November 28—the date of GivingTuesday this year—is around the corner. If you haven’t already started preparing your nonprofit’s social media strategy, don’t worry! There’s still time to put a plan together that will help you reach your goals, but you better get cracking—social media is what drives GivingTuesday. Through content, your nonprofit should aim to attract attention and motivate people to take action and share their participation, all of which will ultimately help you amplify your cause’s reach.
5 GivingTuesday Social Media Strategies
Optimize hashtags
GivingTuesday is a social-media-fueled event, so effective hashtag usage is essential. For starters, #GivingTuesday and a unique hashtag specific to your nonprofit’s GivingTuesday campaign should be included in every post. 
The next step is integrating hashtags relevant to your nonprofit, cause, and location. This hashtag generator is designed specifically for Instagram. When we plugged in “fundraising” as the prompt, it served up several suggestions, including #actsofkindness, #givingback, #socialgood, and #socialimpact. Using a tool like this is a great place to start since it gives you an idea of the breadth of hashtags associated with your campaign.
While it’s smart to include general hashtags like the ones we just mentioned, it’s a best practice to go niche, too. Use hashtags that capture the specifics of the work your nonprofit does, or those that are common to your city or state.
The goal is to come up with a list of hashtags that you can mix up and use with every post. When you use them, remember that moderation is key. Keep your hashtags relevant to whatever you’re posting about and targeted to ensure maximum engagement.
Stay on brand
Cohesive branding is crucial for creating a strong, recognizable identity for your nonprofit, especially during #GivingTuesday. A consistent visual theme across all social media platforms will ensure that your organization’s message is clear and memorable. In other words, strong branding acts as a visual anchor. It makes your cause more easily identifiable amidst the ongoing avalanche of GivingTuesday content and helps to communicate your mission and values.
The following are ways you can work toward creating a strong, consistent brand during GivingTuesday:
- Communication style: Ensure authenticity by maintaining your nonprofit’s established voice and tone in all #GivingTuesday communications.
- Visuals: Adapt your logo and create visuals that incorporate your GivingTuesday campaign theme.
- Profile: Temporarily adjust your social media profile pictures, banners, and bios to reflect your GivingTuesday campaign while staying on brand.
- Hashtags: Utilize #GivingTuesday alongside your nonprofit’s custom campaign hashtag to bridge campaign and brand identity.
Strategic scheduling
Strategic content scheduling will give your GivingTuesday campaign a huge boost. Utilize tools like Hootsuite, Later, or Buffer not just for scheduling but also to gain insights into your audience’s online behavior and preferences. A content calendar informed by data will help you get closer to posts that are effective and timed to coincide with peak engagement periods. If figuring all that out seems like too big a job for your small staff, consider a paid subscription to Later—it offers suggested posting times based on your account’s audience.
Being adaptable is equally important. While a content calendar provides structure, the ability to participate in real-time trends and include spontaneous content adds a layer of relevance and immediacy.
Visual storytelling
Engagement excellent
Social media is a conversation, and no one likes to feel like they’re not being heard. Respond to comments and tags, even if it’s simply “hearting” a comment. Like, heart, and/or reshare donor messages, and mention and tag individual donors in your posts—celebrate them and their support! Authentically interacting with your audience is the best way to create a sense of community and build support. Another way to increase engagement is to utilize social media platform features (such as stickers in Instagram Stories) to facilitate Q&A sessions, polls, or quizzes. Each platform has its own set of tools you can employ.
On Facebook, use Facebook Live sessions to offer real-time insights, updates, or Q&A sessions, making the engagement tangible and immediate. Alternatively, if you plan to utilize TikTok, try creating challenges and incorporating the duet feature. Initiating a campaign-specific challenge or encouraging duets can lead to viral content, significantly amplifying your campaign’s visibility.
No matter what platforms you use, consistency in messaging and visuals is key. So, while you may tailor content to each platform’s specific nature and audience, make sure your campaign’s core essence is unmistakable.
Bonus #GivingTuesday Social Media Post Tips
- Keep it positive.
- Keep it professional (avoid grammar issues!).
- Diversify your content—blend donation requests with engaging, informative, and interactive content..
Dive deeper into optimizing your GivingTuesday campaign with resources like our GivingTuesday Guide and How to Build a Giving Tuesday Crowdfunding Page articles. You can also access tons of FREE social media templates to accentuate your campaign’s visual appeal and impact here!
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