Social Media Best Practices for Small Nonprofit Organizations

Social media can be an excellent tool for small non-profits in several ways, including driving donations, raising awareness, and engaging with their audiences. With the right strategy, your nonprofit organization can reap maximum impact and enjoy new heights of success every time you launch a campaign on social media.

Here are some best practices for social media for your nonprofit.

Get the Right Communication Tool

Before diving into the exciting world of social media, nonprofits should first consider a centralized non-profit tool they can use for all aspects of operations. The best non-profit communication tools have social media integration and built-in communication options to boost your cause.

Great Visuals Equal Great Impact

Social media is all about making a good first impression, and there’s no better strategy than compelling visuals. The quality baseline should be high, regardless of whether you’re uploading videos or images. It’s also a great idea to mix it up and use infographics, text, and calls to action strategically and where they could be seen.

Great visuals plus the right hashtags allow nonprofits to reach a wider audience. The more that it’s share-worthy, the better. The goal is to have content that resonates with donors and for it to have a chance of going viral or getting lots of views.

Start Small and Pick Smart

The best social media platform to start is where your audience is most active. This can be on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok. Once you establish a presence, then you can branch out to other platforms whenever you have extra resources.

Engagement should be high in the first few weeks and months, and you can do this by engaging with your audience whenever you can. If possible, respond to messages and questions as soon as you see them, and encourage interactions by hosting contests and running polls, for example.

Make Sure Your Branding and Voice are Clear and Consistent

A professional nonprofit organization should look like such, even in the more casual social media setting. That means going over your profile carefully and filling everything that needs to be filled in. Facebook, for example, will have a cover photo and profile picture, while Instagram has a short description on the main profile page.

It’s always a good idea to include your website on posts and where people can easily see them. Brand style and voice must be consistent- visuals, tone, and language will have to be aligned with the nonprofit organization’s vision.

Run Campaigns and Collaborate

Though it might be tempting to go solo and use your nonprofit’s social media page for promotions and events, that’s not what social media is all about. Look around and join other groups and online communities within- it’s an essential networking component so people will know more about your nonprofit’s cause.

Whenever possible, reach out to other nonprofits and propose a collaborative effort where you can both benefit. Cross-promotion should give your organization a nice slice of the pie in the existing organization’s audience. Keep in mind that since it’s a collaborative effort, you should provide something equal and that both parties should be happy with the arrangements.

Track Your Performance

After launching your first campaign, your nonprofit should check how successful it is before going to the next round. Fortunately, most nonprofit communication tools have built-in dashboards that display data and analytics on campaigns you run.

For instance, you can see if a post gets more views and interactions during certain times of the day or the week. Generally, you’d also be able to check what’s working and what isn’t. With these data, you can then adjust your social media strategy on the fly to drive donations and raise awareness. This way, your next social media campaign will have a chance to be more successful across the board.

The Bottom Line

Small nonprofit organizations should pay heed to these tips if they want to succeed on social media platforms. And remember, a good nonprofit communication tool can make all the difference.