Why Aren’t We Raising More Money On Social Media?

It happens like clockwork. I’m in a meeting and the question rears its head, “So…why is our non profit not raising more money on social media?”

My answer? Social media is an engagement channel, not a transactional channel.

According to the Non Profit Social Network Benchmarking Report Facebook is the social media channel that has the strongest fundraising performance. However, 30 per cent of non profits report raising a mere $1-$1,000 on Facebook during the past 12 months. 9 per cent report raising $1,001 to $10,000. 2 per cent report raising $10,001-$25,000 and less than 2 per cent report raising more than $25,000.

The ultimate take-away: Most non profits aren’t raising a ton of money on Facebook or other social media.

So does this mean this fundraiser discounts social media? Absolutely not. Social media is a place where many of your current supporters go to engage more deeply with your cause/issue. This primes them to give at other key transactional moments — via email, mail, phone or events.

The multi-channel world makes monetizing engagement channels like social media a heck of a lot harder. But the question really isn’t, “why aren’t we raising more money on social media?”, but “what kind of relationships are we nurturing there?”