4 Ways Your Nonprofit Can Build A Community On Social Media

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February 2, 2017 |

title_blog14Social media, when utilized correctly, can help you grow a meaningful and engaged audience of volunteers, donors and advocates. With so many different outlets available to obtain donors, grants and volunteers, it’s no surprise that social media is sometimes not leveraged to its best advantage.

Here are 4 ways that you can grow a community of supporters on social media for your NPO:

 

  1. Create a group. Creating a Facebook group for your nonprofit is one of the best ways to form an engaged community on social media. Create groups based on different criteria: one for donors, one for volunteers, or a general one to update your audience on events and news. The benefit of creating a group rather than just a Facebook page is that the members are more likely to see the posts. Members can subscribe to notifications so they receive an alert each time there is a new post.
  2. Share behind-the-scenes photos. Many nonprofits are unsure of how to humanize their organization on social media. The tone that your nonprofit will use on social media is not the same as the one you use on your website, blogs or email campaigns. One of the ways you can humanize your organization and strengthen your online community is by sharing behind-the-scenes pictures. These can consist of: volunteers working, board members at a meeting, donors dropping off goods … the list goes on!
  3. Go live! Live video is the newest social media trend that is making a big splash, increasing engagement and reach. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all have live video features that you can use to your advantage. Live video works because, well, it’s live! Live is unedited, mostly unscripted and real. Record 10-minute clips of events you hold, share stories of what your organization has done and so much more!
  4. User-generated Content. UGC is a great way to build your bank of content and share things that your audience loves to see. It also helps to grow your community on social media, as well. When volunteers tag you in photos taken at an event or activity, share those content pieces on your own social pages! UGC helps to “tell your story” even more than just using your own content can.