Can nonprofits build a donor base with social media?

For consumers and businesses alike, money’s tight. Nonprofits need to explore and enhance their fundraising strategies. Smart social media management could be a solution. 

Your partner, your boss, your freshman-year public speaking lecturer… they all said it and each of them were right: Communication is a two-way street. While many-a-marketer may use the megaphone to represent marcomms, the concept of shouting into the ether to achieve strategic goals is outright flawed.

For starters, no audience is a monolith. Even within a tightly-bound B2B framework there will be nuances in terms of engagement, interest, channel preference etc. But more critically, it’s that one-way conversation isn’t … well, a conversation.

The lynchpin of successful communications is two-way communication. This is particularly critical for social media.

The clue’s in the name

Hype and uptake aside, it took years for social media—as a marketing discipline—to mature at scale. Yes, some platforms rapidly monetized, but paying money for a service does not equate to ROI.

Fast forward two decades and social media is now unilaterally institutionalized in marketing and communications functions, but there are still organizations using it as a one-way channel. To effectively use social media, organizations need to go beyond just posting content and publishing advertisements. That content speaks to an audience, not with them. 

From Myspace to TikTok that’s never been what Social Networking was designed to do. Perhaps revenue-generating businesses can afford to under-use these platforms. Nonprofits cannot.

Know your audience

To foster effective two-way communication across social media, nonprofits need to know who they’re talking to. That insight and understanding is critical to ensuring and delivering a robust, relevant fundraising strategy.

The right place to start is a social media audit: In addition to a holistic review of channel use, content publication and engagement, share of voice etc. it can reveal your audience demography.

Why is that important? Well, ask yourself: Who runs your social media accounts? The person in charge of social media, right? Are they also in charge of strategic decisioning and/or corporate giving? Doubtful. For nonprofits, having a hyper-focused understanding of who they are currently reaching across social channels will only ever improve fundraising.

This audience identification is the foundation for your content strategy. If you’ve already secured the right audience, fantastic. If you haven’t, it will help you develop the content to attract and engage the right audience in a meaningful way. Then the tailored outreach can begin.

Community management

The table stakes for community outreach—such as DMs and comments—may seem obvious, but they’re still readily overlooked. And for nonprofits looking to nurture a community, they can go a step further by setting up one-on-one meetings. 

These interactions, that should directly ladder up to your content strategy, humanize the brand. They create and foster authenticity (critical for Gen Z audiences) and a sense of openness and transparency with followers. Simply opening up the digital doors like this builds the trust that, over time, can transform into long-lasting donor relations.

Community management isn’t always a straightforward process. It’s like blind dating: It requires trial and error, it might be a little awkward and you may not always know exactly what to say. But you can forge meaningful and genuine relationships from the process. 

A win-win investment

Finding loyal supporters who are willing to contribute to or act on behalf of a nonprofit is becoming ever more challenging. Gone are the days of just posting a flier on Facebook or randomly messaging a potential donor on LinkedIn.

Instead, nonprofits need to proactively develop trust over time, and their social media channels are invaluable in doing so. That trust then needs to be fostered and kindled, like a spark. Without nurturing, the spark dies out.

Strategic community management will help nonprofits grow donors and thrive financially. And while many organizations still lag behind, it’s a smart way for your nonprofit to stand out.

Discover the full scope of services available to nonprofits, and let’s put your mission where your mouth is.