Fundraising with Instagram

Instagram logo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are over 1 billion people using Instagram on a monthly basis, with more than 500 million daily active users under the age of 35. If you are a not for profit and you aren’t tapping into this market, you could be losing out big time.

Millennials are also the most likely generation to give towards a charitable cause – not just financially but in terms of volunteering their time to help. And there’s even more of a reason to use the platform – you can easily raise monies by using the Instagram Donation Sticker.

Similar to Facebook’s donation button, Instagram covers 100 per cent of credit card/processing fees for not for profits that are officially registered companies approved by Facebook.

To use the sticker all you need to do is follow three simple steps:

  • If you haven’t done so already, you’ll need to sign up to Facebooks Charitable Giving Tools.
  • Connect Instagram to your Facebook account.
  • Make sure your Instagram account is set to business profile.

You should now show up in the sticker donation search for users posting the donate sticker. Note stickers can only be used on Insta Stories, not on traditional posts. The donation stickers can be used to support your cause by any users on Instagram.

Other tips to keep in mind when using the donation sticker:

Don’t use it on every story

Users will get tired of seeing your Instagram Stories with the donation sticker on it every time. Think about how you are going to use the sticker strategically to raise funds. Use it for specific fundraising campaigns like GivingTuesday on 3 December this year.

Fundraising campaign

As just mentioned, if you are going to get good results from the sticker, you’ll need to set up a fundraising campaign.  See our tips on establishing a fundraising campaign in our Facebook fundraising for not for profits post. Or check out the British Heart Foundation on Instagram to see some of their successful campaigns.

Get your fans to use the sticker on their Instagram Stories

A good way to do this is once you’ve set up your donation sticker is to let your fans know about it – post about it on your News Feed, post on other social media sites and promote it through email. Your fans can then use the sticker whenever they are doing a fundraising drive on your behalf.

Post regularly

If you want to build up your fan base in Instagram Stories, you are going to need to post on a regular basis. Put together a schedule for the year, think about key events that you can connect with to promote your cause. The more you post, the more likely you are to build a relationship with a fan and the more likely they will donate when you do run your fundraising campaign.

The Instagram Donation Sticker is another tool to add to your fundraising box – it’s not going to raise you a fortune on its own. But when used as part of a multi-channel fundraising strategy it can deliver some great results.