1. Don’t try to do it all.
It’s better to do a couple of platforms well than to spread your resources too thin. What platforms you choose will depend on who you want to reach. If your audience is youth and young adults, then TikTok and Instagram are where you’ll find them. TikTok thrives on short video reels and can be challenging to keep up with; Instagram is more image-based and generally easier to start with. For longer form content and to connect with older generations, consider Facebook and LinkedIn. LinkedIn is also a more professional environment – content that might perform well on other social channels (for example, memes) will likely not land as well with a LinkedIn audience. However, it is an excellent place to connect with government leaders and other organisations. X (formerly known as Twitter), has a lot of newsy content and can be quite political.
Update 2025: Many nonprofits, especially those working on the environment and equity-based causes, have closed their X accounts this year. Some have moved to Bluesky, which is a similar “microblogging” platform.
2. People connect to people.
In general, your audience is going to respond better to an image with people in it – people they can connect to. Don’t worry if your pictures aren’t professional quality – oftentimes on social media the more authentic and real your image feels, the better response it will get. Don’t forget to be inclusive in your content and to credit photographers who share their work.
3. Include fun/lighthearted content, personal stories.
The occasional lighthearted (but still relevant) post, especially if it’s human-based content, can really help you connect with your audience. For example, why does your team care so much about their cause? Is there a personal story behind it that you can share?
4. Make time for social media.
In grassroots and nonprofit work, it is not uncommon for everybody to be wearing multiple hats. Even so, try not to make your social media an afterthought. The best social media accounts have a dedicated person working on them who has time to cultivate content and a following. This individual should be sure to check notifications and respond to comments and tags in a timely fashion.
5. Make use of analytics to post when your audience is online.
All the core platforms include a basic analytics feature with your account. Even if you don’t have time to fully study the trends, at least pay attention to when your audience is most likely to be online. Remember, you can always schedule posts in advance!
6. Vary content between platforms.
Best social media practices call for adjusting your content based on the platform and its target audience. Optimal graphics sizes are also slightly different across all platforms – try to use the recommended image size for each platform. X discourages content that it considers “copypasta”, or content that is identical to another post online, by hiding it from your followers’ newsfeeds.
7. Make connections and engage with other content.
Tag others in your posts and encourage them to do the same. It is also helpful to engage with other content on your newsfeed – like, share and comment on similar topics.
8. Watch what you share.
Make sure to read articles and posts fully before sharing them – oftentimes headlines are misleading. Additionally, social media is rife with AI-created images that get shared as authentic content. Sharing fake content will damage your credibility and can spread misinformation.
9. Make it easy for people to connect and share with you.
Include share buttons on your website and incorporate social media links into newsletter updates and signatures. Also, be sure to pick a simple social media handle. If someone can’t guess it easily then you are losing opportunities for people to engage.
10. Create a content calendar.
You can insert key dates, and even create content in advance. While you may still have unexpected news-based items to share, a calendar is a good way to keep you organised and prevent your social media from being forgotten. Keep an eye out for Environmental Awareness Days that you can tie your content into. Remember, these special days will also have hashtags associated with them so make sure to add those to your posts.
11. Use hashtags.
Search for relevant hashtags to include in your posts. This will boost the visibility of your posts and help others unfamiliar with your work but interested in your causes find you.
Remember, if you share your content with Small Change Fund we can help boost it. Please tag @smallchangefund in any posts related to our joint project together and give your Project Lead a heads up if you have an event you’d like help promoting.