By Nicole Hudson – Founder / CEO – Executive Strategist
If you run a nonprofit that people are passionate about, using social media and influencers are powerful ways to raise awareness, increase donations, and drive action towards your cause. Here are some nonprofit outreach strategies and insights to promote and boost for your nonprofit using social media and influencers.
Craft a Compelling Narrative for Your Nonprofit
What is it about your nonprofit that sparks people’s passions? Make a list of all the things you do well that get people excited. What are the stories you can tell around those points? Then look at your mission statement. Is it compelling? Does it articulate the impact you’re making on your community? If yes, what stories can you flow out of that? These are the beginnings of good storytelling, which makes for good social media posts for raising awareness for nonprofits.
Use your storytelling and visuals to evoke emotions and connect with your audience on a deeper level. This will make them more likely to care about your cause. Take those stories and create shareable and engaging content that resonates with your target audience. This could include stories of beneficiaries, impactful statistics, infographics about the issue, or even inspirational quotes.
Utilize Social Media Platforms Effectively
When choosing your platforms for social media for nonprofits, it’s important to know where your audience is. What social media channels do they use most often? What do they see as the purpose of each platform? For instance, does your target audience use Facebook for connecting and keeping in touch, but seeks information and news on YouTube and TikTok?
You want to be where your audience is and approach them with posts that fit how they utilize that platform. Also, on what platforms do you have a more engaged community, or which ones are you really good at? All those factors go into choosing where and in what format your stories should live.
Once you’ve created your content, make sure it is optimized for each social media platform. Each channel has its own way of structuring content, including optimum sizes for images and videos. Make sure you adapt your content to fit each platform’s best practices.
Tapping Into Influencers for Nonprofit Advocacy
One of the best ways to get your message in front of a wider audience is to connect with influencers who are passionate about your mission or cause. When our team members were launching Lemonade Day Detroit – a nonprofit aimed at teaching kids entrepreneurship, we connected with local entrepreneurs. It was easy to get them to talk about why learning entrepreneurial skills is important for kids in today’s business environment. We got a number of them to talk about it in a video and to have them share it on their channels once we posted it.
Find those people who are passionate about what you’re doing. Get them to share the reasons why and to share their story. Develop genuine relationships with them. Don’t force a message, but allow them to creatively promote your cause in a way that resonates with their audience. All this creates additional content for you that then gets multiplied when they share it on their channels.
Advocacy and Calls to Action
While using social media and influencers for nonprofits are good ways to get your message out and share your stories, don’t forget to tell your community how you would like them to advocate for you or what other actions you wish them to take.
Working with Central Detroit Christian, a nonprofit working towards rebuilding Detroit neighborhoods, we used a combination of organic and paid social media to get the word out and to help raise funding.
The results? Here’s what CDC Director, Lisa Johanon had to say, “Hudson Collective helped us activate and engage our community through social media and digital advocacy to help get funding from our financial partners into the local neighborhoods that need it most in Detroit.”
Make it Happen
By implementing these nonprofit marketing strategies, you can leverage the power of social media and influencers to make a significant impact on their cause and create positive social change. Remember, the key is to be authentic, engaging, and data-driven in your approach. And if you need help, just give us a call.
