There is no shortage of places or ways for your nonprofit to ask for support. With YouTube Giving, your options are about to get better. Now digital creatives working for US-registered nonprofits can embed a donate button next to videos. That way viewers can take immediate action and support your cause while they are fresh with inspiration. As a creator, all you do is set up the campaign, and YouTube takes care of the logistics and payment processing.
Here’s a screenshot from how St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is using the new YouTube Giving tools.
The donation process is easy, using a simple guided two-step process. Select the amount you want to donate . . .
. . . enter in your payment details, and ta-da! You’re back to browsing videos.
It’s no wonder companies like YouTube are getting in the fundraising game. The “median” American is active on three different social media platforms (for Americans ages 18-29, that increases to four).
Online giving also continues to increase. The M+R 2018 Benchmark Study reports that online giving increased 23 percent in 2017 after a 15 percent growth in 2016. This was at a time when overall website traffic to nonprofit websites declined by 1.4 percent. The 2017 Global Trends in Giving Report researched by Nonprofit Tech for Good found that 42 percent of online donors worldwide cite social media as a tool that most often inspires them to give. At the time, Facebook was the main player.
YouTube is still beta testing its new suite of tools, with plans to roll out its fundraising tools over the next several months. In the meantime, there’s a lot you can do to cultivate new donors and their commitment to your cause. Read more here:
- How to get $67k more from new donors
- Honing your ask
- How email segmentation can help your nonprofit raise more money
- Nonprofit storytelling to improve your ask
- 7 tips for a successful year-end donation page
