Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, SnapChat, Youtube—to some, this list is a massive part of daily life. To others, it’s a quick form of connection or entertainment or maybe even a completely foreign entity. No matter how you view social media,with more than 3 billion active users, you can’t deny the monumental impact it has on today’s world. 

In the wake of the pandemic, social media is more important than ever. In a survey by the Harris Poll done in May, 51% of respondents reported an increase in social media usage since the COVID-19 outbreak. Of that number, 60% r were ages 18-34, 64% ages 35-49, and 34% ages 65 and up.

Spokes published A Nonprofit’s Guide to Communication, in which we highlighted a few different social media platforms and how to use them, with features and demographics. 

But how can you leverage these platforms to reach as many people as possible and make a significant impact? Here are five ways nonprofits can gain influence on social media. 

Use platforms correctly. 

When employed correctly, social media has the power to reach your target audience and relay your mission effectively. 

• Using demographics of your supporters and donor personas, choose the platform that will reach them best.
• For example, Facebook is a more universal option that can reach a larger and generally older audience. Instagram can reach a Millennial audience, and TikTok can be used to reach a very young audience. Although charming, TikTok is most likely where you gain followers,not donors. These are important aspects to keep in mind when choosing platforms for your organization. 
• For organizations using multiple social platforms, tailoring your content to each one is necessary for meaningful engagement. For example, Twitter is often used for short blurbs and updates while Instagram relies heavily on visuals. Posting the same information in the same form across platforms will not be nearly as effective as adapting to each style of communication. 

Be responsive. 

Making your audience feel heard and acknowledged is one of the most critical aspects of an impactful social media presence. When followers comment, message, or ask questions, make sure to respond meaningfully and in a timely manner. Engaging with your supporters is a crucial way to keep them interacting with your content in the long term. 

Choose engaging visuals. 

According to studies compiled by HubSpot, Facebook posts with images see 2.3 times more engagement than those without, and tweets with images receive 150% more retweets than those without images. 

• High-quality and eye-catching photos are a great way to earn likes and shares on social media.
• Videos have proven to be the most engaging form of visual media. Live videos are also popular on platforms such as Facebook and can be entertaining, informative, or both!

Choose interactive content when you can. 

Social media platforms have many different ways to make content interactive. This way, your organization can surpass simple scroll-bys and gain insight from your followers. Examples of interactive content include polls, questions and answers, tagging others, and surveys. 

Social fundraising 

Fundraising on social media can be a great way to raise money for your nonprofit and to raise awareness for your goal through likes and shares. 

• Set a monetary and time goal for your fundraiser, and make any donation links easy to find. 
• Explain with visuals or infographics how the donation money will help your organization. 
• Encourage your followers to share your fundraiser. 
• Post often, with varying forms of media. 

Social media is one of the best ways to connect with your organization’s supporters. When social media is used effectively, nonprofits can share their mission and expand their reach to people and places not previously known possible. 

Sources 

Business Insider 2020 US Social Media Report

NonProfitPro Social Fundraising Tips to Raise Funds 

HubSpot 50 Visual Content Marketing Statistics You Should Know in 2020

As online learning, working and socializing become the new normal and the current pandemic constantly presents new challenges, nonprofits must adapt to new strategies to maintain relationships and connect with donors.

Spokes has covered online communication and volunteer engagement in a crisis, but keeping donors and supporters engaged during a crisis is equally crucial.

With social distancing, unemployment and many other hardships attributed to COVID-19, donors may be experiencing high levels of stress and preoccupations. An article titled Remaining Relevant: Keeping Donors Engaged During a Crisis published by NonProfit Pro emphasizes the importance of staying connected with donors even in a crisis, specifically when your organization is not directly affected by the crisis itself.

There are many ways to continue your relationship with your donors and supporters and maintain relevance despite difficult times. Here are four ways you can start.

1. Be sensitive, supportive, and communicative: One of the most significant ways to cultivate meaningful relationships with donors is to be sensitive to donor situations and offer support.
   • In calls, emails and other communications to your donors, check in with them. Make sure that they are staying safe and healthy. A small sentiment goes a long way. 
   • If the pandemic has impacted your nonprofit, let your supporters know your plan of action and goals moving forward. Let them know if you are in need of support and how they can help. 
   • Communicate any changes your nonprofit has made in wake of the pandemic, such as updates and compliances to orders.

2. Keep up your online presence

As many supporters will be learning and working online during the pandemic, this medium is the best to communicate with them. Stay relevant through posts, newsletters and by updating your website often.

• Ensure that your website is accessible and easy to navigate as you welcome more traffic.
• Increase your posts on social media, using it as a tool to promote events but also boost morale and maintain a positive attitude in times of uncertainty. Make this content as shareable as possible.

3. Virtual events, activities and services

Giving your donors and supporters ways to virtually connect with your organization during this time is crucial; it will not only reduce shelter-in-place boredom but can also provide ways to fundraise.

• Offer a free service or activity online. Maybe this is a series of videos, a livestream, an educational module or a quiz. Encourage your target audience to engage with what your organization stands for and learn more.
• Hold virtual events to raise money or awareness for your organization. Popular examples of virtual fundraising include webinars, tournaments, auctions and even virtual races and 5ks. Sometimes, the event doesn’t have to be virtual—drive-in movies have been a great way to get out of the house, no germs involved. Get creative!

4. Stay in Touch

While many of your donors might not be able to donate now, they may in the future. This is your chance to strengthen your relationships and make an impact on donor perception of your organization. Continue to communicate with and thank your donors, and emphasize how much they mean to you.

In any crisis, remaining positive and open with donors is key. Providing multiple outlets for connecting will aid your organization during a crisis and in the future.

If you are interested in finding a network for support and creative problem solving in your development efforts during this time, check out our monthly Development Director Roundtable.

Our recent article, Rethinking Your Nonprofit’s Future in the Face of COVID-19, highlighted the importance of following a strategic plan while navigating the ever-changing landscape of the COVID-19 world. In this article, we’ll dive a little deeper into the “how” of creating a strategic plan to help those nonprofits with outdated or no plans get started.

For many nonprofit leaders, the idea of creating a strategic plan feels daunting because of four common mistakes:

1. Trying to plan too far in the future;
2. Treating strategic planning as an event;
3. Being stymied by perfection; and
4. Insisting on a plan. (Confused? Stick with us.)

Start with Two (2) Years

Futurists have predicted that identified generations will soon be divided by as little as a four-year span. Meaning: two siblings from the same family who are 5 years apart in age will have such different formative sociological, economic and technological experiences that they will fall into different generations. That’s an incredibly fast rate of change. And, really, it’s not entirely surprising when we consider how quickly our lives have changed since 2020 started and how different they will be post-COVID 19.

Where it was once commonplace to define a 10-year strategic plan, trying to define a 5-year plan has now become futile. Your nonprofit’s strategic vision must be long-term because it will take decades to create it. However, your strategic goals and objectives to achieve that vision should focus no more than 3 years in the future. Keep it simple and focus on what you want to achieve in the next two years. When the world inevitably changes in ways you never anticipated over those two years, you’ll have a chance to define new, more relevant strategic goals for the next two.

Strategic Planning is a Discipline, Not a Single Event

Too many nonprofit leaders believe that a strategic plan is a final product created from a one-time board weekend board retreat where a consultant presents a plan in a new shiny binder that its placed on a shelf never to be seen again. Strategic planning done well is an active, consistent process that is woven into the daily work of the organization. Ideally:

• every board meeting will include an agenda item to review and evaluate the organization’s progress toward it’s strategic goals.
• every employee will understand his/her responsibility in helping to achieve the organization’s strategic goals and annual performance reviews will discuss individual contributions to the organization’s strategic process; and
• every grant application, grant report and annual report will highlight the organization’s strategic goals and progress towards them.

Think of a strategic plan as a living plant. It will die without regularly evaluating its health and taking the necessary steps to keep it growing and thriving.

Focus on Progress, Not Perfection

Because the rate of change is so rapid and there are so many individuals and variables involved in implementing every strategic effort, it’s overwhelming to attempt to define a “perfect” plan. In fact, IT’S IMPOSSIBLE. Don’t let a desire for perfection stymy your ability to help your organization progress. No plan has ever been perfect and yours will be no exception. The unexpected will happen, and your plan will need to be changed or adjusted. If you are regularly practicing strategic planning (as mentioned above) you’ll be able to respond quickly, make changes needed, re-focus and continue advancing toward your mission. Baby steps can add up to big success.

Variations on a Plan

At Spokes, we have a tried and true strategic planning process that works for us and we use that process to help our members in defining their strategic plan. However, your nonprofit may be facing extraordinary circumstances that make a more traditional, full-scale planning process challenging – a leadership change, unexpected financial issue, a rapidly-emerging client/community need, lack of human resources to staff a planning committee, etc. That’s OK. In those situations, it may be more feasible and beneficial to define a strategic framework with a 2-3 key metric to track and discuss at regular board and employee meetings.

Whether you define a comprehensive plan or a basic framework, your variation needs to address the following questions:

1. Vision
   1. What world/reality do you want to create? What will be true 20 (or 50) years from now because of the work your nonprofit is doing today?
2. Mission
   1. What specific types of activities will the nonprofit do every day to achieve that vision?
3. Values
   1. When faced with an unprecedented situation, what core beliefs or values will guide your nonprofit in finding the right solution? What are the “rules of engagement” governing every interaction between an employee, volunteer, client or other stakeholder?
4. SWOT Analysis
   1. What are the CURRENT strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that contribute or detract from your nonprofit’s ability to perform its mission well and move closer to its vision? (Strengths and weaknesses focus on internal variables like staff, volunteers, equipment and facilities. Opportunities and threats are external variables like donor relationships, community trends, and new legislation.)
5. Goals
   1. What do we want to be true in 2 years from now? (or whatever timeframe you choose.) e.g. Significantly grow our base of annual donors.
6. SMART Objectives
   1. What specific, achievable, measurable, relevant, time-based actions will you take to help achieve your goals? e.g. Double the number of $100 donors by December 31, 2020.
7. Action Plan
   1. Who is responsible for doing what by when? Every task needs to be assigned to an owner who is accountable to a deadline.
8. Budget
   1. Do we have enough financial and human resources to achieve the goals and objectives we’ve set? Do we need to reallocate resources? Are we budgeting the “right” resources to ensure our success?
9. Evaluation
   1. What metrics will we track and data will we collect to quantify/qualify our progress toward our strategic goals and objectives? How often will we collect and report the data?

We hope this article gives you some actionable ideas on how to start weaving a strategic planning discipline into your nonprofit’s operations to guarantee greater mission success. Spokes is always happy to offer personalized strategic planning consulting services for its members and, for those who prefer a DIY approach, we’re pleased to provide the following strategic planning resources to help you on your way.

• National Council of Nonprofits Strategic Planning Resources

• Mind the Gap

• Stanford Social Innovation Review: Strategic Plan vs Strategy