The Power of Your Nonprofit’s Social Media During Covid-19

It's important, now more than ever, for Nonprofits to stay connected with social media followers. Remember, while you are potentially facing hardship within your organization, so are your supporters, donors, volunteers, etc. Nonprofit organizations are meant to be there through the good times, and the bad times. People have special bonds with organizations like yours, the connection isn't conditional.

Oftentimes social media gets a bad rap. Those who feel negatively about social media, often see it as a platform that falsifies expectations of reality, it creates anxiety, and ultimately the biggest complaint… what’s the point of it? Now is your time to prove that social media has a purpose.

In recent years, the trend is that, as social media becomes more and more popular, people turn to social media for news, recommendations, comic relief or to keep up with friends. Whether they know it or not, social media is forging a connection, without physically having to be with one another. We are at a point now where most of the world is social distancing. So, we challenge you to take the time to make your Nonprofit’s social media a connector. If your Nonprofit doesn’t have at least one social media account, we strongly suggest that you create one. The more accounts, the better because different users have their different “go-to” platforms.

Here are tips that we’ve found to be a big connector on Nonprofit’s social media pages:

• Throwback photos– don’t have to be limited to only Thursday’s! Post a throwback from a big event that you’re Nonprofit recently had, or you can go way back to the beginning. People miss their friends within your organization, so let them reminisce about the fun times! (If you have limited photos, here are a few ideas)
• Take a photo of yourself, or your team and show what you’ve been up to while working from home.
• Ask for pictures of how people are social distancing, what’s been their favorite thing to do. You can then repost it to your page, or just simply like and comment. That simple engagement will go a long way.
• Go live on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and do a program that is unique to your organization. Concerts, teachings, preachings, etc.
• Create a game or contest to engage your followers. It can be as easy as “guess the staff member whose favorite fruit is an apple” or “when was our organization found.” Followers love this!
• Share or write articles about anything related to your organization. Although, our experts suggest keeping the mood light. You know the woman who turned herself into a potato on Zoom by accident? A perfect example of something light to share!
• Comment and like posts that your followers are posting. It’s a fun way to pop in and say hello! We suggest this be a one or two time occurrence, not an everyday thing.

This may seem like a lot of work, you may even be wondering if it’s worth it, and furthermore you may be wondering if you can even allocate the funds for this. It can become a lot of work, it may cost a little bit of money if you choose to boost posts (you can do this without spending money), but we promise you- it is worth it. If your supporters don’t hear from you during tough times, what will incline them to want to hear from you when times are good? Be there for them one of the only ways you can be right now- on social media.