by By: Susannah Hotovec
Are you interested in building a social media presence for a nonprofit? This blog is a how to develop and cultivate a social media presence for a nonprofit. This blog will start from getting off the ground to maintaining a presence.
First, one needs to define their social media goals. I suggest starting with SMART goals.
- Specific: What are you hoping to get out of social media?
- Measurable: How will you define success?
- Attainable: Are your goals reasonable?
- Relevant: Do your goals make sense for your nonprofit?
- Time-Sensitive: What is your timeline for reaching your desired goals?
Some other common goals for social media include raising awareness for nonprofits, spreading information, increasing traffic, building relationships, and driving donations. (Building a nonprofit social media strategy: 5 steps and tips) These goals circle back to the premise: spreading awareness and gaining donors. Relationship building is critical to achieving donors; you can’t build relationships without raising awareness and distributing information. Social media can play a role.
Social media is also a great way to share your impact. Tell stories and share photos and videos. Studies have shown that showing people in your first few frames has a 2x higher retention rate than those who don’t. Georgia Institute of Technology and Yahoo Labs report that photos with faces have a 38% higher chance of receiving likes and 32% more comments. (Social Media for Nonprofits: 11 Essential Tips for Success) This can be tricky for nonprofits that don’t wish to show faces, so creativity is necessary. Infographics are also essential to showcase stats and numbers, things that photos and videos can’t. Infographics can also speak to a different demographic, so knowing your target demographic is essential.
Defining your target audience is vital in other ways, including deciding what social media platforms to be on. (Social media demographics to inform your brand’s strategy in 2023)
- Facebook:
- Largest age group: 25-34 (29.9%)
- Gender: 44% female, 56% male
- Time spent daily: 30 minutes
- Instagram:
- Largest age group: 18-24% (30.8%)
- Gender: 48.2% female, 51.8% male
- Time spent daily: 30.8 minutes
- TikTok:
- Largest age group: 18-24 (21%)
- Gender: 54% female, 46% male
- Time spent daily: 45.8 minutes
- Twitter:
- Largest age group: 18-29 (42%)
- Gender: 34.1% female, 61.29% male
- Time spent daily: 34.8 minutes
- LinkedIn:
- Largest age group: 30-39 (31%)
- Gender: 43% female, 57% male
- 63% use it weekly, and 22% use it daily (2020)
- YouTube:
- Largest age group: 15-35
- Gender: 51.4% female, 48.6% male
- Time spent daily: 45.6 minutes
These key demographics can help narrow down which networks to use to reach their target audience. Posting on TikTok isn’t going to capture the attention of a 39-year-old as well as posting on LinkedIn or Facebook would, for example.
Once you figure out which audience to reach and look to dive deeper into figuring out the right platform, there are other things to consider. For example, some networks have a built-in donation button which is beneficial for the occasional gift, but nonprofits don’t know who is donating or if there is a way to get it as a tax write-off for the donor. Some platforms are better for videos, and others are better for photos. Some are great for both. There is much to consider when starting up a social media presence for a nonprofit.
Connect with me on LinkedIn Susannah Hotovec
This post contains a lot of helpful information! I have some experience with nonprofit social media work, at a big animal rescue organization, and social media was a great way to reach potential donors/potential adopters. There is a lot of strategic planning involved in order to effectively reach your target audience.
This article gave a ton of great information! I appreciate how in depth you went into the specifics of audiences on social media. I think that these tips can be used for even more than just Non-Profits, but all brands, companies, and large social media followings.
This article provides valuable guidance on setting SMART goals, showcasing impact through storytelling, and choosing the right social media platforms for nonprofits. The demographics breakdown is especially helpful for targeting audiences effectively. Well done on an informative guide this was super helpful!
I really enjoyed how thoughtful and carefully researched your blog post was! I agree that nonprofits should utilize social media because a lot of businesses and companies are successful in getting their messages spread through numerous online platforms. Social media is a great way to display what a nonprofit does, why they’re doing such things and how they’re spreading the word. I definitely think it’s a valuable resource for nonprofits who are looking for other volunteers or supporters.
As I am learning about how to strategically come up with a social media plan and create a plan in class, this is really helpful. You were spot on with the tips and tricks like learning the demographic, deciding what platforms can target specific age groups better, etc. I am always curious as to what social media specialists do when planning a social media campaign. Great job in this blog post!
I love how you set this up with a mix of facts and content writing. I work for a nonprofit outside of school and know that these measurable are super important to getting people to pay attention to posts! I particularly liked how you broke down different media channels’ demographics.
This blog post is super helpful for people who wanna make a social media presence for a nonprofit. It breaks it down from start to finish, showing you how to set goals that are SMART! This post also gives some solid advice on choosing the right platform based on your needs. Some platforms have donation buttons, but you gotta think about how to track donors and if they can get those sweet tax write-offs. And don’t forget about the power of visuals – some platforms are all about videos, while others are more photo-friendly. All in all, this blog post is a solid guide for people who wanna make a difference through social media.
I used to work social media for a nonprofit two years ago and the main thing that I had a problem with was being able to post engaging content for people to interact with. The main thing I found interesting about your post is how insightful your advice was about selecting the right platform for your nonprofit. Good job with your post!
I think the advice that you gave is super insightful. This is a thing that a lot of new nonprofits tend to have a hard time with so I feel like your blog would be something that can help many other small nonprofits understand the power of engagement.