Written by Kaylee Kellogg, Communications Intern

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“[…] thinking about social media from a professional aspect can shift what or how you may want certain postings to look and feel. You may also want to find ways to stay relevant or get shares to spread the word.”
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In today’s world, using a variety of social media sites is important to maintain a brand and to help people connect with your nonprofit. Whether you’re just starting out on using social media or if you’re a social media professional, thinking about social media from a professional aspect can shift what or how you may want certain postings to look or feel. You may also want to find ways to stay relevant or get shares to spread the word. Here are a few tips about using social media for nonprofits that can help anyone get into the right state of mind.

Be Social

Social media is called that for a reason – it calls for people to connect. While usually people tend to associate social media interaction with friends, family or coworkers, the social aspect can also be for business pages! Ask your followers to share experiences, have them vote on an aspect of your sites and give them a chance to express their ideas. You’ll be able to learn more about your followers and see what they’d like to see more of!

Share

Another important aspect of social media is sharing. This aspect helps others to see posts that people like or are relevant to their own friends. Nonprofits can benefit by doing the same! Whether they are a partner through your nonprofit or simply sharing in your mission, share from other nonprofits as well. Other nonprofits may share relevant posts of yours in return, as well as reaching people that may have interest in your work!

Be Useful

Social media can have many different uses – for fun, reaching out to old friends or a variety of others. When talking about a nonprofit, though, you want to make postings that are useful to your followers. Find a way to create posts that are useful and driven toward pushing your mission. This doesn’t mean posts can’t be fun or interesting though – simply try to find a way to blend between entertaining and something people can take away after reading.

Help People Visualize

Humans are highly visual creatures. Seeing how something is affecting others or how something works can make a huge difference in understanding it. This can be especially useful for nonprofits, as we often cover a broad spectrum of issues or missions. Use photos and videos, and use them often. Get testimonials from people you’ve worked with or simply take video during times you are actively doing your work. Helping people visualize what you’re doing can aid them in having a better grasp of your mission and can make them more understanding in the work you’re trying to do.

There are many ways of configuring your nonprofit social media pages in order to best reach an audience, and these were simply a few that will help you get started. Click here to see a post on even more ways to use nonprofit social media effectively.

If you have a topic or idea that you think could make a great CEDAM blog post, please contact Kaylee Kellogg at kellogg@cedamichigan.org.