Guest blog: Social media for foundations and non-profit

Social media, who doesn't know it nowadays? Various platforms on which you can share everything. From photos and videos to a complaint, nowadays everything is shared. Companies also make good use of this. Actions, sponsor messages, everything is used by a company to create as much awareness as possible. But where large companies can buy sponsor messages or give things away through like & share promotions, it is much harder for a foundation to determine the right content for the public.

Social media for a foundation

What will generate more likes, how do I get more awareness for the foundation Follow the wish, how often can you post something as a foundation, on which platform should you focus and is it perhaps not an idea to still spend money for sponsor messages? These are questions I have come across recently. Since February I have been doing an internship at the 'Volg de Wens' foundation and everything that has to do with social media has become my job. Now I can be found on social media most of the day, but this was very different from just keeping my own social media up to date.

What can I post, what can I not post, for what purpose am I going to post this and many other questions rush through my mind. I'm not the only one, more people are walking around with questions like this. Fortunately there are blogs and articles that contain tips on how best to use social media. But not all tips also work for every type of company. The non-profit sector is a very different sector from where most companies are located. Also looking at other companies how she helps with social media helps. But a foundation such as Volg de Wens is still different from any other foundation.

The experiences of the Volg de Wens foundation

After some research and experimenting, it is clear that it is mainly on Facebook and Instagram needs to be focused. With these platforms, the reach is much greater than with Twitter, for example. In addition, it is possible to reach a target group very specifically via Facebook and Instagram. In this way you reach the people you want to reach and the chance of an extra like on the page is greater.

But the question remains: What should I do to ensure that the Facebook page is actively followed and that more people end up on it? A tip that certainly works is regular posts. Because there is a regular post on your Facebook page, it is more interesting for people to follow the company, in this case the Volg de Wens foundation. The use of visual material also always works well. The well-known saying A picture paints a thousand words is 100 percent true. A post with only text is quickly boring for people, while people get stuck with images and still go and see what it is. And finally, change is a key word that should certainly not be forgotten. Change can be in everything, but is mainly applied to the type of mail. Only self-promotion or just information, that gets boring over time. So be creative and try to come up with a new kind of mail every time.

There is still much to learn for the future. Certainly with all developments regarding social media. But as far as the Volg de Wens foundation is not doing badly. There have been a number of developments in recent times. There are more and more posts and also with regularity. A lot of visual material is also used. For almost every activity there is a photo and this is therefore well used. In addition, there is much to be learned in the field of visual material, for example in the form of films. The change is also good at the Volg de Wens foundation, for example, look at this blog. A blog is very different from a photo of a fun outing.

What also always works is when as many people as possible like, post and respond to a post. So I say: share, like and respond!

Marjolein Vielvoije July 18, 2017