Online Social Networking can be an extremely powerful tool for Not For Profit organisations as it can be cost effective, present real value and real ROI. An online presence drives and cultivates relationships that are helpful in the long term, through opening a two way communication platform allowing anybody and everybody to get to know your cause or service. A key point to remember when jumping online is that any social channel you adopt needs to have content and the resources available to effectively manage that. Let’s be clear though, you may not have the resources straight away which is why we developed our 6 must have social media tools, be sure to read that again if you feel overwhelmed, there is always a tool to help you!
Every marketing intern and marketing expert can agree that in such a saturated and competitive environment your presence needs to be more than posting blogs. Not For Profit‘s are competing every moment for the top spot in potential donor’s minds. Whether your organization is doing this through brand awareness, proactive engagement or forming strategic alliances with spokespersons and advocates for your cause. Below are some ways to make social media effective for your Not For Profit.
Connect and Engage with Social Media
Social media channels are a great way for donors and “cause believers” to ask questions and open up a dialogue to enhance your organizational goals through transparency and honesty. Opening up a conversation helps strengthen your relationship with supporters and build a community online. As mentioned in our previous post, choosing a strategy is important, having a good presence online allows you to control the content, but it’s also a place where people can voice concerns relating to your organization. This enables you to improve your marketing strategies/tactics to provide greater opportunity for engagement with donors and future donors. Help Others
Find out about your Not For Profit Cause
Most people will tell you that social media is a great place to find out more about an organization. Particularly with Not For Profit’s it can often give you greater insight into the cause and how one can get involved and participate to make a difference.
Having your supporters follow your social media activities means that your cause always has an opportunity to appear on their feeds, giving them periodic and strategic reminders of what you are fighting for.
Better still, it can drive supporters back to your website. This means while they may seldom check your site for new updates – you have the opportunity to encourage them back there. Integrating your social media strategy as part of your overall communication strategy is essential to have a powerful voice that grabs attention and headline.
Change the World
Put in the time and effort and you will see the return. Content, content and maybe just a little bit more content. By increasing the number of people who are exposed to what your organization is doing, the more likely people are to get behind it and support your cause.
Making content shareable is all about creating a vibrant, powerful and courageous story line. Everyone can have a story, make yours worth the read. Charity Water are an excellent example of quality posting. They have emotive images for their Instagram posts along with a caption that contains the shock factor. They use this social channel to “explore” the lives of those who they are bringing clean and safe drinking water to. It’s important to be creative with your social strategy or campaign – finding ways to incentivize and capture the audience’s heart and mind.
Social media is evolving quickly and rapidly. For Not For Profit’s, social media is growing 3x faster than email! Start small and take creative risks, find out what works and what doesn’t for your Not For Profit online. No single strategy works, and you can’t stick to one idea forever. Evolving with the needs and wants of your audience will allow you to capture new hearts and enhance your donor list.