Social media has made it possible for businesses to expose their brand to far higher numbers of potential customers than ever before. This is the same with not-for-profit (NFP) organisations. Social media for not-for-profit organisations can help increase awareness and maximise fundraising potential. Response to appeals is much faster today with the use of smartphones to make instant donations.
Why Use Social Media for Your Not-For-Profit Organisation
Social media lets you tell people about your organisation and its cause. It’s a great marketing tool where you can share updates, real-life stories, articles and other relevant information about your organisation such as fundraising events and ways they can donate to support your cause. It can also be used to drive traffic to your website.
Your social media has the potential to reach far and wide to increase your donor database. It is the perfect marketing tool to engage your current supports and attract new ones. Sharing valuable content will encourage your followers to engage with you and spread your message with their following, in doing so, grow your reach.
The Best Social Media Platforms For Not-For-Profit Organisations
The goal of Instagram is to evoke your audience’s emotions and thoughts with compelling photos and short videos. Instagram is a great way for you to highlight events, your organisation’s cause and fundraising campaign messages. Do your homework on the best hashtags to use to grow your following. Instagram stories and TV are fantastic tools to share live videos. Instagram TV is excellent for longer ‘about your organisation’ or story-telling videos.
LinkedIn is the perfect platform to build credibility in the business community. It is a great platform to build connections for corporate giving and volunteer programs, along with advertising volunteer opportunities. LinkedIn is the appropriate platform to share research reports or articles relating to your cause.
It is an effective platform for sending real-time updates about fundraising events, industry events and any activities with government, e.g. an important meeting with a minister or if a minister attended your event – remember to tag them in your tweets and use hashtags. Again, it is a great platform to post your latest research and articles.
Worldwide, there are over 2.20 billion active monthly Facebook users. This is a lot of people to reach and engage in your cause. Facebook is a fantastic platform to showcase all aspects of your organisation, engage your audience in your organisation and let them know how they can help. A good Social Media Strategy will help you map out your messaging, post frequency and the types of content you can share (content pillars).
It is important to note that Facebook is not just for fundraising asks. Use it to share organisation updates, real-life stories of your cause, events and articles. Facebook Live lets you broadcast events live and provide real-time fundraising updates.
The beauty of Facebook is your ability to target users based on their demographics, interests and location through paid Facebook advertising.
How To Use Social Media To Help Fundraising
1. Customise Your Profile and Message
Cover the basics and key messages about your organisation – its name, its cause, how it makes a difference, your website link, how they can donate and support you.
Share your story, add photos and videos that will communicate your mission and the work you do and importantly, why people should give and support to your organisation.
2. Post Updates
Update your donors and followers about what’s happening in your organisation. This will show them how their donations are helping the cause. During fundraising events, post updates and photos or videos along with a link to your donation page. When they donate, acknowledge and thank them by posting how much they have made a difference.
3. Make Your Targets Public
Share your overall targets to the public; this is crucial to any call for donations campaign. Social media can help you keep past donors and encourage new ones to help you reach your funding goals. Update your followers about the amount collected or how much more your organisation needs to meet the overall target. Encourage your audience to share posts and get their followers to donate to reach the target.
4. Be Engaged And Keep It Interesting
All related question and comments posted on your social media should receive a timely response. Turn every interaction into an interesting discussion where you can share information about to your organisation’s cause.
Experiment with different types of content such as video, photos, stories and infographics. Pay attention to feedback that you get from followers and adjust your post to inspire and motivate them to take action.
5. Include A Call To Action
Not every post requires a call to action; some posts simply share updates and information. When it comes to fundraising, be clear on how your followers can take action.
Your fundraising message needs to convey the importance of donating to your organisation and what a difference their donation can make. Chances are, people want to help and share your story, they just might need a little reminding or nudge.
Examples of a call to actions are “Click HERE to Donate” or “If you want to help, click here” with direct links to your donation landing page.
The real power of social media comes through being able to engage with your audience. Not-for-profit organisations will immensely benefit from maximising the use of social media to spark interest, create awareness and generate funding for their cause.
Contact us for more help
If you are a not-for-profit looking to grow your donor base through social media, CONTACT US for a no obligations free chat – Puzzle Media is experienced in developing digital strategies and running social media accounts for NFP of all sizes.