Meta introduce new service for NFPs to manage supporter engagement

What is it with Meta? First they introduce changes to audience settings that make it harder for brands to target new customers, with (perhaps) the unintended consequence that charities and NFP will struggle to reach new donors.

Now they introduce a new service exclusively for NFP’s to manage supporter engagement. Better tools to help charities and NFP manage their supporters, whilst making it harder to recruit those supporters in the first place?

However mixed the messages coming out of Meta for charity marketers, the new NFP Manager is very welcome and has some great features. Read on to find out more.

What is the new Not-for-Profit Manager? And do you need it?

The new tool from Meta allows charities and other NFP’s to use a new interface within their Facebook account, which enables fundraising managers to manage their supporter activity from one place. This creates a space where you can be notified of fundraising activity, whilst also being able to monitor “new features available to you, but also on pay-outs, onboarding status and fundraising eligibility”.

You can also now directly message identified supporters and be more reactive to notifications of engagement with your specific or ongoing campaigns, to encourage fundraising activity and stay in touch with those in your audience that have been identified as key or warm donors.

Having this level of integrated CRM functionality directly within the platform will be a game changer for charities, who have suffered as a result of the previous changes that Meta introduced around audience targeting earlier this year. These changes are still in place, but the new NFP Manager supports the idea that charities and other not-for-profit organisations must now take a more considered approach to communicating with supporters who are all at different stages in their journey.

Key features of the new Not-for-Profit Manager

The main new feature is the ability to list, segment and filter your supporters directly within the app. You can then use the Messenger feature to directly communicate with the people that you can identify as already engaged with your brand.

The recent Facebook announcement said: “With Non-profit Manager, interacting with all your supporters becomes more accessible. You can now instantly encourage supporters who are fundraising on your behalf and show donors your appreciation by reacting or commenting directly on their donation posts.”

“Save time with a new set of filters enabling you to organise your lists of supporters by activity (e.g., Organised a fundraiser; Donated) and thanking status. Segment your list and easily follow up with the right messages to the right audience.”

It is a step forward and a great way to gather data on your donors, however the Messenger feature is only accessible if the user has opted-in to receive communications from you after they have made a donation through the platform. Using the Manager to show gratitude for support and funds raised and maintain a great relationship with donors, which by other means may have previously involved communications via email or post, could help charities to gain larger numbers of donations from younger audiences, who are typically less likely to donate when compared to the over 50s age groups.

There is also a new dashboard where you can gain insights into donation income via the app, and manage your campaigns, however currently the new manager can only be accessed via the desktop version of Facebook. Using these insights can also be a valuable tool when gauging demographic information for your wider campaign planning.

How to gain access to the new features

If you are a fundraising manager for a not-for-profit and you have not already registered for the new service within your Facebook account, what are you waiting for? Even if you are not planning any paid activity at the moment, you should be exploring the new functionality or speaking to your marketing team about how you can utilise this tool as part of your wider strategy.

Find out more by visiting the Meta Social Impact news article.

Need help planning your next fundraising campaign? Flourish specialise in legacy marketing and have planned effective IG campaigns for a wide range of charities over many years. Get in touch for a chat about the possibilities and check out some of our work for inspiration for your next campaign.