5 Social Media Content Management Tips for Nonprofits
Social media is the preferred channel for communication with Millennials and Gen Zers when it comes to charitable opportunities. In 2017, surveyed nonprofit organizations reported that Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn were their top three utilized social media channels for distributing information and connecting with donors. Recognizing the essential role social media plays in modern-day fundraising is important for all nonprofits interested in securing individual donations.
Social media can help amplify nonprofit organization’s outreach initiatives, increase community connection, and help recruit clients, donors, volunteers, and supporters. Popular social media apps, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn, can provide nonprofits an opportunity to share their mission and engage the community. While operations are important for nonprofit development, so is demonstrating the impact of an organization’s work through online communications.
Effective Social Media Strategy for Nonprofits
The effectiveness of any social media strategy is heavily influenced by the quality of its content. Developing social media content can be a challenging task for many nonprofit organizations, especially those operating with limited resources in a highly saturated space. Creating unique and branded content every day for every platform is a momentous task that can be assisted by the implementation of a social media content management strategy.
Within the marketing world, there’s this myth that good social media just happens - one lucky video goes viral, one random post results in thousands of likes, etc. Good social media isn’t random - it’s intentional, organized, and well-executed. Socially-savvy organizations will incorporate a planned social strategy that includes everything from carefully-crafted content to optimal posting times to a comment moderation plan.
Here are a few tips for managing an organization’s social media content:
Build a social media content collection.
Effective social media requires really good content - articles, graphics, videos, and the like. Having access to a diverse collection of quality, relevant content is essential to social media success. While content types differ from platform to platform, organizational leaders should work to develop three specific content collections for potential social media content: information (articles, blogs, etc.), images (photos, infographics, flyers, etc.), and videos. Identified content should be organized in a central place, like a cloud, that can be accessed by multiple members of the team. Often, photos and videos from events can be repurposed for future social media use beyond the initial event coverage.
Social media content sources matter.
Photo and video content that’s original to the organization – not sourced from stock photo/video banks – is always best. Organizations should ask for written consent prior to utilizing a photo or video of someone for promotional purposes, including a social media post. If the organization does not have a designated photographer (and let’s be real, most nonprofit organizations do not), crowdsourced images and videos from organization team members, volunteers, clients, and donors can be an excellent social media content source. For example, a veteran nonprofit organization might ask its military-connected supporters to provide a service photo to be featured on the organization’s social media channels in support of Veterans Day.
User-generated social media content is prime.
Some of the best types of social media content organizations can source is user-generated, meaning, the content was created and possibly even posted by someone outside the organization. User-generated content is often deemed more trustworthy than organization-source content, and it provides a network effect of sorts, as it can encourage the user’s networks to support the organization. Restaurant reviews on Yelp are an excellent example of how this type of network effect can increase community awareness and organizational support. A fun way nonprofit organizations can encourage user-generated social media content is through the hosting of a social media event like a Photo Challenge, Virtual Scavenger Hunt, or Social Media Bingo that goes along with a monthly theme or observance.
Social media content should be managed with an editorial calendar.
An editorial calendar can help an organization streamline its social media management and select content that’s relevant and sensitive to the current social climate. The editorial calendar doesn’t have to be set in stone - it’s a guideline that includes the content that’s to be posted, hashtags, and links, along with any special days or events that the team should be aware of when posting. This is particularly important when multiple team members are involved in an organization’s social media management.
Here are two examples of editorial calendars for social media content:
Example 1 - click here.
Example 2 - click here.
Additionally, organizational leaders should evaluate holidays and observances that may be relevant to the organization’s target audience and consider creating interesting content around these dates. Having a shared editorial calendar can help organizational leaders plan their content in advance, and assist in the development of specific campaigns.
Schedule social media content
Optimal social media posting times differ from platform to platform, and can change from the day-to-day. The best time to post content on social media may fall outside the traditional 9-to-5 workday; however, thanks to scheduling tools, organizations can schedule social media content to post at optimal times.
Here are a few social media content scheduling tools:
Similar to the editorial calendar, social media content scheduling tools can help organizations keep their social media content organized, which can, in turn, improve its effectiveness and visibility.
Improve your nonprofit’s social media strategy:
Becker Digital is available to help your nonprofit organization establish meaningful connections, foster organizational relationships, and drive positive change. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your organization’s goals and learn how we can help support the mission. Contact us to schedule a consultation.