The honest truth of business today is that you need social media to help you market, connect, and raise awareness. Maybe your nonprofit’s social media accounts are run by an industry expert, or maybe (in my experience) run by a busy admin trying to keep up with the ever-changing needs of your organization.
And after an entire pandemic glued to our screens and phones, I get it that you may not want to think about more screen time for either yourself or your staff, but there are some low screen-time fixes that can help you when you’re marketing your next fundraiser, be it a fill the gap campaign or your yearly gala event. But most importantly, we want your mission and message amplified so those who need you can find you, because that’s what it’s all about.
5 Common Social Media Mistakes Nonprofits Make:
5. Letting your social media go completely dark. Experts say you should post multiple times a week or even multiple times a day depending on what platform you’re using. I am not an expert but I am a busy fundraiser like you so I can confidently say don’t let your social media go dark. Make an effort to post at least once a week on every platform you use, or every other week. Some people gauge the functionality of an organization by how frequently they post or how active they are on social media, so going dark may look to some like you’ve closed your doors when that’s not the case at all.
4. Info Overload. Posting infrequently isn’t ideal, but posting all the time with constant calls for donations can be overwhelming to your audience. Share narratives that inspire your followers to donate without constantly asking for money.
3. Not understanding your donor base/audience. Social media can help you reach your current donors while you throw the net wide for new donors, volunteers, and sponsors. Everyone who follows your social media agrees with, believes in, and is interested in your cause. Posting things that don’t relate back to your mission or welcome people into your day-to-day reality can confuse your audience and make it dwindle.
2. Making it hard to share and amplify your message. Check those sharing settings! If a sponsor, donor, volunteer, and others can’t share your posts, tag you, or help you amplify your message, any campaigns you have running are going to be over before they start. As a public organization, there’s very little reason to have your sharing settings locked or your profile private.
1. Not engaging with other accounts. Like, share, tag, and jump into the conversations being had! Connect, answer questions, and share the love with vendors, and sponsors, give a shout out to some of your MVP employees both leading up to your gala event and all year long. Let your social media accounts be a way to reach your community by discussing your services, tagging other possible resources, and putting your org out there. Not engaging with your followers means you end up with less follower attention for bigger campaigns.
Need help planning your fundraiser? Just reach out!