Social media for nonprofits: How to stop the scroll

Whether you’ve never tried it or you’re struggling to create a solid strategy, we’ve got good news: social media for nonprofits is a learnable skill. And your organization has so much to gain by leveraging it—32% of online donors say social media inspired them to give.

Fortunately, developing a social media strategy for nonprofits doesn’t mean spending hours posting and scrolling. Explore our top tips and social media best practices to create a system that works for you and maximizes your fundraising. 

Why should I care about nonprofit social media?

We feel you. Investing in your nonprofit’s social media can seem like a lot of work, and you might wonder, “Is it worth it?”

The truth is, nonprofit organizations with a social media strategy see significant results. From increased funding to greater brand recognition, the pros of nonprofit social media marketing far outweigh the cons.

• Build brand awareness 📢 Being active on social media brings exposure and establishes trust, helping you reach a wider audience and generate more interest in your cause.‍
• Improve SEO 📱 Sharing social media content increases engagement and drives traffic to your website, which leads to higher page views. ‍
• Inspire action ⚡ 55% of people who engage with nonprofits through social media take some kind of action, like volunteering, donating, or attending an event. That means every new follower gives you approximately a one-in-two chance of gaining a new supporter for your organization. ‍
• Supercharge your fundraising 💸 One of the biggest perks of social networking is expanding your reach and bringing in more monetary gifts. In fact, nearly 60% of people who interact with a nonprofit’s social media donate money (cha-ching!).
• Connect with stakeholders 🗣️ With multiple channels open for communication, partners, volunteers, and donors can easily stay in the loop and feel personally connected to your organization. Givebutter expert Linda Handley says it best:

Nonprofit social media strategies aren't just about promoting your mission—they’re also about creating a connection with your followers and allowing them to learn more about what you're passionate about.

Have we convinced you that spending time on social media is worthwhile for your organization? Now, let’s talk strategy.

6 steps to create your nonprofit social media strategy 

Now it’s time to craft a strategy that inspires new supporters, strengthens your base, and, of course, brings in donations.

A common mistake organizations make is jumping into social media planning with the mindset that they must do everything—creating accounts on every platform, posting daily, and replying to every comment. But that's just not sustainable, especially for small, grassroots nonprofits. 

Instead, pace yourself. Follow this nonprofit social media strategy example, broken down into six actionable steps: 

1. Accept that you can’t do it all 🤓

Before diving headfirst into content creation, take a realistic look at your team’s capacity. Ask yourself: 

• Time and bandwidth: Who can manage our social media presence? How much time can they reasonably dedicate each week?
• Channels: Which one or two social media platforms will give us the most traction—Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, or LinkedIn? 
• Ownership: Who will create graphics, edit and approve content, and post to our stories and feed? Your social media should live with one team member.  
• Rules: What social media policies and brand guidelines will we set for our organization? 
• Tools: What social media management tools for nonprofits can help us streamline and organize our content? (We’ve got plenty of ideas later on in this article!)

2. Do your research 📊

So, what are the best social media platforms for nonprofits? That all depends on your donor base. Social media for nonprofit organizations should be—as the name suggests—social. That’s why it’s essential to understand who you should target, where they spend time online, and what kinds of social media posts resonate with them. Start by doing a little research: 

• Competitive analysis: Follow other organizations within your sector and note which of their posts gets the most engagement. What visuals, media, hashtags, and messages do they share with their audience? ‍
• Donor segmentation: Create custom filters to segment your supporters by giving amount, event attendance, or age to analyze how they are already engaging with your mission and what more they might want to see.

Need some help figuring out where to get started? Many nonprofits claim Facebook is the most important social media platform. Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter) are also popular choices. 

More to explore

Explore 4 tips for turning social media followers into donors →

3. Map out your content plan 💃

As a nonprofit, it can be easy to get caught up in the fundraising hamster wheel. Your gut may tell you to constantly "make the ask," but this isn't the best approach to cultivating a strong online community.

In her webinar “Social media success in 20 minutes or less,” Nonprofit Social Media Expert Julia Campbell says it best:

So, instead of jumping straight into fundraising asks, create 4–6 different content buckets to pull from. That way, you can continue to connect with your community without inundating them with the same message over and over. 

Here are a few examples of the different kinds of content you may want to post: 

• Personal stories: Highlight the individuals your organization has helped. Invite beneficiaries to share their stories on your channels to create an authentic connection with your audience. 
• Statistics and figures: Share relevant news articles, industry reports, or third-party research to help reinforce the "why" behind your organization. ‍
• New initiatives: Keep your audience updated on all the work you're doing behind the scenes and share different ways they can join in the action. 

Givebutter’s partner, Donor Relations Group, emphasizes the importance of incorporating stories and figures in your communications: 

When it comes to donor stewardship, one question always comes up: Do numbers or narratives matter more? Some donors want hard data—financial transparency, accountability, and measurable outcomes. Others connect deeply with personal stories and want to see the human impact behind their generosity. The truth? It’s not either-or. It’s both. 

⭐ Pro tip: To craft more targeted, compelling messaging, consider developing donor personas. Then, consider how to tailor your content buckets to communicate with each donor persona. 

4. Set your cadence—and don’t be afraid to experiment 🏃

Once you’ve built your content plan, work backward. Set an attainable fundraising SMART goal with clear timelines and deliverables. For example: 

“We’ll share one post from each of our three content buckets each week on our Instagram for two months, then reevaluate our progress.” 

Effective social media marketing for nonprofits is all about creating a schedule and sticking to it. But it’s also important to remember that social media is a real-time conversation, so adaptability is key. You can experiment with your cadence—for example: 

• During giving season: Nearly one-third of all annual giving occurs in December, especially after #GivingTuesday. That’s a great time to ramp up your digital marketing strategy and posting frequency.
• Surrounding a current event: Depending on your mission, it may be appropriate (and even expected) to comment appropriately and sensitively in response to social unrest, natural disasters, or other relevant events.

There is no specific number of times per week your nonprofit must post on social media to be successful. Consistent posting (e.g., posting twice a week for a year) is often more effective than posting frequently but inconsistently. 

That said, research suggests it’s best to post on social media 2-5 times per week. Regardless of how often you choose to post, you should always encourage engagement by responding to comments and participating in community conversations.

⭐ Pro tip: With social media, less is more—not just the number of posts but also what’s in them. If your posts are too wordy, too long, or too complicated, your audience will scroll on by. 

5. Get creative with your mediums 📹

Along with posting photographs, experiment with creating infographics, short video content, or even virtual events. Here are some more engaging social media ideas for nonprofits to try out: 

• Go live: Develop a sense of camaraderie by livestreaming your next event or sharing a live campaign update on Instagram, Facebook Live, Twitch, or another social streaming platform. 
• Get personal: Create Instagram Stories, TikTok videos, or Snapchat snaps with videos from a community clean-up day, an interview with your executive team, or last month's 5K run/walk. You don’t need a production team to share your story—your smartphone will work just fine.
• Repurpose content: Fill up your content calendar with existing content, like an industry report. Transform it into easy-to-digest chunks of visual content, like infographics or inspirational quotes. Make small adjustments and share these on your social media accounts (and on your website and in email marketing, too!).
• Retweet: Don’t be afraid to share articles and resources from your community partners, lift up stories in the media that connect with your cause, and repost outside content that resonates with your audience. It can be as simple as taking a screenshot of a tweet and posting it on Instagram! Just remember to tag whoever wrote or shared the content first. 

6. Get everyone involved 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

A strong nonprofit social media strategy—and successful donor stewardship—goes beyond making a donation appeal. Instead, offer meaningful, creative ways for supporters to get involved. Here are a few ideas to get started:

• Host a takeover: Partner with another organization and "swap" handles for a day to amplify each other’s message and reach target audiences more effectively.
• Launch an influencer campaign: Collaborate with local leaders, celebrities, or influencers to help raise awareness for your cause. 
• Encourage peer-to-peer fundraising: P2P fundraising and social media go hand in hand. Invite supporters to create their own fundraising pages and share them with their online networks.
• Start a crowdfunding campaign: With one-click social sharing, supporters can easily post your nonprofit's fundraising pages or donation forms directly on their social media—think birthday fundraisers and Giving Tuesday campaigns.

Givebutter includes crowdfunding tools like sharing on social media, along with all the tools we look for in a fundraising platform, such as monthly giving, embedding our own website, customizable donation pages, and multiple fundraising campaigns  — Gabe H., Givebutter user 

💪 Pro Tip: Create a “P2P press package” with photographs, stats, and stories to give P2P fundraisers everything they need to promote your mission easily. 

Free social media strategy template for nonprofits

Feeling inspired but unsure where to begin? We’ve got you covered. Use our free nonprofit social media strategy template to put your plan into action. 

Whether you're building a content calendar, setting engagement goals, or getting buy-in from your team, this template will help you stay focused, consistent, and aligned with your mission.

Freebie alert!

Download a free nonprofit social media strategy plan template to get started ->

5 nonprofit social media examples

Success in social media takes care and effort. For a bit of inspiration, let's check out some real-world nonprofit social media channels in action—and what types of content they’re posting to connect with their supporters.

Susie Senior Dogs 🐕

This organization’s social media always tugs at the heartstrings. Their feed is full of personal stories and beneficiary spotlights (in this case, a dog’s story!). These kinds of posts—especially when accompanied by photos—build emotional connections, showcase impact, and inspire followers to take action.

charity:water 💧

This global nonprofit stands out when it comes to highlighting success and sharing progress updates in a way that engages and inspires supporters to join in the action. Check out how they share impact metrics and business partnerships in this post. 

Habitat for Humanity 🏡

Habitat for Humanity’s content never bores followers. Diverse and topical, their posts educate and create conversation, whether they share statistics and thought-provoking quotes or highlight current events. 

Girl Scouts of America 🍪

Girl Scouts of America’s content is right on target. It is inspirational, brightly colored, and very shareable, all of which drive maximum engagement. 

Brooklyn Public Library 📚

From highlighting community resources to promoting events, the Brooklyn Public Library’s approachable and inclusive content gives everyone a chance to get involved. Plus, they’re not afraid to have a little fun. 

How to get started with paid social ads in 3 simple steps

Want to take your outreach up a notch? Social media advertising is the key. In fact, research shows that 53% of nonprofits invest in paid ads.

Monthly Giving Strategist Dana Snyder emphasizes that you don’t need a large following on social media for paid ads to be successful—a concern she hears often from her nonprofit clients. 

Your follower size is no factor in the success of your ads because the goal of ads is to reach new people.

Paid social ads on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X are essential for promoting events, fundraising campaigns, and other important initiatives for nonprofits. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Set up tracking with pixels 👾

All major advertising platforms offer pixels or tracking codes that you can easily add to your website to monitor ad performance. These pixels allow Facebook and other platforms to track actions on your website after a user clicks on an ad (such as sign-ups, purchases, or donations). Check out the pixel setup guide from Facebook to get started.

⭐ Pro tip: Givebutter integrates with Facebook Meta Pix so that you can track visitor activity and conversion rates directly from your Facebook ad campaigns.

We like the flexibility of creating and utilizing different campaigns within Givebutter. The integration with our website, social media channels, and donor management software is seamless. The customer service has been excellent and accessible whenever we need it. — Robert R., Givebutter user  

2. Choose your target 🎯

When it comes to paid social ads, don’t waste your time (and money) targeting the wrong people.

There are two strategies to target folks at a high level to see your ads: Prospecting (targeting new people) and retargeting (targeting people who already know about your organization). Your campaign type will inform the audience you target:

• Prospecting campaigns: Nonprofits should use a lookalike audience, which advertising platforms auto-generate based on custom audiences. 
• Retargeting campaigns: Organizations can either upload email addresses to Facebook as a custom audience or create a custom audience based on the pixel tracking data on the advertiser’s website. 

⭐ Pro tip: If you’re using Facebook, create a separate marketing campaign and turn on Campaign Budget Optimizer (CBO). This way, Facebook can help you spend your budget effectively.

Hit replay

Learn more about mastering social media ads in this free webinar →

3. Get creative with content 🎨

To get the most from social media advertising for nonprofits, test multiple creative assets to see what resonates (in addition to experimenting with ad placements and formats). In general, though, these types of content tend to work best:

• Impact and education: This content focuses on the impact people can make by contributing to your nonprofit.
• Social proof: Show the support your nonprofit has already garnered to help others feel empowered to get involved.
• Thought leadership: Record a video of your nonprofit’s leader sharing a big-picture update on the issues affecting your mission. 
• Credibility boost: Share any recent press coverage of your nonprofit or direct testimonials from your beneficiaries to boost your credibility.

If your organization has been on a podcast, in the press, or had a national speaking engagement, it doesn’t matter if your paid ad links to a video, your website, or somewhere else. In this case, it’s all about showing your credibility. — Dana Snyder, Givebutter Expert & Marketing Extraordinaire

The best social media tools for nonprofits

From designing creative assets to scheduling posts for publishing, every nonprofit needs a few tools up its sleeve. Thankfully, dozens of user-friendly platforms are within reach. 

Canva 🎨

Canva is a game-changer for nonprofits. Easy to use and free for nonprofits, this design platform helps organizations create professional-looking graphics with pre-made templates—no graphic design knowledge is needed. 

⭐ Pro tip: Givebutter integrates with Canva so you can create stunning graphics and instantly add them to your Givebutter campaigns—no downloads needed. 

Canva is a very simple design tool that assists anyone in creating amazing graphics for their projects, regardless of their design skills. You can quickly customize a large library of templates, stock photos, and design elements. — Akash D., Canva user

Buffer 🗓️

Buffer is a versatile and easy-to-use social media tool that offers publishing, engagement, analytics, and team collaboration. A simple way to create and schedule content, Buffer is a reasonably priced platform that can help streamline all of your social media fundraising campaigns. 

Buffer makes managing our social media posts so much easier because we don’t have to log in to each individual social media website to make one single post.  — Jordan W., Buffer user 

Later ⏰

This social media management software is perfect for organizations that need a visual content calendar and scheduling tool. The free version of Later provides all the essentials for nonprofits on a budget.

Later is user-friendly and suitable for both beginners and experienced users, making it the ideal platform for all your social media scheduling needs. — Isabel L., Later user

Hootsuite 🦉

Hootsuite has the scheduling tools, platform integrations, and content curation features to make social media management a breeze. Plus, you can manage multiple accounts without breaking the bank.

Hootsuite is an outstanding all-in-one platform for managing and distributing content across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Threads. Whether you're a solo user or part of a team, Hootsuite makes managing social media efficient, organized, and genuinely enjoyable. — Sheeereen A., Hootsuite user

Sprout Social 🌱

Sprout Social caters to digital agencies and mid-sized organizations by offering collaborative features like post approvals and permission settings. It’s a user-friendly option for organizations looking to scale their social media presence.

Sprout Social is an incredibly helpful tool for keeping my social media efforts organized and efficient. It gives me a clear overview of all scheduled content, making it easy to plan ahead and spot gaps. — Aubrey H., Sprout Social user

Do more with your nonprofit social media with Givebutter

Nailing your nonprofit’s social media takes time, but the payoff is worth it. To launch a successful social media campaign, experiment with new content, try out paid social ads, and conduct ongoing research. 

Remember, social media is just one piece of the puzzle. With Givebutter, nonprofits can build a robust marketing strategy that complements their stellar social media efforts, including:

• One-click social sharing optimized for all platforms
• Mobile-friendly campaigns 
• Social-style supporter feeds
• Shareable P2P fundraisers 
• Built-in nonprofit marketing and engagement tools like email, text-to-donate, text blasts, and more

Ready to‍ put these strategies in action? Create your free Givebutter account and get started today!