Top Tips for Facebook Fundraising

You’ve chosen to change lives by setting up a Facebook fundraiser, you are amazing!

Setting up your fundraiser is easy, but it takes a little bit of persistence to get donations in and to reach your target. You’ll be surprised at how generous people are once they know about the incredible thing you’re doing, so follow these steps to help you get the word out there.

If you’ve already started your fundraiser, you can skip this step.

Facebook’s easy to use features mean you can setup a fundraising page for your birthday, your wedding or just because you want to support Amnesty. You can also setup a page to raise money for a challenge you’re taking on like a virtual marathon or a virtual talent competition. You can Set Up Your Fundraiser in just 30 seconds.

Any money you raise will be sent directly to our bank account by Facebook. This service is 100% free so we get every cent donated.

When to start and end

The best time to start is about 3 weeks before your event or birthday. This gives you time to share it and your donors time to hear about it. Remember to make your birthday visible in your settings so people get notified on the day.

You can schedule your fundraiser to end whenever you want and here’s how:

1. Go to your fundraising page
2. Click “Edit” under the main image and headline
3. Scroll down to the box that says “Set the End Date”
4. Select your date and click Save in the top right.

How much should my target be?

You really want to reach your target, it’ll make you and your donors feel great, so go for an achievable amount. The best amount to aim for is between €150 and €200. That’s just 10 of your friends donating €15 or €20 each which is very doable.

Of course, if you feel you can reach a higher target go for it!

How do I get my fundraiser noticed? Inviting & Sharing

The best way to get noticed is to invite people to donate. Inviting ALL of your friends is actually easy when you know how. First of all, you’ll need to be on a desktop computer:
• Go to your fundraiser page and click ‘invite’. You’ll see a list of all your friends there.
• Invite your first friend by clicking their ‘invite’ button.
• Then press your tab key. Your next friend’s invite button will be highlighted.
• Press the ‘space’ key and that friend is invited.
• Continue to hit the tab and space keys until all of your friends are invited.

You can share your fundraiser with the friends you’re most often in touch with through messenger. Ask them to share it too, they really won’t mind. Some of your friends will not be able to donate but they can help you by sharing and liking your fundraiser.

Remember you have other networks so share your fundraiser link on Instagram, Tik Tok, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Twitter and by text message.

Don’t be shy about asking for donations!

When you ask for a donation, you are giving people an opportunity to be part of a solution to end human rights abuses.

Keeping people interested

If you’re doing a challenge, pop up a few posts on how well your training is going or how badly! Try to include photos. People are curious and they’ll be interested in what you’re doing and how you’re getting on.

For a birthday fundraiser, if you have any photos of you as a child, pop them up on your fundraiser page. These always get great reactions and get people talking. You could also post them on your timeline and add the link to your fundraiser in the text.

What happens on the day of my event?

This is the day when you can go to town! You’ll probably get messages wishing you Happy Birthday or Good Luck with your challenge etc. You can thank each of these people and add a link to your fundraiser when you do.

If it’s your birthday, tell everyone! Post to your timeline that today is your birthday and add a link to your fundraiser, tell people a little about why you’re doing this wonderful thing for Amnesty. And again, remember to make your birthday visible in your settings.

Thanking people

When people donate, say thank you and like or love their donation. People are supporting you as well as Amnesty so let them know how grateful you are.

And that’s it!

What you are doing is an incredible thing. You are supporting human rights defenders and millions of displaced people worldwide. Be proud and thank you!

If you’ve any questions at all or would just like to get in touch, we’d love to hear from you – fundraising(at)amnesty.ie.

Annette Ryan
Community & Events Fundraising