Being present on social media and optimizing its benefits is a must for development agencies within the current digital era. The advantages of building an effective social media presence are manifold. Fundamentally, Social media platforms can play a major role and allow non-profit organizations to share their message on a global and local level. Social media can help a non-profit make connections with donors, advocates and strategic partners. Social media can even directly contribute to raising money. According to a survey, 87% of nonprofits worldwide use social media. When it comes to Social Media, however, making the right decisions and using the resources available efficiently is extremely important. With many social media platforms, new and emerging features and trends as well as rules, social media can be a confusing terrain to navigate for non-profit organizations. Follow these 10 best social media practices to ensure that your non-profit organization is set up for success when it comes to social media.
1. Start with platform optimization
It is important for a non-profit to be present on all social media platforms. All social media platforms can work as tools to increase awareness about the non-profit’s work and connect with potential supporters. However, each social media platform has its own specific characteristics and unique benefits. Optimize your presence on each platform by customizing a platform-specific approach to social media instead of always sharing the same posts across all platforms. Below are some examples of platform optimization.
2. Use your social media profile to reflect your organization's brand
Nonprofit social media pages should be designed in such a way that a quick glance provides the visitor with a comprehensive overview the three Ws of your organization. Who? What? and Why. Who your organization is? What your organization works towards? Why should the visitor be interested in what the organization does?
Few things to keep in mind while creating any social media page
3. Choose the correct photos and videos
Social media relies heavily on visual communication, so it is important that all posts be accompanied by good visual content (photos, videos, or graphics). Visual storytelling is crucial since it allows you to keep your audience interested and engage. Keep in mind that each piece of content you upload are visually rich and tells a story. However, randomly capturing photos or videos will not be as effective. It is important that visual content on social media is planned and purposeful. For taking a good photo or video, you don’t need to have expensive equipment; one can capture good photos and videos even using a smart phone. If you do not have tech expertise in this field, you can look for some tutorial online and also check out the article (Things to Remember while Documenting Your Photos) for tips on clicking good photos using your phone.
4. Come up with diverse and engaging content for social media posts
Ensure that the content (posts) you upload is engaging. Bear in mind that it is important to come up with fresh and imaginative techniques to involve the audience.
List of a few content ideas for nonprofits' social media pages
• Share success story videos.
• Share testimonials from your beneficiaries
• Post motivational quotes from the founder
• Post behind-the-scenes footage of any event, on-ground activity
• Share factual Posts relevant to your area of work
• Run a hashtag(#) campaign.
• Post GIFs (small videos) on any particular activity you are doing
• Share stories from organization’s history
• Promote you volunteers
• Introduce the team
• Ask questions to the audience
• Go ‘live’
5. Post often to attract and engage followers
Keep posting on social media, consistency is key. Posting often and regularly is going to help the social media presence grow. At the same time, it is important that the posts are relevant to the organization and its intended audience.
Here are some tips to follow while posting
6. Join hands with partners
Partnership is a key tactic used by social impact organizations to ensure scale. Forming the right partnership can be beneficial for social media strategy as well. Team up with peer organizations and social influencers to increase your visibility on social media. Using this tactic not only allows you to share your message to a larger audience but also gets you connected with a new set of audience that is likely to be interested in what your organization is doing.
7. Host a webinar, virtual event or workshop
The pandemic has created a new normal for us. New opportunities have opened up for virtual events aimed at a broader audience. In the development sector especially, events are an important way to come together and share knowledge. Every social media platform like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn supports formats for live events like webinars, workshops, podcasts etc. This virtual event can be streamed online across various channels and can include live chat and even fundraising.
8. Launch or start a fundraising campaign online
Develop creative posts with the specific asks of donations, crowdfunding or volunteering (donating time). Try to turn your social media posts into relationship builders and revenue generators alike by adding a donate buttons and campaign links. Such posts should be aimed at individuals who would believe in your cause and your work and would want to contribute to it.
9. Invite people and Engage with Followers
Teamwork plays a major role, so invite your donors, founders, followers, and colleagues to engage on your social media platforms. Encourage them to comment, like, share, and tag themselves in your posts. Be interactive with your followers. Be sure to reply to comments on your posts. Come up with interactive challenges and contests for your followers (#fundraisingchallenges, #contests) so the audience can stick to our page.
10. Keep track of your work
Prepare a dashboard to check what is working better on your platform. Make and adjust strategies accordingly. Social Media can be subjective and it is important for each organization to capture data of engagement on social media and analyze it to understand what works for that specific organization and their followers. Google analytical tools can also be used to understand whether the social media presence is leading to better visibility of your website.
