5 Reasons Your Nonprofit Should Invest Time in Social Media

Social media is not just a distracting time-suck full of cat videos and unnecessary life updates. It’s the future of nonprofit communication! Almost half of the world’s population is on social media. Sixty-nine percent of adult Americans use at least one social network and spend, on average, two and a half hours on their social networks per day. To share the importance of your nonprofit’s work and get your message in front of your supporters on the platforms they use daily, you need to invest some time in managing your social media platforms.

Keep reading to learn how your nonprofit can directly benefit from investing time in social media. I guarantee it will be time well spent!

Your supporters are already on social media making decisions about where they’ll spend their money.

74% of consumers make purchasing decisions on social media.

Read “purchasing decisions” as where your supporters decide to spend their money—including money they might spend as a donation in response to your heartfelt appeal. Your nonprofit is competing with thousands of other organizations and companies using social media to sway people to spend money on their service or cause. Is your case for support being tweeted or discussed in a Facebook post? Get in front of your supporters and sway them to spend money on your cause.

Crazy amounts of money are being raised on social media.

Since its launch in 2015, people have donated over $1 billion to nonprofits through Facebook fundraisers. Twenty million people have either donated to or started their own Facebook fundraiser. The results speak for themselves—Facebook, at the very least, is a fundraising giant. Your nonprofit should use this to its advantage!

With Qgiv, you can combine your peer-to-peer campaigns with Facebook fundraisers. Your supporters can sync their fundraising campaigns and get your nonprofit’s message out in front of their friends and followers. Learn more about our integration with Facebook fundraisers here.

Other social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram may not have their own fundraising API like Facebook, but they still possess the ability to help your nonprofit fundraise. You can use hashtags to tap into global fundraising movements like Giving Tuesday or Tweetsgiving to raise money for your organization.

Social media can be used to acquire new donors and volunteers.

If your posts are compelling and you utilize social media to tell your organization’s story, you’ll notice that more and more people see your content and are propelled to action by your posts. Take advantage of it! Use social media to share volunteer opportunities and needs. Share quotes and images of happy volunteers. Post about someone who was impacted by a donor’s generosity. State the benefits of donating to your organization. Ask for donations.

Social media is a direct line to those who are most interested in your organization. Your supporters have made the conscious choice to “like” or “follow” your page, so take advantage of the platform to discuss your organization’s needs.

Social media is one of the easiest, and most cost-effective, storytelling platforms out there.

While direct mail is still a great fundraising method for many nonprofits, direct mail appeals can be costly and open rates peak around 6%. Without spending a dime of your nonprofit’s budget, you can see how many individuals have seen your content on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And unless you’re spending money on boosting your posts or social advertising, your ability to write a message and send it out into your followers’ networks is always free.

Unlike a direct mail piece or a case study, which tend to be longer pieces, social media posts perform better when they are short and concise. For a tweet or a status update, you don’t have to spend weeks reviewing content with the various members of your team. Pick a compelling photo, add a two to three sentence caption, and voila—you’ve got a post that shares a story. For tips on how to create good content for social media read our blog, Three Nonprofits That Nailed It on Social Media.

Your supporters shouldn’t only think about your nonprofit when they get an appeal in the mail.

Donor engagement yields donor retention. Donors who feel appreciated and engaged in an organization’s work are more likely to make a second gift to an organization. So how do you get to this “second-gift” sweet spot? Communicate with your donors for more than just fundraising asks.

Encourage your donors to follow you on social media for the latest news and updates regarding your organization. And when you post on social media be sure to keep your donors in mind—what would they like to see? Provide examples of what donations can accomplish. Offer statistics on the various costs associated with the services your nonprofit provides.

Social media should be one of the many tools at your disposal to communicate with your donors and keep them engaged. Make it a point to talk to your donors and supporters; building a two-way dialogue makes donors feel heard and appreciated!

Conclusion

Social media is a great tool for marketing your nonprofit’s mission and vision. By investing time in your nonprofit’s social media channels you can acquire new supporters, recruit volunteers, and better retain your donors. To stay in the forefront of your supporters’ minds and busy schedules, spend some time crafting messages for the area they already spend hours of their time—social media.