Top Tips From BGCGW’s Director of Donor Relations

“Whether or not you’ve a full-time workers member chargeable for social media or somebody that posts sometimes, I extremely advocate having some type of social presence — no matter that appears like.”

This recommendation comes from Terri Johnson, Director of Donor Relations & Particular Occasions on the Boys & Women Golf equipment of Larger Washington (BGCGW). 

Johnson’s group wears many hats (as many nonprofit workers do), and that features managing BGCGW’s social media technique.

I assumed she’d be the proper particular person to ask how nonprofit organizations can faucet into the ability of social. Let’s check out her prime ideas.

Desk of Contents

Why Social Media Issues for Nonprofits

Earlier than we dive into the how, let’s discuss concerning the why — why is it vital in your nonprofit group to be on social media?

For starters, we are able to have a look at the info: 55% of individuals who interact with nonprofits on social media find yourself taking some kind of motion. This contains donating cash, volunteering, or taking part in neighborhood occasions.

I can really converse to this personally.

I’m an enormous animal lover. I not too long ago got here throughout a publish from The Humane Society on Instagram, and began scrolling by their feed.

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Wow, they actually do such nice work for all sorts of animals, I assumed to myself. So nice in actual fact, it prompted me to make a donation to the trigger.

Social media offers you the platform to:

• Generate consciousness of your trigger — Rapidly meet your audience the place they’re with details about your mission.
• Showcase your affect — Use this as a possibility to spotlight the significant work your group does.
• Increase your fundraising efforts — Maximize the attain of your campaigns, and gather donations straight from the platforms.

It additionally doesn’t damage that it’s free to get began. And while you do, listed below are 10 ideas you need to take into account.

Social Media Finest Practices for Nonprofits

In an interview with Terri Johnson, BGCGW’s Director of Donor Relations & Particular Occasions, we mentioned a few of her favourite social media finest practices for nonprofits.

Let’s take a more in-depth have a look at what she shared.

1. Work out your social media targets.

Terri says, “It’s arduous to measure success when you’ve got nothing to match it to.”

That’s why it’s vital to set benchmarks in your social media actions. And from expertise, I can affirm that that is true for all advertising efforts.

She provides “You’ll be able to at all times map these targets again to your broader strategic goals if you happen to’re having bother.” For instance, use social media to help a bigger fundraising or model consciousness goal.

Backside line: Set clear targets so you’ll be able to quantify your social media work. That approach you’ll be able to assess whether or not the “juice actually is well worth the squeeze” (as they are saying).

2. Select the proper platforms.

As a nonprofit, your sources could also be restricted. Terri can “completely relate to this” because it wasn’t way back that BGCGW had an identical problem.

The excellent news is you don’t have to publish on all platforms to make an impression.

In reality, Johnson suggests the next: “Be sure to perceive which platforms are extra fashionable along with your goal demographic.”

She continues, “At BGCGW, we use Instagram to enchantment to our teen members and younger professionals.”

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“On Fb, we prefer to give attention to content material that’s extra related to oldsters and adults.”

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And it’s true. Information says that 31% of Instagram customers are ages 18-24. And 49% of Fb customers are ages 25-44.

Backside line: Don’t really feel like you might want to be on each single channel so long as you’re assembly your audiences on the proper ones.

3. Use visuals to inform your story.

For mission-driven organizations like nonprofits, an image can actually be price a thousand phrases.

“Inform your story by imagery,” Terri suggests. “That’s what we do. Our mission is pushed by the younger folks we help, so we like to spotlight them on social media each likelihood we get.”

These are just a few of my favorites from their Instagram feed:

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Backside line: Present folks what your group is all about and why they need to put money into you. 

4. Be real and use an genuine voice.

“Social media is a good way to indicate and inform — to provide your audience an inside view of your group,” says Terri. 

Authenticity is essential if you wish to inform your model story in a compelling approach and draw extra supporters to your mission.

Johnson provides, “It permits you to showcase what makes you distinctive and will help separate you from the noise.”

Backside line: Be sincere, be actual, and imagine in what you say. In case you can encourage belief, individuals are extra prone to pay attention.

5. Construct a neighborhood round your model.

Your neighborhood on social media is extra than simply the viewers you’re attempting to succeed in. It contains your group’s help system, too.

Terri says, “We like to say our companions and sponsors as a method to shout them out whereas constructing model recognition.”

“It additionally permits these corporations and people to showcase their dedication to supporting our communities,” she provides.

Backside line: Social media is supposed to be social. Begin conversations, work together along with your followers, and provides props to maintain folks engaged along with your mission.

6. Leverage social media perks for nonprofits.

There are a selection of social media sources to make it simple for nonprofits to advertise their model and meet their targets.

Listed here are two examples:

• Google Advert Grants for Nonprofits: Google provides free and discounted search advert credit for nonprofits. Terri famous that her group has tapped into this chance “a number of occasions” and seen optimistic outcomes.
• Platform-Particular Instruments: Most channels, together with Fb and Instagram, supply built-in fundraising instruments for nonprofits. For instance, you’ll be able to simply add a “Help” button to your profile or a clickable “Donate” sticker to your Story.

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Backside line: Do the analysis to see what perks your model can leverage, so that you’re getting probably the most social media bang in your buck.

Alana’s Bonus Tip: Make the most of AI writing instruments.

AI isn’t good, however it could actually nonetheless prevent time in relation to content material creation.

I’ve tried it out just a few occasions, and it’s an ideal supply of inspiration for me as a marketer.

I like to make use of conversational AI (e.g., ChatGPT) to generate matter and title concepts for weblog posts and summarize long-form info into bite-sized nuggets for social.

These are just a few social media writing prompts you’ll be able to check out:

• “Create a publish for Instagram selling [insert event name and description] in [insert number] phrases or much less.”
• “Write a Fb publish summarizing our new initiative [insert initiative description].”
• “Draft a tweet asking for help for [insert cause description].”

HubSpot additionally has free AI instruments out there that will help you draft compelling social copy.

Begin Crushing Your Social Media Targets

Now is a wonderful time to be social, particularly for nonprofits.

Even when your technique isn’t good or your sources are restricted, you’ll be able to at all times begin small and refine issues as you go.

In time, you’ll be effectively in your method to social media success.