nonprofit engagement

4 Community-Centric Tips for Nonprofit Engagement

At the center of Media Cause’s approach to nonprofit engagement and digital marketing lies a very basic yet fundamental concept: Community is at the center of a nonprofit’s communication channels.

What does community-centric mean and why does it matter for nonprofit engagement?

If you’re like most nonprofits, you probably have organizational goals that need to be met and are active on social platforms because you’ve seen some value in them helping to achieve these larger goals. Through these platforms, you hope to empower people to take important actions: sign a petition, donate, sign-up to volunteer, or share a report.

However, that usually doesn’t come by constantly asking people to take action or making them feel like they are just Fan Number 7,486. It comes by making them feel like an important part of a community that is as much theirs as it is your organization’s.

Ask yourself: What is a brand without an audience? A platform without users? Content without readers? Engagement without passionate individuals? Having a community is essential to having influence online. And cultivating that community is essential to ultimately seeing value in achieving your goals.

By taking the time to get to know and cultivate your community, your nonprofit is bound to see success in achieving organizational goals. Some tips to consider:

1.  Incorporate engagement tactics into each and every post.

Use community-focused tactics like questions, polls, quizzes, fill-in-the-blanks, or photo sharing to encourage comments and participation. Also, capitalize on community-generated content by using responses or user-submitted content to create a recap blog.

2.  Talk about your organization sparingly.

We know you have lots of great organizational news to share – events, accolades, birthdays, you name it! But keep in mind that this information may not be of great interest to your community.  Be careful not to overload in talking about your organization and its wonderfulness – sprinkle special announcements in amongst more community-building and content-rich posts.

3.  Get to know your audience well.

When it comes to social media, knowing your target audience and whether they exist on different platforms is incredibly important. A great place to start is by looking at Facebook and Twitter insights to determine who is a part of your community and who is engaging most with your content.

Consider that your audience may change across platforms and keep in mind which media is resonating most with your users.

4.  Create multiple touchpoints for audience members.

Try to engage with your audience across multiple platforms. Encourage them to sign up for your email list. Ask them to follow you on Twitter or Instagram and “Like” you on Facebook. These multiple touch points will not only help bring these individuals into your nonprofit’s community but add to their overall user experience as a supporter of your organization.

Questions? Comments? Let us know.