Social media stats to inform your digital strategy in 2024
According to Non-profit Tech for Good, 87% of charities across the world have a social media presence.
Considering there’s a global audience of over five billion users to tap into, it’s no surprise.
From raising awareness and recruiting volunteers to reaching new donors and raising funds, social media offers charities a plethora of benefits. And, with new features being rolled out all the time, it’s becoming quicker and easier to do it all.
The stats say it all. Social media is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s a must have to succeed in the digital world.
But, to get the most out of it in 2024, you need to focus your fundraising efforts on the right platforms.
If you’re launching a legacy campaign, your efforts will be wasted on millennial TikTok users. Just like a gaming fundraiser will be lost on LinkedIn users.
To help you reach your target market and maximise your social media ROI, we’ve compiled some need-to-know stats and facts for each platform.
Let’s get into it.
Number of monthly active users: 3.065 billion
Largest age group: 25-34 (29.9%)
Gender distribution: 43.7% female, 56.3% male
Time spent per day: 30.9 minutes
Contrary to reports that ‘Facebook is dying’, it’s very much alive and kicking.
The world’s most popular social media platform, it topped three billion monthly active users last year, making it the first social media platform to do so.
18% of donors across the world have given through Facebook Fundraising tools and 88% say they’d give that way again.
The average peer-to-peer fundraising campaign sees 15–18% of donations come through Facebook.
Engagement on the platform increases by 18% on Thursdays and Fridays, making the end of the week a prime time to launch a fundraising campaign.
Number of monthly active users: 2 billion
Largest age group: 18-24 (30.8%)
Gender distribution: 48.2% female, 51.8% male
Time spent per day: 33.1 minutes
Nearly 85% of Instagram’s user base is under the age of 45. If you’re trying to reach Gen X or Boomers, you’re better off focusing your efforts on Facebook.
Time spent on the platform increased from 30.1 minutes in 2022 to 33.1 minutes in 2023, indicating that people are spending more time engaging with Instagram content.
Half a billion people watch Instagram Stories on a daily basis. That’s a lot of potential eyeballs on your video appeals.
X (formerly Twitter)
Number of monthly active users: 368 million
Largest age group: 25-34 (38.5%)
Gender distribution: 37% female, 63% male
Time spent per day: 34.1 minutes
After rebranding to X, the platform saw a 13% decline in daily active users during the first year. Despite this, people spend much more time on X than Facebook and Instagram.
Across all platforms, X has the most male users, making it the ideal platform for men-centric campaigns. 55% of people who engage with charities on Twitter end up taking some sort of action.
YouTube
Number of monthly active users: 2.491 billion
Largest age group: 25-34 (21.2%)
Gender distribution: 45.6% female, 54.4% male
Time spent per day: 48.7 minutes
With over 14 billion monthly visits, YouTube is the world’s second-most visited website. What better reason to include it in your digital fundraising strategy?
57% of people who watch charity videos on YouTube go on to donate.
YouTube Shorts (60-second clips) receive 15 billion daily views, demonstrating that viewers are craving short-and-sweet content.
Number of users: 1 billion
Largest age group: 25-34 (60%)
Gender distribution: 43.7% female, 56.3% male
69% of users access the platform daily and 15% use it several times a week.
Millennials dominate the platform, and adoption among Gen Z population is growing as they enter the workforce.
53% of LinkedIn users come from high-income households, making LinkedIn a potential goldmine for major donor fundraising.
TikTok
Number of monthly active users: 1.7 billion
Largest age group: 18-24 (36.2%)
Gender distribution: 49.2% female, 50.8% male (no data on other genders)
Time spent per day: 53.8 minutes
TikTok boasts the highest average time spent per day of any network. Daily time spent on the platform grew by almost 10 minutes compared to the previous year’s 45.8 minutes. That’s a fair amount of time to win potential donors over with your content.
Considering 18–26-year-olds make up the largest chunk of its user base, if you want to engage with Gen Z, TikTok is the place to do it.
The advertising potential of TikTok is huge. According to Hootsuite, ads on the platform reach 18.6% of internet users worldwide. And, when ads are created in conjunction with TikTok creators, reach increases to 26%.
Looking for a fundraiser to supercharge your digital income? We can help. Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 or email us at info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to get started.