Social Media Fundraising Ideas

Social media has revolutionized nearly every aspect of modern life, from fast fashion and gig-sharing to collaborative research and political activism, social media platforms have become the modern-day town criers, keeping us informed and connected. With such wide-reaching influence, leveraging social media to share your fundraising goals can be a game-changer- provided you craft a strategy that truly works for your cause. Combine it with online fundraising tools like Paybee for an even more effective outreach, streamlining the donation process and making giving easier on the supporters.

Success in social media fundraising lies in creating content that authentically represents your mission and resonates with your audience- generic posts, stock photos, or overused phrases just won’t cut it. Your content should inspire people to click, learn more about your story, and feel compelled to contribute. Wondering how to make that happen? Wonder no more! We’ve put together actionable fundraising tips, effective approaches to fundraising, and numerous fundraising ideas- all relevant to social media- to help you get started. So let’s go ahead and dive in! 

3 Approaches to Social Media Fundraising

Social media fundraising is an easy yet effective way to bring in some important funds for your nonprofit organization. With the right idea, knowledge, and a stroke of luck, you can bring donations for your cause. The following are three effective approaches to social media fundraising:

1. Social Media Fundraising Campaign

A social media fundraising campaign is a planned series of posts created to raise a certain amount of money. For instance, a therapeutic riding camp looking to fund its summer program might want to run a "Weekend of Giving" campaign. During that weekend, they would create several posts for different platforms using images and telling client success stories, linking people directly to a page where they could make a donation. This keeps the fundraising goal top of mind while creating a stream of compelling content to inspire donations.

2. Social Media Challenges

Social media challenges are virtual fundraisers that are meant to go viral. A popular example includes the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, whereby individuals recorded themselves pouring ice water over their heads and then nominated others to do the same while donating to the cause. In many cases, these challenges are fun or silly, making it low-barrier for people to participate in an easily sharable way with their networks. This approach is so beautiful because it inherently contains the element of sharing. After the participants have completed the challenge, they nominate others, meaning this campaign will reach many people exponentially.

3. Social Media Takeovers

A social media takeover means that one of your supporters lends their social media accounts to your organization for a certain period- this can be anything from a day to a week or even just a few hours. During that time, the supporter becomes your biggest fan, posting regular content showcasing your nonprofit's mission and work. For example, if your organization focuses on animal welfare, the supporter might share photos and stories about the animals you care for. The major advantage of this approach is the exposure to a new audience, giving your nonprofit a chance to connect with potential donors and supporters engagingly.

All of these can be amazingly powerful ways to drive awareness and funds for your nonprofit. Whether you're running a campaign, starting a challenge, or even a supporter letting you take over their social media- each will help you reach new audiences and build a stronger community of people who care about your cause.

What are the Best Social Media Platforms for Nonprofit Fundraising?

Instagram

Active Users (as of 2025): Over 2.4 billion

Target Audience: Millennials, Gen Z, and anyone who loves visual storytelling or follows influencers.

Instagram works perfectly for nonprofits that want to convey a message through strong visuals. It's a great avenue to share photos and videos showing your work through Instagram Stories, Reels, or regular feed posts. In addition to showcasing your organization's impact, Instagram is among the potent avenues through which donations can be raised.

Instagram engagement ideas for nonprofits:

• Encourage your followers to donate by tagging a friend in the post.
• Remind your followers to click the link in your bio or the link in your Instagram Stories to your donation page.
• Give donors special perks or rewards to incentivize them to support you further.

X (Formerly Twitter)

Active Users (2025): Over 600 million

Target Audience: Gen Z, Millennials, activists, and those looking for quick updates and real-time conversations.

X (Twitter) is fast-moving and dynamic. It's great for trend-watching, news, and keeping up with the conversation. X (Twitter) is a place for nonprofits to connect with a wide audience looking to make a difference; it's especially great for reaching people who like to stay informed.

Tips for nonprofits on X (Twitter):

• Optimize your profile: Enable others to find your account and make finding you easy by placing links to websites, etc., including key contact information.
• Share updates: Keep your followers informed about what's happening with your organization and the people you're helping. This may spur people to donate and get involved.
• Use analytics: Monitor the performance of your tweets to modify the content strategy based on what your audience likes most.

LinkedIn

Active Users (2025): Over 900 million

Target Audience: Professionals, business leaders, corporate partners, and people involved in philanthropy.

LinkedIn is the best site for nonprofits if you want to connect with potential donors, sponsors, and volunteers, especially businesses or individuals who care about social causes. It's a place to build relationships with people in your industry and share your mission with a professional audience.

How to use LinkedIn effectively as a nonprofit:

• Connect with people: Use LinkedIn to find businesses or people who resonate with your mission and reach out to them about a potential partnership or sponsorship.
• Share updates: Post regular updates on your nonprofit's impact and how donations will further the mission. That's how you connect deeper with your community.
• Find new volunteers: From new board members to volunteers, the helpers you need to grow your cause can be found on LinkedIn.

Facebook

Active Users (2025): Over 3.6 billion

Target Audience: Baby Boomers, Gen X, families, and community-oriented individuals.

Facebook is still a commonly used platform and is most helpful for reaching older generations, who are more likely to get involved with your nonprofit. This is a great tool for connecting with people locally who love to see updates frequently from causes they care about.

How nonprofits can make the most of Facebook:

• Optimize your page: Your nonprofit should be updated with key information about its mission, ways to get involved, and ways to donate.
• News and updates: Share fun photos, videos, and stories that help your followers feel more connected and up-to-date on your cause.
• Fundraising campaigns: You can easily set up fundraising campaigns on Facebook and directly ask people to donate through your page. Don't forget the "Donate" button at the top of your page, which makes the contribution process much easier.
• Create a Facebook group: A group would be a great way to unite your community. It's where supporters can discuss your nonprofit cause, get updated, and find ways to help.

TikTok

Active Users (2025): Over 1.8 billion

Target Audience: Gen Z, Millennials, and anyone looking for fun, quick, and emotional content.

TikTok is all about creativity and engagement. The short-form videos let nonprofits tell powerful stories dynamically and virally. Humor, challenges, and emotional appeals really resonate well on this platform, making it perfect for creative nonprofit campaigns.

How nonprofits can use TikTok:

• Create emotive or inspirational stories: You can do this by using music, text overlays, and emotional appeals that really bring out the impact of your work.
• Go viral with challenges: Encourage your followers to participate in a challenge related to your cause. These can quickly gain momentum and raise donations.
• Use trending hashtags: Engage with trending hashtags and join a conversation that goes well beyond your current following to raise awareness for your cause.

YouTube

Active Users (2025): Over 2.8 billion

Target Audience: Anyone interested in long-form video content, especially Gen Z, Millennials, and Baby Boomers.

YouTube is where nonprofits can build content that tells powerful stories. Although storytelling is more time-consuming and resource-heavy, creating higher engagement and deeper connections with audiences.

How Nonprofits Can Use YouTube

Create educative content: Share videos that inform the audience on issues your nonprofit is attempting to solve. These might be interviews, documentaries, or information-based videos.

Hosting Live Fundraising Events: YouTube has allowed nonprofits to run live streams with a donation button to raise funds during live events.

Search Optimization: Creating searchable, keyword-rich content helps nonprofits be more visible and attracts new donors.

How to Run a Social Media Fundraising Campaign

Come Up With a Strategy

The first thing you need to do is devise a good strategy. This means you must plan and conceptualize a timeline with certain expected or assumed outcomes, commonly referred to as goals. Any fundraising campaign that kicks off prematurely is destined to be mediocre, so it's not good enough to just say, "Let's create a social media campaign." You need to start by asking the right questions to guide your strategy.

Here are some of those questions to get you started in laying down a strategy:

• Who is the target audience for this fundraiser?
• What is the story we need to tell for this campaign?
• What is the title of a campaign that would attract the attention of the public?
• Which period will be most effective?
• What is our end for this campaign? It should be a tangible goal, such as the amount of money you want to raise.
• What resources are available to help us accomplish our mission?
• Is every system in place to run such a campaign effectively? For example, do we have an online payment processor? Who will issue the tax receipts? How is the merchandise stock kept?

Take Advantage of Social Media Tools

At least one member of your planning team should know how to use social media well enough to run the best campaign possible. There are tools built into social media that you can use to help make yours a success.

For instance, you can create a dedicated fundraiser page on Facebook with a blue "donate" button. Instagram has allowed people to donate right from their profiles, and you can include a "donate" sticker on any one of your Instagram stories. 

TikTok has only just added a donation sticker as a way for its tens of millions of users to help charities. Added to any video or live stream, when tapping on the sticker, the user reaches a pop-up window that lets them make a direct donation or contribute to some kind of campaign.

Plan Your Posts

The quality of your posting will make or break the success of your fundraising strategies, so plan carefully. You should already have decided before the launch:

• What will you post?
• When will you post?
• What will you include with each post?
• Who will you tag in the post?
• Which hashtags will you use on each post?

Monitoring and Review

As with any fundraiser, metrics are important to learn and grow from. Track the engagement with each post and make any needed changes right there on the spot. Then, once your campaign is over, you can compare your results against your original goals using this information. This will give you leading insight into key areas to focus on the next time you do a gala event.

5 Social Media Campaign Fundraising Ideas to Boost Nonprofit Engagement

Do you need a little inspiration to spark your creativity? Look no further! We've come up with five social media campaign ideas to help you raise awareness and funds for your nonprofit cause below.

Host Live Streaming Events

Live streaming is a fun and interactive way to engage your audience in real-time. Imagine a "Day of Giving" at a therapeutic riding camp. You could have a knowledgeable or charismatic volunteer take followers on a virtual tour of the camp- introducing them to the horses, interviewing therapists, and sharing stories from families. You could even partner this live stream with an influencer (more on that below) to amplify your reach and impact.

Leverage Trending Hashtags

Hashtags can work wonders for increasing your visibility; a little research can help you find the most effective hashtags related to your cause. Try to align your campaign with trending hashtags or create a unique hashtag to use alongside popular ones. Websites and tools can help you find a balance between using highly competitive tags (which can be hard to get noticed with) and more niche hashtags (which could give you more visibility within a smaller, but highly relevant audience).

Collaborate with Social Media Influencers

The influence of familiar faces can be a game-changer for your campaign. Social media influencers come in all shapes and sizes, and even a small nonprofit may be able to find an influencer willing to help. Look for online personalities who share values aligned with your mission. Some influencers may work for a small fee, while others might be willing to promote your cause in exchange for exposure. Just be sure that the influencers you choose to work with authentically represent your nonprofit's values and message.

Reach Out To Potential Donors Through Direct Messaging 

Another great way of reaching out to prospective donors is by sending them direct messages. It's a more intimate method as compared to posting for everyone to see and it enables you to communicate with the people who have previously supported your cause or made a donation. Tell them about your present fundraising campaign and ask them if they would like to help you again. In many instances, a straightforward and polite message can attract in a lot of support. 

Set Up Donation Matching

Starting a donation matching campaign is an awesome approach to boost monetary donations! In this strategy, a business or organization agrees to match the donations that supporters give (meaning that the money raised could be doubled, or even tripled). Although this may require some coordination on the part of local businesses or partners, it may be beneficial for your campaign strategy as it enhances credibility and gives the public a reason to donate, knowing that their donation will be matched.

How to Run Social Media Challenges for Nonprofit Fundraising

Choose a Relevant Theme

Let's say your fundraiser is a charity run, you could create a running challenge where individuals are challenged to run a specific distance or do a certain number of laps. If your cause is conservation, the challenge could be a video or photo of them in a nature preserve or park.

Come Up with a Unique Hashtag

This will make it easier for participants to share their progress and for others to follow. The more people participate and use your branded hashtag, the more your challenge will trend and reach a bigger audience.

Develop a Set of Guidelines for the Challenge

Be specific about how people can participate and share progress on social media! Also, when setting the end date for your challenge, remember that running it for a limited time will enhance the sense of urgency and the feeling of missing out on something great.

Create Engaging Content

Engaging content can consist of flashy graphics or videos- these will be used to build excitement and encourage engagement, so be as creative as possible. Engage a graphic design professional, savvy team member, or volunteer.

Share Across All Your Social Media

Remember to promote the challenge regularly and variedly on social media! Use your email list to ask supporters to forward the challenge to their friends and family. Also, remember to share the challenge with traditional media like your local newspaper, TV, and radio stations.

Make it Easy for People to Share Their Progress

Shareable graphics, videos, and messages that clearly define your good cause and include a call to action to donate.

Join Forces with Others

Partner with influencers, content creators, or organizations that share in your cause to help spread awareness and build a wider audience. If you don't know where to start, ask some of your younger staff or volunteers! Not only will they be able to help, but being asked for their expertise will give them ownership.

Provide Updates Regularly

Follow the progress of the challenge and post updates and testimonials on your social media platforms. Express gratitude. Thank the participants and update them on how the challenge was completed and exactly how it really helped raise visibility and funds for your cause.

How to Raise Money Through Your Nonprofit's Social Media Challenge

Make Donating a Part of the Challenge

For example, in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, people were called to donate as part of the challenge itself. Use a nonprofit fundraising platform such as Paybee to create a campaign page, set a fundraising goal, and share the link on social media.

Offer Incentives or Prizes

Offer an incentive or prize for those individuals or teams raising the most money, or establish donation milestones that unlock different rewards. This will promote peer-to-peer sharing and expand your fundraiser to wider circles.

Incentivize Donors with Matching Donations

For example, a sponsor could promise to match every dollar raised during the social media challenge.

How to Run Nonprofit Social Media Takeovers

Choose the Right Person for the Takeover

The secret to a successful social media takeover is in the selection of an individual who genuinely supports your cause and shares your values and mission. This will not only guarantee that the campaign feels honest and real, but such a person will more than likely have a strong network of people with similar interests, which helps in extending your reach.

Choose the Best Platforms

When choosing platforms, consider where your target audience is most active. If your target audience is older, for instance, you will find more value in Facebook compared to TikTok. Knowing where your supporters are spending their time online will make all the difference in the success of your takeover.

Set Clear Guidelines for the Takeover

Before the takeover, take some time to sit down with your host(s) and go over the details of the campaign. You should agree on things like:

• What are the takeover goals?
• What content is off-limits or inappropriate?
• How many posts will be acceptable, and what types of posts will work best?
• Are there any incentives involved for the fundraising?

It’s also important to consider the audience’s tolerance for certain types of content. For example, a younger, more progressive crowd might respond well to bold humor, while other groups may prefer a more serious and respectful tone.

Advertise the Takeover

Don't assume that your audience will already know about the takeover. It's always a good idea to create hype in advance through posts and teasers to keep people excited about the event. The more hype you build up, the more likely your followers will tune in to see what's happening.

Social Media Takeover Ideas for Nonprofits

Show the People Behind the Mission

Give your followers a behind-the-scenes look at a typical day in the life of someone involved with your nonprofit-staff, volunteer, partner, community member. Give a sneak peek at what their day looks and feels like as they work to support your cause. This helps make your nonprofit feel more personal and relatable by letting your audience be in touch with real people who drive the mission.

Bring in an Expert or Advocate

Invite an influencer, advocate, or expert in your space to take over your social media. This would let them share their unique perspective, experiences, and passion for your cause from a knowledgeable or personal point of view. Community leaders or those with huge followings will increase the nonprofit's visibility to attract new supporters.

Behind-the-Scenes of Your Nonprofit's Work

Give your followers a behind-the-scenes look at how your nonprofit works. Show them the planning and execution of a program, introduce them to your team, or show them work invested in such initiatives to make them successful. This helps your audience feel much closer to the impact they are helping to create and also builds trust in the process.

Project or Campaign Takeover

Events, programs, and campaigns launch well with a takeover if you want to get your audience excited. Provide sneak peeks, live updates, and even answer questions along the way. This is one of the more engaging ways to keep people involved and be able to participate, share, or donate to your cause.

Theme Day Takeover

Organize a takeover on a particular theme that interests your mission, such as Mental Health Awareness, Climate Action, or Youth Empowerment. You could feature guest speakers, community members, or beneficiaries of the cause who are passionate and share their stories. It's an opportunity to spark conversations and raise awareness about important topics.

Exclusive Event Coverage

Major events, fundraisers, or conference takeovers give your followers a point of access. Go live with updates, behind-the-scenes footage, or even interview speakers and attendees. It allows people to feel like they're part of the event (even if they can't be there in person) all while encouraging them to participate via donation or, if possible, attending next time

How can you Unlock the Potential of Social Media Fundraising with Paybee?

Social media fundraising is a game-changer for nonprofits, offering unparalleled opportunities to raise awareness, engage existing supporters, and drive donations. Whether planning a campaign, creating a viral challenge, or running a takeover on social media, the core is in crafting content that genuinely represents your mission and resonates with your audience. In addition, Paybee can help you customize donation pages, track progress, and provide seamless and secure payments for your donors. Combining creative social media strategies with a reliable platform like Paybee is a surefire way to engage your supporters, evoke generosity in your donors, and drive your nonprofit organization closer to meeting and exceeding fundraising goals. Ready to take your nonprofit's presence to the next level and raise money more effectively? You can book a free demo with our experts today!

Want to learn more about social media fundraising for your nonprofit? Here are some additional helpful resources from our Paybee Blog:

1. How to Attract Fundraising through Social Networks
2. Fundraising in Social Networks: 8 Common Mistakes
3. How to Add a Donate Button on Facebook: A Comprehensive Guide for Nonprofits
4. Instagram Best Practices for Nonprofits
5. TikTok: A Hidden Gem for Fundraising Success