For a long time, nonprofits relied on in-person social events, from charity drives to fundraisers. The COVID-19 pandemic over the last few years has halted nonprofit activities. Restrictions against social gatherings have affected both the amount of volunteers and donorship for nonprofits.
Before the end of 2020, the Salvation Army reported being down 18% in funding compared to 2019. The organization predicts that the Red Kettle campaign will gather only half as much as it did in 2019, from $120 million USD to $60 million USD.
Now, nonprofits are scrambling to find other outlets to reach targeted audiences and attract new donors to continue their charitable efforts. In the same way it’s grown to be a place for global activism, social media is the go-to platform for marketing, especially for nonprofits. As more organizations pour into social media to keep supporters engaged, the spaces become saturated.
To stand out to audiences and attract potential supporters, you need to take advantage of what social media has to offer.
Interact with Similar Organizations
Usually, your nonprofit is not the only one focusing on a certain issue. Instead of seeing fellow organizations as competitors, interact with them. The advantage of social platforms like Twitter and Facebook is that you can retweet, like and share similar causes, which can help you increase your reach in multiple ways.
Once you interact with a fellow nonprofit, your social page stays active and avoids becoming stagnant. By sharing other content, you potentially increase the reach of your organization, which can lead to new donors and supporters. Interacting with other nonprofits will notify them and could lead to greater interactions with your posts, increasing your visibility and potentially leading to a partnership.
Participate with Your Audience
Your audience is also part of the change. The audience is your first and main supporter and making them feel like they play a role in your efforts will make them feel more connected. If someone replies to a post, whether it be a question, comment or even suggestion, reply to them.
The audience should feel that you care about the cause from top to bottom and that you’re willing to change or interact with them. Retweeting, liking and sharing supporter content can also boost morale and may increase the likelihood that an audience member will talk about your nonprofit to family and friends.
Post Consistently
Post as regularly as possible. Keeping all your social media pages active may make it easier for people to find your content, help you show up more frequently in search results and create an identity that says: “We care about our supporters.” But you can’t stick to only retweeting, liking or sharing other content.
Your page should be a division between your own content and shared content. Ideally, most of the content on your page is your own either updates, posting about new programs or links to your site. Don’t be afraid to keep your social accounts busy.
Use Photos and Videos
Posting walls of text to your social accounts isn’t enough. Social media’s nature is short content, delivered as quickly and economically as possible. This means you not only need to break up your text in posts, but also throw in some videos and images.
A post with only text versus a post with an image or a video may not get as many interactions because there’s nothing visually engaging about it.
Try adding a photo that’s relevant to your post, and when possible have the photo be one you took, or of someone or something with direct connection to the post. Stock and copyright free images are also available, but when the content is tailored to your audience, it’ll come across as much more authentic.
Be Personable
Nonprofits don’t have to be strictly formal towards the audience. Share stories of people on your team, of people you’ve helped or of places and events you’ve attended. When an audience can read or watch content that is relatable to them in some way, they may feel more inclined to participate in future projects.
Make sure to follow your brand tone and image. Your nonprofit should be relatable and accessible, but still professional and trustworthy.