Top Nonprofit Hashtags of 2023

In today’s digitally connected world, hashtags have become more than just a trend. They can act as a tool to amplify the impact of nonprofits on social media platforms. 

Nonprofits can add hashtags to their social media strategies as a way to enhance their visibility, expand reach, and engage with a wider and more diverse audience. 

Hashtags categorize social media posts, making it easier for users to discover and connect with causes they care about. 

By utilizing relevant and popular hashtags, nonprofits can tap into ongoing conversations and trends and increase the likelihood of their content being seen and shared.

A few things to remember about nonprofit hashtags 

Before you go adding 50 new hashtags to all of your social media posts, there are a few things you should take into account: 

• To utilize hashtags, your social media account must be public. 
• More is not always better. Limit the amount the amount to 5 to 10 per post. If you add too many, it can come across as spammy.
• While using already created hashtags is helpful, you should also make your own unique ones for your organization or fundraising event.
• Don’t always pick the top hashtags. If you consistently only add hashtags that are used over a million times, there is a good chance that your post will get buried and not easily seen. Use a mix of top nonprofit hashtags and some that are more specific and used under 100k times. 

Top Nonprofit Hashtag List

You can use this list as a guide and inspiration for hashtags to include in your social media posts. The data below is pulled from Instagram in August 2023. 

General 

#Nonprofit – 8.5 mil 

#Dogood – 3.2 mil

#Philanthropy – 1.9 mil

#Nonprofitorganization – 1.7 mil 

#Socialgood – 1.5 mil

#Causes – 661k 

#Changemaker – 581k

#Notforprofit – 460k

#NonprofitsofInstagram – 336k 

#Nonprofitlife – 283k 

#Supportnonprofits – 138k

#Nonprofitorganizations – 106k 

Regional 

#ChicagoNonprofit – 33.2k

#HoustonNonprofit – 26.1k

#DallasNonprofit – 20.7k

#NYCNonprofit – 19.1k

#ColoradoNonprofit – 15.1k 

#AZNonprofit – 14.2k

#MiamiNonprofit – 12.3k

#DCNonprofit – 11.5k 

#NashvilleNonprofit – 11.4k

#ATLNonprofit – 10.7k

#SeattleNonprofit – 10.6k

Donation/Fundraising

#Donate – 8 mil 

#Fundraiser – 4.9 mil

#Giving – 2.5 mil

#GivingTuesday – 2.3 mil 

#CharityEvent – 1.2 mil

#DonateToday – 487k

#CharityFundraiser – 225k

#Fundraisers – 194k

#GivingTuesdayNow – 155k

#CharityAuction – 121k

#GivingSeason 130k

#FundraiserEvent – 118k

Volunteering 

#Volunteer – 9 mil

#GiveBack – 5.7 mil 

#Activism – 2.2 mil

#DoSomething – 824k

#CharityWork – 431k 

#GivingBackToTheCommunity 327k

#VolunteerWork – 313k 

#Volunteerism – 257k

#SocialActivism – 233k 

#AnimalActivism – 154k

#EnvironmentalActivism – 46.2k

*Volunteers (I would avoid this one, especially in the fall. It is often tagged with the Tennessee Volunteers Football team and has nothing to do with nonprofits.)

By thoughtfully adding these nonprofit hashtags, your organization can harness the full potential of social media to drive awareness, mobilize resources, and ultimately make a more significant and lasting difference in the world.

 

Positive EOY staff morale + Strong organization leadership = New Year Success

Let’s face it, the last few months of 2022 are a vital time for organizations! You’re trying to reach new goals, set new initiatives, and plan for the incoming year. During this planning, your staff can feel burned out. Consider your staff’s workload, scrambling to make year-end goals, and let’s not forget: their personal lives going into the holiday season.

Don’t fret; we’ll be going through some initiatives to take to stay productive and refocus for a New Year.

How to Stay Productive

Throw a Holiday Party

It doesn’t have to be fancy. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It just needs to be fun. Throw a party that your staff will look forward to. Long work days are a little more bearable when a party is on the horizon. You can host a luncheon during office hours or have your party at a restaurant on a Friday night so your employees can bring their spouses. Either way, make it special. Decide on a couple of games or maybe even a white elephant gift exchange. Whatever you do, make it worth the hard work they put in all year.

Plan Out Holiday Social Media Campaigns

Social media can be fun for your target audience as well as your employees. Have them brainstorm a special giveaway or a fundraising campaign. Be sure to make it holiday-themed to keep your staff and audience interested. If you struggle to keep your social media channels active, scheduling out your posts in advance can help you stay on track.

Maybe you can partner up with a local coffee shop or restaurant and give away a coupon or gift card to anyone who comments on a photo or likes a post on Facebook. You could also have your donors match the number of likes a certain post gets by the time New Year’s Day comes. Have your employees run with the idea and let them have a good time with it. It’s something that’s a little different and special during the holiday season, but it still maintains productivity.

Show appreciation

Your staff works hard all year, so be sure to recognize them. Hand-write thank you notes with a gift card inside or offer a Christmas bonus. If you can’t afford to be financially generous, that’s okay. Just let them know they are appreciated. It will keep them motivated to do their best when they’re feeling burnt out. Expressing gratitude for your support network is a priority, bump it to the top of your list. If you know this is a priority but seems like a daunting task, get creative. Gratitude can be displayed in several ways and there are plenty of tools that can help including automations and integrations that build deeper, more personal relationships with your donors, staff, and support network.

Set goals

Set some end-of-the-year goals for yourself, your organization, and your staff. Having one common goal to work toward will keep you and your staff productive as the year draws to a close. Make the goal visible in your office so everyone can see it and be reminded of why they do what they do.

Give them a reason to be productive

Make sure your organization is having some small successes along the way. Try partnering up with a for-profit organization. Maybe for every $20 made, a for-profit company will donate a percentage to your organization, or something similar. Don’t worry about burdening the company. They have the resources to carry out orders and produce merchandise, even though this is their busy time of year, too. 20 percent of annual retail sales occur between November and December, so your organization might benefit from that.

When your staff sees that your organization is doing well and making a difference, they will be on board and ready to work until the holiday comes.

Work with them

It’s difficult to come to a balance between working your employees hard until the holidays come and letting the lack of motivation get the better of them. Stay somewhere in the middle, though. Be sure to allow the time off they need, but ensure you are staffed enough to continue their work. Understand their busy schedules and stressful lives, and they will appreciate you more.

Most of all, make sure you get the rest you need this holiday season, too, while preparing for the busy year to come.

Refocus for a New Year

Don’t Drop the Ball

Let’s fast forward, congratulations on your successful end-of-year fundraising campaign! After all the hard work put into the final fundraising push of the year, you deserve the extra plate at Christmas dinner and the extra drink (or drinks) on New Year’s Eve—cheers. But now that the year is over and the ball has dropped, it’s time to make sure you’re not dropping the ball. Here are a few things you can focus on in the first few months of the new year to ensure success for your nonprofit.

Follow up

Just because your holiday giving campaign ended doesn’t mean its success has to be stuck in the past too. Use the leftover momentum to start the year off on the right foot.

Start by following up with new donors who showed interest during your campaign. Obviously, thank-yous are a must—your donors will love ’em and your mom will be proud—but consider some other ways to follow up too. For example, you could send a short survey to donors. Ask them why they donated and what other causes they support, and don’t be afraid to ask a question to get some more specific information that will help you improve your future fundraising efforts. If you rely on volunteers, ask these new donors if they want to get a little more hands-on and take things to the next level by joining your team of volunteers.

Wrap it Up

Have some fun in documenting the memories, performance, and achievements from the previous year. An annual report is a common publication of nonprofit organizations, an annual report should be a distinct piece of your communications and marketing assets. Since annual reports are big projects, it’s okay to expect more of this signature piece. This signature piece should provide clarity and accountability, inspire conversation, honor supporters, give readers something easy to remember and hard to forget, and showcases your nonprofit in all it’s glory. So get out there and show off a bit. Wrap up your previous year in a beautiful annual report.

Don’t get overwhelmed. An annual report is a complex beast of a project…or is it? A lot of meetings, stress, and far too many words are often put into these temporary snapshots of a nonprofit’s work. This guide breaks down these reports into an easy-to-follow outline while using the “5 W’s”: Who, What, When, Where, and Why.

Plan for next year

I’m sure the last thing you want to do in January is a plan for November and December. But the sooner you get in the film room and review the game tape, so to speak, the fresher it will be in your mind once the game day arrives. Take some time to identify your nonprofit’s successes and shortcomings you noticed during the holiday giving season and put pen to paper.

Don’t overthink it. Start with some open-ended ideas on what went well and what can be improved and thank yourself later because these notes will be helpful when the time comes to start planning. Be sure to get the final donor numbers down in writing and compare them to your expectations and previous years’ efforts.

Fight the post-holiday slowdown

The way to combat this is to do a great job of telling your story and pushing your brand to its constituents. Use social media to tell people what you’re up to. Put together some numbers that illustrate your successes during the last calendar year and make them available to your stakeholders and the community – show people where their donations went and how they helped. Use any interview requests or press opportunities to further your organization’s narrative. If journalists aren’t knocking down your door, go to them by pitching your story ideas to the media and posting unique and relevant blog posts. As always, the more you’re in front of your constituents and your community, the better. Putting even more focus on fundraising now will go a long way in preventing a slowdown in contributions later.

When a sports team ends its season, they get an off-season; time to recover, and a chance to reflect on the past year before starting again. But do you think those athletes are propped up on a beach with a cold one in hand the entire time? They’re using that time to hone their craft and improve themselves, they’re in the gym and the film room, doing whatever it takes to be better than the competition. And don’t kid yourself, you have several worthy competitors of your own in your community for a donor or volunteer to consider working with. There’s no offseason for nonprofit professionals. We have to reflect on past efforts and plan for the future while continually putting our best foot forward each and every day. 

About the Authors: Kayla Matthews and Randy Hawthorne. As the former Executive Director and Editor for Nonprofit Hub and a Professional Certified Marketer, Randy shares his passions of marketing and education with nonprofits to help them implement marketing and organizational leadership principles so they can grow their organizations. Randy lends his marketing and organizational leadership expertise to a number of nonprofits in his community. Outside the office, Randy works with high school and college students and mentors young professionals to develop their leadership and entrepreneurial skills.

Originally published 12.28.15—Updated 11.17.22

As we inch closer to the end of the year, your nonprofit organization may be doing a deep dive into the progress you’ve made this year. With fall approaching, there are still many opportunities for fundraising events, holiday donations, and seasonal campaigns. Our 4 Nonprofit Marketing Strategies for Fall Growth will improve your ability to reach your year-end goals

With so much on your plate, are you looking for a more streamlined way for your nonprofit to grow through the end of the year and beyond? 

We’ve got you covered! We’ve compiled a list of 4 marketing strategies that nonprofits can focus on over these next few months: 

1. Use social media for storytelling.
2. Run hybrid events. 
3. Utilize the Google Ad Grant.
4. Refresh your website. 

While these are simple tips, let’s get into the details of how to implement each of these the right way to see results.

1. Use social media for storytelling.

One advantage nonprofits have on social media is a continuous supply of authentic content and meaningful stories. While each platform presents unique challenges with organic reach, nonprofits have an advantage. You can have the audience engagement of a creator and the large following of a business. 

As a nonprofit organization, your followers want to see your large-scale impact, small victories, and inspiring stories. You can maintain a consistent presence and keep them updated with regular posts. Social media gives your organization an excellent opportunity for storytelling to grow support for your mission. 

Video content

The convenience of Instagram reels and TikTok videos allows you to create bite-sized content easily. Videos are important because the majority of social media users are continuing to engage more with video content over other forms of content. 

Your audience might tune in regularly to your Instagram reels for updates on a specific life story they’ve begun following. Or they may want to follow along in your nonprofit’s journey as you overcome hardships. With an extensive library of available music, you can evoke emotion with your videos.

For example, a farm animal sanctuary gained significantly more followers after sharing its difficult time relocating all of its residents to safety ahead of wildfires. Another nonprofit went viral when they shared an on-trend funny video, “Things people have said to me about rescuing senior dogs.”

When these nonprofits shared their stories, this elicited strong emotions from their audience. This caused them to be shared over and over, contributing to their success. 

Short-form video content is essential for reaching non-followers to grow your account and gain more support for your mission. For platforms that support both photo and video content, such as Instagram, the algorithm is favoring video content above all else. This makes spreading awareness for your mission through video more possible than ever. 

Infographics

With so much competition and shortening attention spans, it can be challenging to get important information across to your audience quickly. People tend to avoid large bodies of text and often don’t have enough time to read it all. 

Consider presenting educational or statistical information in the form of infographics. You can use simple templates and design features on design tools like Canva to summarize your information and present it in a more visually appealing way. 

For example, a colorful infographic showing “5 Sustainability Hacks” will likely have much more engagement than a long caption or plain bulleted list. 

Bonus Tip

If you create infographics for Instagram or Facebook, you can also use them within a blog post discussing that topic. Remember that infographic images give your blog additional ways to be found under Google images for those keywords. 

Don’t forget your growing Gen Z audience

Discussing social media wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Generation Z (people born between the late 1990s and the early 2010s). 

As many in this generation have reached young adulthood, they bring a combination of concern for important causes and a take-action attitude. This is a highly valuable audience for your nonprofit social media presence.  

Gen Z grew up in the digital era. Therefore, they may have high expectations for brevity and tech-friendly content. While this generation can be a challenging audience to capture, it’s worth the effort. 

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Gen Z, they aren’t afraid to stand up for the issues they care about. Many of them are highly creative and can bring a fresh take to your organization as volunteers and collaborators. 

We recommend you consider asking your Gen Z employees or volunteers their opinion on marketing designs, blog posts, and campaigns. You might be surprised by the insight they bring. It is essential to have a solid grasp of who your social media audience is, and this will be increasing numbers of Gen Z moving forward. If you haven’t already, the time to get to know them is now! 

Use your insights

Be sure to regularly check your insights to better understand your follower audience. This will guide the timing and content types for your status updates. Pay attention to the days/times your followers are most active, their time zone, and age demographics. 

This information allows you to experiment with the best posting times to reach the highest engagement. Use music and trends that align best with the age of your existing and target audience. 

Since you’ll likely have a mixture of demographics, try posting a variety of short and longer content. For example, your Gen Z and young Millennial audience might engage more with an eight-second video posted at night with trending audio. Your other audiences might engage more with a twenty to a forty-second-long video posted in the morning with classic songs. 

Review your post insights to learn what resonates with your audience. Since these metrics will differ for every nonprofit, check your insights regularly to determine what is best for your organization and time zone.

2. Run hybrid events.

Offer virtual options for your in-person events. There are still many people who are reluctant to attend potentially crowded events. Some are restricting their outings due to the pandemic dragging on and the potential cold/flu season of the winter ahead.

How do you convert in-person events into hybrid events? 

The key is proper organization. Have one to two dedicated team members responsible for handling the virtual aspect of your event. They’ll host a live video on social media that you promoted before the event. You can also record this to share with additional audiences afterward. 

Additionally, you should provide a decent live view of the main activities. The team member(s) can stay present with your audience throughout the event. For best results, provide a live chat and answer audience questions. Preferably, your main speaker should be an approachable person who is comfortable presenting and knowledgeable about your event’s goals. 

Engage your virtual audience

Ask the audience questions like, “Where are you streaming from today? How did you hear about our event? What do you guys think we should do for our next fundraiser?” 

Be sure to thank them for participating in your event and engaging with you. Towards the end of the live presentation, plant a seed for the next event by announcing when/what it will be and how to attend. 

Don’t forget the call-to-action

You should also include a call-to-action before ending the live video, such as “Sign up for our newsletter or blog if you want to see more of our activities and hear about future events. If you aren’t following us on “x” social media platform yet, be sure to do so. We post “x content” every week!

3. Utilize the Google Ad Grant.

Whether you currently have the Google Ad Grant or still need to apply, let’s discuss how it can be a game changer for your marketing strategy. 

What is the Google Ad Grant?

Short on time? Check out this 5-minute video where our CEO, Grant Hansel, explains how the Google Ad Grant works and what it means for you!  

Google Ad Grants provide eligible nonprofits with $10,000 in ad credits monthly to spend on ads. These are the ads that appear in Google searches. This program was created by Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s former COO, to help nonprofits reach larger audiences and grow their impact. 

Since the Google Ad Grant is designed specifically for nonprofits, all organizations that qualify are awarded the grant. If you haven’t taken this step yet, click here to learn more about qualifications. 

Why is it worth the time? 

With the Google Ad Grant, you can improve your marketing reach in these ways:

• Attract more website visitors
• Reach those who need you most
• Recruit volunteers
• Track campaign progress through data
• Gain new supporters of your mission
• Market multiple priorities simultaneously

 

You already have the grant 

If you are already utilizing the Google Ad Grant and want to see more results, you can try improving your ads. To make your ads successful, run three-to five campaigns since more could prove challenging to manage. 

We recommend keeping your ad groups focused. Be intentional by using closely-related keywords in your campaign for targeted phrases. Also, try experimenting with different headlines and descriptions, using as much of the character limit as possible. 

Additionally, maintaining compliance and monitoring performance are important factors for seeing long-term results. For more tips, read our recommended tips for getting the most out of your Google Grant. 

Get some help with your grant 

Overwhelmed by all the processes? We all know that feeling. Consider professional Google Ad Grant management to maximize your success. Since specialists know the ins and outs of the Google Grant, partnering with a grant management team can take the stress away.

4. Refresh your website.

While the importance of having an up-to-date website is no secret, audiences have come to expect a lot from websites as the user experience has improved. You can be ahead of the game by tweaking a few items to increase readability and navigation. 

Readability

What makes your web pages easy to read? Take a look at your font, sentence structure, white space, paragraph length, and contrast. These factors can either come together nicely for a great first impression, or they can hurt your click-through rate. 

• Font. Select a font that is easy to read and modern. Unless a readable Serif font is part of your Nonprofit’s style, Sans-Serif fonts have a higher success rate for readability. Additionally, experts recommend that text-heavy pages have a font size be at least 16px. In general, anything smaller than that could compromise readability for visually impaired readers. Anything too much larger could also make reading more difficult.

 

• Sentence structure. While sentences may be grammatically correct, they can still be difficult to read. Try using a mixture of short and long sentences. Use transitional phrases. Choose those moments when you want to get right to the point and those moments when it’s important to be more specific. 

 

Using a service like Grammarly can be very helpful. However, you don’t have to take every Grammarly suggestion or change your writing too much. These tools are becoming increasingly intuitive, but only you know the intention behind what you are writing. You may not need to change it! 

 

• White space. In her book, The Non-Designer’s Design Book, Robin Williams says:

“Don’t be afraid to create your Design (or your life) with plenty of blank space- it’s rest for the eyes (and the Soul).” We couldn’t agree more! 

 

From a web design perspective, white space is important for readability. By strategically placing extra space, you can emphasize essential points and make your site scannable for your reader. 

 

• Paragraph length. Closely partnered with white space, it’s important to look at paragraph length too. While many of us were taught to avoid large blocks of text, the new standard for paragraph length forces us to break even some of our most traditional rules. 

 

These are style rules taught in school, such as keeping text that covers a central subject in one paragraph. Although this makes sense for academic writing, it may be best to break up larger paragraphs to encourage readers to stick with you on the web.  

 

• Contrast. Keep your contrast high on each web page. While some colors complement each other well, remember that text needs to be opposite the background. Pair light with dark consistently for text and background.

 

Navigation

Here is a quick checklist for optimal website navigation:

• Social media links on the home page
• Concise menu
• Mobile friendly
• Optimized for searchability 
• Minimal to no pop-ups 
• Good download efficiency 
• “Back-to-top” & “Main Menu” buttons

 

Bonus Tip 

Make your social media icons very easy to find on your website’s home page. Double-check to ensure that you don’t have broken links. 

We also recommend checking the “open in a different tab” option when adding your social media icons. This will open the social media platform up in a separate tab, making it easier for users to click right back over to continue viewing your website. 

Get ready for Fall

We intentionally narrowed down this list of marketing strategies to only four, as these are ways that we’ve seen Nonprofits grow faster near the end of the year. Since we work with many amazing organizations, we know that time is precious when you are trying to make an impact. Think of each strategy as one way to get new visitors to learn about your organization, visit your website, and stay on your site long enough to take action. 

At Nonprofit Megaphone, we understand that managing the grant to see results can be time-consuming for nonprofits. That’s why we currently manage over 48 million in ad dollars for nonprofits and have a 100% success rate in acquiring the Grant. Connect with us to learn more!

 

This content is sponsored by Nonprofit Megaphone. 

After launching in 2017, TikTok quickly became one of the most downloaded apps in the world. The video-sharing social network now has over 889 million active users and over 2 billion downloads. During the pandemic, TikTok has grown in popularity as a way for people to have fun and stay connected. It’s now used by brands, businesses, and even nonprofits to grow their audience while engaging with a whole new generation of supporters. 

TikTok is all about being creative. Creators can post videos up to 3 minutes in length but only have a few seconds to grab their viewer’s attention, so videos have to be concise, eye-catching and relevant to your audience. But good content is about more than just posting videos. Scheduling live events and interacting with other accounts are key parts of a good TikTok strategy. With some planning and thoughtful storytelling, you can take advantage of all that the app has to offer. 

There is a huge opportunity on TikTok for nonprofits to share their mission, raise money or even find new volunteers. Are you new to the app and looking to grow your audience? Here are some tips to get started with TikTok for nonprofits! 

1) Pay Attention To Trends

When it comes to TikTok for nonprofits (or any industry or brand), one of the first things you should learn about is what’s trending on TikTok. There are a few ways to do this. The first method is to look through the Discover tab. This is where you’ll find trending sounds and hashtags frequently used by other creators, along with any campaigns TikTok is promoting. These recommendations will often be broader and coincide with what is trending on the app as a whole rather than your specific niche. 

Another way to see what is trending is to scroll through your home page and note any sounds, dances or video formats frequently popping up on your feed. Look at other nonprofit accounts to see what trends they use with their content. Since the algorithm is so specific, the trends that come up organically will likely align with your content and mission. It seems obvious, but you should have an account dedicated specifically to your organization and use this to monitor trends in the industry. This way, the content you see reflects your niche. 

It’s also important to note that just because something is trending doesn’t mean you have to use it. Trends only work in your favor if you find a way to adapt them to your content style and theme. For example, try a dance trend as a way to spread facts specific to your cause, similar to how Do Something did here with their Teens for Jeans campaign. When considering using a trend, ask yourself if you can spin it to either educate, entertain or persuade your audience to take action. 

2) Make Your Content Accessible 

Accessibility is a huge priority for TikTok creators. By making your content more accessible, you can reach a wider audience and create a safe space where all users on the platform feel welcomed. Luckily, it’s now easier than ever to make more accessible content.  

For example, if you know there will be flashing lights in your video, add a warning at the beginning to notify viewers that the content may trigger photosensitive epilepsy. You can add this warning by adding a blank screen with a text warning or a voice-over telling your audience they may want to look away or keep scrolling if sensitive to flashing lights. Do this a few seconds before the video starts, and consider using a countdown to give the viewer enough time to scroll away.

TikTok also has a very popular text-to-speech feature. This converts typed text to a voice-over that plays over the text as it appears in the video. It’s currently available in select countries with more to follow. You can find text-to-speech in the video editing page by holding down on text until the “text-to-speech” prompt appears.

Lastly, auto-captions are the newest accessibility feature added to TikTok. This feature will automatically generate subtitles, allowing all viewers—including those who are deaf or hard of hearing—enjoy your videos. You can select auto-captions after uploading or recording a video within the app editor. If you are using a song or focusing on sounds to tell your story, you may have to add the captions and sound descriptions by manually adding text to the video. 

3) Take Advantage Of Every Feature

TikTok allows you to connect with your audience in so many different ways. You can post videos, go live, answer questions, respond to comments, create polls and pin posts to your profile. Taking advantage of all of these features will help your nonprofit get the most out of your experience.

For instance, the newest update now allows you to pin 3 posts to the top of your profile. This is a key tip for TikTok for nonprofits, as it’s a great place to share information most prevalent to your cause. You can pin one video explaining what your organization is, one giving information around your cause and why it’s important, and perhaps a final video going over an event or campaign you’re currently promoting. Think about your goals and use this space to feature videos with a strong call to action like making a donation or finding new volunteers or clients. How you choose to use this space is up to you, but these will be the first videos people see when entering your profile. Take some time to think about how you can use that to your advantage. 

You can also turn on a Q&A section in your settings for users to ask questions. You can respond with video answers that will show up in your feed and under the Q&A tab on your profile. This feature is a great way to interact with your followers, and it encourages people to get to know your nonprofit better while also providing more information on your work. Consider promoting Q&As in other videos as a way to engage more with your followers.

4) Understand How The Algorithm Works 

The “For You” page makes TikTok stand out from any other social media app. The algorithm recommends videos based on your account activity, and it is incredibly accurate. No two people will have the same content recommended to them, as TikTok precisely factors what you’re most and least interested in on the app. 

Three main factors decide what you see on your “For You” page. The first is how you interact with the app, the accounts you follow, and the likes, shares, or comments you leave on other videos. TikTok also looks into what your post, including the captions and hashtags you use on your posts. Finally, it takes a look at the demographics of your account. This is everything from your language settings, location, and device type, but this last factor weighs less than the other two. 

Interestingly, the algorithm has no favoritism for larger accounts, meaning you don’t need to have a large following to get seen on the “For You” page. TikTok states, “While a video is likely to receive more views if posted by an account that has more followers, by virtue of that account having built up a larger follower base, neither follower count nor whether the account has had previous high-performing videos are direct factors in the recommendation system.” So even smaller creators have the opportunity to grow organically—a benefit of TikTok for nonprofits who are just starting out.

5) Leverage Your New Followers

To get the most benefits out of your TikTok page, find ways to leverage your new contacts outside of the app. Highlight a link to your donation page or website prominently on your TikTok profile. A link in your bio will help guide your followers to take action, whether it be to donate, join a mailing list, or volunteer for an event. 

This is where you can also utilize your CRM to ensure your data is collected and stored correctly in your database. You can create a page associated with the link used in your bio to track sign-ups coming from TikTok, which can help segment contacts based on their origin. It can also help you manage the success of your TikTok strategy based on the number of sign-ups you receive each month. 

Collecting their email addresses also means you can set up an automated campaign to steward followers outside of TikTok. An integrated marketing strategy will get your message across and turn followers into long-term supporters. Segmenting TikTok followers can mean creating a targeted approach that will be more likely to convert followers into donors.

To Summarize TikTok for Nonprofits

When it comes to TikTok, don’t be afraid to have fun and try new things. There are so many ways you can optimize your content, but it comes down to being authentic to your organization and telling a great story. People can see if you are having fun with your videos, which will draw in more of an audience. 

The best way to approach your TikTok strategy is to go in with an open mind while testing new ideas. Keep track of video performance, including the number of likes, shares, views and comments a video receives. One important thing to remember is that TikTok will recommend your video 90 days after it’s posted, so be patient if your content isn’t receiving a ton of attention right away. You never know when a video will take off! 

Lastly, spend some time getting to know the app. Be active in scrolling through the “For You” page and interact with content that you like or is similar to the types of videos you hope to create. This will help customize your feed and maybe help you connect with other organizations.

TikTok for nonprofits may seem like a whole new unfamiliar world, but soon you’ll watch your account and your mission grow!

 

Download the TikTok for Nonprofits Guide today!

 

Despite its perks, social media can be a danger zone for your cause. This is especially the case if you haven’t outlined clear expectations through a policy for your organization. The voices of your employees and even your volunteers can cast a shadow or a light on your organization’s image. Something as seemingly temporary or innocent as a social media post can make a big impact. That’s why a social media policy is key. 

A Cautionary Tale

Previously, I was leading a nonprofit that hadn’t yet developed a social media policy—a great oversight by me. In the midst of an election season, I was contacted very early one morning by a donor/volunteer asking to talk. We connected later, and I listened as she mentioned how an employee of our organization had shared a post on Facebook commenting on the political scene and disparaging one particular party. The volunteer had two questions:

1) Is this the shared perspective of the organization? (It was not.)

2) Does this person understand that when they post from their personal account, they are representing the organization they help lead? (Pause. Deep sigh. Head shake.)

It was an eye-opening conversation, to say the least.

Shaping a Social Media Policy for Your Organization

Prior to that incident, I wasn’t sure any of our team—including myself—understood that we were representing something greater than ourselves when we posted on social media. We were regularly “friended” by our volunteers, donors, and community stakeholders. Social media helps build trust, but it also comes with great responsibility. I realized it would be wise to develop a social media policy while also knowing there was a limit to what a policy could protect. The volunteer’s second question helped me understand that the best social media policy is one that goes beyond paper to the brand and the shared wisdom/moral code of your organization.

Here are some helpful guidelines and considerations.

Your Brand

If your employees, volunteers, board members, or anyone else who has access to your social channels understands your brand, they will intuitively understand what can and should be posted. Your internal brand has a significant impact on your external reputation. Make sure all are in sync and the building blocks of who you are and what you stand for are understood.

Core Values 

Your values can also be a framework through which all decisions are made—even those as seemingly small and temporary as social media posts. For example, a core value of Ronald McDonald House Charities is to celebrate the diversity of their people and programs. This core value automatically acts as a barrier to anything that would demonstrate a lack of respect for others on social media.

It is worth mentioning that core values are only as strong as their adoption and promotion within an organization. Make sure your core values are clear, and then lead as an example so your team puts them into practice. This will help intrinsically shape your organization’s policy when it comes to social media behavior.

Rotarian Wisdom

Outside of your own brand and values, there are other methods for developing a policy. Take the Four-Way Test as an example: it’s a well-known moral code of Rotary groups world-wide. It’s simple, easy to remember, and provides a great framework for most communication, but especially social media. The test consists of these four questions:

1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Encourage your team to use these guidelines in their communication. This goes for everyday internal dialogue as well as external communication, such as social media.

A Note on Personal Expression

As mentioned above, there is a limit to what any social media policy can do to protect your organization. Individuals have the right to share their thoughts and opinions, and that is a GOOD thing. Teaching the benefit of good communication internally, however, can have a keen impact beyond your organization’s walls—especially when it comes to social media. 

Looking to put a policy in place? Try using the Society for Human Resource Management’s sample policy as a framework.