302 million.
That is the number of individuals who use social media in the United States. According to many reports, people spend over two hours a day scrolling through their feeds, writing messages, and posting on social media. And the numbers continue to grow.
These individuals, who spend so much time on social media, are your current and prospective donors.
It isn’t enough for your organization to have social media accounts, you need to be active on them because your donors are. Social media is a place to raise awareness, tell your stories, build community, and encourage action, including your fundraising efforts.
To grow your social media presence for your charity, you need to understand your audience.
Understand Your Target Audience
Every organization has a different audience. Your audience has the same passions and mission as your organization. These are the same individuals who will engage with your organization on social media. Once you know your audience you can tailor your content to meet their needs, wants, and interests.
How do you find them?
- Identify your donor personas. What is their age? What do they enjoy? What is their income?
- Decide where your audience is most active. Which social media platforms do they use? Audience age may play a role in this step.
- Look at similar nonprofits. Who is their audience?
- Survey your audience. Use social media and other forms of communication; email to ask them their preferences.
Research and analyze your audience’s demographics, interests, and behaviors. Use your website and donor database to discover your current audience. Speak with your development team and your board members to learn more. Once you know your current donors you will have a better understanding of your potential audience.
Craft Compelling Content
Now that you know your audience, it is easier to craft content they find compelling. Don’t post content because other organizations post it or because you enjoy it. If you want to increase engagement, create content that resonates with your audience.
Each social media platform is unique, but start with these elements to create engaging and shareable content:
- Use video
- Share your photos, not stock ones
- Tell stories
- Ask your audience questions
- Include hashtags
With stories, focus on emotions and transformation. Help your audience understand the hardship or challenges, describe the journey, and explain the results. Sometimes the story will end well, other times it won't. Share both.
For your visuals, use real photos from your organization. Avoid stock photos, people can tell the difference and they will respond better to authentic pictures. Feel free to use design software and include your organization’s branding.
The more specific your call-to-action (CTA) is, the more engagement you will receive.
Choose the Right Social Media Platforms
The right social media platforms for your organization are the ones your audience is on. For fundraising purposes, some social media platforms work better than others, so know which works best for your audience and your goals.
The most common social media platforms include:
- Facebook: Allows you to share videos, photos, and text. A good place to fundraise. If your audience is mostly older individuals consider this platform.
- Instagram: This is a visual-centered platform and a great place to share impact stories.
- Twitter/X: Known for short content, it is also easy to share links and news.
- LinkedIn: An under-utilized platform but full of potential. Similar to Facebook you can share videos, photos, text, and polls. Because fewer nonprofits use this platform, you have greater visibility.
- YouTube: This video platform is also the second-largest search engine. They allow you to upload videos of any length. To fundraise include a link to your campaign giving page.
Build a Strong Social Media Presence
Social media presence is your organization’s personality expressed through video, audio, and text. It is the face of your organization. With a well-defined social media presence, you can increase awareness and engagement.
To build a strong presence on social media you need to:
- Develop relationships
- Provide value
- Be consistent
- Experiment
- Promote your social media on different channels
Choose a voice and tone that not only establishes your credibility as a nonprofit but allows you to connect with potential donors. Keep your branding consistent throughout every image and post.
You will need to include a section in your brand guidelines for social media. As an organization, you need to decide on visual guidelines, hashtags, tone, formatting, and how to respond to comments.
Engage with Followers
Social media is a place where people connect. If someone comments on your post, do more than like it; reply. This shows that you are listening to them, and it will encourage them to engage in future posts.
For the most part, people, including your donors, are on social media to speak and be heard. Acknowledge them and it will go a long way. On occasion, you may need to hide comments or block individuals who use inappropriate and offensive language.
Respond to all your comments and messages quickly. Personalize your reply, tag them if you can. Follow your social media guidelines for tone and keep your response short, friendly, and personal.
Utilize Social Media Advertising
For years now, organic social media reach has decreased. If you want a wider audience to see your posts consider advertising. Social media advertising is a low-cost option that will increase brand awareness and improve loyalty. It also leads to a high conversion rate.
The user experience for social media advertising is easy for most team members to learn and platforms provide in-depth analysis, so you can see what works and what doesn’t.
Unlike some print advertising, social media allows your organization to focus on specific audience demographics and behaviors to advertise only to people who would appreciate your message. All the major social media platforms offer advertising, and you pay per click.
You have a few advertising options available to you:
- Static Image
- Video
- Stories
- Messenger
Social media advertising allows you to re-target your ads to individuals who visited your site or received an email from your organization but didn’t open it. You can also import audiences you wish to re-target.
Leverage Influencers and Partnerships
One way to boost your social media presence is to partner with other nonprofits or influencers. Partnerships can increase your brand awareness and help you reach new audiences. If you partner with the right individuals or organizations it will develop credibility and trust for your organization.
Before choosing a partner, set your campaign goals, understand your audience and identify potential partners with an audience that aligns with yours. Research the influencer and check their followers and engagement rate. Look for any red flags, such as inconsistent communication. Selecting the wrong partner could end up doing more harm than good.
Choose a partner who receives a lot of engagement and make sure their content aligns with your organization’s values. Well-matched partners who are relevant, authentic, and engaging can contribute to your organization's success.
Encourage User-Generated Content and Advocacy
User-generated content is original content about your nonprofit but created by your supporters. For instance, a supporter may share her walk-a-thon experience from your organization. This type of content goes a long way to build trust and authenticity. People are more likely to listen and believe someone outside of your nonprofit.
To find user-generated content:
- Discover what type of content your audience already posts about you
- Create a campaign-specific hashtag
- Host an event
- Work with influencers or partners
- Design a contest
- Use multiple channels to promote your organization and your nonprofit
User-generated content is a creative and cost-effective way to engage potential donors and build a wider audience.
Track Metrics and Refining Strategies
All social media platforms have analytics available for users. You should use these metrics to track your effectiveness in relationship-building, awareness, and in your fundraising efforts. These metrics will provide a snapshot of engagement, helping your organization build a community of active supporters.
Each social media platform has different metrics they track, depending on the type of platform. Some of the most common metrics include:
- Follower growth: Measures your net new followers. Lets you know if your social media presence has halted, declined, or grown.
- Impressions: The number of times a post is displayed. Impressions indicate the popularity of a piece of content.
- Click-through rate: Measures how many people who viewed your post also clicked through to read, watch, donate, or take a different action.
- Conversion: When someone takes a desired action, such as donating or signing up.
Social media advertising will include additional metrics, like cost per click.
Showcase Impact and Gratitude
If all you post on social media is articles and fundraising campaigns supporters will eventually tune out. Social media is an opportunity to highlight impact and express your gratitude. Let everyone know, see, and hear how donors are making a difference. This develops trust and builds relationships with donors and potential donors.
Share success stories with articles, interviews, photos, and videos. You can use infographics to demonstrate progress. Reposting what your supporters do for your charity is another way to incorporate user-generated content.
You can thank donors on social media with an image or video from someone at your organization or someone they helped.
Empower Supporters as Brand Ambassadors
Once you have nurtured a community of supporters on social media you can encourage them as brand ambassadors.
A brand ambassador acts as an advocate to spread the word about your nonprofit organization and mission across social media.
- Identify and recruit ambassadors. Look for supporters who engage with your content, share posts, or leave comments. Reach out to them about becoming an ambassador.
- Train and support your ambassadors. Explain the mission, vision, and goals of your nonprofit and share background information. Provide guidance on promoting messages and tips to engage followers.
- Measure and evaluate results. Gather feedback from your ambassadors to understand their experience and identify areas for improvement.
A brand ambassador and influencer have similar roles, the difference is the time commitment. Influencers work short-term for a campaign and may not be aware of your organization even though you have similar missions and goals. A brand ambassador already knows and loves your organization and plans to have a long-term relationship.
The success of your social media ambassador is about the relationships they build within your community.
Amplify Your Impact
Social media has immense potential to build a community of passionate supporters. Your organization can reach and engage donors and potential donors. When used consistently with compelling content, people will interact with your posts to amplify impact.
With the right strategies and a thoughtful approach, leveraging social media can significantly enhance fundraising efforts and contribute to the success of your ministry.