A collection of articles (synopses and references) that may be of interest to those interested in the work of NPOs. Please refer to the full article for complete information on the subject.
No. 4 – Spring 2020
TOPIC/ISSUE:
8 Social Media Mistakes Your Nonprofit Should Avoid
SOURCE:
Classy (February 24, 2020) By: Rachel Paredes
CONTACT/URL/E-MAIL:
https://www.classy.org/blog/social-media-mistakes/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=84205479&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8E6oPYgLMGUJ1CLUBu4rc7VaTqr_MmrL15tbcY5AFU5nkOzcUCusMJ4w5_q3rkX3Gny9fSudR1ftld37dVfdFCQz6alQ&_hsmi=84205479
SYNOPSIS:
Social media is one of the best ways to engage with new and existing donors because it can lead to meaningful results. In fact, 55% of people who engage with nonprofits on social media end up taking some sort of action, such as donating or volunteering. However, we often see people make common social media mistakes that limit and restrict the full potential of different platforms. Below, we’ll walk you through these eight errors, what you should avoid, and how you can take your social presence to the next level.
1. Not Understanding Your Audience
To whom are you speaking? The answer is not “everyone.” Understanding who your audience is allows you to tailor your messaging, the times you post, and the type of
2. Not Showing Your Personality
Brand voice is how you convey your nonprofit’s personality, which humanizes your organization and fosters greater connection with your followers. Reflect your brand voice on your social media pages in the specific way you write and deliver your messages. If you want your followers to feel excited about an upcoming event, jazz up your captions with fun language, exciting punctuation, and even emojis that feel true to your brand. Remember that your voice isn’t limited to social media captions, either. Your brand’s personality should remain consistent in the other ways you engage with your audience, whether you’re posting a video on your feed or adding stickers to posts on Instagram Stories.
3. Posting Without a Strategy:
A refined social media strategy is necessary to ultimately turn followers into donors. You want to post consistently, not whenever you remember to share a post on Facebook. You also want to post with an end-goal in mind. What action are you hoping to drive with your post? Is there a specific CTA included in that post? To avoid feeling overwhelmed during your planning process, take it one step at a time. Think about what you want to post and what goals you want it to achieve.
4. Not Distributing Your Content:
If you’re sharing great event photos on Instagram, but your Facebook is a ghost town, you’re missing out on an opportunity to put new content in front of a greater number of people. For every piece of content you create, build a plan for how it’ll be shared across channels. Thanks to the way social media algorithms work, people tend to see new posts from the accounts they engage with the most. So, spreading your content out across multiple platforms can increase your potential reach and chance for visibility.
5. Not Engaging With Followers:
Don’t be afraid to be social on social media. You build meaningful relationships and brand credibility by engaging with your followers, which means you should respond to comments and messages. How quickly you respond to followers depends on your bandwidth. HubSpot reports that 64% of customers on Twitter expect a response within one hour, which might be somewhat unrealistic for everyone but the principle remains the same—respond as quickly as possible and don’t leave your followers hanging
6. Ignoring User-Generated Content:
User-generated content (UGC) refers to photos, videos, and messages created by your followers. If you’re not using UGC on social media, you’re missing out on free content.
7. Not Optimizing Your Social Profiles:
Your nonprofit’s bio is prime real estate to help promote your campaigns and upcoming events. Whether you’re running a new fundraiser for the month, seeking donations, or recruiting volunteers, update your social media bio with all the relevant information.
If you’re adjusting your profile and header photos you’ll want to make sure your images are high res and scaled properly. [The full article contains the dimensions for each core platform, all in one place.]
8. Doing Too Much All at Once:
Don’t stretch yourself too thin. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to social media, and there’s no reason you need to have a profile on every network if it simply doesn’t work for your nonprofit. Similarly, you don’t have to post every day if it’s not sustainable. Focus on small, strategic actions that you can stick to consistently.
One final note: Always have a plan. Knowing what you’re posting, when you’re posting it takes a lot of the decision fatigue out of your strategy and can help avoid these common social media mistakes, whether you’re managing one account or five. If you’d like more best practices for social media, be sure to download our guide below. You can do this!
TOPIC/ISSUE:
Fundraising During Election Years and Other Challenging Times
SOURCE:
Association of Fundraising Professionals/NJ
CONTACT/URL/E-MAIL:
https://afpnjchapter.wufoo.com/forms/q65w8k21df4j8h/
SYNOPSIS:
Educational Program—Thursday, March 12, 2020 [Networking, Introductions & Luncheon: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm; Educational Program and Q&A: 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm]
Presenters: Mark Murphy, Lead New Jersey; Sue Nemeth, Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP); and Patty Sly, P.G. Chambers School
Location: Pines Manor ● 2085 Lincoln Hwy, Edison, NJ 08817
Cost: $50 – $70
When you are making an appeal, do donors indicate that they are focusing their charitable dollars on election year giving to their party/candidate/cause, recent disasters, or not giving at all due to challenging financial times like the 2008 recession. Donor fatigue sets in. Is it perception or reality? How does your nonprofit rise above the noise to survive and even thrive in such challenging fundraising circumstances? Moderator, Mark Murphy and panelists, Sue Nemeth and Patty Sly, bring a variety of insights and experience to the discussion of strategies for your nonprofit to counter the prevalent appeals these events generate that vie for scare donor dollars. It is wise to have a strategy in place, because the next big movement or catastrophe that grabs the headlines and pocketbooks could be just around the corner.
TOPIC/ISSUE:
How 6 Social Media Networks Have Changed in the Last Decade
SOURCE:
HubSpotBlog. By: Pamela Bump
CONTACT/URL/E-MAIL:
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/social-media-platforms-through-the-decade?utm_campaign=Marketing%20Blog%20-%20Daily%20Emails&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=84170349
SYNOPSIS:
At the beginning of 2020, millions of social media users took part in a #TenYearChallenge which encouraged them to post one photo of themselves from ten years ago up against a photo of themselves today. But while the #TenYearChallenge showed us how much our friends have changed, have you ever wondered how much your favorite brands have changed? As a social media user, looking back to see how the platforms you’ve used every day have changed can feel fun and nostalgic. As a marketer, looking at the evolution of these platforms can also give you insight into how the overall social media industry and internet trends have matured and how they might continue to pivot in the future. In this blog post, we’re going to mark the beginning of a new decade by venturing back in time to 2010 and showing you ten-year comparisons of six of the oldest and most popular social media platforms. While this post might be a blast from the past, it will also show you just how much the way we connect and share online has changed, and give you hints about where it might go next.