How to Successfully Fundraise on Twitter
Designed to connect communities, forge relationships and bring strangers together through the power of modern technology—online crowdfunding has a lot in common with social media platforms like Twitter (now known as X). Just like GoFundMe, Twitter is free to join, easy to use and allows you to connect with millions of new people through the creation of user-generated content. With so much potential for positive action to be achieved on a global scale, boosting your crowdfunding efforts with a Twitter fundraising campaign can be an extremely effective way to support the causes you care about.
How to share your GoFundMe on Twitter
It really couldn’t be easier to start sharing your GoFundMe page on Twitter. All you’ll need to do is create a GoFundMe page, sign up for a Twitter account and find your fundraiser link under the ‘Share Your Fundraiser’ button. Once you’ve got a link to your fundraiser page, you can start sharing it on Twitter and other social media platforms.
To start sharing your fundraiser on Twitter, simply sign into your account, type your tweet and paste your fundraiser link at the end. Keep in mind that Twitter has a 280 character limit per post (unless you’re a paid user), so try to make your message as concise and impactful as possible. It’s also important to remember that there may be some bad actors on Twitter, so avoid sharing any personal information, banking details or other sensitive material with anonymous accounts.
Want to learn more? Read our in-depth guide to sharing your fundraiser on X (formerly Twitter).
A step-by-step guide to successful Twitter fundraising
With a total of 619 million active monthly users and standing as the 12th most popular social media platform in the world, Twitter is the perfect channel to grow any kind of charity or personal fundraiser. However, it’s not just as simple as signing up and asking for donations. With a compelling campaign story to lay your foundation and a well-balanced approach to both Twitter and GoFundMe activity, you can massively boost awareness and financial support for your fundraiser.
Not sure how to get started? Here are our top tips for creating and maintaining a powerful Twitter fundraiser.
1. Build a Twitter community
While platforms like Facebook discourage “friending” people you don’t know, Twitter encourages people who don’t know each other to connect and engage in conversation. In order to make the most out of fundraising on Twitter, you’ll need to engage with other users and develop meaningful relationships over time.
Here are some helpful tips for developing genuine connections to support your Twitter fundraiser:
- Like you would on any social networking platform, start by finding and connecting with people you know—family, friends, colleagues, and classmates.
- Use the standard and advanced Twitter search features to find topics, keywords, and conversations that relate to the cause behind your fundraiser.
- Send out some friendly messages and retweet other users’ posts. In most cases, users will return the favor by retweeting your posts and getting more eyes on your fundraising content.
- Follow and retweet other people who are raising funds on GoFundMe to build a community of users who are fundraising for similar causes.
- Ask your followers to share your tweets by adding a ‘Please Retweet’ message to the end of your posts, or use the ‘RT’ abbreviation.
2. Post images and videos
Research shows that Tweets which include visual content like images and videos receive up to 94% more views and a 35% increase in overall engagement. While views and engagement might not mean everything to the average user, maximizing these metrics is crucial when trying to get the word out about your Twitter fundraiser.
Aside from boosting the number of people who are viewing your fundraising posts, posting images and videos allows you to tell your fundraising story more effectively, while encouraging people to make more meaningful connections with your cause. When using visual content on Twitter, follow these steps to ensure that your posts are as engaging as possible:
- Ensure that all of your images are clear, well-lit and visually appealing to viewers. Most modern smartphones have high-quality cameras, and are more than capable of producing excellent visual content for your fundraiser.
- Try using a free and simple graphic design tool like Canva to create eye-catching images that you can pair with your fundraiser. You can even add text to your images to ensure that your fundraising message is communicated effectively.
- Keep your image and video content relevant to issues associated with your fundraiser. This will ensure that your messaging remains consistent and attract users who are interested in your chosen cause.
3. Create custom links
Sharing a link to your GoFundMe is one of the most important steps to successful Twitter fundraising. However, using a long and messy URL will make your fundraiser less memorable while taking up valuable space in Twitter’s 280 character limit per post. To fix this issue, we recommend using the shortened GoFundMe link which can be found under the ‘Share Fundraiser’ button.
Free tools like Bitly can be used to create catchy custom links that will make a memorable impression on your Twitter followers, while giving you more space to share content and updates around your fundraiser. You can also use Bitly to gauge how well your Twitter fundraising efforts are going, by reviewing reports on the number of people who are engaging with your content. If you notice that people are clicking on your link more when you share fundraiser updates, adjust your strategy to create more content around your good news.
Get creative with your Twitter fundraising strategy
Every successful social media strategy involves a wide range of approaches to content, and fundraising on Twitter is no different. Keeping creativity to the forefront of your mind will ensure that your fundraising content always feels fresh, attracting the largest amount of supporters possible for your cause.
Try to avoid using the same messaging in every tweet, and think of how you might convey the necessary information in an innovative way. Instead of tweeting “Please donate to my GoFundMe,” try sharing an image you created that includes an inspirational message from one of your beneficiaries. Tell your followers that “This is one of [beneficiary name]’s favorite quotes. Consider donating to help him/her stay positive.”
Here are some other useful tips for getting creative with your Twitter fundraiser:
- Find out which hashtags are associated with your cause, and tag your own tweets with them. Anyone following a given tag will see your tweet.
- Include a custom link to your fundraiser in every tweet to boost the number of potential donors it might reach.
- You can also pair existing tags with a custom hashtag that’s unique to your cause and fundraiser.
4. Share your Tweets on other social platforms
While fundraising on Twitter can be incredibly powerful, spreading your efforts across multiple social media channels can massively increase the impact of your crowdfunding campaign. Choosing to share your fundraiser on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will enable you to reach new donors and engage a far wider audience overall.
If you already have an audience of friends and family on Facebook, consider connecting your account with Twitter and combining your fundraising efforts across both platforms. Once you publish a Tweet or retweet some relevant fundraising content on Twitter, you can easily share it to your Facebook friends after connecting both accounts.
5. Inspire others to donate and share
Writing content, creating high-quality images and promoting your Twitter fundraiser on your own is a lot of work, so it’s always a good idea to get others involved. With the added support of family, friends and Twitter users from across the world, you can maximize the performance of your fundraiser while lightening the workload for yourself. We recommend assembling a fundraising team of people who want to support your cause, and delegating tasks to ensure that all elements of your fundraiser are receiving attention.
Having others around to promote your fundraiser will help spread the word to a wider audience that you may not have been able to reach on your own. Besides asking people to share your fundraiser, you can reach out to them directly to ask for donations. For detailed advice on getting support with your Twitter fundraiser, read our guide on how to ask people for donations.
Start your Twitter fundraising campaign today
With hundreds of millions of engaged users worldwide, Twitter is one of the best places to start spreading the word about your GoFundMe fundraiser. By fostering a genuine community of followers, using visual content, getting creative with your approach and encouraging others to help out—you’ll be on your way to completing a successful Twitter fundraiser.
Check out our helpful guides to get a better idea of how GoFundMe works, and to find useful answers to all of your fundraising questions. We understand that not everyone is interested in taking their fundraiser to Twitter, so don’t forget to read our advice on sharing your fundraiser online without using social media.