By Angie Arcieri, Account Executive
Today, thanks to social media, it is now easier than ever for non-profits to gain exposure and engage with their target audience without spending large lump sums of cash. The non-profit “Charity: Water” has a phenomenal social media presence because they use strategic communications to effectively...
Share the Mission
Show the Impact
Create an Engaging + Interacting Community
Share the Mission.
Start. Every. Single. Social. Media. Page. With. The. Mission. Did you get that? Charity: Water incorporates a variation of its mission in every social media bio. This may sound redundant, but it is crucial for your viewers to have a clear understanding of what your non-profit does. Assume that the viewer knows nothing about your non-profit. Pick a mission statement that is short and to the point because if a viewer does not understand who you are or what you do, they will not waste their time trying to figure it out.
Show the Impact.
Non-profits often face the obstacle of having “once and done donors”. The founder of Charity: Water, Scott Harrison, believes that showing the people the positive impact that their donation is making is far more effective than telling people to donate. The best way to communicate a non-profit’s positive impacts is through visuals + storytelling that quickly and accurately portrays the message while resonating with its audience.
Visuals
Charity: Water incorporates a readable yet casual font with yellow accents in its visuals. Similarly themed visuals, when used consistently, develop a brand identity in social media users’ minds.
Storytelling
Keep your donors and potential donors in the loop through live stream storytelling. Use Facebook Live Stream and Instagram Live to share success stories with followers. This is a personal and casual way for viewers to feel connected. Storytelling also provides evidence to loyal donors that their donations are making a difference in people’s lives.
Create an Engaging + Interacting Community.
The key to gain media exposure is to create an engaging and interacting community that will bring in new followers and retain existing followers. Charity: Water took a unique approach to build a giving community. Donors can pledge their birthday and share with their friends on social media that they would like to fundraise for their big day and give the gift of clean water. The birthday fundraising is a genius communication strategy because it personally connects donors to the non-profit, gives the non-profit free media through encouraging followers to share their fundraising efforts, and keeps donors engaged for years to come.
You don’t need to be a celebrity or have a million followers to develop a strong social media presence. Just remember: share, show, create and soon enough your non-profit will have followers from all over the world.