Pros and Cons of Facebook's Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Option
Inviting followers and friends to participate in a Facebook fundraiser is a regular birthday staple these days. Instead of birthday gifts, relatives and friends ask for donations to a charity or for an individual they know who has a financial need.
The onset of COVID-19 and lockdowns meant people weren’t gathering for parties, so they turned to fundraisers as a way to celebrate. If anything good came out of the pandemic, it would be learning how to fundraise online.
Today, fundraisers fill Facebook pages for nonprofit organizations like Wounded Warriors, the American Cancer Society, and the Alzheimer’s Association. Organizers bike, run, and walk to gain donations. One fundraiser asks men to grow a mustache in November for Movember and donate to find a cure for prostate cancer.
Other organizers have set up pages for individuals struggling with medical bills or other financial needs. All of these are classic examples of online peer-to-peer fundraising.
According to Facebook, peer-to-peer fundraising on their social media platform has raised more than $6 billion to support over one million nonprofits and personal causes.
More than 27 percent of U.S. adults have reported fundraising for or giving to a peer-to-peer campaign during the pandemic.
There are several pros and cons to using Facebook’s fundraising tool vs. a third-party tool such as FundEasy. Let’s take a closer look.
The Pros Of Facebook Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
1. Recognized Nonprofits Can Use Facebook Fundraising Tools for Free.
Facebook and Instagram offer free tools to help you collect donations and enable supporters to fundraise for your nonprofit. Nonprofits qualify by being listed as registered charities and only asking for donations in countries and regions that allow fundraising.
2. Facebook Processes Donations to Nonprofits without Fees
If you fundraise for a registered nonprofit, Facebook pays the processing fees. Donations to personal fundraisers have a small processing fee.
3. Facebook Reviews All Personal Fundraisers
To qualify to run a personal fundraiser, your identity has to be verified. Facebook ensures your fundraiser meets its community standards, policies, and terms.
4. Facebook Allows Your Donors to Make a One-Time Donation or Set Up Recurring Donations
In addition to the type of donations a donor makes, Facebook allows the donor to remain anonymous or let others know they’ve participated.
Facebook Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Cons
1. No Control Over the Branding of Your Campaign
Although you can provide logos and suggestions for the look of your fundraiser, your participants design their pages any way they want. You have no control over what they say or how the page looks.
2. Cannot Capture Data
In addition to raising funds, the goal of a fundraiser is to add new contacts to your overall donor list. Since individuals run campaigns on their pages, you don’t receive those coveted contact names, email addresses, and other important information.
3. Success Requires Monitoring Each Participant’s Facebook Page
Running your peer-to-peer fundraising campaign strictly on Facebook requires someone in your organization to monitor what others are doing. Who has the most followers? How are they presenting your organization? How much money is each person raising? You need a dedicated staff member overseeing everything.
78% of Baby Boomers Say They Use Facebook Regularly
4. Limited Access to Reports
Only those who have applied and been approved for fundraising tools have access to reports according to Facebook. In order to receive payout reports and donor contact information for donors, you must enroll with Meta Pay.
5. A Longer Payout Timeline
If your organization is enrolled with Meta Pay, you receive payouts every two weeks.There is a minimum donation payout amount depending on the payout method you use, and it can take up to a month to receive payouts from donations.
By not enrolling with Meta Pay, the payout timeline can reach a month and a half after the last date of the month when the donations were made. In other words, if donations are made in January, your nonprofit organization receives the payout on March 15.
Gen Zers (ages 18 to 24) are the second most generous group at 57%.
The Pros and Cons Of Using Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Software
We all perk up at the word “FREE!” No matter if it’s a new TV or a hamburger, FREE is always an attention-grabber.
Although free fundraising tools sound easy, Facebook is fickle. They change their algorithm at a moment’s notice. Plus, their free tool doesn’t provide data tracking, quick payouts, or donor information.
Currently, Facebook’s algorithm is favoring original content. Suddenly, free becomes a nightmare.
A personal fundraiser cannot be used to raise money for a nonprofit. You need to create a nonprofit fundraiser. To qualify, your organization must undergo a Charity Verification Application Process.
Beginning in November of 2022, Facebook is eliminating personal fundraisers. An individual will no longer have the ability to raise money for themselves, a friend, or a for-profit business.
Before you begin any fundraising campaign, consider the pros and cons of FundEasy Peer-to-Peer fundraising software. Peer-to-Peer is powerful software that equips others to fundraise on your behalf.
FundEasy has helped world-changing nonprofits raise more than $1 billion.
The Pros of FundEasy
1. FundEasy Software Gathers Fundraising Data
Easily connect your fundraising pages to your marketing automation system such as Constant Contact or MailChimp. You can communicate with anyone participating in the peer-to-peer fundraising campaign.
Automatically send updates, thank yous, and important information. Group contacts in your donor management system into categories such as new donors, regular supporters, and those that posted your fundraiser on their social media.
2. Your Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Campaigns Stay Branded
FundEasy provides the tools your organization needs to create a branded look for your fundraising campaign. Supporters register to participate in the campaign through a web page you create. They can personalize their page with photos, videos, and blog-like updates, but the overall look of your campaign stays the same.
FundEasy creates software that makes events and fundraising simple for nonprofits.
3. Participants Can Easily Share the Campaign on All Social Platforms
Although Facebook is still an important medium, it isn’t the only one. FundEasy offers built-in social sharing so supporters can post your campaign on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Tumblr. Sharing with friends and encouraging donations was never easier.
4. Everything Is Located in One Place
When you use nonprofit fundraising software, all the information you need is in one place.
For Communication
Registration forms
Sponsor information
Social sharing
Branded email invitations
Personalized fundraising pages
Automated emails
Automated donation receipts
Pledge invoices and printed receipts for offline donations
For Organization
Easy online donations
Receive quick deposits straight to your organization’s bank account
View reports
Create customized reports
Record offline donations so fundraising totals are always accurate
Connect to other platforms for custom integrations
Quick and easy settlement reports
Donor information is immediately added to your donor management system
5. FundEasy Allows Donors to Make a One-Time Donation or Become Recurring Donors
Monthly donors are the lifeblood of any nonprofit organization and FundEasy makes it easy for donors to commit to regular giving.
“Peer-to-Peer allows us to focus on relationship building instead of logistics.”
The Cons Of Using Fundraising Software
1. It Is Not Free
All of this communication and organization does not come free. However, FundEasy’s Peer-to-Peer fundraising software is only $54 per month with a 12-month commitment. If you pay annually, you receive two months FREE. You also receive a 14-day money-back guarantee.
During your year, you receive access to 10 peer-to-peer fundraisers and crowdfunding. With our crowdfunding, you can set up and share your fundraising campaign in minutes, get lightening-fast deposits straight to your bank, and invite new donors. It’s a FREE giving page to quickly fund a project.
2. There Are Transaction Fees
FundEasy does have a processing fee of 2.9% + 30¢ and a platform fee for Peer-to-Peer and Crowdfunding software of 0-4%.
However, your organization can offer supporters the ability to cover processing fees with their donations. Often, when it means tacking on another dollar or two to cover fees, donors are more than willing to pay.
Real People Making A Real Difference
Leveraging Facebook Fundraising Through FundEasy
According to LendingTree, more than half of Americans donated to charity in 2021. And Baby Boomers donated more than any other generation.
By far, Facebook is the most popular social media platform for Baby Boomers so you need to continue marketing your fundraisers on Facebook. Besides, studies suggest Facebook drives over 80% of traffic to fundraising campaigns.
Because Facebook’s latest algorithm is favoring original content, it’s important to encourage the supporters of your peer-to-peer campaigns to add images, video, and audio to their pages. Whenever possible, incorporate user-generated content on your main fundraising page too.
Facebook also changed their algorithm to emphasize friends and family posts in timelines over companies and organizations. Encourage your supporters to ask their friends and family members to repost the fundraising page. According to Facebook, fundraisers that get shared in the feed raise 10x more.
Using Facebook fundraising through FundEasy is an excellent way to tap into new donors. Boomers spend an average of one hour and 48 minutes a day on social media sites. Because they see your campaign posted by a trusted friend or family member, they’re more likely to donate. Boomers are also more likely to check out your website to learn more about you.
Other FundEasy Tools
The Leaderboard
It’s always fun to add a little healthy competition to your peer-to-peer campaigns. Take advantage of our Leaderboard feature. The Leaderboard lists top fundraisers by the name they choose, a photo, their personal goal amount, and the total they raised. Each entry also has a link to their individual fundraising page. You can also add teams to the Leaderboard.
The Animated Fund-Meter
Use the action of the animated Fund-Meter to draw attention to your goal amount. Every donation fills the Fund-Meter thermometer a little higher. Donors can see the real-time impact of each donation as they give.
Corporate Sponsors
Add the logos of each one of your corporate sponsors to your fundraising page. Corporate sponsors always add credibility to your campaign so be sure to promote their involvement.
Contact Information
At the bottom of your fundraising page, you can add information about your organization and contact information including address, phone number, email, and a website link. Make it easy for donors (particularly Boomers) to search for your organization. The more they know, the more likely they are to share the fundraiser on their Facebook page.
Real-Time Registration Data
Are you offering T-shirts for an event? Use your fundraising page to capture real-time registration data, including responses to custom questions like “What is your T-shirt size?” Then, import that information into your donor management system for segmenting donors or for future reference.
Webinars
Take advantage of our free webinars like “Year-End Fundraising: Defining a Clear Strategy to Finish 2022 Strong.” Our seasoned experts have the tips and tricks you need to reach and exceed your fundraising goals easily.
Fundraising Tips
Sign up to receive our free blogs like “5 Tools Every Fundraiser Needs to Know About.” We publish new blog posts each month on a variety of topics to keep you in the know.
Sign Up For Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Software
Our setup wizard walks you through setting up your fundraiser and making sure it’s ready to launch.
Have the tools you need right at your fingertips.
Your supporters do the fundraising for you while you manage the behind-the-scenes from one dashboard.
Engage more donors
Raise more money so you can do more good
Change more lives
Signing up is simple and fast. Create your nonprofit’s account. FundEasy creates software that makes events and fundraising simple for nonprofits. Crush your fundraising goals.
We know talking to a real human being makes our lives and decisions so much easier. Schedule an appointment to talk with a FundEasy representative. Our daily scheduler lets you pick a date and time that’s most convenient for you. Plus, you get to choose how long you want to chat.
If you'd like to learn more about our Peer-to-Peer, Attendance, or Crowdfunding products, please reach out! We'd love to chat.
Also, if you haven't joined already, we have an exclusive Facebook Group just for our customers! If you are a current FundEasy Customer and would like to join, go here to learn more and request to be added!
Crystal Hoag
This article was inspired by our customers and written to encourage your fundraising efforts. Although we work with nonprofits and events daily, our team members are not Event Consultants. We encourage you to consult with your event consultant, executive team, and/or affiliate organization before making any major changes to your events.
