We are currently in the age of social giving. While direct marketing, such as appeal mailings and capital campaign brochures, is an integral part of a fundraising plan, digital marketing is a vital piece of the puzzle—and is often overlooked. Organizations typically allocate around 12% of their marketing budgets to social media. But even with the most limited budgets, social media allows not-for-profits to reach new audiences and potential donors in a quick and affordable way.
Organizations typically allocate around 12% of their marketing budgets to social media.
First, Choose Your Social Media Goal(s)
While your organization’s main goal is likely to boost donations, there may be other reasons for putting a social media strategy in place. Aside from fundraising, your not-for-profit may wish to:
- Develop brand awareness
- Tell impact stories
- Recruit and mobilize volunteers
- Capture the attention of your target demographic
The great thing about social media is that you can do all of this in one place! With a great digital marketing strategy, you can continually reevaluate your tactics and evolve as an organization before waiting for the next appeal mailing to drop.
Best Practices for Social Media
- Target the right audience. Rather than writing posts for the general public, you will want to determine your target demographic and cater your content towards them so you’re reaching the maximum number of potential supporters.
- Choose the right platforms. Focus your efforts on the social media sites where your target audience is. It’s more beneficial to be active on two platforms, than be stagnant on five.
- Create effective content. Volunteer stories, event promotion, and “how-to help” posts will tend to support your organization more than repeatedly asking for dollars.
- Prioritize engagement. Be responsive to questions, comments, and posts that have tagged your organization. Your constituents want to be heard.
Don’t Forget About #GivingTuesday!
The Tuesday after Thanksgiving, coined Giving Tuesday, has been growing steadily in popularity since its inception in 2012. Last year, $2.47 billion dollars were raised on Giving Tuesday, up 25% from 2019. While social media is important for your organization year round, efforts should be heightened on this day in particular. With the right efforts, it can be an extremely effective fundraising tactic—so make sure November 30, 2021 is marked on your calendar!
Here’s how your not-for-profit can participate in this annual day of giving without burning out your donors and staff.
Need Help with Your Social Media?
The world of social media is changing constantly and it’s often a lot for someone within the organization to handle alone. For information on how Trillion can help your not-for-profit with Social Media Management, complete our contact form or give us a call at 908.219.4703.
