Run A Facebook Charity Fundraising Group or Page

By Susan Donaldson, B.A. (Hons), Animal Campaigner

Run a Facebook charity fundraising group or page to help save animals from suffering. Such fundraising is often done on social media sites such as Facebook. You will see on this page how to set up and run a Facebook charity fundraising page or group.

Many animal charities and rescues have social media pages with supporters on them, but not necessarily fundraising pages. If they do not already have a Facebook charity fundraising page or group, you could set one up for them.

If the charity or rescue already has one, you could ask if they need help managing it. Countless animal charities and rescues require volunteers to do this.

Facebook's charity fundraising groups or pages are especially helpful to small animal charities and rescues that do not have the fundraising power of well-known organisations.

If you want to run online fundraising events that offer monetary prizes, you may be required to either keep within The UK Gambling Commission rules, or purchase a gambling licence. You can find out the rules on this page.

Run a Facebook charity fundraising group or page
Avoid Accusations Of Fraud

To avoid your integrity being called into question when running a Facebook charity fundraising group or page, it is vital to be completely transparent.

Always display proof of the funds having been received and also proof of transferring them to the animal rescue organizations.

RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
Notify The Charity Of Your Activities

It is also important to notify the organisations you are fundraising for that you are fundraising for them in advance. Get a receipt from the animal charity or rescue and display that. Ask the animal charity or rescue to acknowledge the funds publicly on your group or page.

These measures go some way to protect you from accusations of dishonesty. If you do not do these things. New fundraisers, who people are not familiar with, are viewed with suspicion. This is understandable because, sadly, there are unscrupulous scammers about.

Sadly, there are always people who will accuse others of scamming, without any proof. Sometimes it is malicious and other times it is because some people are paranoid.

But if you are always transparent, then such rumours should be disregarded by your supporters. In addition, if police, or any other authorities were brought in, you have covered yourself.

Money can be sent straight to the charity / rescue by supporters, or to you, the admin of the fundraising group or page.  If sent to you, you must do everything you can to protect yourself from accusations of theft and fraud.

RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
More Tips

• Be open about who you are and the charity or rescue you are fundraising for. Do not appear to be hiding anything.
• Answer all questions people have in a clam manner, even if they are accusatory in tone.
• Be absolutely transparent about the money you receive and where you send it.
• Post all transactions in the group. Show proof of every penny you have received, and passed on to the animal rescue.
• Involve the charity you are fundraising for in your group or page. Ask them to verify that every penny has been passed on to them.
• Put a link from your fundraising group or page to your profile page, so people can check you out and feel reassured. Make sure your profile page is reassuring!
• Put any other reassuring information about yourself on your fundraising group or page, and links to where the information can be verified.

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Gaining Trust When running A Facebook Charity Fundraising Group Or Page

It is very difficult for people to trust strangers enough to hand money over to them. You need to prove that you are honest and trustworthy.

It can take some time, patience, and perseverance to gain that trust and many people give up. However, when people see that your activities are completely transparent, you will gain more and more supporters.

Make your personal Facebook profile page as informative as possible, so people can go on it and be reassured you are not hiding anything. Put a link to your profile page from your Facebook charity fundraising group, so people can “check you out”. Put other reassuring information about yourself on your fundraising group or page, and links to where the information can be verified.

Helping to run existing fundraising groups or pages first is a good idea. It is one way to gain a reputation of being honest and trustworthy.

It will help you if you would like to launch a charity fundraising page or group of your own. Another thing that may help you, is if your fundraising group is for a charity or rescue where you are already known.

Maybe you have been a volunteer there, or perhaps an online admin for their online adoption page or group.

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RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
Help Run Existing Online Fundraising Page

Animal charities and rescues are frequently in need of trustworthy and reliable volunteers to help run their online fundraising activities.

Animal rescues may need volunteers to run online fundraising events on their websites, or social media pages. Volunteers helping to run Facebook groups are often referred to as “Admin”.

The good thing about helping with an existing fundraising group is that they are already established and have support. Gaining supporters is frequently the most difficult part for a newly created fundraising group or page.

Contact the animal rescue or charity you would like to help, and ask them if you could help with their online fundraising activities. You could offer to help with existing online fundraising they may do, or offer to start something up for them.

You can find many animal rescues and charities run Facebook charity fundraising groups or pages. Many publicise them in this Facebook group. They are often in need of trustworthy and reliable people to join their admin teams. Contact them to offer your help.

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RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
Set Up A Facebook Charity Fundraising Page Or Group

If an animal rescue or charity does not already have one, you may want to offer to run a Facebook charity Fundraising group or page for them. If they already have one, they may need volunteers to help run them.

You will need to already have a Facebook account before you can start a Facebook charity fundraising page or group. There is a section of this page to help you set one up if you do not have one.

When you start a Facebook account, you will be given a profile page, sometimes called a Timeline. Once you have one of those, you can start your Facebook charity fundraising group or page.

Carry on reading to learn how to set up a Facebook charity fundraising page or group. You can choose which sections to read from the Table Of Contents at the top of the page.

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RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
No Facebook Account?

To set up a group or page, you need to first have a Facebook account. Here is how to create one for yourself.

Here are some tips to help you learn about Facebook.

RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
When You Register

When you register for a Facebook account, you will be given a “Profile” page, also called a “Timeline”.

RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
Your Timeline/Profile Page

You can use your profile/timeline to post about animal cruelty and how people can help stop it. You are welcome to share the information on this site.

Also, where your profile/timeline allows you to write information about yourself, write about how you want to help animals.

RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
Privacy Settings

Set your information to “Public”. Other like-minded people will then be able to see this information when you friend request them.

Be careful not to have any information on your profile page that would tell people where you live.

You may wish to keep your telephone number and email address secret too.

RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
Facebook Friends

You will need animal loving “friends” on your Profile or Timeline, so you can add them to your fundraising group, or invite them to your fundraising page when you create it.

People in your friends list can see the posts you publish on your profile/timeline.

RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
Friend Requests

You will receive friend requests from people, which you can accept or not. You can also make friend requests to other people that you would like to have on your friends list.

This is done by entering names of people you know into the search bar on your profile. When you see them, click on them, then click on “Add Friend”.

RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
Finding Animal Lover Friends

Join the Facebook page or group of the rescue you want to fund-raise for, and make friends through that. The Admins of the page or group are likely to have many friends in the group.

You could explain to them that you are fundraising for the charity / rescue, with the charity or rescue's permission. Then ask them if they would add their friends, that are supporters of the charity or rescue, to your fundraising page or group.

You can also find friends by joining mutual interest groups, such as groups related to animal rescue and fundraising for animal charities and rescues.

You may like the posts some people post, or the comments some people make on the posts, and friend request them based on that. Click on the names of people, and click “Add Friend”.

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RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
Which Is Best: Group Or Page?

• “Groups” are better to use for animal rescues, charity auctions, and buy-it-now sales, than “Pages”. This is because you can add people to your group. With pages, you can only invite them to click “Like” on your page.
• With a group, you can add people that you have on your friends list. You may need to gain more friends who are interested in helping the rescue you are fundraising for. Make sure your profile/timeline makes your passion for helping animals obvious. Like-minded people are then more likely to accept your friend requests. Friend request people on the Facebook page or group the animal charity / rescue already has (if they have one).
• Once added from your friends list to the group, people have a choice to remove themselves at any time. People who choose to remain part of the group can receive notifications when you post in your group.
• With a page, you cannot add people, but you can invite them to click the “Like” icon on your page. If they do, they can receive notifications of when you post on it.

Whichever You Choose…

It is important that in the “Description” or “About” section of your group or page, you clearly state what it is for.

You should also put this information in a “Pinned Post” at the top of your group. To achieve this, write a post normally.

Once you have posted it, select the down arrow in the top-right corner of the post and select “Pin Post”. This keeps the post from moving down the page like the other posts do. You can only have one pinned post at a time.

See here for how to create a Facebook Group.

If you prefer, or in addition, you can create a Facebook page.

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RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
Creating An Album

If you set up a group, you, as admin, can create an album. An album is a good idea when you are doing an auction or sale. It keeps all the items on offer neatly in one place, easy to find. An album is also good if you are running a competition and have a number of prizes.

If you don’t use an album and instead post items separately on the main page, that presents a number of problems. It means that people have to scroll down the page to see the items.

If there are many, this can be tedious. In addition, the items are not kept together the way they are on an album. They can become jumbled among other posts, and lost as they are pushed down the page by other posts. If an old, irrelevant post is commented on, then it moves to the top – It can all lead to people being confused.

It creates a lot of repetitive work for the admins to keep attempting to keep the relevant posts nearest the top. This is done by “bumping” them up. Just commenting on them does this.

How To Create An Album

The admin creates an album by going to the “Photos” section of the group, then selecting “Albums”, and “Create Album”.

The Album may be to show prizes for an event such as a draw or scratch card, or it may be showing auction or sale items. In the title it should say what kind of event it is, who it is in aid of, and give the time and date it ends.  There is also a space to add a description, as it may not all fit in the title.

If it is an auction or sale item album, the admin adds all the photos and descriptions of the donated items to the album. If it is an auction, a start price should be stated, and if it is a sale, a buy-it-now price should be given. Postage costs for each item should be included, and where to send payment.

The admin then posts a link to the album on the main page of the group, asking people to go to it and bid on, or buy, the items, or buy the items on the album, by commenting underneath them.

To be able to comment to bid on or buy an item, a person must have joined the group first, which can be done on the main page of the group. The admin should explain this on the album description, and put a link to the main page of the group, so people can join. The rules of the auction should also be stated on the album.

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Gaining Supporters for Your Facebook Charity Fundraising Group / Page

Find out if the animal charity or rescue you want to raise money for has a page or group dedicated to the charity/rescue. That is a good place to find supporters for your fundraising page.

Check The Website

You can look on the animal charity or rescue's official website to see if they mention a Facebook page or group. They may have a Facebook icon you can click on.

Finding Existing Facebook Pages And Groups Related To The Charity

You can find if there are any groups or pages related to the charity by entering its name into the search bar on Facebook. A list will appear, and you can click on each one to see if they are related to the group you want to fund-raise for.

If you find the charity or rescue has a page or group, you should join it. "Friend Request" the admins and let them know you would like to fund-raise for their charity. You can ask them to add their Facebook friends, who are supporters of the charity, to your fundraising group. Also ask if you can publicise your fundraising group on their charity page.

If you do not find any pages or groups related to the charity, do not worry. It may be the case that they need a volunteer to manage a group or page for them.

Maybe you could consider doing that instead of, or as well as, a fundraising group for them.

Other Ways

There are other ways you can attempt to find supporters. You can publicise your fundraising group or page in groups such as these groups on Facebook:-

• Animal Rescue Auctions & Other Events Now On (accepts all fundraising events)
• Auctions & Sales Only: For Animals (accepts auctions and sales only)

In those groups, different animal charities and rescues publicise their online fundraisers. This means many animal lovers get to hear about them.

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RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
Payment

Most online fundraising events I have been involved in have used PayPal as their main payment method. Some offer people the alternative of paying via bank transfer, using online banking.

Who Is Responsible For Handling The Money?

You must discuss with the animal rescue or charity you are raising money for about who is responsible for receiving the money.

Find out whether they want people to pay money directly to them when they enter your fundraising event, or into your PayPal account, and you would transfer it to them at the end of the event.

If they would like it all paid directly to them, let them know that you will have to have constant communication with them about who has paid what, and when. You, as the person running the event, has to keep track of payments.

It is therefore often impractical for people to pay directly into the rescue or charity’s account. It is only feasible if someone who has access to that PayPal account can be contacted at any time for you to check who has paid what.

Because of this, many fundraisers use their own personal PayPal accounts and transfer the money to the rescue as soon as the event has ended.

If you do not have a PayPal account, you will need to create one.

Let Everyone Know The PayPal Address To Send Payment To

You must let everyone know the email address to send payments to though PayPal.

If you would like to offer bank transfer through online banking as an option as well, you need to provide entrants who ask for it with your bank account details.

Ask People To Use The “Personal” Option In PayPal

When receiving payments through PayPal, you must emphasise to people that you need them to choose the “Friends And Family”, or “Personal” option in PayPal when making the payment.

This means fees are not deducted, and the animal rescue or charity will receive all the money.

Always be Transparent To Avoid Fraud and Scam Accusations

Always be transparent regarding payments to protect yourself from accusations of fraud.

If Receiving Payment For Auction Or Sale Items

Contact the buyer with instructions of how to pay. This usually involves providing them with the PayPal address they should send payment to, and the amount they need to pay.

Also let them know if they need to contact the donor of the item to pay them postage costs and give them their address to post the item to.

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RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
Contacting Winners

Winners of fundraisers in Facebook groups can be contacted in the following ways:

• Tagging them on the post in the group. To achieve this, begin typing their name until it comes up in a list, and select it. If they are a member of the group, it should work.
• With a post on their timeline (if their settings allow).
• Through the private messaging option (also known as “In-box” or “Direct Message”). As private messages are only seen by people who are friends on Facebook, admin should friend request all winners, and remind them to accept the request. Otherwise, the message goes into a filtered folder in their in-box that they may not be aware of.

Contacting Auction Or Sale Winners

Whoever wins the auction item by bidding the highest amount for it before the auction ends should be contacted with payment instructions.

That is, the PayPal address to send the payment to, and whether they need to contact the item donor regarding postage. See the information above for methods of contacting winners.

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RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
The UK Gambling Commission Rules

When giving out monetary prizes, you must adhere to UK Gambling Commission rules; otherwise you would be required to purchase a licence.

The UK Gabling Commission page on Fundraising on Social Media details what you need to know.

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RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
Online Fundraising Events You Can Run

If you would like ideas of fundraising events to run on your Facebook charity fundraising group or page, on other social media sites, or on a website, have a look at the online charity events to run page.

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RUN A FACEBOOK CHARITY FUNDRAISING GROUP OR PAGE
Many Other Ways To Help Stop Animal Cruelty

On this site, there are many varied ways you can help animals and help stop cruelty. In fact, there are so many ways that there is something for every personality type, no matter what their circumstances.

If you would like to learn more about why we so urgently need to help stop animal suffering, please see this website. It will allow you to broaden your knowledge of many types of worldwide animal abuse, giving you the ability to help animals by spreading awareness and answering questions people may have. Please be aware that you may find the information distressing, especially if you are a more sensitive person.

One great way to help animals is to share the information you have seen on this website. Doing so means more people could help stop animal cruelty, and that would make you responsible for more animals being saved from suffering. Together, we can help people help animals.

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