Instagram Fundraising Ideas For Your Non Profit, School Or Small Group

Are you ready to jump on the instagram bandwagon for your next fundraiser?

Whether you are a hardcore veteran or a green newbie,  you will enjoy these easy instagram fundraising ideas for your non profit, school or small group.

What is instagram?

Instagram is a social media site that allows you to share photos with your friends and family. People can “Like” your photos by hitting a button. They can also “Share” your pictures with others. It is a great way to get the message out there about your next fundraiser.

Why try these instagram fundraising ideas?

• Instagram isn’t a passing social media fad.
• For example did you know that:
• More than 1 out of 4 people have an instagram account in the US?
• That 70 million photos are placed on instagram every day?
• That OTHER people’s photos receive 2.5 billion “LIKES” everyday?
• That your small group could be getting some of this attention?

Now you can see why it is important to add instagram to your fundraising efforts.

It doesn’t replace what you are doing. Instead, as you will see shortly, it works beautifully with the existing conventional fundraiser events you are holding.

Are you ready for some of our best instagram fundraising tips?

Get right to the point with your message

You get only 150 characters to describe what your organization and fundraiser is all about. That’s right…. ONLY 150 characters!

So make them count. In fact, you may want to skip your BIO and get right to your fundraiser information. Be sure to include a link to your latest fundraiser.

Keep everyone posted

The “Update” post is a great way to keep connected with your donors and volunteers. So share your progress updates. Send photos with how much you have raised so far.

Update posts are a great way to keep people motivated and involved.

Say Thank you!

Everyone loves a genuine thank you. Then why are they so few and far between?

Decide to be different and thank your donors and volunteers PUBLICLY with a “Thank You” instagram photo.

Give directions

Did you know that you can write a description for each photo you upload?

While you are limited to 150 characters in your “about” description, you get a whopping 2,200 characters in your Instagram captions! Use them wisely.

Since some people will not take the time to read your 2,200 character description we suggest making your photos informative with clear direction written on the photo telling your donors what to do NEXT.   In other words, turn them into MINI infographics.

For example, if you want them to SHARE the photo, then literally spell it out with a caption on your infographic.

Do you want them to go to your fundraiser web page?

Unfortunately, you can’t put links in your posts description. So here is a tip.

Include your website url and the link for your fundraising brochure as a caption on the actual photo.

For example, it would look like this:

“http://myschool.com/cookie-dough-fundraiser/”

Use #hashtags

Create a brand hashtag that only you will use if possible. For example, if you had a cheer leader fundraiser you might use #Newburghcheerteamrocks. This could become a motto for your fundraiser.

Did you know that this also allows you to easily track the photos that your fans share with others?

Tag People

Isn’t it true that people look for themselves in a photo?

So remember to tag people in your photos. Research shows that you will get more than 50% extra engagement when you do so. That means to highlight your volunteers. They have worked hard and you should give them the public commendation that they deserve!

Also call out your customers and thank them publicly for their support.

Get people excited

Imagine setting up a countdown photo for each day as it gets closer to your event.

For example, if you were having a dance fundraiser this would be perfect.

Do you have local businesses that are donating services or merchandise? Then use photos to tell people how to win those prizes.

Commenting on posts

Encourage your fans to comment on your posts. We also encourage you to comment on your own posts to engage them and keep the interaction going.

Upload your photos to other social networks

Take these photos and upload them to facebook, twitter, google, pinterest etc.

The more you share, the more THEY will share your photos. Remember that each person has their favorite social media site, so why not share on all of them?

Using videos

Instagram videos are a great way to talk about your fundraiser.

You only get 60 seconds so make it count! Presume there may be no sound with your video. So a best practice is to use on-screen captions to tell your story in your video.

We hope you have enjoyed these  easy instagram fundraising ideas for your non profit, school or small group.

Let us know how we can assist you to  make your next fundraiser a success.

You may also enjoy reading these fundraising articles:

• How to combine instagram with your existing email campaigns
• Will you make this mistake with online instagram fundraising?
• Use instagram to highlight your online magazine fundraiser