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Facebook Ready For Record Peer-To-Peer Fundraising Numbers On Giving Tuesday

This article is more than 4 years old.

Author’s Note: This story is one of a set of three viewpoints about the ‘most important’ social media network for nonprofits on Giving Tuesday.

Every nonprofit’s social media strategy starts with Facebook, and Giving Tuesday should be no different.

Regardless of your sentiments about the world’s largest social media network, the fact remains—Facebook is, by a wide margin, the world’s largest social media network. More nonprofits have a Facebook page than have their own website.

In fact, if you run a nonprofit, it’s almost statistically impossible that you don’t have a Facebook page. While more and more organizations are leveraging other platforms like Twitter and Instagram (by the way, owned by Facebook), it’s very likely you rely on Facebook as the backbone for your social media strategy year-round.

But on #GivingTuesday, your followers know that it’s your day to shine. While other platforms do offer live-streaming functionality, Facebook Live is still the most effective way to reach your audience in real-time. 43% of nonprofits in the U.S. and Canada use Facebook Live, and Giving Tuesday would be an optimal day to show off what your organization is made of (even without significant real-time engagement.)

Facebook has demonstrated its strength as a peer-to-peer fundraising behemoth. This fall, the company announced its popular Facebook fundraisers have crossed the $2 billion mark, a number sure to be boosted on Giving Tuesday.

And on Giving Tuesday, there are bonus funds to be had. Experts warn against a reliance on the match, which is expected again to be exhausted in seconds, but at exactly 8 a.m. Eastern, Facebook will match $7 million in donations for fortunate nonprofits.

While the odds are not necessarily in your nonprofit’s favor to receive a portion of those matching funds, Facebook’s position in the peer-to-peer space is—well, unmatched. The Massachusetts-based Pan-Mass Challenge has raised more than $700 million over the last four decades, but with a stunning 5,348% increase year-over-year in Facebook donations, Facebook is quickly re-shaping the way even the world’s largest fundraisers are organized.

The data bears out that Facebook donors do tend to stick around. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that in 2017, three-fourths of the 473,000 donors who gave on Facebook had not done so before — and that more than 20% of those new donors gave on the platform again in the next six months.

Facebook’s Social Good team has prepared an entire set of training tools for nonprofits to get the most out of the platform during the holiday season, with an emphasis on Giving Tuesday. While engagement is a stated top priority for Facebook, there are also robust Facebook advertising opportunities for organizations to target exactly the audience they’re looking for on Facebook.

Facebook’s unquestioned ubiquity around the world, and in the nonprofit sector, makes it a logical place to focus your efforts on Giving Tuesday. Facebook Live is the simplest and most effective way to reach donors and supporters in real-time. Facebook has largely cornered the market on peer-to-peer fundraising, and has cleverly introduced an enticing $7 million match likely to encourage people to stick to Facebook throughout the day.

For these reasons, Facebook is clearly the top platform for nonprofits to focus on for #GivingTuesday 2019.

This article is part of a three-part series about the most important platform for nonprofits to focus on for #GivingTuesday. Read the cases for Twitter and Instagram.

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