Despite many organizations having to work with tight budgets and limited resources, there’s no shortage of innovation in the world of social media marketing for non-profits.
To help inspire your next ideation session, we’ve rounded up some of the most impactful non-profit social media campaigns of the past 12 months from the likes of Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross, and the Smithsonian Institution.
And because we love to keep it actionable, we’ll be sharing a key learning or best practice from each example.
Let’s get into it…
1. Candid
Candid – formed by the merger of GuideStar and Foundation Center – is an information service that specializes in reporting on US non-profits, with a database containing hundreds of thousands of organizations.
As well as maintaining its various reports, Candid offers resources and original research publications centered on trends in the non-profit space, and also runs various training initiatives. So it makes sense for the organization to use its social channels for sharing valuable assets that speak to common non-profit pain points.
One of our favorite recent examples is this Instagram carousel post providing practical tips for writing better grant proposals:
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Kate Meyers Emery, Senior Digital Communications Manager at Candid, explained: “Folks love when we share red flags, and these simple carousels are always a hit. Who doesn’t love a good educational post where you can get all the tips without having to click any links or leave the platform?”
🤓 Pro tip: Sure, the ultimate goal of your social media marketing efforts might be to drive people to your website. But keeping your followers in-platform can boost your engagement rate – which, in turn, can help you get more eyes on your content.
2. Red Cross
The website of the American Red Cross is packed with training courses on first aid. But this sort of in-depth content doesn’t necessarily translate well to the social media realm.
Rather than overloading its audience with a ton of information on short-form platforms like Instagram Reels and TikTok, the organization focuses on sharing practical, bite-sized tips. Just like in this TikTok about what to do if you live alone and start choking:
@americanredcross If you’re alone and start choking, you can actually perform first aid on yourself. 1. Call 911, even if you can’t speak. 2. Thrust your abdomen against a firm object, avoiding sharp edges that can hurt you. 3. OR give yourself abdominal thrusts by putting one hand over your fist, just like you would if someone else was choking. #HowTo #Choking #ChokingAlone #FirstAid #SafetyTip #LivingAlone #ChokingRescue ♬ original sound – 🪻Carla🪻
Not only is this potentially life-saving, but it’s also super engaging. At time of writing, this post has notched up:
- 860,000+ views
- 2,000+ likes
- 110 comments
Plus it’s been “favorited” 199 times, suggesting that people are planning to come back to the video if they need it in future.
🤓 Pro tip: Keep your short-form content succinct and accessible by focusing on one clear “action” with each video, such as sharing a single, practical first-aid tip.
3. Feeding America
From winning grants to attracting donations, one of the biggest challenges for any non-profit is to demonstrate the value of its work. Because if people can’t join the dots between what you do and why it matters, they’re not going to reach into their wallet.
Food bank network Feeding America got it right with its Food Rescue Challenge campaign, which urges its audience to dig deep and help turn surplus food into meals for millions of people facing hunger.
By sharing a simple statistic about the number of Americans facing hunger, the organization clearly shows why this issue is so important – and why its campaign is worth supporting.
🤓 Pro tip: Reach more people by creating a dedicated campaign hashtag (like Feeding America’s #FoodRescueChallenge). As well as encouraging shareability, this makes it easier for your audience to find additional content about your campaign.
4. United Way
When back-to-back hurricanes devastated parts of the southeast US in late 2024, United Way organized a charity concert – the Benefit for Hurricane Relief – to support the recovery effort.
United Way worked with a bunch of big names to raise awareness through social media ahead of the event, including country singers Brittney Spencer and Tyler Hubbard.
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Their promotional efforts clearly worked, with the benefit concert helping to raise $11+ million for the United Way Disaster Relief Fund to support communities directly impacted by the hurricanes.
🤓 Pro tip: United Way’s campaign was especially effective because many of the big names involved live in and/or are from states affected by the disaster. This helped the content feel localized while also offering broad appeal, enabling United Way reach a wide audience and drive action.
5. Direct Relief
People want to know that if they donate to a non-profit organization, their money will be well spent.
That’s why Direct Relief uses Instagram Reels to showcase the work it supports on the ground, such as helping to distribute thousands of N95 respirators, hygiene kits, and medical supplies in the wake of the Southern California wildfires:
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This campaign notched up 47,000+ views, helping to spread Direct Relief’s message and encourage further donations.
🤓 Pro tip: The built-in virality of Instagram Reels makes it a great fit for raising awareness. Turn that awareness into action with a call to action encouraging viewers to visit your website and/or donate via your Instagram bio link.
6. St Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Filling your social media content calendar is a whole lot easier when you have a ton of news to report – like project milestones and new fundraising campaigns. When things are quieter, coming up with content themes is more of a challenge.
That’s where you need evergreen content campaigns – recurring post types that you can lean on whenever you’re short of ideas.
St Jude Children’s Research Hospital does this by regularly spotlighting individual team members and discussing the vital work they carry out:
This helps to give your organization a more human face, which can encourage your followers to donate.
🤓 Pro tip: When assessing potential evergreen content ideas, ask yourself: “Will this still be useful/interesting in six months or a year?” If the answer’s “yes”, slot it into your content calendar.
7. Doctors Without Borders
Clearly, people are more likely to empathize with an individual than an entire community or country.
That’s why Doctors Without Borders uses its YouTube channel to hone in on human stories.
For example, it discussed migration in the Americas from the perspective of Venezuelan couple Adriana and Jhonny, who – together with their four small children – were stuck in a makeshift camp in Mexico City while applying for asylum in the US.
This human-centric approach makes the organization’s content feel far more relatable and memorable.
🤓 Pro tip: Encourage YouTube subscribers to connect with you on other channels by linking to your website and social media profiles in your video descriptions, just like Doctors Without Borders does here:
8. The Nature Conservancy
One of the most effective ways to communicate your mission is to share your organization’s goals in an easily digestible format on social media. Just like The Nature Conservancy did in this Instagram carousel:
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The carousel layout is a great fit, giving The Nature Conservancy space to focus on its objectives, then share practical tips we can take to support them – like taking public transport more often and speaking to friends and family about climate change.
🤓 Pro tip: If you’re going to share this sort of content on Instagram, take a leaf from The Nature Conservancy’s book and pin it to the top of your wall so people see it when they click through to your profile page.
9. Smithsonian Institution
An easy win for social media teams in any industry is to relate your products or services to timely events and awareness days.
For example, the Smithsonian Institution celebrated the Lunar New Year by pointing followers on Facebook toward a traditional electric hotpot displayed at its Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum:
This visual “hook” also allowed the organization to promote Chinese New Year activities taking place at its various institutions, including the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.
🤓 Pro tip: If your institution has multiple Facebook pages, linking to them in posts from your main account can help to boost your total following and increase engagement with your “sub-brands”.
10. Step Up For Students
Sharing success stories helps you highlight the value of the grants and donations your organization receives.
For example, Step Up For Students regularly highlights scholarship alumna like Hera Varmah, who discussed the important role that school choice played for her and her family:
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The more people understand the importance of what you do, the more likely they are to donate. And what better way to demonstrate this than by enlisting those who have directly benefited from your work?
🤓 Pro tip: Get the maximum value from your content by cross-posting it to other platforms. For example, Step Up For Students also shared the above video on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Featured image by Pexels.
