The last couple of years have sometimes been called the Age of Social Media. Everybody is talking about it, and entire companies base their business models on social media. But are the tools that can also be used in the non-profit world? And does every NGO need several social media profiles to operate today, or could this even hurt your mission?
In this article, we give you a glimpse into the complicated area of social media management and give you tips on how to maneuver it to profit the maximum for your organization. In the second section, we will point out the pros and cons of the different platforms that you could use.
Social Media for NGOsSocial media for NGOs offers a great chance to present their work to the outside world and to get into contact with their supporters, their beneficiaries and other people interested in their work. These profiles do not have the same function as a website though, as they are – as the name already suggests – much more social. It is important to use this social and interactive side to engage with the audience and make them a part of the work. Only in this way, social media profiles have an extra benefit for NGOs.
On social media, you can share pictures, short texts and little videos that give an insight into your work instantly. You have the chance to get in contact with people who want to know more and will get direct feedback for your work. You can also network with others working in your area or with potential donors through your social media profiles. With new tools that are becoming more common now, it is even possible to directly fundraise through social media. So, if your NGO has the need to present the work you do to the outside, using social media channels makes a lot of sense to tap into the potential that lies here.
There are countless social media platforms out there. The most known ones are probably Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube, but this list doesn´t even scratch the surface of what exists. The first instinct is often to open accounts on all these well-known platforms and sometimes even some additional ones. But be careful with this, as more is not necessarily better. Before you open a new profile, you should ask yourself carefully what you want to achieve with it, how much time you can invest in managing them and what your target group is.
Some social media platforms are more geared towards younger people, some towards middle-aged. If you want to be known better amongst a very young target group, a Snapchat profile makes sense, if you want to present your work to potential donors, it would actually hurt more than do you good. The same goes the other way around if you only publish on Facebook, you will not reach a very young target group.
Make it a group decision to decide which platforms you want to use for your NGO. You could start with one, i.e. on Facebook, and then see how it goes before you start the next ones. Make sure that you are clear about the audience you want to reach and if that audience would use that specific platform you are thinking about. A good way to find out if a platform would be a good fit is to check their user statistics for your country. Be aware that this might change depending on location as well, i.e. in Europe and the US, Facebook is used less by young people, in Asia and Africa it is still on the rise.
Also, consider the time and resources you can invest in social media management. Opening a profile is only the first step, afterward, you have to maintain it and constantly fill it with content. If you have very limited resources, limit your social media profiles as well. It is always better to have no account than to have an un-kept one.
Discuss with your team which profiles you think could benefit your mission and who would manage them. It is always a good idea to work on a manual early on, so everybody knows how to run your accounts.
Creating a manual or finding your voice is very important when you use social media for NGOs. Before you start, you should ask yourself what you want to achieve. Do you want to attract potential donors, communicate better with your beneficiaries or just inform the general public about what you are doing? Which voice will be best to achieve this? Does a funny voice make sense, should it be more casual, or very serious? Make sure everybody who will post from your account knows this and adheres to your chosen style – otherwise, your feed will look sketchy. You might have different voices for different platforms, as your audience will be very different in each network – but within the network, your voice should be consistent.
Also, take some time to think about how you would deal with a fallout before you start. We all hope we never get any negative feedback on social media, but in today’s world, this happens more than we would hope. It is good to have some checks and balances in place to be able to react appropriately and not too emotionally when something should happen. One thing could be to agree to have four eyes on posts that respond to offensive content instead of two to make sure, the answer is appropriate.
Social media are a great way to find out what your audience thinks and to get feedback. Like the name already says, they are social. You will be able to enter a much more responsive relationship with the people who follow you than with a website alone. You have to be aware though that this will take time and effort – opening the account is only a first step, running and managing it is much more work and takes constant engagement. If you do it right, social media can make a great contribution to your cause though.
Social media has become an integral part of our daily lives. Almost everybody who has access to the internet also has an account in one of the many social media networks that exist. For this reason, NGOs should not pass the chance to use them for their causes as well. In this section, we will take a detailed look on Facebook and the many reasons, why NGOs should have a profile with this social network. Social Media for NGOs always starts with a Facebook account.
Facebook has over two billion users. Signing up for an account for your NGO gives you potential exposure to many people who otherwise would never get to know about your project. We have already talked about the importance of your website, but through a Facebook profile, it is much easier to get exposure for your work. To find your homepage, people already need to know about your organization or at least search for it with very specific terms. Facebook gives you more chances to share your work throughout your network and then through the network of your followers.
Sometimes it is very difficult to get a direct connection to the people you want to work with or the ones you want to inform about your project. Facebook is a great way to get direct feedback for your work. If you post a picture, people will comment on it. If you post a link to your website, they will learn more about your project and share their thoughts in the comments. It is an easy and great way to find out if your project is creating a buzz or if no one is really interested in your work. You can ask questions and create a direct connection to your audience – something that is very important to deliver good work.
You can also use Facebook for direct fundraising from your followers. Recently, Facebook has introduced a new feature to directly fundraise through their page. But there are also other ways to increase fundraising with the help of Facebook. You can post links to your fundraising or crowdfunding campaign or just ask for direct donations in one of your updates.
Facebook offers several tools that you can use to present your work or to ask for funding. People can send you direct messages, you can prepare polls and have the opportunity to receive direct feedback for your work. If you use these tools, you can create a more direct connection to your audience and include them more closely in your work. People who have already been messaging with your organization are more likely to donate to your cause. If you are not sure how to roll out a new program, you can use polls to collect opinions and develop a strategy with the direct feedback of the people who might already have experience in this field.
Facebook is a very easy way to share your work with your beneficiaries or people who want to support you. Sometimes you only have a small update that would otherwise not make it to your homepage – Facebook is the perfect medium for this. You can share pictures and short videos of your work and your progress and keep your supporters updated. If you end up writing an article on your homepage about the progress of your projects, you can link to this article and make sure that many people read it. Sharing work in progress makes your followers feel closer to the project and in the long run, makes them more likely to support it.
Facebook has a great feature to plan and share events with your audience. If you have a fundraiser, an informational event or the inauguration of your project – you can plan and share this on Facebook and make sure that everybody who needs to know about it gets the information. You can even directly invite people via Facebook.
On Facebook, you can easily find other organizations that work in your field. If geographically or thematically – you can find people who fight the same problems and might want to partner up with you. Share your experiences and resources to make the best use of them.
Networking is very important in the world of fundraising. On Facebook, you can not only connect with other NGOs that could be potential partners but also with donors, professionals from your field and potential supporters. When you follow donors on social media, you will get to know much better what they actually want to fund and where their work leads them. Sometimes it can be a great way to get into contact when you comment and share posts and connect this way. Tagging partners and supporters make sure that you extend your network and let people know about your work and your connections.
Facebook gives you the possibility to easily post visual media – pictures and videos. These cannot always be posted to a similar extent on the homepage. If people have a real idea of your project, they are much more likely to support your project. This is one of the great plus points of social media for NGOs. Pictures and video are the perfect way to invite people to take a closer look and understand your project. They are an important tool in storytelling and create an emotional connection.
On Facebook, you can also share links in an easy and appealing way. If it is articles from your own homepage or articles that have been written about your organization or your projects, you can share them with your audience and let everybody know what great work you are doing.
Can you think of any more reasons why NGOs should have a facebook page? I am sure there are more. But before you open your own Facebook page now – think about the time you want to invest in social media. There are many ways in which a Facebook page can benefit your NGO, but if you do not have the time to run it, it can also do more harm than good.
Twitter is one of the biggest and most influential social media networks out there. Many NGOs have a profile there, but before you open a twitter account for your NGO, you should carefully consider if you have enough time to manage the account. If you do not feel like someone in your organization can spend at least 20 to 30 minutes per day to manage your twitter account, maybe it is not a good idea to open one. Twitter is highly interactive and needs very quick reaction times, so daily management is necessary.
You also need to consider the people you want to reach with your social media activities. Twitter has 335 million users worldwide, but the network focusses more on the news and newsworthy information. While pictures are always helpful, the network does not rely that much on pictures. If you have a project that has close ties to an ongoing discussion like climate change or women’s issues, and you want to be part of the discussion, Twitter can help you. If you only want to present the work you do in a local project, the social network might not be a good fit. It is a good idea to join a personal account first for a couple of weeks to get a feel for it. After this, it is easier to make a decision about the need for an organizational account.
But what are the ways in which Twitter can help your organization? Here are the 5 main reasons why you should have an account on Twitter after considering the above-mentioned points.
Twitter is a great place to connect with similar organizations. You can find NGOs that work in the same field or the same geographical area and network with them. Maybe you can even find potential partners for cooperation. You can share each other’s posts and tweets and support each other’s work as a way to create trust and a good base for a partnership. Exchanging information and experiences always is a great way to learn.
The same goes for potential or actual donors and supporters. On Twitter, you can connect with them, tag them in your posts and get the information they need out there. When you follow a donor for a while, retweet and comment on their posts and show them that you are interested in their work, you might have the first foot in the door when you approach them for support. If you are active on twitter and stay up to date with current developments, you show potential supporters that you are an expert in your field and want to learn more as you go.
Twitter uses hashtags to categorize tweets. Sometimes, a hashtag about current events is trending and many people will use it in their tweets. This makes it very easy for people who join the discussion to find relevant tweets. You can use this for your NGO. Make sure you monitor trending hashtags and join in on discussions if they are relevant for your organization. This way, you can show that you are up to date and want to be part of the change. This shows potential donors and supporters that you really care. Only do this though if you really have something to contribute to the discussion.
On Twitter, you can share your own website articles. It is also a great way to share articles and links that have information about your field of work. This way you educate yourself and show supporters that you are willing and able to learn. It also makes sure that you stay up to date on developments in your field and are able to incorporate this new information into your project work.
Twitter is a social network where many movements like #metoo or #timesup were born. If you work in a sector that is part of any movement, you can use that to your advantage and become part of it. Make sure though that you do not jump on a train that takes you in the wrong direction. Only join the discussion if you have something to contribute. There are many stories of brands who tried to use the publicity that comes with using a trending hashtag but failed spectacularly. But if you are working for women’s empowerment, it makes sense you join this discussion. If you work on climate change mitigation, it is good to add your voice when this matter is discussed. Becoming part of a movement can make your organization stronger and lead to new connections and partnerships.
Before you open an Instagram account for your organization, you should consider if you have enough time and resources to manage the account and if it can help you to achieve your goal and reach your target audience. It takes time and resources to run a successful Instagram account, so you should only join this network if you can invest the necessary resources. Instagram for NGOs can help you to further your goals, but an inactive account with outdated information can do more harm to your cause than good.
Instagram is a highly visual social network that is based on pictures and videos. It only makes sense to consider opening an account on this network if you can feed it with pictures that will attract attention. Think and discuss with your team about this before and find out if this is something that would work for your organization.
But what are the ways in which Instagram can help your organization? Here are the 5 main reasons why you should have an account on Instagram after considering the above-mentioned points.
Instagram is a network that is based on pictures. Beautiful pictures of your work and your beneficiaries are the perfect way to create more interest in your work. Always keep in mind that a good picture can tell more than 1000 words. You can make sure that your supporters feel a more personal connection to your project through your visuals. This will make them more likely to support you in the long term.
Like all the other social networks, Instagram is the perfect place to look for like-minded organizations and to connect with them. You can network with NGOs that work in your field or your geographical area and maybe even find potential partners for the future. Showing that you are well connected in your field makes you look like a more reliable partner for potential supporters as well.
Social media in general, but also Instagram, in particular, is a great medium to connect with potential supporters. Through pictures, people will get to know your project on a much more personal level and will be more likely to support you. They can follow a project closely and create a meaningful connection with your organization.
If you use hashtags in a smart way, you can extend your network beyond the people who already know you and your work and gain new friends and supporters. Although it is very difficult to share links to content via Instagram, you can include one link to your website in your profile and lead people there if they want to get more information. If you can manage to get into the trending images with your contributions, you will gain many new followers that support your mission from outside your current circle.
By sharing pictures, you can show the human side of your work and make it easier for people to create an emotional connection with your project. Information and data are important, but through pictures, people will feel much closer to the project. If you use this strategically, you can create a following that is very passionate about your cause and can relate.
YouTube is one of the fastest growing networks worldwide. Almost everybody uses YouTube to watch funny videos, listen to music or to learn new things. But does it also make sense for NGOs to have a YouTube channel? There are a couple of pros and cons for this that you should discuss in your team before you think about opening a YouTube channel for your NGO.
YouTube videos are an amazing way to give great insights into your project. With today’s technology advances, every smartphone can produce videos with decent quality and they are much more engaging than pictures and text only. Videos can give voice to the beneficiaries and make your project much more real for the viewers. In the end, that is one of the main goals when using social media for NGOs.
You can also use YouTube to disseminate your project work. Maybe you are teaching a specific method or approach, and videos could be a great tool to share this with other NGOs and organizations.
YouTube is also a platform where not many NGOs are represented yet. If you have a great channel, this could be somewhere where you can shine and be bright. You could also use YouTube to connect with beneficiaries and volunteers – people love seeing themselves in videos.
At the other hand, there is a reason why there are not many NGOs represented on YouTube. Uploading videos on the platform takes much more than just pointing a phone at the action. You need to make the videos look professional, edit it, make sure it tells exactly the story you want to tell and then market it. All of this is a lot of work!
Before you start a channel, make sure you are able and willing to make that commitment. Is your expected return on investment for this channel worth the effort? Do you maybe have volunteers to whom you could outsource this process? If you want to use YouTube for your NGO, you have to be very sure that you can reach your audience with it and that you can invest the necessary time and resources to run a professional channel.
Pinterest is more of a search machine than a social network. You can post pictures that have an attached link with them and others can repin them. Through Pinterest, members try to generate traffic more than anything else.
While traffic to your webpage is important, it normally is not key to your success. People who use Pinterest normally search for DIY tips, recipes, and travel advice – not so much for NGOs they can potentially donate to or cooperate with.
Pinterest is a platform that is very optional for NGOs – it can increase website traffic and through that the awareness about the NGO, but there are other platforms that do this much better and with less work. Discuss with your team if you really think Pinterest is necessary for your NGO.
In conclusion, we can say that Social Media are very important for NGOs – but that more does not always mean better. It takes a lot of work to professionally manage an account, and before opening one every NGO should carefully consider if they have the necessary resources and if the chosen channel is the right one to reach the target audience.
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Eva is based in Germany and has worked for nearly a decade with NGOs on the grassroots level in Nepal in the field of capacity development and promotion of sustainable agricultural practices. Before that, she worked in South America and Europe with different organizations. She holds a Ph.D. in geography and her field of research was sustainability and inclusion in development projects.
Very interesting article, it add more knowledge to me. Thank alot
https://www.facebook.com/Nasawyia
Very informative. We would like to join but not sure about the social media. Please advice
Very informative. I enjoyed reading the article.
This is fantastic, thanks so much. Our NGOs on http://www.forgood.co.za can definitely benefit from this in-depth advice!
great presentation about social media and NGOs and social works.
Very insightful! Kudos to you and your team for the work you do; helping NGOs to gain traction and scale-up.
Dear Ahmed: Thank you for your comment. We will keep on updating our website’s content to assist NGOs and CBOs.
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Very informative article, thank you so much.
Very nice article and supportive to all us regarding to ngo field work
Eva Wieners, thank you for this collection to help boost the visibility of our work. Courage!
I am regular visitor, how are you everybody? This article posted at this website is genuinely pleasant.| а
This is very helpful Eva. What are your thoughts on hiring a professional social media content provider if we don’t have anyone who can do that for us?
you can choose someone in you work department
but i’m in a refugee camp whereby we are running a project in refugee camp and yet we have no donation and we still working harder to ensure people are well
Hello Hubert: We are not a funding organization and does not provide grants. We are a social enterprise that provides a platform to connect you with expert advice on proposal writing to get your amazing projects funded.
Please check out the many resources available on our site on donor research and fundriising Strategy.
Thank you!
Great information! Thanks
Dear Nistha: Thank you so much for your kind words.
Good luck with your fundraising!
Very good article and easy reading thanks to the writer
Dear Hoda,
I am glad you found this article helpful!