Social Media for NonprofitsTips & Tricks for better results with minimal effort

Elizabeth vonTauffkirchen

• Digital Services Manager @ Pine River Library

• Co-owner of Mr Woods Take & Bake Pizza startup

• Early Childhood Council of La Plata County board member

• Bayfield PTSA VP

• Nonprofit experience 1993- present

• Facebook user since August 2007

Social Media for Nonprofits: Tips & Tricks for better results with minimal effort

• Which social media platform(s) to use & why

• Developing a plan, structure, & framework for sustainability

• Determining & engaging your target audience

• Data from the case study: Mr Woods Take & Bake Pizza

• Examples of what worked well & lessons learned

• Creating events/taking pictures

• Using Facebook advertising

• Wrap up, practical examples, & questions

Why use social media? Thanks to Pew research, we have excellent data to inform this choice!

Which platform to use? Thanks again to Pew research, we have excellent data to inform this choice also!

Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter

Total 68% 35% 25% 24%

Men 62% 30% 25% 23%

Women 74% 39% 25% 24%

Ages 18-29 81% 64% 29% 40%

30-49 78% 40% 33% 27%

50-64 65% 21% 24% 19%

Source: Survey conducted Jan. 3-10, 2018.PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter

Total 68% 35% 25% 24%

Men 62% 30% 25% 23%

Women 74% 39% 25% 24%

Ages 18-29 81% 64% 29% 40%

30-49 78% 40% 33% 27%

50-64 65% 21% 24% 19%

Source: Survey conducted Jan. 3-10, 2018.PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Social Media PlatformsPlatforms are mercurial and amorphous in nature, often changing at least weekly in one or more ways.BE FLEXIBLE AND ADPATIVE.

Developing a framework

• 1-2 staffers spending 1-3 hours per week* • 5-7 posts weekly• Shared Google doc or sheet with details/ideas• Create events• Use advertising• Encourage all staff to like & share whenever possible

*Ideally, have two staffers for redundancy & back-up, the case study for this presentation used one staffer only

Determine target audience

• Municipality/district/county demographics• Client/customer ILS/database/intake data• Poll or focus group data• Grant or funder data

Case study: Mr Woods Take & Bake Pizza

• Target audience= residents of Forest Lakes Subdivision• Strategy= find relevant, engaging, interesting content

• Forest Lakes Focus series

• Feel Good Friday

• Local Interest (Bayfield or surrounding area)

• Like/Share/Partner with other organizations*

*who share mission/service population/geographic area, etc.

Mr Woods FB Likes 2/28 = 249

Mr Woods First Ideas

• Pizza History Tuesday• Forest Lakes Focus Wednesday• Monday/Thursday Mr Woods Posts• Regular days of week for series items• Used schedule grid from Amy Hitchner @ CSL

Mr Woods Later Ideas

• Feel Good Friday• Forest Lakes Focus on multiple days• Weekend Gardening Spotlight• Like/Share/Partner with other organizations*

*who share mission/service population/geographic area, etc.

Mr Woods FB Likes 8/20 = 354

What worked?

Promoting other local business/organizations/fundraisers works the best.

Feel Good Friday is huge.

Weekend Gardening Spotlight.

Lessons learned?

Confirm permission/consent before cross-promoting.

Check dates carefully! Promote BEFORE events occur.

FB will pull ads with too many words in image.

Flexibility is key; change is ubiquitous in social media.

Create events!

When users indicate interest or attendance, FB reminds them.

Easy to promote/ others can share.

Give lots of lead time, if possible.

Taking pictures

Take your own pictures whenever possible.

Well lighted; daylight is best.

Difficult to find great images without DRM limitations.

FB Advertising

Can drill down to precise target audience.

Low cost; high impact.

Examples from case study on next slide.

Mr Woods FB ads

Wrap up

Make social media marketing plan & framework.

Use FB events and targeted ads.

Promote related groups/events/organizations.

Take pictures/use owned images/create from scratch.

Enjoy great results!

Questions?Demo requests?Deeper dives?

Elizabeth vonTauffkirchenDigital Services ManagerPine River Library Bayfield, CO 81122970-884-2222 ext. 517elizabeth@prlibrary.orghttps://www.prlibrary.org/