Smart Social Media for Busy NonProfits

Choosing your Platform • Knowing your Audience

Ellen Didier President

www.RedSageOnline.com

NONPROFIT UNIVERSITY Sponsored by the Community Foundation

June 22, 2016

First, put Social Media in Perspective

For every 1,000 email subscribers,

nonprofits have

355

Fans

132

Followers

19

Followers

Source: M+R Benchmarks X + NTEN 2016 Study of Non-profits online

There are more than 3 platforms!

How do you choose?

What are your Social Media goals?

Share Information & Build Awareness?

Generate Conversations & Engagement?

Generate Action? Become a volunteer, donate, sign a petition?

Traditional emails and face to face interactions

are far more effective at driving action.

Who are you trying to reach?

What type of organization are you?

Source: M+R Benchmarks X + NTEN 2016 Study of Non-profits online

What are you most comfortable doing?

Hint: Don’t blog if you hate writing

The top platform for best overall reach

Source: M+R Benchmarks X + NTEN 2016 Study of Non-profits online

According to Hubspot, use the 3 A’s for your posts

1/3

Appreciation Recognize donors,

supporters,

volunteers,

employees

1/3 Advocacy Engage and share

content of other

groups relative to

your area of service

1/3 Appeals Solicit donations or help.

Appreciation

Advocacy

Appeals

Always include photos or videos

Articles with images get

94%

more

more views than articles without.

https://blog.kissmetrics.com/visual-content-you-need-to-use-in-your-marketing-

campaign/

Create your own branded graphics at Canva.com Check out Facebook/FocusOnTheFamily

Generate conversations

Ask questions

Top Platforms for Breaking News & Live Events

Source: M+R Benchmarks X + NTEN 2016 Study of Non-profits online

Twitter & Instagram are most

powerful when it is immediate

Events (Twitter) Crisis

communication

Breaking news General content

What to post on Twitter

30%

conversation

& responses

60% retweeting

& sharing other

content

10% announcements and events

Include photos and links.

Shorten links with bit.ly

Use RiteTag.com or hashtagifyme.com to find most popular hashtags

(don’t use more than 2 in your posts)

…and influencers, and usage patterns. Free and low cost plans.

Display a live Tweetwall at your Event

VisibleTweets.com and others: http://iag.me/socialmedia/guides/tools-to-display-tweets-at-

an-event/

Tweet at public events related to your area

Pinterest Success Story

Pinterest Success Story

Instagram for photo content HIGH QUALITY photos

Instagram for photo content Shareable Inspiration and Facts

Why use social donation tools? Impulse buying works – particularly with Millennials

Collect Donations through Social Media

Most effective when triggered by event or specific project

Facebook Donate Now Button

Links to your website or online giving app.

Facebook Donate Now Button

Links to your website or online giving app.

Facebook will is working on tools to donate direct through Facebook and even set up

specific fundraising pages.

Source: https://donations.fb.com/

Charitweet.com Fee: 5.9% + $0.50

Text to Donate promotion

How do you find the time?

It is ALL about building processes to make it happen!

Research and create a list of nonprofit channels you love

Google search: top nonprofit facebook pages 2016 etc.

Use a Calendar: Start with the Year View Download an Excel calendar from WinCalendar.com

Fill in your annual events and holidays first fill in when you will post on each platform before and after the event.

Consider Establishing Monthly Themes

Jan: Web Design Feb: Tradeshows

Mar: Facebook Apr: Online Advertising

May: Branding Jun: Logo Design

This makes it easier to plan posts and keep the

content fresh. While not every single post will

conform to the them, the major ones will.

Fill in each month’s theme on your monthly calendars.

List the types of ongoing posts you want to make and how often you think

you can pull these off reliably.

• Monthly: o Share a newsletter once

o Find two to four news articles or blogs about your service area to share

o One testimonial video

• Weekly (unless an event is happening) o Post one profile of a volunteer, board member, someone you

helped, teacher appreciation, etc.

o Post one inspirational quote graphic with your logo

Record these on each month of your annual calendar – not what you are

posting, just the type of post (FB-Profile, T/FB-Share Enews, etc.). Back off

the posts around events, holidays, or vacations – you will be too busy. Just

get the schedule mapped out.

Put a 1 – 3 hour Marketing Planning Meeting early each month of your calendar!

• Keep this meeting sacred!

• Look at your list of inspiration nonprofit channels

• Write your posts for the next month, sticking to the theme, if applicable

• Identify content from other organizations to share, gather links, and write accompanying post

• Identify inspirational quotes and design your graphics

• Plan who you will profile, plan or request photos, and write profile text

Put a 1-hour Weekly marketing

meeting on your calendar

• Review and finalize your posts

• Adapt depending on what is going on that

is exciting or newsworthy

• Schedule your posts for the following week

Daily

• Take a few minutes to review and respond

to posts at least twice per day.

Make posting easier – reuse content

•

•

One newsletter could

potentially generate 4

Facebook posts and

up to 8 Twitter posts

How to find great articles to share

My Favorite Scheduling tool

50% off these rates for non-profits!

Download this presentation at

www.slideshare.net/ellendid4

Please connect with me!

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