I smile when I recall back in 2010, most of my professional colleagues balked at the idea that major gift donors and prospects were active on social media. I gave a presentation that spring during the annual NTC: Nonprofit Technology Network conference on that very topic. A few members of my packed audience agreed, but the majority argued with me.
Today, my assertion and personal experiences in this regard have been born out. Major gift donors and professional advisors routinely monitor the social media of nonprofit organizations, and they gain insights into how professional those nonprofits function, and how successful they are at accomplishing their missions. Would they be a good candidate for a donation, including a five-, six-, or seven-figure charitable gift? How nonprofits present themselves online makes a world of difference when it comes to this kind of decision-making.
I have been impressed by the number of major gift campaigns being conducted online. Facebook has become a powerhouse when it comes to running fundraising campaigns. Today, 18% of all donations online are given through Facebook. I suspect that percentage will grow over time. And if you haven’t signed up for the PayPal Giving Fund, consider doing that pronto.
As I conducted research in the backend of my personal Facebook page in September 2024, I noticed 80% of a $1 million campaign in support of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund has been secured already through Facebook. Support Team Aidan O’Neil for the 2024 Overnight Walk in Boston had exceeded its $200,000 goal on Facebook. Purplestride Los Angeles 2024 also exceeded its $75,000 goal in support of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
The definition of “major gift” varies with the nonprofit. To some larger nonprofit organizations, a $1 million campaign might be relatively small. But to other nonprofits – perhaps the majority – that would be a substantial sum to raise.
In fact, most nonprofits are small in both budget size and numbers of employees. While large, well known nonprofits, such as the Red Cross, have high visibility, those nonprofits are actually not representative of the charitable nonprofit community as a whole. 92 percent of all reporting public charities had annual revenue of under one million dollars.
National Council of Nonprofits, “Myths About Nonprofits”
I enjoyed an article by NonprofitPro, “15 Compelling Nonprofit Stats From 2024” by Amanda L. Cole and Kalie VanDewater. If you are continuing to ignore online fundraising and engagement, that would be a mistake.
New Digital Donors Are 48% More Valuable Than Their Offline Counterparts | Digital-first nonprofits are growing at faster rates than the average nonprofit, according to Next After’s “2024 Digital Fundraising Benchmark Report,” which also cited more benefits to finding donors online. Donors who were acquired online in 2023 gave 19.4% more in their first year, resulting in them being 48% more valuable than offline donors.
Statista notes, “As of April 2024, there were 5.44 billion internet users worldwide, which amounted to 67.1 percent of the global population. Of this total, 5.07 billion, or 62.6 percent of the world’s population, were social media users.” In terms of platforms, Facebook is the top most-used platform today, followed by YouTube and Instagram. And TechReport does find that, “in nearly 79% of cases, online videos are crucial in convincing donors to contribute.”
I have shared the idea with TechSoup that more educational programming about using social media effectively, including video creation platforms, might be something to consider. Be sure to check out the TechSoup YouTube channel for a variety of insightful videos that are already posted. I find their programs to be cutting edge and very helpful.
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