by Jayne Cravens
coyoteboard.com

Daily, Mandatory, Minimal Social Media Tasks for Nonprofits

What social media management really looks like, in additon to generating & posting content.

I have a page of basic advice on how nonprofits should be using social media: what content you should be posting, how you should be posting that content, how to create a strategy, how to choose which platforms to use, ethical considerations, etc.

But there are certain things that a nonprofit, NGO, government agency or other mission-based organization should be doing every day, or most every day, on social media to make using such worthwhile: to build trust in your work, to attract more volunteers and financial donors, to keep your current volunteers and financial donors, to attract media attention, and to ensure your organization is seen as relevant and credible by elected officials and the general public.

That's what this page you are reading now is for. It's not enough to generate content; you have to actually ENGAGE on social media. This resource will help you do that.

Note: the term every day used here means every week day; it excludes weekends and holidays. When I say at least, that means some organizations may need to be sometimes posting more than once a day. And in the USA, for most nonprofits, posting on Friday isn't worth it: there's a huge drop in social media views on Fridays that lasts all weekend.

Also, what works for one organization may not work for another. This is a GENERAL guide and you need to pay attention to what works, and what doesn't, for your organization.

I broke these must-do tasks down into the most simple, basic list as possible - these tasks take minutes, not hours, a day.

Do NOT use AI to manage your social media, including to respond to people who comment or DM you. You might as well have the comments off and close your DMs. To use AI for this is to ignore the reason social media exists: to be SOCIAL. The whole benefit of social media for nonprofits is to build credibility and trust in your organization - AI does NONE of that.

DAILY & WEEKLY TASKS ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA

Every day, check to see if anyone has liked or commented on anything you have posted to social media, on every social media platform. Every social media platform makes this VERY easy to do (you do not have to go back and read all of your most recent messages to find "likes" and comments. Respond accordingly (that may just be "thank you", that may be "we'd like to talk to you further, please DM us", etc.). Reply to any question made on your organization's social media posts, unless it is rhetorical criticism. This is what engagement is, and it's fundamental to social media success.
Delete completely off-topic comments. Block accounts posting misinformation or insults. But do not block someone or delete a comment just because it's critical.
Unless you have thousands of users, which most nonprofits do NOT have, you should check regularly for notifications that someone new is following you on BlueSky, Mastodon and Instagram and look at those new follower profiles. Should you follow some of them too, such as similarly-focused nonprofits, government offices, etc.? If the platform allows you to put accounts in lists, should you add that account to one of your lists? Only you can decide. Block all accounts following you that are related to pornography, that promote racism or sexism, or that you suspect are promoting something harmful or that you feel is inappropriate - by keeping them as followers, some could infer that your organization is interested in those accounts.
At least every other day, take 10 full minutes to look at EACH social media feed you have. Scroll through the feed and like posts by other organizations, your government representatives, the account for your organization's national office (if you have such), and any accounts that you follow that you want to show the world, "Hey, I agree with this." This will lets those organizations know you are reading their information, it encourages them to look at, and like, your status updates, and it defines your organization as one that is paying attention. "Liking" posts can also give you an opportunity to support something you can't officially, such as liking posts by a nonprofit that supports refugees and is fighting against their illegal abduction by government forces. Look at the accounts of activists or those opposed to the work you do as well - you may not need to respond to their messages on social media, but you need to know what they are saying.
Look at tagged keywords, based on your nonprofit's mission or location, or current events affecting your organization. These are different for every organization. It's impossible for me to tell you what these should be - every nonprofit is different!

Here are tagged keywords I've looked for at various times over the years, depending on where I'm working. This should give you an idea of just how unique every nonprofit is in terms of how it uses social media:

#Ukraine
#UNDP
#SDGs
#Afghanistan
#UNICEF
#UNV
#humanitarian
#motorcycles
#travel

#volunteers
#voluntourism
#comm4dev
#urbanplanning
#poverty
#health
#WorldToiletDay
#inclusion
#watsan

Look up your own organization's name at least once a week. You may find others talking about your organization but not tagging you. You may find important criticisms or questions or misinformation that needs a response.

Report back to others at your organization if there are things that need their immediate attention or that they should know about. You may want to compile anecdotal info ("Congresswoman So-And-So liked our message about....") and provide it to others at your organization in a weekly report. What you do NOT want is for a board member to say to your Executive Director next week, "I see that people online are really upset about the change in our office hours" when you haven't told your executive director about this feedback.

Facebook and various social media management platforms let you schedule posts in advance (in the case of Facebook, it lets you schedule to both Facebook and Instagram through its platform up to 29 days in advance). That means you don't have to generate content every day - you just need to look like you do. However, if you do this, you have to remember to check to see what you've scheduled (what seemed appropriate three weeks ago may not be now, given someone's death or some change in circumstances, for instance, or you may have something more urgent to share) and be ready to make changes. And remember that your photos must always be Instagram-ready - if they are are bigger, they will be cropped on Instagram, and often not to your liking.

Altogether, this sounds like a LOT of work. It's not. This is a few minutes of your time every day, or even every other day. But this is what engagement looks like, and if you are using social media just to post messages, but not to engage, you are missing much of the benefits of social media. And if you are not checking social media every day, you are setting your organization up for a potential PR problem if you leave questions, comments or criticisms unattended.

If you manage social media, ENJOY IT. Seriously. You are talking with people. If you don't enjoy that, you shouldn't be in this job.

Other Resources (on my web site or blog):

For Schools: You Should Be Using Social Media. Here's How
There are a lot of web sites saying what the benefits are for schools to use social media. But there's few that give specifics on what a public school should be sharing via social media saites. This advice talks not only about exactly what your school should be posting to social media, but the consequences of not doing so, as well how to handle tough questions and criticism. It also links to legal advice.
For Local City & County Governments: You Should Be Using Social Media. Here's How
To not be using social media to deliver information and to engage means you are denying critical information to much of your community and promoting an image of secrecy and lack of transparency. In fact, the lack of use of social media can be seen as your city council or county government trying to hide something, and even lead to rumors that are much harder to dispel than they would have been to prevent. This advice talks not only about exactly what your school should be posting to social media, but also how to handle tough questions and criticism.
The Nonprofit & NGO Guide to Using Reddit
As of July 2019, Reddit ranked as the No. 5 most visited website in the USA and No. 13 in the world. Reddit is a community of communities, and its communities are called subreddits. A subreddit can have a focus on a geographic area, a book, a celebrity, a particular time in history, a specific hobby - anything. Statistics suggest that 74% of Reddit users are male. Users tend to be significantly younger than other online communities like Facebook with less than 1% of users being 65 or over. If you want to reach a younger demographic regarding your volunteering opportunities, your awareness messages, your data that shows your value to the community and more, you need to build posts to Reddit into your marketing strategy, no matter what your nonprofit's size or focus. This resource tells you how to do it.
The Difference in Email, Social Media & Online Communities: A Graphic Explanation.
It can be difficult for people to understand the difference in email, in social media and in online communities, especially since email can be used to create an online community, or social media can be used to create an online community (Facebook Groups, for instance). And they all are people sending messages to people - so what, really, is the difference? This is my attempt to graphically show the difference, but I'll still have to use words to more fully explain what I mean. All three of these avenues for online communication can intersect. But one online avenue of online communication may be a better avenue for a communication goal than another - this resource examines that as well.
Evaluating Online Activities: Online Action Should Create & Support Offline Action
Hundreds of "friends" on an online social networking site. Thousands of subscribers to an email newsletter. Dozens of attendees to a virtual event. Those are impressive numbers on the surface, but if they don't translate into more volunteers, repeat volunteers, new donors, repeat donors, more clients, repeat clients, legislation, or public pressure, they are just that: numbers. For online activities to translate into something tangible, online action must create and support action. What could this look like? This resource can help organizations plan strategically about online activities so that they lead to something tangible - not just numbers.
How to handle online criticism of your organization.
Getting More Viewers for Your Organization's Online Videos
Videos are a great way to represent your organization's work, to show you make a difference, to promote a message or action that relates to your mission, etc. But just uploading a video isn't enough to attract an audience. This new page on my site offers specific steps that will get more views for your organization's videos on YouTube. Note that many of these tasks would be great for an online volunteer to undertake, with guidance from an appropriate staff member.
The importance of social media lists
The awesome power of social media tags
Why I won’t follow you on social media
14 (was 13) things you do to annoy me on social media
A tongue-in-cheek effort to encourage mission-based organizations to do a better job with social media.
Facebook use to organize Women’s Marches: lessons learned
Facebook was an essential tool in organizing women’s marches all over the USA in January 2017. They may have been the largest single day of marches in US history. This blog is a list of things I learned observing the online organizing first hand.
The dark side of the Internet for mission-based organizations
Measuring social media success? You’re probably doing it wrong.
Volunteers can help you reach more people on Facebook
How to handle online criticism of your organization.
Snapchat’s Potential Power for Social Good – with REAL examples.
Stages of Maturity in Nonprofit Orgs Using Online Services.
How Not-for-Profit and Public Sector Agencies REALLY Use Online Technologies
Could a Twitter exchange lead to change in a Kentucky nonprofit law?
Police: use social media to invite community participation, show compassion
How do international NGOs use Twitter?
What nonprofit & government agencies “get” FaceBook?
Addressing criticism, misinformation & hate speech online
Nonprofit Organizations and Online Social Networking (OSN): Advice and Commentary.
Basic Press Outreach for Mission-Based Organizations
Like fund-raising, press relations is an ongoing cultivation process. Your agency strategy for press coverage needs to go beyond trying to land one big story -- you want the press to know that you are THE agency to contact whenever they are doing a story on a subject that relates to your mission. These are basic, low-cost/no cost things you can do to generate positive attention from the media.
What are good blog topics for mission-based organizations?
The word "blog" is short for "web log", and means keeping a journal or diary online. Blogging is NOT a new concept -- people have been doing it long before it had a snazzy media label. The appeal of blogging for an online audience is that it's more personal and less formal than other information on a web site. Readers who want to connect with an organization on a more personal level, or who are more intensely interested in an organization than the perhaps general public as a whole, love blogs. Blogs can come from your Executive Director, other staff members, volunteers, and even those you serve. Content options are many, and this list reviews some of your options
For Nonprofits Considering Their Own Podcasts: Why It's Worth Exploring, and Content Considerations
(includes my own podcast)
How folklore, rumors and urban myths interfere with development and aid/relief efforts and how to prevent or address such.
THE CLUETRAIN MANIFESTO
"We appreciate your efforts in spreading this important sedition." A project from 1999 that is still completely relevant today (and shows why the Internet has ALWAYS been "online social networking" and there's nothing at all really all that new about sites like FaceBook). It's a challenge to companies to quit thinking that they can control the Internet and online culture and shape it to fit their outdated PR and marketing dreams, and to quit fearing its "open" nature and, instead, realize that this open system can actually be a good thing in the quest to meet customer needs and move products and messages.

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