Blog Instagram Hashtags Instagram Shopping

5 Actionable Ways to Grow Your Nonprofit Using Instagram

Here is how to improve your Instagram strategy and reach potential interested donors if you are a nonprofit on Instagram.

Posted 4 years ago

Written by

Guest Post

Posted 4 years ago

In today’s article, we’ve teamed up with Digital Butter who has provided us with tips, tricks, and actionable strategies for growing nonprofits on Instagram—which can be an invaluable platform for reaching a global network of donors, volunteers, and more.

If you, like many nonprofit social media managers, have stared at your Instagram page wondering how you can get others to care about your cause and contribute to its growth, then just know you’re not alone. Social media—and more specifically, Instagram—can be a great way to reach new people, who are specifically looking for content like yours, which can be a great help in reaching a wider, global network. But, how do you reach them?

We are going to walk you through five easily actionable ways for you to grow your Instagram page.

Using these strategies will increase your number of followers, help harness your storytelling superpowers, and connect with new and old followers in a personal way, ultimately increasing your pool of donors.

Use Storytelling📚

Our brain is hard-wired for stories. Story scientist Kendall Haven has spent years discovering the power of storytelling and how it can be used to influence, persuade, and change. His results are clear: you will never fully engage an audience unless you can get them involved on an emotional level.

Stories are the tool we use to do this.

Donald Miller, the author of StoryBrand, has built his business sharing the power of story and clarity with hundreds of thousands of business owners and nonprofits

“A good story always works. It captivates the brain like nothing else — the studies prove this. That’s why people around the world spent 39 billion dollars last year going to the movies.”

Storytelling should be at the center of your social media strategy. A nonprofit that tells stories well is Funda Nenja. Funda Nenja shows the impact of their programs through individual stories which can result in you shedding a tear!

Optimize your bio ✍️

Write an Instagram bio that pulls your audience in.

Your Instagram bio is one of the most important parts of your Instagram page. It is the FIRST thing your audience sees when visiting your profile which is why it is important to put effort into writing an Instagram bio that will set up your account for massive success.

Tips and tricks for acing your bio:

Make use of a business profile
Simple and easy to understand
Use Emojis that relate to the topics covered in your bio
Have a link to your website clearly visible

As Mike Duerksen says, “The main problem should be easy to understand, in simple language and shouldn’t take too much of an explanation.” Providing minors with food-security options for “sustenance and survival” is not nearly as good as “feeding hungry children”. Our brains are drawn to clarity and so your Instagram bio should reflect that.

Use highlights 💡

Story Highlights on Instagram are an amazing tool to let the audience discover what your organization is all about with content that doesn’t disappear.

Instagram posts are not evergreen. Instagram is not a search engine and what you see is constantly changing. As posts age and get further down your feed they are less likely to be read.

Having highlights is an optimal and concise way to tell your story. You are able to share the ways to donate and also celebrate your donors. This is a great way to ensure every new person who visits your profile sees the same information.

Spending time crafting great highlights will help you to create a deeper and more meaningful connection between you and your audience. Charity Water and A21 are great examples of nonprofits utilizing an Instagram strategy for highlights well.

Use hashtags #️⃣

Did you know that a hashtag strategy is one of the key foundational features of your Instagram? Instagram hashtags are one of the most effective ways to organically reach new audiences online.

We cannot tell you how many times we’ve searched for the “right” Instagram hashtag strategy and well let’s just say, no matter what you find or manage to come up with, you’re always going to have to do a little bit of tweaking along the way.

Luckily, we came across our friends here at Flick, and it has honestly taken our Instagram game to the next level!

Flick is an incredible Instagram Hashtag Tool that does some incredible things. Not only does the platform allow you to find quality hashtags in just a matter of minutes, but it also gives you an option to create a centralized location for your favorite ones and sort them into Collections which you can access from your phone, tablet, or computer at any time! You can also track exactly which hashtags are driving impressions, in order to decide which hashtags to keep using, and which ones to swap out.

Want to stand out to the right people through proper hashtag targeting? Well, then Flick is your BFFL. Hashtags are one of the key features that Instagram uses to identify the type of content and niche you’re in, and that is why we love it.

You can learn more about Flick in their Best Instagram Hashtag Guide here.

Engage with donors on Instagram 💸

If you have the manpower to follow and engage with donors this is an amazing way to build relationships and really make your donors feel that they are a part of your community. When a person donates they join your family and so giving them a follow and the occasional comment or like is an easy way to keep engaged and show them you care.

Another strategy for strengthening donor relations is to give them a shout-out honoring the way they have helped. However, make sure that they are comfortable with you sharing about them.

If you have the capacity you can even have a look at the content your donors are liking and interacting with. Following these accounts can increase your reach.

With a larger donor base, this approach may not be an effective use of your time. Rather choose to use this strategy for the top 30% of your donors.

And there you have it.
With these 5 actionable strategies, you’re bound to see a shift in the quality of your nonprofit Instagram page. More followers, an engaged community, and committed donors!

Want to make finding and using your best-performing hashtags a lot easier? Download Flick’s Mobile App below!