How to grow your nonprofit’s social media presence to inspire action
Social media has grown to become an essential tool for nonprofits. In fact, 71% of nonprofits worldwide state that social media is effective for fundraising with social media driving 57% of traffic to fundraising campaign pages.
Nonprofits cite fundraising, awareness building, community growth, and newsletter signups as the top benefits for using social media. With 72% of Americans using social media sites every month and spending 2+ hours per day, these platforms represent incredible access to supporters.
Unfortunately, nonprofits cannot succeed in the world of social media by just handing off the logins to a student intern. Maximizing the ROI of staff time and advertising budget requires training, planning, evaluation, and software. Not to worry, we can help you make sense of the confusing world of social media for nonprofits.
Follow these four best practices to meet your nonprofit’s social media goals:
1. Sign up as a nonprofit.
Most social media platforms offer specific benefits for nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit Facebook and Instagram have the option to add a donate button and run fundraising campaigns, while YouTube provides several production and technical support tools to nonprofits. The TikTok for Good program helps activate supporters through account management, advanced analytics, and promoted hashtags.
In addition to the benefit of accessing charitable giving tools, a business account allows social media managers to separate their personal and professional use of social media. Prevent a credit card mix-up or turnover headache by registering for a Facebook business account.
2. Use free social media tools.
Free social media resources for nonprofits abound. Check out these top social media tools that can help save your training budget:
- Facebook Blueprint
- Nonprofits on Facebook Community
- YouTube Creator Academy (especially the Activate Your Nonprofit on YouTube course)
- Twitter’s Flight School
- Twitter Nonprofits Account
- LinkedIn for Nonprofits
- Creative Best Practices for Advertising on Snapchat
- CharityHowTo’s Free Webinars
- Social Media Management Software
3. Post shareable content.
Not all social media content is equal. Certain formats, messaging, and topics get more exposure and engagement than others.
According to the Later Blog, “video content typically performs best with most algorithms, based on the fact it captures a viewer’s attention for longer.” For instance, tweets with videos receive 10x more engagement than those without. In addition, video content achieves a 6.01% engagement rate compared to 3.36% for link posts on Facebook.
Content focused on people and their stories also receive greater engagement. Videos that feature people in the first few frames have twice the engagement on Twitter.
4. Start small.
Can’t wait to get started converting social media fans to nonprofit supporters? Words of wisdom from someone who has a hard time saying “no” to an opportunity – take it slow.
Beware of clickbait articles that seem too good to be true when it comes to social media management time. A realistic social media plan accounts for time needed to check the content calendar, write and schedule posts, involve followers, analyze trends and impact, and write reports.
To start, research where to best reach your target audience. A parent support organization will likely best reach supporters on Facebook, while a career development agency will have more success with LinkedIn. Prioritize social media channels based on the target audience and potential reach to maximize your time and impact.
Social media has transformed fundraising, awareness-raising, and community building for nonprofits around the world. Most organizations agree that the benefits of social media have mostly been additive, contributing to the diversification of marking and fundraising.
Tap into the incredible potential of social media, such as the $2B+ raised through Facebook, by following these best practices.
