TikTok - sink or win for fundraising?

18 Aug

Okay so hold that eye roll for a second, I know the temptation to turn to new shiny channels isn’t necessarily a robust fundraising or paid media strategy particularly not when the average age is under 24.

Fast forward a year or two and the number of monthly active users of TikTok in the UK is expected to reach at least 21 million people - that’s nearly a third of the population and certainly no longer a ‘niche’.

68% of Gen Z users are engaging with the platform daily not to mention using it as a search engine which could certainly have implications for the future discoverability of charities across the nation - they need to show up or potentially miss out.

Delving into the most popular charities across the UK, it was interesting to find that almost half (42%) have reserved their TikTok account but have yet to post. This isn’t simply a channel where you can take your Meta or Instagram post and simply resize it according to a ratio and perhaps this shift in how content is formed and consumed is making organisations a little unsure on how to get started.

British Red Cross are showing it certainly can work - almost half a million followers and counting with hundreds of their posts watched by millions - much better than a tricky declining Meta algorithm.

Ambassador, Celebrity and Influencer content is frequently appearing in the most popular content. Recognising that direct to camera, urgent appeals are gaining traction with stories from the field proving an authentic way to gain engagement not just on TikTok but Instagram, Meta and beyond too.

However, it doesn’t have to be serious to cut through. In fact, in 2024, we’re all looking for light-hearted engagement and it’s sort of delightful when we uncover it. Check out this slytherin themed ambassador post from Jason Isaacs that has been watched over 1.6m times and received over 70,000 engagements (with an offer of matched funding from TikTok themselves). Or this Pudsey at Greggs post from Children in Need which seems like an authentic way to highlight the partnership. This content hasn’t been designed in a studio or accompanied by a backing track designed to pull at the heart strings, it leans in to the nature of the platform - its playfulness, uptempo rhythm, its popular culture references.