Social Media for Nonprofits - How to Stand Out and Boost Donations
Digital marketing can be beneficial for nonprofits. However, many organisations continue to rely heavily on offline marketing tactics (such as flyers). We’re not saying that these strategies are not helpful, but if you fail to incorporate digital into your nonprofit marketing efforts, you’ll be missing out on increased reach and donations.
Keep in mind that your supporters are online, so you have to learn how to connect with them on social media. Social media has become an influential tool nonprofits can use to stand out from the crowd and boost their reach and fundraising capabilities.
The following tips will help you properly use social media to grow your nonprofit:
Define Your Social Media Goals
First things first, you have to outline your Social Media for Nonprofit goals. Before going all-in on social media, you need to have an idea of what you want the result to be.
Are you more focused on boosting donations, recruiting volunteers, or raising awareness? Take your time to set clear social media goals, and don’t forget that they need to align with your mission and value.
Identify Your Target Audience
Once you’ve set your goal, it’s time to decide who to target with your content. Your social media strategy will be effective only if you reach out to the right target audience. Therefore, you need to direct your messaging towards a specific audience rather than the general public.
You can identify your target audience by creating a customer profile (an audience persona), and outlining your target audience’s needs, wants, pain points, motivations, and more. This step is essential because, for example, a student who is looking to become a volunteer will have different motivations than a working professional looking to donate money for a cause. So basically, you have to create a different audience persona for each target demographic.
Develop a Social Media Strategy
It would help if you had an excellent social media strategy to attract people to your nonprofit. First of all, you have to discover what social media platforms your target audience spends the most time on. Then, focus your efforts on two to four of these channels.
Next, you have to think about the content you will distribute on your platforms. What types of posts will be the most successful in reaching your target audience and boosting donations?
There are so many different content types, each with its purpose: advertising for upcoming donor events, promoting successful nonprofit projects, volunteer stories and call-outs, and the list goes on.
If you need a little guidance to create a tailored social media strategy for your nonprofit, we’re here to help you.
Focus on Storytelling
If you want to have a successful nonprofit campaign, you need a great story. So don’t just pitch – tell your story, people want to hear about how you will make an impact. Make them feel like an essential part of your cause. This is what will motivate them to follow and support you.
It’s known that our brains are more likely to remember something if it’s presented to us as a story. Why? Well, because stories are emotional and we can all relate to them in different ways. Nonprofits can use storytelling to highlight the plight and stories of the people who have been or need to be helped by your organisation. You have to create an emotional and engaging experience for your audience.
Here are some ways you can use storytelling to promote your nonprofit:
- Interview donors about why they support your cause
- Show the impact of your hard work through stories
- Focus on the people you want to help, not the money you want to raise
- Create entertaining videos about the volunteers working with you
- Don’t just tell the public what you do, show them
Use More Videos
Yes, images are great, but videos are even better. Video is one of the most engaging content types, so make sure you create some awesome videos that will grab your audience’s attention. You want to create content that makes people stop, not scroll.
Remember that your causes rely on touching emotions, and nothing does that more effectively than video. Also, video is a great and easy way to tell a story in a short time.
Be Responsive & Build Relationships
We recommend checking in daily and routinely respond to messages/comments. The majority of social media users expect a response to their messages on the same day, which means that you need to act fast and check your notifications daily to impress them before they lose interest.
Let your followers know you care and engage with them. If you manage to build a connection with them and gain their trust, you’ll be able to turn your followers into your biggest supporters and promoters.
Bottom line
Social media is a cost-effective, easy way to build your nonprofit brand, reach new people, and educate them about your cause. However, to get the most out of social media, you’ve got to catch the public’s eye and build a powerful connection with your audience.
By following these tips, you’ll be on the road to more brand awareness, volunteer opportunities, and donations.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get it started! 💪
