So, you’re ready to get serious about social media for your non-profit organization. Good for you!

Here are five fundamentals:

1. Define your purpose and goals. This can be a short statement about why your organization is using social media and a list of goals you hope to achieve.
2. Clarify the target audience you want to engage with. Donors, supporters, volunteers, corporate sponsors? List the social media platforms where your nonprofit has the most followers and an active presence. Tag donors and supporters in your posts whenever possible.
3. Develop 3-5 timely topics (e.g., human interest, news donors can use) to post, in addition to creating content focusing on your nonprofit’s specific mission. This builds reach and interest and stimulates discussion. Remember, more isn’t better. Better is better. Don’t post too often. Over-posting with little engagement throws off the algorithms and gets your content seen even less in people’s feeds.
4. Define your nonprofit’s brand. Pay attention to a quality logo, profile picture, tagline, etc. Have a branding kit and use it!
5. Create a budget for your social media strategy for a 12-month period. Include any outside graphic design and/or creation and editing programs, scheduling and analytics tools, social media advertising and boosts, freelance writers, and any paid subscriptions (LinkedIn Premium, X Blue.)

Here’s how the top three social platforms rank and why they’re valuable:

1. Facebook is still growing! Globally, some 65% of monthly active users access the site every single day. That’s 3.05 billion active users each month, making it the largest social gathering place in the world. It’s estimated it could reach 75% of the population by 2027. And, contrary to popular opinion, it’s not just for “old people.” Nearly 62% of Facebook users worldwide are millennials and Gen Z.
2. LinkedIn has 1 billion registered users spending an average of 17 minutes per month on the platform. Some 44% of U.S. adults using LinkedIn earn over $75,000 and half have a college degree. About 67% of LinkedIn users are millennials. 20% Gen Z. 12% Gen X. 1% Baby Boomers.
3. Instagram has 2.4 billion monthly users. The average time spent by active users is 24 minutes per day. Some 73% of nonprofits worldwide use Instagram, and 13% of those use Instagram Fundraising Tools.

Riger’s Media Buyer Mary Roper (mroper@riger.com) gleaned these facts from “Social Media Strategy for Nonprofits,” a course presented by Nonprofit Tech for Good. It is the first of a three-part certificate: Social Media Marketing & Fundraising.