Social media is a powerful tool for nonprofits to expand their reach, engage supporters, and drive fundraising efforts.
We'll explore how social media can help you build brand awareness, connect with donors, and inspire action. Discover practical strategies to optimize your social media presence and achieve your nonprofit's goals in 2024.
Social Media For Nonprofits: Top Strategies for 2024
- Add donation buttons or widgets
- Share impactful stories
- Create campaign-specific hashtags
- Host AMA sessions
- Use your brand voice consistently
- Create a content calendar
- Track key metrics
- Run interesting polls
- Use impactful visuals
- Work with influencers & other organizations
Why Social Media for Nonprofits is a Game-Changer
Social media lets nonprofits connect directly with their audiences, driving real impact. The numbers don't lie - 55% of people who engage with NPOs on social donate, share the message, and take action to support the cause
Here are some remarkable benefits of using social media for nonprofit organizations.
A Simple Way to Build Trust
Social media posts are great for building real trust with your followers. Share your authentic voice and show the positive impact you're making straight from the source.
By posting about your fundraising projects, impact reports, and mission on your social media page, you give your donors a peek into the meaningful work you’re doing in the community. This helps to build trust and encourages more people to support your organization’s mission.
Cost-Effective Platforms for Storytelling
Social media levels the playing field, allowing even small nonprofits to spread the word about their mission without breaking the bank on costly campaigns. Posting on social media is free - all you have to do is post consistently engaging content to create a strong presence.
Use your creativity to tell your story on social media and see the difference in your online presence while saving money.
Promote Your Nonprofit Events
Whether you're organizing an in-person gathering or a virtual meeting, social media platforms help you spread the word, rally supporters, and bring your community together for a worthy cause.
Posting about your upcoming fundraising events boosts awareness and draws in more registration.
Social media ads allow precise targeting to drive traffic to your nonprofit's fundraising initiatives.
You can directly promote your event by narrowing the audience based on:
- Gender
- Age
- Relationship status
- Location, etc.
This strategic approach ensures your message reaches the most relevant segments, maximizing the chances of attracting donors aligned with your cause.
Public Fundraising
Combine the range of services on social networks with the features of an online fundraising platform to launch crowdfunding and peer-to-peer campaigns, encouraging a wide follower base to donate.
Expand Reach & Visibility
Connect with new people and share your message and mission with them. A social media presence can help you increase visibility, gain followers, and generate awareness with the right content and strategy.
Attract New Talent
Post job openings and volunteer opportunities to reach newer audiences who may be interested in working with you.
Highlight the benefits of working for your organization by sharing testimonials and a glimpse of your work culture. Attract the right talent and build a strong team to support your mission.
Social Media for Nonprofits: 10 Strategic Tips To Elevate Social Presence
Using the strategies below, develop a clear and effective approach for your nonprofit to attract new donors and build long-lasting relationships. An active social media presence allows nonprofits to reach potential donors, showcase their work, and build awareness for fundraising efforts.
1. Add a Donation Link
Adding donation links to your social media gives viewers a direct way to donate online - whether in your social media profile, right below the bio, or added as a sticker on your Story. Make sure you include a donation link if you’re making a direct request in your post for a donation.
Many social media channels, like Facebook and Instagram, offer built-in fundraiser and donation tools for nonprofits. Facebook lets nonprofits add a donation tab to their page so users can donate directly without leaving the platform (you just need to sign up for Meta Pay first).
2. Share Stories of Impact
Share stories, exciting facts, and figures about your nonprofit’s impact to give your followers a reason to comment on and share your social media content. Community-centric stories have the power to elicit emotions and attract more people to your organization.
Be consistent in your message. Use a cohesive brand identity for your nonprofit on social media. People who see your posts will recognize and want to learn more about your values and mission.
3. Use the Power of Social Fundraising
Social fundraising is a great way for nonprofits to boost their fundraising efforts by making it easy for people to donate directly on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
This method taps into the places where potential donors already spend a lot of their time, simplifying the process of giving by integrating it into their daily social media use. This convenience can lead to more donations, helping nonprofits raise more money efficiently.
4. Host Ask Me Anything (AMA) Sessions
The best platforms for nonprofits allow you to directly engage with followers using question-and-answer (QnA) sessions. Your social media team can go live on Facebook and Instagram and host this session to establish a personal connection and cultivate interest.
Interacting with supporters in real-time, answering their questions, and building a genuine rapport is an excellent way to connect with your community on a personal level.
5. Use Your Brand Voice Consistently
Your unique brand voice can evoke powerful emotions in the audience and encourage them to act.
Here is how to have a consistent brand voice for your organization:
- Reflect and take some time to find your voice before crafting and posting content.
- Think about the tone. Do you wish to sound excited, serious, hopeful, or informative?
- Craft a nonprofit social media policy and ensure your content follows the guidelines.
Pro tip: Use ChatGPT to create your nonprofit social media content to ensure a consistent brand voice comes through.
6. Create a Content Calendar for Social Media Posts
Developing a social media content calendar is crucial for consistency. Use calendar apps or Excel sheets to plan and organize your posts in advance.
Map out your upcoming events, fundraisers, and campaigns, then schedule relevant content accordingly by assigning specific dates and times.
7. Track Metrics to Improve Engagement
While follower count, comments, and likes are crucial for reach, other key performance indicators (KPIs) provide valuable insights into user engagement and awareness.
Monitor metrics that align with your goals, whether attracting donations, increasing newsletter signups, or boosting event participation.
Some important KPIs to track and modify your social media policy:
- Click-through rates
- Conversion rates
- Engagement rates (shares, comments, etc.)
- Website traffic from social
- Lead generation
- Campaign-specific metrics (donations, signups, etc.)
Consistently measuring these metrics will help optimize your social strategy for maximum campaign success.
8. Run Polls on Social Media Platforms
Social media polls are a fun, easy way to get your supporters involved. Keeping results hidden until after voting adds a curiosity factor.
These interactive polls let you ask for opinions and feedback directly from your audience - making them feel valued and connected to your organization.
Putting supporters in the driver's seat strengthens your bond. Simple polls go a long way in building an engaged community that is excited about your mission. Plus, you get valuable insights straight from the source.
9. Use Visuals to Tell Your Story
Visuals let you present more information quickly and have a great impact. When you design visual content, it should be intentional.
Here are a few ways you can share your story using visuals:
- Share an image of a beneficiary to connect the audiences with your mission and impact.
- Use an infographic to show figures and highlight the need for further support.
- Post a video to tell the story and share behind-the-scenes efforts of a successful campaign.
Remember - these visuals must align with your vision, story, and social media policy. Repurpose visual content across channels, but be mindful to add value to each.
Visuals have great power to increase visibility for your organization. Use them wisely to see more positive results.
10. Work with Influencers and Other Organizations
Goodwill ambassadors and social media influencers have the power to create an impact by adding credibility, reach, and passion to the cause.
Collaborating with other organizations is another reliable way to run social media campaigns. Peer participation adds social proof and trust to your initiative, attracting more donors.
What Does Nonprofit Social Media Policy Include?
The social media policies for nonprofits define how the staff members and stakeholders should represent the organization online.
A nonprofit policy is often a 1–2-page document listing a set of “Do’s” and “Don’ts” for social media management.
Here are some essential social media guidelines to consider:
- Ensure your content across all social media accounts authentically reflects your core values and beliefs.
- Personal social media use by employees or volunteers can positively or negatively impact your presence.
- Clearly define roles for the employees who will be managing accounts to maintain consistency.
- Develop a strategy with your employees to constructively address negative feedback on your post.
- Choose wisely whether to respond to, address or abstain from reacting to negative comments online.
Build a proactive human resources department to ensure all your volunteers and employees follow the social media policy and guidelines. The HR team can track every interaction and ensure nobody posts negative comments or spreads hate online.
What are the Best Social Media Tools for Nonprofits?
Tracking performance and automating efforts are important for running successful online campaigns. This is why nonprofits need the best software and tools for social media management.
Hootsuite
Social media marketing for a nonprofit organization can be overwhelming.
Hootsuite is one of the best social media management tools for nonprofits that simplifies the process for you by:
- Handling all your social media accounts, like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook, in one place.
- Scheduling a post in advance according to your calendar.
- Reviewing the content on your account before it goes live.
- Tracking responses to know their impact.
- Responding to comments without switching platforms.
Registered NPOs can save up to 75% on Hootsuite. It also offers up to 50% off on social media training for an NPO course.
Canva
Canva is a powerful tool for designing social media posts, even for people with zero design experience. Here are some useful features while creating and posting your Canva designs:
- No design skills are required to use this tool.
- Get inspiration for creating a post from various pre-made designs.
- Optimize content for multiple social network platforms.
Buzzsumo
Buzzsumo is a great tool for finding trending topics and tracking other nonprofits for content ideas. Here are some stand-out features of Buzzsumo:
- Easy content research and monitoring.
- Browse popular questions around a particular topic.
- Discover and collaborate with influencers.
- Track current backlinks and build new ones.
Here’s How University of Montreal Tripled Their Fundraising Goal Through Social Media
The University of Montreal partnered with the Montreal Neurological Institute to raise money for multiple sclerosis research. With Zeffy’s 100% free platform, they created a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign for social media.
The organization highlighted the campaign’s mission and emphasized how the entire funding would support the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The campaign had a personal touch and a unique story-telling narrative, making it a huge social media success.
Participants could also personalize the campaigns and add visuals of individuals and families affected by the disease. When participants shared the content on their social media channels, it garnered a lot of attention and made a more powerful impact.
People shared the campaign with their friends and communities. The campaign exceeded the $70,000 goal, raising over $320,000!
Final Thoughts on Social Media for Nonprofits
Coming up with an effective social media strategy for nonprofits requires proper planning and consistent execution. Identify the content that resonates with your audience and develop a detailed social media policy to ensure all interactions align with your mission.
Zeffy's 100% free fundraising site can help boost your fundraising efforts on social media.
Social Media for Nonprofits - FAQs
What social media platforms do NPOs use?
NPOs can use any social media platform to connect with their audience. However, it is important to consider the demographics of each platform.
From Facebook to Instagram, each social network channel caters to different groups of people.
For example, Facebook has 2.09 billion active users, with a primary demographic between the ages of 25 and 35.
On the other hand, Instagram’s demographic ranges between the ages of 18 to 34 years. Further, it has an almost equal number of female and male users.
What is a good social media strategy for a nonprofit?
A good social media strategy includes:
- Listing your goals and determine your target audience.
- Defining your content pillars.
- Picking the right platform that reaches your target audience.
- Targeting multiple social network platforms for more reach.
- Developing an actionable strategy by writing down your marketing plan.
Note that a good social media marketing strategy for nonprofits may differ from one NPO to another.
What social media platforms do charities use?
Charities can use different social media platforms to connect with their audience. Each platform has a different target audience. Here’s how different platforms can be used for better reach:
- Facebook: Narrate stories through posts, videos, and photos and utilize targeting features to reach specific audiences.
- X (Twitter): Join conversations, share news, and use campaign hashtags to spread your message.
- Instagram: Share posts and stories to highlight their work and encourage donations.
- TikTok: Reach a relatively younger target audience through fun, short videos.
- LinkedIn: Share more formal content and reach professionals and businesses aligned with their cause.
How many times should NPOs post on social media?
Finding the right frequency is more subjective than one might think. Many factors, such as audience, reach, platform, and content strategy, come into play when making your social media policy.
The first step is to ask these questions:
- Who is your target audience or group?
- What social network platforms are they using?
- How often do other NPOs post content?
- How often do your followers like to hear from you? (Use surveys and feedback from the audience to answer this)
While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, consistency and quality are key.
