How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media To Increase Donations And Visibility

Digital marketing is a critical tool for all types of businesses that want to reach more people, sell more, cultivate customer relationships, and increase profits. It is also a great tool for nonprofits that want to increase their sphere of influence. Many nonprofits rely on digital marketing to reach people and spread their messaging. This is often time-consuming and laborious. In this article, we will look at social media as a tool for nonprofits to reach a global audience, share their stories, and ultimately increase donations.

Reaching the Right Audience

The effectiveness and success of a social media campaign rely heavily on how well an organization can get its message across. This entails not only having the right message but also reaching the right audience at the right time.

Nonprofits that do not have a refined targeted audience risk their campaigns not being successful. As much as you want your message to reach as many people as possible, you also want it to reach the right people who will take the actions you need them to, and this is where targeting comes in.

Your target audience on social media should mirror the type of supporter you already have.  To find your target audience on social media, you need to consider some personas.

You can create these personas by looking at the demographics of those who interact with your nonprofit, volunteers, and the reasons why people want to be associated with your nonprofit. You can then use all this information to create personas you can target.

Once you have these personas, it will be easier to know who you can target, and which personas will likely engage and donate. You can then use the various available social media targeting tools to reach the right people.

Use Social Media to Plan Events

Fundraising events can help nonprofits raise the funds they need, but these events have to be planned well. Social media can be an important tool in the planning stage as it can help you do many of the things you need to do to make an event successful.

It can, for example, help you reach the right donors. Social media has a wider reach than email marketing because, for the latter, you only reach people who already know about your nonprofit. The former lets you reach anyone who is within the target specifications.

Next, social media will help you send out invites to specific donors. Once you send out the invites, you can have a link on your social media page directing people to a website or landing page where they can reserve their attendance. You can then use the same platform to send details about the event so donors can attend easily.

Social media can help you collect donations. Facebook, for example, allows you to add a donate button to a verified organization’s page while other social media platforms do not mind you adding links to your donation pages.

Thanking Donors

One aspect of this whole process that should not be ignored is thanking your donors. Donors who feel appreciated are likely to want to be associated with your business, more likely to donate in the future, and more likely to start accepting recurring donations. You can use social media to send “Thank You” messages to donors you can reach there and use traditional methods like email to reach the rest.

You can also use the same platforms to organize a donor appreciation event. Such events are additional ways to show appreciation and celebrate your donors. You can arrange these events the same way you would fundraising events. You can also use the tips provided by fundraising platforms such as Givebutter to ensure the success of your donor appreciation event. This platform helps different types of organizations streamline their fundraising campaigns by giving them the tools to raise money, track activity and engage with their supporters. The service is free so you do not have to worry about fees and can concentrate on raising the funds you need.

Keeping Your Audience Informed

Donors want to know what is going on with your organization. Showing people what their donation is doing and how it is making a difference compels them to donate in the future. Social media is a potent tool for telling your story and showcasing the impact your nonprofit and your donors’ donations are making.

Additionally, nonprofits can also share live events quotes from donors, and other information to keep their audience engaged. By keeping people engaged like this, nonprofits can increase the likelihood they will see an invitation to the next event or a post asking for a donation in the future.

Social Media Can Support Crowdfunding Options

Apart from events, nonprofits can also collect donations through crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is where an organization collects small amounts from individuals but because the number of individuals is large, they can end up collecting lots of donations.

Crowdfunding success depends on your influence and the number of people you can reach, both of which are enabled and enhanced by social media. There are also numerous crowdfunding tools so you can easily create and send out a crowdfunding request on your social media pages.

When setting up these campaigns, it is important to have a set goal and mission so that people are compelled to donate.

Share Videos About Your Mission’s Success

People want to feel like their donations are making a difference and there is no better way to show them than through video. The best thing about creating video for nonprofits is that the production quality does not have to be too high, but the video has to be effective at communicating with the audience.

When people see they are making a difference and that their donations are being used well, they are compelled to donate more. Also, they are likely to share news of a nonprofit doing a good job which will increase your visibility and donations further.

We all use social media differently, but nonprofits can use it to increase donations and visibility. They can use the same strategies and techniques they use in their social media marketing campaigns to ensure the success of their campaigns and the longevity of the nonprofit.

About the Author

Martin Brown is a senior ad tech writer.  He is also a freelance IT recruitment consultant for various companies helping them find the best person that would fit the vision and ethics of the company.