A decade ago, only tech-savvy, privacy-focused individuals dabbled in cryptocurrencies. Today, cryptocurrency adoption is much more widespread, and as it grows in popularity, the potential benefits for nonprofit fundraising are becoming too great to ignore. The crypto user donor base is very philanthropic, with data showing that 45 percent of crypto investors donated $1,000 or more to charity in 2020, compared with 33 percent of all investors. Crypto donors are also heavily motivated by tax incentives; by donating crypto coins instead of cash, they can sidestep hefty capital gains taxes.

However, crypto fundraising may not be appropriate for all nonprofits. There is a wide spectrum, ranging from nonprofits that refuse crypto donations altogether to those creating their own cryptocurrencies. For example, organizations concerned about crypto’s climate impact may elect not to accept it. Others may not see a benefit, given the pro-climate leanings of their traditional donor base who they may not wish to alienate. Assuming that a nonprofit is a good candidate for crypto fundraising (i.e., either the nonprofit or its donor base doesn’t have strong climate-centered objections, or any other objections to crypto), here are some important considerations for maximizing success:

Understand the target demographic and where they congregate online. Research shows that the average crypto owner is a 38-year-old male making approximately $111,000 per year. That demographic is different from most nonprofits’ typical donor audience, which tends to skew older and female. Crypto owners frequent social media platforms and search engines like typical internet users do, but they also show high levels of engagement on gaming platforms, servers, and video-based platforms that the general public may not as readily engage in. The key is to identify which sites and platforms offer the most significant overlap between crypto owners and a nonprofit’s traditional audience.

Familiarize yourself with the advertising limitations and opportunities of various sites. Pinpointing these platforms may not be enough, particularly when it comes to making decisions on paid media. For many, the logical place to invest paid media dollars may be Facebook, the most popular social media platform in the world. And yes, for most nonprofits, it is vital to have a strong presence on Facebook, with compelling crypto-related messaging and content—though it’s not necessarily ideal for paid media.

Facebook (and others, including YouTube) are imposing ever-tightening crypto advertising restrictions, such as requiring special licenses and certifications. Some platforms forbid crypto advertising altogether. Other less obvious platforms may be much better for paid media include Reddit, whose audience aligns with the crypto owner target audience and whose functionality is very conversational and peer-to-peer, enabling advertisers to start long-form text conversations with their sponsored content. Programmatic display advertising (the process of purchasing and selling online ads through an automated system, giving advertisers the ability to place ads broadly across the internet, thus reaching specific audiences wherever they may be) is another strong option, as it can offer a back channel to gaming and crypto-focused inventories like Twitch, which otherwise require a substantial up-front minimum buy for direct partnerships.

Leverage secondary and tertiary platforms to enhance organic social strategy. As noted, by virtue of its sheer audience and reach, Facebook tends to be the primary platform for most nonprofits’ organic social efforts—which is appropriate since there is more crypto-related content expanding into the mainstream platforms every day. For nonprofits looking to increase crypto fundraising specifically, we also recommend Twitter as a primary platform, since #FinTwit conversations are up 75 percent, along with a more than 240 percent increase in the number of conversations including stablecoin, NFT marketplaces, DApps, token economy, and decentralized exchanges.

At the same time, it’s important not to overlook the value of secondary platforms such as Discord (where non-gaming activities like NFT collecting are gaining popularity), Reddit (where subreddit threads offer much opportunity to engage communities), and Twitch (where the user base intersects heavily with the crypto owner audience) for organic social. And, of course, there’s YouTube, which we view as a tertiary platform. Like Facebook, YouTube may not be ideal for paid media, but as the second-most popular social media platform in the world, it allows crypto fundraisers to capitalize on the exploding popularity of video content and new techniques like YouTube “Shorts” (videos of up to 60 seconds) to reach its 2.5 billion users.

Delivering authentic, trustworthy, and properly timed content. These rules apply to both organic social and advertising content and are critical. Many of the above-mentioned platforms’ audiences are especially quick to call out disingenuous content, like Redditors on subreddit threads. It’s also important to demonstrate trustworthiness, and crypto fundraisers should consider approaches like influencer marketing and collaborating with NFT creators (for example, selling art in exchange for crypto donations made to a nonprofit) as a means of validating authenticity.

From a paid media perspective, nothing damages trust more than a system that just doesn’t work. So before launching a paid media campaign, make sure your web-based donation processing system is humming smoothly. Finally, when it comes to timing, prepare for paid media campaigns several months in advance by posting organic social crypto content, and make sure any paid campaigns are pegged to important dates on the donations calendar, like U.S. tax deadlines.

Crypto donors have a lot in common with traditional donors—including an increase in giving coinciding with annual milestones like GivingTuesday and end of year. But they also diverge in several ways, including the anonymous nature of blockchain, which can make more traditional donor cultivation and retention techniques like email lists ineffective. Succeeding in crypto fundraising will require a new approach consisting of a solid understanding of who crypto owners are, their most frequented online hangouts, and the optimal ways to reach and resonate with them in each channel.

Dan Reed is the senior account director, digital fundraising, at Media Cause.