We don’t all get to have an ‘Official Birthday’ like the Queen is having this weekend, but we can all use our birthdays to do something amazing thanks to the new Facebook Birthday Fundraiser feature. This allows you to ‘donate’ your birthday to your favourite cause and collect donations on a charity’s behalf instead of receiving yet more presents you don’t want!
This works especially well if your birthday coincides with a special campaign day – World Ocean’s Day Birthday Fundraiser for your favourite Ocean Trail anyone?
What’s this all about then?
You may have noticed that in the days leading up to your birthday, Facebook now asks if you would like to set up something called a ‘Birthday Fundraiser’. Sometimes even offering an incentive if you do so (‘we will donate the first £10’ for example). We are here to ask you to say yes to this!
Fundraising on Facebook is a new concept and relatively few people have tried-out Birthday Fundraisers yet in the UK. However, globally they are raising millions of pounds for worthwhile causes. In fact, Facebook announced in August 2018 that more than $300 million had been raised in the first year since the feature was introduced. We want to encourage our fellow lovers of the South West Coast Path to be the trail-blazers we know you are, and have a go at setting up a Birthday Fundraiser the next time your big day comes around!
Here’s how in five simple steps:
- When you see the notification from Facebook asking you to set up a Birthday Fundraiser, go for it and click ‘select nonprofit’.
- Search for the South West Coast Path and you will be taken through a few very simple steps to set up your Fundraiser (things like explaining why the cause matters to you and picking a display photo). Remember this can be as light-hearted as you like. We saw some hilarious Birthday Fundraisers when we were researching for this blog, things like “you know I can never be bothered to organise a party for my birthday, so donate here and we will both be saved the effort!”
- Your Birthday Fundraiser will be live within a matter of minutes, and you will be asked to invite friends on Facebook to it, as you would a Facebook event. Invite the friends, family and colleagues who would normally buy you a drink/send you a card/give you a gift for your birthday, so they know that you are asking for donations instead.
- You can also share the link to your Birthday Fundraiser on your Facebook Timeline so you can spread the message more widely.
- Finally, feel awesome for sharing the Birthday love and making a difference to this amazing National Trail – like the Birthday Queen you really are! Click here to find out how the Trail improves lives.
If you need any support with setting up a Facebook Birthday Fundraiser of your own, or have questions about fundraising for the South West Coast Path Association in general, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me (Genevieve, Fundraising Manager) at genevieve@southwestcoastpath.org.uk.
Thank you and Happy Birthday if you are celebrating soon!
The South West Coast Path 