Effective Social Media Strategy For Nonprofits

In order to be competitive and stay in business in 2019, it’s absolutely essential for nonprofits to use social media effectively. When used with a well-thought out strategy, social media is an amazing way to make your organization stand out from the rest to potential donors. In fact, 21% of donations in 2018 happened directly through social media #woah Lifted Logic, the premier digital agency in Kansas City, helps local nonprofits develop an effective marketing strategy with a wide digital presence, including on the web, on social media, and through pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.  

The social media gurus at Lifted Logic have some valuable tips for effective social media strategy for nonprofits.

Consistency, Consistency, Consistency!

Ask anyone with hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of organically gained (AKA unpaid) social media followers: they didn’t come easy. 

Having a large following on social media as a nonprofit means more exposure to your messaging, and having an audience “on call” for when you need to spread a specific call to action, such as a donation campaign.

Our best advice for effective social media for nonprofits to help you gain followers is to be consistent! Define how you want to be perceived online and then be consistent about it across all platforms, posts, and communications.

This means:

• Quality & frequency of comments & likes on other posts
• Quality & frequency of your posts
• Consistency to your core messaging, voice, and brand

Two great examples of consistently beautiful and branded nonprofit Instagram feeds are Amnesty International USA and ONE:

Even at first glance, it’s obvious that these organizations are dedicated to consistency in their imagery, font usage, voice, and more. 

Many organizations struggle with creating branded assets for social media; you may not have a graphic designer on staff who can create these assets for you. This is where the Lifted Logic team comes in. Talk to us about your design needs for your nonprofit in Kansas City and beyond.

Authentic Engagement with Your Audience

Social media is exactly what its name suggests: social. If your nonprofit is using social media as nothing more than a broadcasting platform, you may be missing out on the true value of these channels entirely. 

We know your time is valuable and limited, but real engagement with your audience should be a top priority if you want to see a return on your investment in the time you spend on developing your social media strategy for your nonprofit. Responding to questions, comments, and posts which tag your organization, along with looking for relevant new conversations to join, especially with humor or education, is an amazing way to help your supporters feel connected to you and to attract new followers to your profiles.

When users see that there is a personality and real people working hard behind your organization, they are more likely to engage and ultimately become regular donors.

A great example of a nonprofit with millions of followers and supporters that still finds time to respond to nearly everyone who Tweets at them? Charity: Water

(Live) Video Streaming

It’s estimated that about 500 million people watch at least one Facebook video a day, and YouTube has 1 billion users, or one third of the internet’s total users, in case you were not aware of the staggering power of video on social media.

Video is an un-ignorable social media trend. The latest trend, live video streams, is becoming even more prominent for nonprofits in 2019. Viewers respond positively to videos from organizations because of the immediacy of the content and the ability to respond and engage in real-time.

Go live on Instagram or Facebook at your next fundraising event, during a volunteer day, or even in the middle of a regular work day for a live Q&A session to engage with your audience like you never have before.

Need help with video production? Lifted Logic has amazing videographers to assist! We can even help train your staff on how to facilitate your next live stream.

Let Your Users Create Amazing Content For You

Our social media managers will tell you that when they’re short on content to post, the best place to turn is to loyal fans and followers. 

Click on your “Tagged In” or “Mentions” tab and check out all the amazing comment mentions and photos you’ve been tagged in and then rejoice—because there’s your next post. A #repost is an excellent way to engage with your community and to give a shout out to a person or business who has supported your organization.

This strategy can also encourage other followers to post about your organization in the hopes of getting a repost, spreading the word to their friends and followers about you, and hopefully sending some new followers your way, too. 

Even if you’re set with great post content, you can always use photos and videos from your supporters in your page’s Stories as a way to give love back to your followers and encourage more tags and mentions.

Clear Calls To Action are Essential

Consistent posting schedules and regular community engagement won’t mean much if your followers don’t know what they can do to support your organization. Should they donate? Purchase a product? Sign up for your e-newsletter?

Make sure that (when appropriate) you are including a clear call to action (CTA) on your posts, Stories, and when you sign off on your live video streams. Naturally, you do not want to come across too sales-y, so make sure the CTA is brief, respectful, and follows the same tone as your overall message and mission. 

Contact the Lifted Logic experts to learn even more about effective social media for nonprofits!

We could go on forever with social media tips and ideas, but we hope you learned from the above. If you’re still struggling with best practices or need more help with social media for nonprofits, come for coffee and a chat with us today! 

Don’t forget about our $50,000 website giveaway to one lucky nonprofit in the Kansas City area! 

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