Having a strategic social media communications plan in place is a must for nonprofits. With 3.78 billion social media users in 2021 – an increase of five percent from a year ago – it’s a valuable communication channel that should be part of your mix. Your donors and supporters are on social media and you need to be too!
At the heart of a strong social communications plan is relevant and compelling content. Your social channels should reflect your mission and values. Through social media, you can bring your brand persona to life. Nonprofits cannot be random with social media content as that will only lead to a very random result.
There are multiple ways to help your nonprofit do more with less. Leveraging your social channels to keep in continuous and real-time touch with donors is one way to get the most out of communications. As you continue to learn about the benefits of social media for nonprofits, you will want to ensure you have a consistent plan in place. Here are easy-to-implement content ideas to help fill out your social media calendar.
1. Showcase Your Impact
What does your nonprofit do and how? Storytelling is a powerful way to connect with your followers. Share stories of your fundraising campaigns and the cause that you’re promoting. Do not forget to mention the contribution of your donors in making your campaign a success.
2. Profile Your Supporters & Volunteers
You have your volunteers supporting your cause. They deserve to be appreciated and acknowledged. Among other strategies for volunteer engagement, creating a profile on your volunteers and giving them a shoutout is an ideal way to engage and thank them. Include pictures and details of their contributions, express how thankful you are. You can do the same for your donors as well.
3. Thank You Post
This is at the top of our list because it is extremely important for nonprofit organizations to have an attitude of gratitude. You can thank your supporters weekly with images and videos. Show that you are grateful!
4. Quotes by Influencers
Take this opportunity to up your networking game. Reach out to nonprofit influencers and ask them for a quote on different nonprofit-related topics, such as easy ways to manage multiple eventsor nonprofit fundraising trends. Once you have the quotes, get your post designed, publish it, and request your influencers to share it on their respective handles as well.
5. Social Media Tools
Make use of the tools offered by different social media platforms. Polls, for instance, are an excellent way to know the preference of your audience while engaging them. You can ask questions relating to their latest donation experience with your nonprofit. It is also a great idea to go LIVE and interact with your audience through live sessions.
6. Cross-Promote Your Website Content
Does your nonprofit organization run a blog? How often do you talk about your blog content on social media? Blogs consist of both opinions and facts on which discussions can be held. You can always share links to your blog articles and ask your audience to express their opinions. This will also show that you care about your audience and what they think.
7. Testimonials
This can be a testimonial from your donors or even your partners. If they are comfortable, you can even tag them and ask for a repost. When there is something good being said about your organization, why not post it and flaunt it?
8. Sneak Peek
Give video tours of the inner workings of your organization. When you show “behind the scenes” of your nonprofit, it speaks of trust and transparency and helps to deepen the connection with your supporters. Create a series of “behind the scenes” videos that take an up-close look at all your organization’s departments and publish it on a regular basis.
9. Crowdsource Your Content
This is a great way to start a conversation with your audience. For example, you can pick days such as Teacher’s Day and ask your supporters to tell you about their favorite teacher. You can turn the responses into content and post it on your social media.
10. Nonprofit Stats
Facts and figures can make for good content as long as you keep it relevant. Posting about nonprofit fundraising statistics is a way of informing your audience and keeping them updated.
Social media is your canvas, it is up to your organization to make the best use of it. Use this nonprofit social media checklist to kick-start your social communications. Most importantly, from planning and execution to monitoring, make sure that you’re consistent and stay true to your mission. We look forward to seeing you on social media!
This article by Patrick J. Coleman was published on Bloomerang. Read the original here.