
Your nonprofit’s social media presence offers valuable opportunities for fundraising marketing. By following these tips, posting regularly, and optimizing for success over time, you can use social media to continuously refine your audience and messaging — helping you reach the right people with the right message as frequently and efficiently as possible.
To make the most of your nonprofit’s LinkedIn presence for fundraising, speak to our team about LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
