Leveraging Social Media for Nonprofits
According to a recent survey by Hootsuite, only 20% of nonprofit organizations are confident in their social media presence. That means that about 80% feel they can do better and are leaving valuable resources and strategies behind. Social media is a powerful tool across all industries, but particularly for nonprofits that are working toward multiple goals and often operating on a smaller budget compared to their corporate or private sector counterparts. With a variety of platforms and tools at their disposal, nonprofits can leverage social media to achieve their objectives. Keep reading to find out how.
The Purpose of Social Media for Nonprofits
Nonprofit organizations are often working toward multiple goals at the same time. With more than 4.6 billion people using social media every day, it’s the perfect place to support these objectives in a simple and effective way. By posting consistently on social media, it’s possible to build a community that supports volunteer initiatives, education, and growing a supporter base.
Social media is also an effective vehicle for storytelling in the nonprofit industry. People go to social media to be educated and find inspiration. Whatever your nonprofit represents, social media presents the opportunity to educate your audience and inspire them through the work that you do. This goes a long way to amplify the messaging of your organization and increase awareness around your brand and cause. With consistency, authenticity, and clear messaging, it’s possible that social media can become a primary source of information for your organization, which will support larger campaigns and objectives.
Fundraising is undoubtedly one of the most important objectives of any nonprofit. By using social media to build community and tell the story of your organization, you can also begin outreach efforts to bring in donations. Whether you’re running a special event or campaign, or you’re simply looking for ongoing donations, you can utilize social media to make the appeal. This can be done through organic posts, stories and reels, through fundraising tools on Meta, or through a paid ads program.
Branded Content is Key
When using social media in the nonprofit space, it’s important to ensure you have a full library of branded content. This means that you should invest in professional photo and video assets.
When you use personalized branded content instead of stock photography, you create consistency in your brand identity. Brand photos and video allow you to tell the story of your organizations through these visuals and makes your content identifiable. You want all of your assets to look like they belong together and fit into the narrative you’re trying to deliver. It may seem that there are infinite options for stock photography, but you would be surprised by how many businesses and nonprofits are using the same imagery in their social media content.
By having your own visual assets, you also have the ability to capture the stories of real people who have been impacted by your initiatives and the people behind the organization who provide that support. This is invaluable storytelling that not only makes your brand more authentic, but also more reliable and professional. Real photos and videos that represent your nonprofit add a layer of credibility, and often helps pull on people’s heartstrings and back your organization.
Case Study: Branded Content in the Nonprofit Space
A nonprofit ran a campaign with the goal to raise $300,0000 by the end of the year. This campaign used social media as a key vehicle to bring awareness, clicks to the website, and donations to the organization. The campaign launched shortly before Giving Tuesday and ran through the holiday season in both organic and paid social channels.
The client provided a full asset library of personalized video and photography to support shaping perceptions, building connections, and telling the story about why people should donate. This helped them stand out and made the content easily identifiable as the organization’s brand. It also positioned the organization as authentic, trustworthy, and relatable. The photos and videos that were posted shared stories of real people being supported by the nonprofit, and that was a crucial piece as to why this campaign reached their goal.
The results:
- 299,158 accounts reached
- 595,842 impressions
- 5,246 link clicks to the website
- $300,000 fundraising goal achieved
Implement a Paid Layer to the Strategy
Like any strategy, you will always see more results with a paid program vs. an organic-only campaign. Social media advertising is a relatively affordable method of advertising compared to buying traditional media like billboards, distributing flyers and postcards, or buying ad space in print or online media.
Social media advertising amplifies your messaging and gets your content in front of new audiences. By building custom audiences, your investment in social media ads goes a long way. The ads specifically target people who may be interested in supporting your organization and the cause you represent. Ads provide better visibility for your nonprofit, and you don’t need a multi-million dollar strategy to see results.
Case Study: Ads for Nonprofits
We were tasked with running ads for two fundraising campaigns for a nonprofit client. The first was a series of 5 fundraising walk events across the United States. The second was an end of year appeal campaign. The client provided $5,000 for the walk campaign, but coming in under budget, we were able to maximize the budget and spread it across both campaigns with incredible results.
Total Advertising Spend: $4655.61
Link Clicks: 6,349
- Directed to registration or donation landing pages
- Other ad objectives included reach, event responses, ad recall, engagements
- Link clicks was the most impactful objective, as that is what drove registrations and donations
Reach: 1,230,716 accounts reached
Impressions: 1,985,706 impressions
Dollars Raised for Campaign 1: $417,873.81 (104% of goal)
Dollars Raised for Campaign 2: 182,651.75 (35% more YoY)
Not only did we come in under budget for both campaigns, but with strategic advertising in the Meta Network, we were able to increase the visibility of the organization, support their overall objectives, and help them reach their fundraising goals. We completed two advertising campaigns in less than the cost of putting up a billboard or buying lists.
Are You Part of the 80%?
If you’re part of the 80% of nonprofit organizations that don't feel completely confident in your social media strategy, we can help. Our team is well-versed in supporting nonprofit clients to maximize their dollars and get the most return. We understand that you’re often not working with huge budgets, but we will work with you to achieve your internal objectives and see big results. Through carefully crafted strategies, stunning brand photoshoots, and expertly executed ad campaigns, we turn client problems into success stories.
