Ever breezed past a checkout donation for a cause you barely recognize? It’s easy to decline when the mission is a mystery. For nonprofits and businesses alike, success hinges on making memorable connections. Effectively sharing your mission and story will turn casual followers into committed donors.
Spreading Your Message on Social Media
A giving day is typically 24 hours (or more) dedicated to raising money and awareness for a specific cause or organization, usually using social media to engage with supporters. We’re a big fan of giving days because they’re a powerful way to share a concise message online, and they’re great for connecting with new audiences.
Thanks to the power of the internet, our friends at NEPA Gives raised $1.23 million and reached nearly 7,000 donors during this year’s online giving event.
Stay Engaging!
You want to use social media to share your mission. How do you get started? Although it’s easy to sign up for an account, there’s still work to do to ensure your message reaches your audience.
Here are some of our favorite tips to market your mission on social media:
Share your story
Social media makes it so much easier to get your content in front of new people–new people who may have never heard of your organization! With this in mind, always inform people of who you are and what you do in your posts. This helps convert random viewers into followers.
For example, consider sharing:
- Testimonials from clients
- Volunteer or employee highlights
- Current projects you’re working on
- Your mission, vision, or anything else that makes your nonprofit unique!
- How your organization is making a difference in the community
Cross-platform marketing
Utilizing social media is a fantastic (and free!) way to share your message, but be sure to keep the momentum going across other platforms. Repurpose the same content and messaging in email newsletters, flyers, posters, and even website pages to avoid burning yourself out. If possible, consider running Facebook and Instagram ads or Google Ads (nonprofits may qualify for a Google Ad Grant!)
Reach a new audience
While it’s important to engage with current supporters, reaching new people makes your goals more achievable. Social media makes it easier to reach them:
Collaborate
You don’t have to create a viral post to reach new people. Using Instagram’s collaboration tool will show your post to both your followers and your collaborator’s followers. This is a great way to work with other organizations, prominent community figures, or your staff or volunteers.
Create Shareworthy Content
Another great way to get your social media content in front of new eyeballs is creating content that people want to share. Give followers an incentive to share your content, and watch as the engagement (and follower count) grows online!
Tune In – And Stay For A While
Live streams are a great way to connect with your audience in real time while sharing more about your organization’s mission. The real question is, how do you get your audience to tune in and stay for the whole livestream?
We turned our live streams into games! The commenter with the most points won money for their favorite nonprofit (and a prize for themselves, too.) By offering an incentive to tune in, we started the morning with over 1500 video plays and more than 700 comments on our stream.
Keep The Comments Coming
Instagram typically pushes content that users find engaging. More comments = more engagement! We like to use Manychat to incentivize followers to comment and automate our responses.
Take it offline
Even if your marketing efforts take place entirely online, hosting complementary in-person events is a great way to build community and rally support for your cause.
At NEPA Gives, we kicked off 24 hours of giving at the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders’ game, and finished with the first-ever NEPA Gives Block Party. This event was free for anyone to attend, whether they were a donor or not. The Block Party brought the community together and allowed participating nonprofits to meet and connect with potential donors.
No event is complete without branded elements and fun swag! We’re always down to make merch attendees can take to go, like custom t-shirts or fun stickers.
Keep it real
People on the internet love authenticity, and they want to hear your story. Following these tips will help you spread your message, and you want that message to be genuine and concise so your audience will stick around. Not sure what your brand story is? We’re here to help tell it!
