People don’t really care what they fund. But they care deeply about how they feel.”
Seth Godin shared this insight in an interview as part of a larger conversation around nonprofit resilience. His words resonate with my core belief about content marketing for nonprofits and churches, which is: It’s not about making sales; it’s about creating genuine connections and building an engaged community.
In particular, by using social media, nonprofit organizations can engage their audiences, share their values, and create meaningful relationships. I love my part-time Communications Coordinator role at my church, St. Mark Ministries, because I get to see this happen every single day!
Your donors, recipients, and members want to see the impact of your organization. Through social media, they can see themselves in your stories and become part of your larger mission.
If you’re responsible for social media at a church or nonprofit organization, today’s blog is for you. Let’s explore how to harness the power of social media to maximize your outreach and impact!
Social Media Best Practices for Nonprofits and Churches
1. Know That Social Media is Non-Negotiable
The vast majority of nonprofits and churches are using social media – just look at these stats from Statistica:
To borrow an insight from Andrea Gribble of #SocialSchool4EDU: “If you aren’t telling your story, who is?” Social media is a free method for spreading the good news about your nonprofit’s work!
2. Choose a Few Key Platforms
It’s important not to bite off more than you can chew. But at a bare minimum, you should be active on Facebook and Instagram. Many markets and industries also do well on Twitter/X, and if you’re going to leverage video marketing, start a YouTube channel, too. I have also seen nonprofits succeed on TikTok.
The bottom line is that you need to know your audience, and meet them where they are.
3. Post Consistently
Consistency helps keep your audience engaged and your organization top-of-mind.
Aim to post 3-5 times every week on Facebook and Instagram. Update your YouTube channel a couple of times a month (weekly if you can), and if you’re tweeting, do so every day. Churches should try to post every day on Facebook and Instagram, even on weekends, including a livestream of their worship service.
4. Lean Into Video Communications
Videos can significantly increase your engagement and reinforce the authenticity that your audience craves. Try to post a video every single week – even a simple organizational update, livestream, or event promotion. Videos are visually engaging and can often convey messages more dynamically than static images or text.
5. Quality Over Quantity
While regular posting is important, the quality of your content is even more important. High-quality, relevant content that resonates with your audience will always outperform a large quantity of meaningless posts. Focus on creating content that is authentic and adds value.
6. Create Engaging Content
“Engagement” means views, clicks, reactions, comments, and shares of your content. Create every nonprofit social media post with two questions in mind: “What do I want my audience to KNOW? And what do I want my audience to DO?”
Ask questions, share impactful stories, and create content that encourages interaction!
Social Media Post Ideas for Your Church or Nonprofit
Idea 1: Celebrate Events
Anytime your church or nonprofit has an event, ensure someone captures quality, close-up photos. Post them within a few days of the event to celebrate the impact, thank the attendees, and highlight staff and volunteers. These photos can be repurposed when it’s time to promote the next event, too!
Remember: If you’re always asking people to attend or volunteer at your events, but you never share the event’s impact, it’s harder to make that “ask” going forward.
Idea 2: Behind-the-Scenes
Share photos or videos that offer a glimpse into the everyday operations of your nonprofit. This goes over really well at my church – our members are curious about what staff does, outside of worship services! For example, at St. Mark Ministries, our pastor shared this video to describe how he puts together a weekend sermon.
This transparency can tighten the sense of community and trust in your organization. You could also post a day-in-the-life series featuring different staff or volunteers to show the human side of your organization and what a typical day looks like.
You can also post photos that show your nonprofit staff sharing a meal, celebrating a team member’s birthday, or training volunteers. It doesn’t have to be fancy; just share a peek behind the curtain.
Idea 3: Volunteer or Member Spotlights
To further deepen relationships with your audience, try to regularly feature profiles or interviews of staff and volunteers. This shows appreciation and also humanizes your efforts and encourages more people to get involved.
Idea 4: Share Success Stories
With the permission of your constituents, you can post detailed stories or simple testimonials about the impact of your services/ministries. These narratives can be powerful in showcasing the impact of your work, encouraging further loyalty and support.
This can be as simple as putting a Google review on a graphic or as in-depth as asking a church member to share their testimony in a video for social media.
Idea 5: Fundraising Campaigns
In general, I would save most fundraising “asks” for your email communications and/or direct mail campaigns. I would caution you not to ask for money too frequently on your social media sites, but when you have an active fundraising campaign or relevant holiday, it doesn’t hurt to strategically add a call to action for donations.
In honor of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, DC Farm for Vets (whose mission is to eliminate suicide among veterans) posted this simple post. You can see it earned a lot of engagement!
When asking for money, try to use stories and visuals to explain why funds are needed and the difference they will make.
Idea 6: Inspirational Quotes/Bible Passages
Faith-based organizations or churches have the power of God’s Word at their fingertips! I love sharing Bible passages that tie into a recent sermon, provide encouragement, or ignite introspection. I also use worship song lyrics and direct quotes from the pastors’ sermons as social media content.
If your nonprofit is not faith-based, you can still use quotes in your content. Simply Google “quotes about kindness,” “quotes about volunteering,” or “quotes about [service you provide],” and you’ll find lists of inspirational quotes that you can put onto graphics or use in captions. Your leaders may also have pithy sayings that can become content!
Idea 7: Celebrate Milestones
Make sure your content calendar includes space for celebrating milestones like organizational anniversaries and fundraising goals you’ve reached. These posts can help convey the growth and success of your nonprofit.
Idea 8: User-Generated Content
Encourage your audience to share their own photos and stories related to your organization, and then re-post this content with the proper credit! This works well on Instagram, where people can “check-in” and tag your organization, which you can then share to your Instagram Stories.
Remind your volunteers to take (and send you!) photos when they’re serving in the community, too.
Idea 9: Holiday-Themed Posts
While holiday-related social media posts are often filler for businesses, they can take on a whole new meaning for nonprofits. Churches have the entire Christian calendar to celebrate (their social media feeds get VERY full during Lent, Easter, and Christmas!), and nonprofits have days like “Giving Tuesday” and national awareness months that relate to their missions.
You can tailor your posts to speak to the themes of significant holidays and seasons throughout the year. Have fun with it, too! Ask your audience, “How are you celebrating Easter this year?” or “What’s your favorite Christmas carol?” to spark comments.
Idea 10: Live Event Streaming
Whenever possible, stream your church services and nonprofit special events. Livestreaming creates a connection with those who cannot be with you in person, and further spreads your message and mission.
Idea 11: Historical Throwbacks
Share photos and stories from the past of your organization to connect newer members with your heritage. This could be a picture of your building from the early years, your leader’s headshot when they first started working there, or an old logo, event photo, or memory from years past.
Trust me, people will pile on in the comments, especially if they remember “those days”!
Idea 12: Share Resources
Depending on the types of services your nonprofit provides, you can create helpful resources that deepen your audience’s understanding of what you do. For example, you can create PDFs that compile Q&As, upload them to your website, and share that link on social media. A more engaging way to answer FAQs is through short-form videos.
At St. Mark Ministries, we use our website to house blogs, online Bible studies, virtual resources, and more. All of these can be cross-posted to social media.
Take Action on These Ideas
Now that you’re equipped with a variety of content ideas, it’s time to put them into action! Start sprinkling these post ideas into your social media content calendar, and I hope you’ll see your online community grow and engage with your content. Subscribe to my email newsletter for more tips and ideas!