Nearly 80% of Internet users use Facebook, making the social network one of the digital giants of our time. There are so many ways to leverage this social tool for your nonprofit and Facebook’s ad program is one of the best ways to reach people interested in your work. If you’ve got some budget to work with, then these ads can be a highly effective way to scale your organization.
You’ve more than likely seen these ads before. They appear in your News Feed or in the right-hand sidebar. When creating your ad, you get to choose which audience you want to target based on a wide range of interests and activity within the network. These ads are perfect for targeting specific publics and there are always options for every budget.
Why Facebook Ads for Your Nonprofit?
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Find new supporters by reaching beyond your already established community
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Reach out to new people similar to your existing supporters
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Make sure more of your audience sees your most important posts and news
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Send calls-to-action to people with particular demographics, interests or behaviors
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Drive specific actions like visiting your website or signing up for your email list
How to Target Your Audience
Facebook for some time has allowed its advertisers to target audiences by education, political affiliation, and even life events. But now, the social giant has expanded its options to include behavioral targeting. Some of the parameters for these behaviors include previous travels, past purchases and, the most important for our purposes, charitable giving.
Let’s hone in on charitable giving targeting since this audience is already predisposed to donating. Under this umbrella category you can refine your filter even further by selecting those who have given to the following sectors:
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Animal Welfare
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Arts and Cultural
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Children’s Interests
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Environmental and Wildlife
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Health
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Political
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Religious
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Veterans
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World Relief
Chances are that your nonprofit falls into one of these categories making it an easy place to start if this is your first targeted campaign. Your clean air organization, for example, might be looking for others who have donated to similar causes by selecting the “environmental and wildlife” option. This ensures that you’re finding like-minded people who are for your cause.
But what if you’re looking to generate new donors? What are some ways to start funneling a new pipeline of gifts? The first step is to narrow your organization’s niche even further than you already have. Perhaps you’re a religious organization that offers mission trips to help children in third-world countries. Perhaps you’re a reforestation group whose goal is to revive natural habitats for wildlife. Both of these nonprofits check two boxes from the sub-category list allowing you to reach out to at least two different sectors of Facebook users.
One final example would be the politician who is advocating for new healthcare legislation. Naturally, her first focus will be to find politically active people via the “Politics” filter. But she’ll also want to keep in mind healthcare professionals and workers who might not be so politically active on Facebook via the “Health” option. For that particular campaign, she would be sure to share news and information about her positions on healthcare and her proposed legislation. A general “donate to my campaign” ad won’t be enough for this niche.
Now think about some of the different categories your nonprofit falls under. How many different targets can you see yourself reaching from this list? Our team of digital experts is ready to brainstorm audiences and create ads with you to extend your nonprofit’s mission even further into your community!
