The Best Social Media Marketing Resources For Nonprofits
Social Media Marketing Influencers
We reached out to social media influencers asking if they would share their answers to the following question:
What is your number one social media tip for nonprofits that want to grow and retain their audience online?
Here’s what they said:
Social Media Marketing Statistics
Want to know what platform you should be leveraging to maximize your impact?
We’ve put together a list of the most up-to-date stats on how nonprofits are using social media to make a difference.
Social Media Marketing Strategies
Let’s face it, there are a ton of resources online that claim to have the answers to your social media woes.
Often times this requires shifting through many useless articles in the hopes you’ll find one that will make an impact on your organization.
That’s why we’ve taken the guesswork out of the equation by curating only the best strategic marketing resources for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest.
Social Media Marketing Templates
Whether you need help planning a social media strategy,听conducting a social media audit, or drafting reports to prove results to leadership, we’ve got you covered.
Our curated list of industry-leading templates is guaranteed to help with your next social media campaign.
Social Media Marketing Tools
Software development has exploded in the last 10 years giving way to an overwhelming number of free and paid social media tools.
Admittedly most tools are a waste of time and money, however, we’ve managed to track down a few exceptions to this rule and provide a brief overview of how nonprofits can leverage them to get results.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING INFLUENCERS
What is your number one social media tip for nonprofits that want to grow and retain their audience online? That’s the question we asked social media and fundraising experts.
Of course, we didn’t ask just anyone. We asked influencers who have built a successful online brand by leveraging social media to grow their audience in the tens of thousands.
Here’s what they had to say:
Julia C. Campbell, , 14.7K Followers
Author and national speaker writes:
Nonprofits need to understand that “social media” is not just a听 marketing tool that needs to be leveraged for their benefit. These powerful platforms have completely revolutionized and changed the way that humans consume听information as well as the way in which they听interact with each other.
Your traditional fundraising, marketing, and outreach materials cannot just be cut and pasted into these channels. You cannot put a square peg in a round hole. Social media content needs to be carefully, creatively crafted for the specific channel,听 ALWAYS with the audience in mind. Before posting, ask: What do they want to know more about? What kinds of stories are they craving? How can we get their attention and make a deeper connection?
Devin D. Thorpe, , 44.4K Followers
Forbes Contributor, keynote speaker, and champion of social good writes:
Have a strategy for social media. Just posting a lot isn’t a strategy. You want to know what your goal for social media is. Your goal for Twitter should be different from your goal for Instagram. You can use a Facebook page in very different ways from a Facebook group. Have a strategy for using all of these tools (yes, the platforms are tools) for building relationships you can use to build your nonprofit.
Devin is a journalist, author and educator. He calls himself a champion of social good. He travels extensively as a volunteer doing service, as a journalist finding heroes and as a speaker sharing what he鈥檚 learned. As a Forbes Contributor he covers social entrepreneurship and impact investing, reaching an audience of over 1 million people. He鈥檚 produced over 900 episodes of his Your Mark on the World show featuring luminary change agents.
A bestselling author, his books鈥攔ead over 1 million times鈥攈elp people use money for good. He has helped nonprofits raise millions of dollars via crowdfunding. To tell stories, he draws on his entrepreneurial finance experience as an investment banker, CFO, treasurer, and mortgage broker. Previously he worked on the U.S. Senate Banking committee staff and earned an MBA at Cornell.
Like what Devin has to say? Want to learn more? You can! in this beginners course!
Jay Frost,听, 17.3K Followers
Grantmaker, fundraiser, consultant, and serial entrepreneur writes:
Put Away The Megaphone! There are two fundamentals to all good fundraising. The first is to build relationships around the needs and interests of the donor. The second is to ask the right person at the right time for the right thing. This is made possible, of course, by having listened carefully and engaged actively with your supporters.
Unfortunately, many organizations just broadcast their needs and expect people to respond rather than engaging actively with current and prospective donors. But social networks are ideal for real interactive communication that can lead naturally expanded constituencies and growing revenues. On these platforms, we can identify kindred spirits, learn more about what motivates them, invite them to participate in activities of interest to them, and then, after building a relationship of trust, ask for their financial support of those activities.
That last step鈥攖he request for support鈥攃an and should be personal, just as all the gratitude we show must be real, immediate, and individual. The days of just hoping people will give to something that is important to our organizations are long gone. The rise of social networks has raised expectations for authentic, interactive, and responsive communications.
So, let鈥檚 make the focus to every communication the interests of our audience. Similarly, our crisis in donor retention can be addressed in large part by having substantial and authentic interactions with donors in their preferred environments. The rise of AI will help us in doing many of these things on a massive scale, of course, but it will never fully replace shaking hands, picking up the phone to say 鈥渢hank you,鈥� or sending a short video acknowledging a donor by name directly through Messenger, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
Let鈥檚 put energy into having real conversations. Let’s be willing to invite participation and financial support. Let鈥檚 be quick, enthusiastic, and generous in our public and private praise for those who make our work possible. And let鈥檚 remember that social networks are not a direct response tool but a place where human beings have chosen to live out a part of their personal lives. So, let’s put away the megaphone!
Over his thirty years as a grantmaker, fundraiser, consultant, and serial entrepreneur, has worked with thousands of organizations to identify and pursue billions in fundraising opportunities for thousands of charitable organizations around the world.听Jay has been recognized as one of听America’s Top 10 Fundraising Experts听by Philanthropy Media,听one of the听Top听Experts in Fundraising听by Klout, one of the听Top Eight Fundraising Influencers by Elevation Media, and one of the听Top Thirteen听Excellent Fundraising Consultants by Double the Donation.听Jay is a consultant to nonprofits and an advisor to companies serving the philanthropic marketplace.
He currently serves as Senior Partner at Jerold Panas, Linzy & Partners, an Advisor to DonorSearch, a Senior Consultant at Brian Lacy and Associates, and an Associate for the Resource Alliance.听A popular speaker and trainer, Jay has addressed hundreds of meetings in the US, UK, Canada, Asia, and the Middle East.听
Tracey Ehman, , 9.4K Followers
Host of Women Speakers Associations #SpeakerChat听and social media strategist writes:
If you want to grow and retain your audience online you need to determine what they are looking for, find the right keywords that will attract their attention, and use them within your social media posts on their own or as hashtags. Not only will these keywords and hashtags help you grow your audience, they will also enable your audience to filter out information that is relevant to them.
Tracey Ehman, an Online Presence and Social Media Strategist, is the go-to听person for enhancing your online presence, ensuring that you not only get “found” by your target audience, but that your website and social media efforts increase your revenues.
Tracey is also part of the Women Speakers Association (WSA) Executive Team, and host of the once a month WSA #SpeakerChat on Facebook LIVE.
Like what Tracey has to say? Check out her , which shares keyword marketing secrets that can help you be found online.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STATISTICS
Online giving to charitable organizations has continued to rise year over year, with an estimated $31 billion given in 2017, up from $28 billion in 2016.
Driving much of this growth is social media.
In fact, 55% of people who engage with nonprofits on social media end up taking an action, while听59% of those people make an online donation.
The statistics are more compelling when you dig into them by platform.
Facebook Statistics For Nonprofits
- Nonprofits share an average of 1.2 Facebook updates per day.
- In an average peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, 15-18% of donations are referred directly from Facebook.
- 84% of Facebook users share to show their support for a cause and highlight issues that are important to them.
- Facebook refers 29.4% of traffic to donation pages on #GivingTuesday.
- $45 million was raised by nonprofits through Facebook fundraisers on Giving Tuesday.
- VIEW MORE SOCIAL MEDIA STATS
of marketers say
Facebook is important
to their business.
Twitter Statistics听For Nonprofits
- 36% of online adults ages 18-29 are on the social network.
- 80% of Twitter users听have mentioned a brand in a Tweet.
- The last two years have seen a听2.5x increase听in customer service conversations on Twitter.
- Companies using Twitter for customer service听see a 19% lift听in customer satisfaction.
- 77% of Twitter users听feel more positive about a brand when their Tweet has been replied to.
- Twitter users send 700% more visitors to donation pages on Giving Tuesday than on a typical day.
- VIEW MORE SOCIAL MEDIA STATS
of people who engage
with nonprofits on Twitter
end up taking some sort
of action.
YouTube Statistics听For Nonprofits
- 28% of nonprofits are on Youtube.
- 6 billion听nonprofit听videos viewed in 2016.
- 68% of nonprofit video watchers view similar videos within 30 days.
- Among millennials, YouTube accounts for 2/3rds of the premium online video watched across devices.
- The most viewed brand videos are on average听31鈥�60 seconds long听(32% of all views).
- 40% of YouTube views come from mobile devices.
- VIEW MORE SOCIAL MEDIA STATS
of people who
watch听nonprofit听videos
make a donation online.
Instagram Statistics For Nonprofits
- Nonprofit Instagram accounts grew followership by 101% on average in 2016.
- 6 in 10 online adults ages 18-29 use Instagram.
- 75 percent听of Instagram users take action, such as visiting a website, after looking at a brand鈥檚 post.
- 31% of Instagram users make more than $75,000 per year.
- Engagement rates on Instagram听are 15 times higher than Facebook and 20 higher than Twitter.
- The amount of time users spend watching video has increased by more than 80% year-over-year.
- Instagram users are 70% more likely to make mobile purchases.
- VIEW MORE SOCIAL MEDIA STATS
of nonprofits use
Instagram to raise money
and awareness.
Snapchat Statistics For Nonprofits
- 70% of Snapchat’s users are under the age of 24.
- 54% of Snapchat users log in at least once per day.
- Daily Snapchat visitors use the app 25-30 times per day.
- More than 50% of Snapchat users will open a brand’s story, and more than 85% of them will watch the entire story.
- Snapchat gets 6 billion video views per day.
- VIEW MORE SOCIAL MEDIA STATS
of Snapchat鈥檚 users are
under the age of 24.
Pinterest Statistics For Nonprofits
- Pinterest was used by 28% of all adult internet users last year.
- 84% of people use Pinterest across multiple devices.
- 67% of Pinterest users are under the age of 40.
- 87% of pinners have purchased a product because of Pinterest.
- 72% of Pinners use Pinterest to decide what to buy offline.
- 93% of pinners shopped online in the past 6 months.
- 83% of Pinterest users would rather follow a brand than a celebrity.
- Over听5% of all referral traffic听to websites comes from Pinterest
- VIEW MORE SOCIAL MEDIA STATS
of nonprofits have
Pinterest.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGIES
Click an icon to get started:
Leading the distribution of information for many nonprofits is social media.
According to one study听from the University of Massachusetts’s , 71% of charities and nonprofits say social media is useful for driving online donations.
However, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the hundreds of strategies, guides, tricks, and tips online.
We’ve taken the guesswork out of the equation by aggregating only the best social media marketing resources available online.
These resources are perfect for beginners and veterans wanting to learn and develop their social media skills.
Facebook For Nonprofits
Did you know Facebook accounts for 65% of all social traffic to nonprofit websites?
Facebook also drives some of the most effective online fundraising traffic, raising $45 million during Giving Tuesday in 2017.
The results are clear, but it’s the journey that sometimes gets muddy.
That’s why we’ve put together a list of the best Facebook marketing resources for nonprofits:
Continue reading below for more information on how to leverage Facebook’s marketing tools for your nonprofit.
Facebook Fundraising Tools
With you can add a donate button to:
- Collect donations when people visit your Page.
- Collect donations from your Facebook posts.
- Add a donate button to Facebook live videos.
- Add a donate button to Facebook Messenger.
- Add a donate button to your ads.
You can also enable people to raise money for your nonprofit by setting up a dedicated page to share their story (and your mission).
The best part?
Facebook charges no fees for .
For U.S. based charities to qualify for Facebook’s fundraising tools you must:
- Be a 501(c)(3) organization.
- Be registered with the IRS.
- Have a tax ID number and bank account.
Get started by听.
Facebook Live
Live streaming is one of the , with 63% of people ages 18-34听watching it regularly.
Among all social platforms听 is taking the lions share of the views:
Nonprofits are leveraging the platforms reach to engage with Facebook communities as well as raise money.
听documented the rescue of #92Yorkies on Facebook Live, which kicked-off a major online fundraising campaign.
For 15 minutes the nonprofit conducted interviews with first responders and medical staff while providing live updates.
Because viewers felt they were part of the rescue effort they were more willing to donate online to the cause.
In total the San Diego Humane Society raised $100,000.00 using Facebook Live.
They even created a 听for members to share stories and continue engagement.
Additional Facebook Live resources:
Facebook Messenger听& Chat Bots
听hit 1.2 billion users in April 2017, according to the head of Messanger,听.
Engagement figures are impressive too, with an average open rate of 80% and a 4 – 10 times higher click-through-rate than traditional email.
听is using Facebook messenger, in combination with a听, to share their story:
Using Facebook’s fundraising tools they’re even able to听.
Creating your own听听will require a little investment on your end, but it’s fairly painless.
Additional Facebook Messanger resources:
Recommended social media tool:
- – connect with your audience on Facebook by sending newsletters, growing subscribers, and altering members of updates through Facebook messenger.
Facebook Advertising
听is leveraging Facebook advertising in a big way by using storytelling to raise awareness of the global water crisis and inspire people to give.
By creating a video to share the team showed how bringing clean water to people in need impacts both those who give and those who are served by the water projects.
The Result?
They听raised $470,000.00 in annual recurring revenues, which is enough to provide 15,666 people with clean water for a year.
Get your next Facebook campaign launched using the resources below:
Facebook Ads – Setting up the basics:
- 听– a Facebook pixel placed on your site will collect data in Facebook’s ad manager. With this information, you serve Facebook ads to people who visit your site. You can also leverage the data to optimize your audience to tailor your message to that group.
- 听– email lists are not one dimensional. You don’t just have to send newsletters, or witty headlines to get your message across. Simply upload your list and a custom audience will be created to match. This creates another touch point to get in front of your donors.
- – leveraging someone else’s audience in a related industry is the perfect way to increase your brands reach. When you start a Facebook campaign you can choose this option to reach people who have donated to a nonprofit organization in the past.
Additional Facebook Advertising resources:
Recommended social media tool:
- 听– optimize your Facebook ads for impact while lowering your costs using data. Comes with a .
Twitter For Nonprofits
With over 313 million users, especially younger generations, Twitter is the perfect social platform for creating meaningful relationships.
According to , 86% of charities and nonprofits use Twitter to share content, promote events, and interact with their audience.
, an international nonprofit that fights against poverty by empowering girls and women, does a great job at sharing compelling stories and information that make a real impact.
CARE has manages to create engagement opportunities and even inspire action through the use of short videos on Twitter:
In many countries, sexual harassment in the workplace isn't even illegal. You can help change that. Sign the petition today. 听
— CARE (care.org) (@CARE)
Does your nonprofit leverage Twitter to grow awareness and promote content?
Check out a few Twitter resources to help you get the most out of the platform:
How To Get Your Audience To Follow You On Twitter
One of my favorite Twitter strategies to grow your followership is to follow your audience.
I know it sounds simple, but it works.
Here鈥檚 how:
To get started go to and enter keywords or hashtags related to your industry, the services you provide, or the name of your audience.
For my Twitter account I used nonprofit + marketing along with several variations:
Then filter the search to people or accounts:
Here you can choose to narrow the search further by selecting specific keywords in the account description by doing a simple control + f search in the web browser.
For example, my search might include nonprofit + marketing in addition to accounts that also have the word fundraising in their profile.
I recommend following 10-20 new accounts per day and keeping a detailed list of your interactions with each account in an Excel or Google spreadsheet.
One thing to avoid while building these relationships is invading your follower鈥檚 DMs (direct messages) unless you have something of absolute value to offer.
Messages should be custom and tailored specifically to the individual you鈥檙e reaching out to otherwise, you risk fracturing the relationship before it鈥檚 even begun.
Note: This Twitter strategy is not intended to be a 鈥渜uick win鈥� that will skyrocket your followership, engagement, or revenue.
The goal here is to naturally build a following of people in your niche who are most likely to engage with your content and that takes time.
Over the next 3 – 6 months focus on developing content that addresses or answers your audience鈥檚 pain points, knowledge gaps, or curiosity.
Twitter Chats
Twitter chats are a great way to connect with your audience while establishing yourself as an industry influencer.
A while back I joined , which is a question and answer chat focused on nonprofit marketing.
One of the questions asked us to share our favorite marketing tool for blog posts.
I shared because it helps to improve the quality of your blog titles:
Here I spoke with Carole about the tool and how we use it.
These are the types of engagements that lead to future collaboration projects like a guest post contribution.
Now that we’ve established rapport the next step is to reach out and lend yourself as a resource.
The worst case scenario is they ignore you or say no.
Best case you begin contributing on a regular basis and gain traction to your personal brand through guest publications.
Popular听nonprofit Twitter chats
- 鈥� Nonprofit Talk,听Wednesdays, 3pm EST/12pm PT
- 鈥� Nonprofit marCommunity,听Last Thursday of the month, 1pm EST/10am PT
- 鈥� Lean Impact,听Wednesdays, 2pm EST/11am PT
- 鈥� Fundchat,听Wednesdays, 12pm EST/9am PT
Additional Twitter Chat resources
YouTube For Nonprofits
Views on branded video content have increased听 since 2016, outperforming every other medium on social media.
Video also has the best return on investment of any medium, at least according to .
Nonprofits have taken note by investing in video marketing and YouTube as part of their content marketing plan.
For example, 听“Follow the Frog” campaign uses humor to inspire action and show people how they can help.
5.3 million views and 10,000 subscribers later, Rainforest Alliance is still creating video content to bring awareness to their mission.
Thinking about giving YouTube or video marketing a shot?
Check out a list of curated resources to help you along the way:
Video Marketing Resources
Recommended social media tools
- – Become a video content marketing pro with Adobe’s sophisticated, yet easy to use, video editing software.
- – Effortlessly create videos in 5 minutes using Promo’s template-based video library.
Instagram For Nonprofits
Did you know report having looked up a brand on the platform?
And that 62% of users follow a brand just because they like it?
Truth be told, Instagram is one of the best social media platforms out there for growing brand awareness and introducing new products or services.
, a nonprofit that supports people struggling with depression, addiction, and self-harm are doing just that.
TWLOHA are听reaching their target audience through event photos, branded merchandise and original giphys.
Their hashtag #TankTopTuesday, for example, drives insane engagement, receiving over 10,000 views and several comments.
The combination of youth-centric media, video content to promote campaigns, and hosting live events on Instagram is really what drives their success.
Ready to engage with your audience on Instagram?
Check out a few helpful Instagram marketing resources below:
Snapchat For Nonprofits
It’s no secret that Snapchat is the , reaching approximately 31% of them.
听has begun to leverage Snapchat by documenting and sharing their impact as it happens:
Nonprofits can also during events to generate awareness and attract new donors.
While there may not be direct fundraising capabilities – yet, Snapchat’s users have higher rates of engagement when compared to other social platforms.
After all, new studies show the average user will spend upwards of !
Thinking about experimenting with Snapchat marketing?
Check out our helpful list of resources below:
Pinterest For Nonprofits
When it comes to sharable content Pinterest is KING.
According to , Pinterest pins are 100 times more spreadable than a tweet.
, a nonprofit providing safe and free cleft lip and cleft palate repair surgery to children around the world, is taking advantage of Pinterest to grow awareness to their cause.
Its Pinterest page includes patient stories, creative fundraising and displays of their impact.
Their New Smiles! Before & After Surgery board features before and after photos of children who have received surgeries through operation smile.
Ready to dive into Pinterest marketing?
Check out these helpful resources:
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING TEMPLATES
1.
HubSpot’s Social & Branding template explains the key听elements to crafting an authentic brand strategy for your organization.
This toolkit is designed to create content that will resonate with your audience and, ultimately, convert into donors.
Here’s what you can expect:
- Identifying clear objections focused on your brand vision and goals.
- Picking the best social networks and content types that are right for your organization.
- Building media relationships and writing killer press releases.
2.
SproutSocial has put together an in-depth guide on how to develop a winning social media strategy.
In this template you’ll learn how to:
- Establish your听most important metrics.
- Build and curate engaging social听media content.
- Measure and track results
3.
Struggling to drive meaningful results in Facebook marketing for your nonprofit?
Check out this Facebook marketing plan template created by Pan Ann Marketing.
In it, you’ll learn how to develop:
- An action plan based on a current situation analysis.
- Tactics to increase brand awareness and engagement.
- Reporting and measurement plans.
4.
Leadership has one idea in mind when they invest in marketing: make money.
The ability to communicate the proof your work is producing results is key to retaining their support.
Here are a few takeaways you’ll pick up from reading this template:
- How to quickly and easily compile a social media report.
- How to explain social media data to your client or team members.
- How to prove social media marketing is working for your business.
5.
As social media becomes an increasingly crucial tool for growth and driving sales, you might be asking yourself:
How do I assess whether my social media strategy is working for my organization?
In this 7 step checklist you’ll learn how to:
- Engage with the right audience on those networks.
- Analyze engagement to tell if your efforts are delivering meaningful results.
- Perform competitive analysis and compare your efforts with what your competition is doing.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING TOOLS
1.
Email newsletters and Facebook are the two most preferred content promotion strategies听used by nonprofits.
Botletter听acts as an extension of your email list where people subscribe to your Facebook Messanger feed.
You can then schedule to send content, information on upcoming events, galas, and more.
According to Botletter’s site, Facebook messages average an 80% open rate compared to the 20% of email newsletters.
Click-through-rates are also听4 to 10 times higher.
This combination means Botletter will improve your brands reach and attract more visitors to your site.
The free version comes with 1,000 messages per month to trial the product.
2.
Nonprofits are investing in Facebook advertising and it’s paying off.
In a recent campaign raised 4X more donations and decreased their costs by 76% by testing conversion-optimized ads.
Much of online advertising is about collecting data, analyzing it, and making minor adjustments to ad groups.
Your goal is to identify your best performing ads as soon as possible to increase your ROI.
Of course, this takes time and the longer a campaign runs the more it will cost.
Enter AdEspresso, a platform built to manage multiple Facebook ad campaigns and provides real-time analytics and reporting.
Within the AdEspresso you can:
- A/B test ad groups and campaigns.
- Get detailed reporting on the top performers.
- Lower your costs while driving more clicks.
AdEspresso comes with a and is worth checking out if you’re investing in Facebook marketing.
3.
Creating stunning visual designs has never been easier than with Canva.
Gone are the days of complicated programs with hundreds of features that require years to master.
With Canva, the drag and drop tools make it effortless to design logos, presentations, and engaging graphics for social media.
Canva for nonprofits gains access to the paid platform including:
- Saving branded colors, fonts and templates.
- Premium icons, graphics, and templates.
- Helpful storage folders for designs.
- Downloading transparent images.
听takes 2 minutes, but make sure to read the .
Don’t worry if you’re ineligible;听Canva’s free version is quite robust and offers enough features to tackle most projects.
4.
HootSuite is a social media marketing management platform designed to make scheduling posts effortless.
Start by connecting your social media accounts in the HootSuite dashboard and then use the publisher tool to create a draft.
Here you can schedule your post, post it now, or select AutoSchedule.
The AutoSchedule button leverages HootSuite’s data to select the best time of day and post frequency for you.
By default an ow.ly short-link is generated, which provides useful data you can leverage to improve post engagement.
The analytics can then be converted into actionable reports for leadership:
I also recommend the , which simplifies sharing down to a single click.
Once installed, hover over an image on any website, click the Hootlet icon, and a content box will appear to share to your social networks.
I find it to be a fast way to share other people’s content – perfect if you want to grow your followership.
5.
If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to create marketing videos than look no further than Promo.
Here’s how it works:
- Select a templatized video from Promo’s library.
- Add your text and logo.
- Kick back and relax, because you’re done!
At $45.00 per video, Promo may seem pricey.
However, these short videos are perfect for driving traffic and engagement from Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat.
The alternative is to outsource production for several hundreds of dollars or attempt it in-house.
