Social media lets you connect with supporters, share your impact, and build community - all for free with results you can easily track.
It may seem time-consuming, but the return on investment is worth it, especially if you put a little strategy into your efforts. And the best part? It's free, making it perfect for organisations working with limited budgets.
We've rounded up the best-practice advice for using social media in 2020. Focusing on Facebook and Instagram for beginners. Plus, we've listed some effective, free tools, to help you use the networks more easily. Social media should be at the heart of your charity's communications strategy - it's where your supporters, donors, and beneficiaries are spending their time online.
Tactics for every social media platform
No matter where you're active on the web, these are overall best practice tips for the current social media climate.
Appearing genuine is paramount
The most important thing to remember across all social media platforms is that you need to be genuine. Increasingly, people aren't responding well to traditional 'in your face' fundraising appeals. Especially on social media channels where they're looking for personal connections and stories, rather than organisations constantly asking for donations. Whereas showing the real impact of your work and sharing authentic stories from your community still resonates powerfully. So aim to be authentic, sincere and maybe even a little more personable than you may expect from a charity, and people will respond positively back.
Always engage with your audience
Positive or negative, comments or private messages, if people are reaching out to you then make sure their communications aren't ignored, because that will almost certainly leave a bad impression. Try to engage with every positive comment in a similar tone to the commenter, tagging them in your response so they can see you have replied. This is especially important when supporters share their own experiences or reasons for supporting your cause. As for any negative feedback you receive, respond promptly and professionally. Acknowledge concerns, provide factual information, and take conversations private when needed to resolve issues respectfully.
Instagram is the 2nd most popular social network and a great way to promote your cause to an entirely new audience. Remember that it is a visual platform, used primarily on mobile. So your number one concern should always be making sure your content looks good, even at a smaller size! What's great about Instagram is that it's easy to build a following even if your actual supporter base isn't the largest, thanks to the popularity of hashtags. Whereas on Facebook, people are less likely to stumble across your content if they don't already know you exist and haven't searched for you.
Visual-based not photo-based
Instagram posts don't have to be pictures. You can find infographics, impact statistics, illustrations and text-based posts on Instagram too. If you have compelling photography from your work in the field or at events, then it makes sense to use this as your main source of content. But for organisations who don't necessarily have access to professional photography, or work primarily in offices, consider what type of content you have enough of to keep up a strong social media presence.
TOP TIP: Whilst you should always favour quality over quantity on social media, it is also important to post regularly enough that it's clear your account is active and that people will get a response if they message.
For example, many charities have found success by creating carousel posts that share:
- Impact statistics and stories
- Testimonials from beneficiaries
- Educational content about their cause
- Behind-the-scenes looks at their work
- Volunteer spotlights
These have strong engagement potential and are easier to put together as they can repurpose content from reports, newsletters, and impact statements you've already created!
Pick your hashtags wisely
Each Instagram post gets to use up to thirty hashtags. If you want to grow your Instagram reach, it's worth spending a little time doing hashtag research to find what is popular within the charity sector and your specific cause area, but also isn't too broad that your post will instantly be buried by a bunch of other #love (the most popular hashtag on Instagram!). You want to find an array of hashtags with different popularity (from niche ones in the hundreds or early thousands to uber-popular 1mil+ hashtags), which span different aspects of your post.
Instagram tools 🛠️ to help:
- Post at the optimal time using Instagram's insights. Once you set your Instagram account to become a business account, you can get insights into your audience's age range, gender split and very practical graphs of when your most followers are online.
- Discover a bank of hashtags, based on 1 popular one at best-hashtags
- Instagram line breaks sometimes don't translate well from desktop to phone, but you can always get the paragraphs you need with CaptionMaker
- Add multiple links from your profile with Linktree - perfect for linking to donation pages, volunteer sign-ups, and campaign information (just remember that the more times a user has to click to get to your content, the higher drop off rate you'll see)
Facebook is the most popular social media platform going, and therefore the most important one for any charity or non-profit. The statistics are mind-boggling: by next year it is expected that there will be 41.37 million active Facebook users in the UK.
Facebook knows that to retain its crown, its users don't want newsfeeds filled with charity appeals and advertisements. Which is why charity posts can see low engagement, even if the page has thousands of followers. As default, Facebook doesn't show your posts to every one of your followers.
However, there are 2* ways around this:
- You can pay Facebook to boost a post to your audience
- Or you can do it the free way - with "meaningful" content
Meaningful content means posts which really resonate with your audience and keep them engaged and active on the network (with lots of likes, shares and comments). Keep posting this and Facebook will continually prioritise your page on your followers' newsfeeds. (Read more about meaningful content in Facebook's own words)
Wondering how to produce meaningful content? We've listed some ideas below:
Videos and pictures > Status updates
Not only do videos and pictures stand out on a newsfeed, Facebook actively promotes visual content over text-only status updates. So always endeavour to accompany your messages with a picture, or even better - a video.
TOP TIP: Facebook recommends making sure your videos are at least 3 minutes long for best engagement.
Consider creating:
- Short documentaries about your beneficiaries (with consent)
- Thank you videos for volunteers and donors
- Updates from the field or project sites
- Educational content about your cause
Refresh your page
One piece of general best practice is to keep your page up-to-date with the occasional refresh of cover photo and page description. It's a good way of making a positive first impression to anyone who searches for or stumbles across your page. Use this space to highlight current campaigns or recent impact.
Ask a question
What can seem more genuine or meaningful than actually asking your audience about their opinions? Pose a question to the people who like your page to start a conversation in the comments. This could be:
- Asking supporters why they care about your cause
- Requesting input on community initiatives
- Inviting people to share their experiences
- Running polls about awareness topics
If you already have a popular page, you could tag your question onto the end of the post. Or, consider dedicating the whole post to the question, maybe even with a picture to really boost its chances of being seen.
Useful Facebook tools 🛠️:
- Learn more about all aspects of Facebook with their free courses Facebook for Business
- Examine how effective your previous Facebook adverts have been with Free Facebook Ads Grader
- Compare your page to 50k others on Engagement, Fans Reached and other metrics with the Facebook Barometer
- If you want to advertise on Facebook, your post can only be 20% text. This tool checks that percentage for you, rather than trying to guess yourself: Text Overlay Tool
Consider other platforms too
Though Facebook and Instagram are at 1st and 2nd in terms of popularity, there are plenty of other social media platforms you should consider being active on, depending on your demographics, cause area and how much time you want to invest.
TOP TIP: Find out where your supporters and potential donors are active on the web and make sure you're posting there too!
A fast-moving and informative platform. With posts having a 280-character limit, your writing needs to be pithy and have personality to stand out. Great for connecting with other organisations, sharing news, and participating in awareness days. Skews to a more male demographic.
A platform based on image-boards of pictures and gifs. Full of inspirational content, from recipes to try to home ideas and tips, it is famously addictive once you get going. Can work well for charities focused on wellness, environment, education, and creative causes. Skews to a female demographic.
TikTok
TikTok is made up of 15-second, fun videos. Unlike other decades-old platforms, TikTok is new on the scene (2017) but rapidly growing in popularity. Charities reaching younger audiences have found creative success here with behind-the-scenes content and awareness campaigns. Skews to a Gen Z demographic.
YouTube
The internet standard for uploading videos, whether YouTube strictly counts as a social media platform is up for debate, but you can certainly build a following there with quality videos. Perfect for longer-form storytelling, impact documentaries, and educational series. Popular across the board.
For those working in advocacy, policy work, or seeking corporate partnerships, LinkedIn is a great place to grow professional connections and raise awareness. It's ideal for sharing impact reports, thought leadership, and connecting with potential major donors or corporate supporters. Be aware of who your audience is though and whether there is an active community for them on there. Although many people have LinkedIn accounts, not everyone uses them as frequently as other networks.
Google+
Just kidding, of course! Google+ shut down in April of 2019, so make sure you don't look out of date by having any buttons linking to it on your website.
Are you feeling inspired to refresh your charity's social media with some of these tips? Remember, the most powerful social media content shows real impact, tells authentic stories, and builds genuine connections with your community. Good luck!
