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A recent study done by Dunham and Company revealed that 76% of nonprofits don’t provide a way for donors to share about the donation they just made while 40% of donors say they’d like a way to do this.

A missed opportunity? You bet.

How about this one – 100% of nonprofits say they have an account on Facebook, but only 58% link to that account from their webpage.

Or maybe this – 85% of nonprofits have Twitter profiles, but only 55% link to that profile from their websites.

Nonprofits have historically been two sides of a coin; they either see unprecedented success with social media, or throw the opportunity away entirely.

Of course, becoming a nonprofit leader like the Humane Society of the United States and getting 2.4 million likes overnight is impossible.

Generally speaking, small and medium sized nonprofits already have their resources spread quite thin, so it’s no wonder social media takes a back seat. But taking steps to getting there shouldn’t be as daunting as it is for nonprofits.

If you’re looking for a place to start, take these tips and run with them.

What nonprofits can do about social media

• Don’t try to be everywhere and do everything

Choose the platform or platforms that coincide with where your supporters are. But also consider which platform your company has plenty of experience with as getting into a new channel can be a significant challenge. Less may be more.

• Don’t duplicate messages across all platforms.

If you decide to go with multiple channels, don’t use the same exact messaging across them all. Facebook and Instagram users expect different content and messaging.

• Link to your social media from everywhere.

If you’re using print, email, website, direct mail, or are at donor events, those are all opportunities to get more social followers. But if you decide to go all in on this tactic, your social profiles better not be inactive.

• Use the 80/20 rule.

Where 80% of your social content is about donor actions and the impact of your supporters. The remaining 20% can be about company changes, new initiatives you’re taking, and other company announcements.

• Dedicate someone to manage social profiles.

Setting your profiles on cruise control and posting some unplanned content on them once in a while just won’t work. Keeping a steady production of good content undeniably requires time, and someone who’s core function isn’t social media management just won’t be able to accomplish the needed tasks.

• Track and measure.

Although proving social media marketing ROI is particularly hard, showing progress and some kind of return is valuable.

• Look into nonprofit-specific programs.

Here’s a tip – Google gives you $10,000 free every month in the form of search advertising if you meet their nonprofit requirements. Another tool is Facebook’s new nonprofits page. This is a Facebook only tool that gives nonprofits more eyeballs, viewers, and eventually, more donations. There are also tons of other tools out there similar to these.

Social media itself is a powerful tool, which we’ve learned plenty about.
See some more about our work at this case study here.

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/girl-dog-poor-dirty-children-62328/