Crafting a hashtag strategy that works hard to amplify an organization’s mission has become essential for nonprofits looking to navigate the constantly evolving world of social media. In this blog post, we will explore how to develop the best nonprofit hashtag strategy, how branded hashtags help, and share tips for creating your own.
Social media plays a pivotal role in connecting organizations with their supporters and broader communities. By leveraging the best hashtag strategy for your nonprofit, your organization can significantly amplify its reach and impact.
In this blog post, we will unpack a well-executed hashtag strategy, explain how branded hashtags work and why you should use them, and provide tips to get you started. Let’s dive in!
Hashtags allow organizations to reach a larger audience and leverage existing support by fostering engagement, driving awareness, and amplifying your nonprofit’s mission. When combined with compelling and creative content, impact-focused calls to action, and moving visuals, they can be the thread that connects your organization with a world of support.
With this in mind, we have compiled the following tips to help you connect with fresh audiences who are primed to learn more about your work and share your organization’s journey.
Finding the right hashtags can seem daunting, especially considering how quickly trends change on social media. Thankfully, there are a few things you can do to simplify the process. Below are a few ways to find trending and meaningful hashtags.
Since social media is the primary location where hashtags are used, it’s often the best place to search for them.
Visit other nonprofits with similar missions to see which hashtags they use. Search these hashtags and take note of how frequently and recently they are used – you want to try to use hashtags that are relevant right now.
Because hashtags have grown to be quite common, there are now a few incredible analytics platforms you can use to find and track them. Tools like RiteTag and Keyhole analyze hashtag popularity and performance, but note that the cost can be out of range for smaller nonprofits.
Another way to find hashtags is to search trending or ‘For You’ pages on social media platforms. Topics such as awareness days, news, holidays, and other activities will pop up on these pages with hashtags for you to use.
If you’re looking for long-term hashtag ideas, Google Trends is an excellent analytics tool that shows you the search interest for specific hashtags over time.
As you start using hashtags, monitoring user engagement (likes, comments, shares) on posts is essential. Keep track of those hashtags with higher engagement to use again!
Navigating the world of hashtags can be daunting to even the most seasoned social media manager. But if your organization is actively seeking out ways to maximize its reach on social media, then a strong hashtag strategy is critical.
Hashtags work to group content, topics, and themes together, making them easier to find. It’s important to find the best ones for your nonprofit. But before we do that, we need to define the best hashtag strategy for your nonprofit, and these tips will help!
The best way to reach an interested audience is with relevant content. Focus on your organization’s mission and search for content that’s relevant to your cause and campaign.
Your nonprofit’s hashtag strategy must include various ways to reach and engage users. A mix of popular and mission-specific hashtags can reach individuals who’ve never heard of you and engage your supporters. Trending and unique topics can start conversations and allow you to share your story.
Unique branded hashtags can ensure your organization and cause are at the front of people’s minds.
A great example of a branded hashtag in action is the heartbreaking story of the girls who were kidnapped in Chibok, Nigeria. With the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag, a group of citizens was able to mobilize global support for the speedy return of the abducted girls. To this day, the hashtag has over 264,000 posts.
We’ll dive into how to create your own branded hashtag soon.
News stories, holidays, and giving and awareness days are excellent ways to reach your targeted audience. Adding trending hashtags can introduce your organization to more people and help you start or join a conversation. While trends often change rapidly, there are a few things you can do to stay ahead of them.
Check out our quick guide to popular nonprofit hashtags for more tips on finding trending hashtags!
Many nonprofits are smaller and must focus on finding local donors. These organizations may assume that social media won’t work for them because its focus is on a global scale.
Location-based hashtags are exactly what these nonprofits need. These types of hashtags can target specific regions and communities and help you connect with local supporters.
Analyzing your hashtag use is essential to understanding which ones are driving the most engagement. Tools like Hootsuite can help you track events and campaigns via hashtag engagement, enabling you to utilize a data-led approach to your social media marketing strategy.
The best way to get your hashtag trending? Encourage your supporters to use it! Share a post on your social media platform asking others to share their stories and experiences with your organization using a branded hashtag that includes trending topic words. You can also connect directly with a few top supporters and ask them to use the hashtag.
Pro tip: This is the perfect opportunity for your board to get involved in spreading your message to their online community.
Hashtags usually use more than one word, making them difficult to read, especially for those using assistive devices like screen readers. Make sure to capitalize the first letter of each word in your hashtag so that it is easier to read by both humans and screen readers.
Branded hashtags can help your nonprofit with brand recognition and visibility, campaign tracking, storytelling, and community building. Adding unique branded hashtags not only serves as your organization’s digital footprint on social media but can also help communicate the essence of your mission, values, and programs. Here are some tips to help you create a branded hashtag that works.
The first step is to determine your goal for the hashtag. A few questions to ask yourself include:
Keep your hashtag simple. Use words that are easy to spell and remember. You can use acronyms and abbreviations, but only if they are common and well-known (for example: ALS).
Check out what hashtags other nonprofits and companies are using. You can piggyback off these ideas, but make sure your hashtag is unique and you’re not competing with other organizations for an audience.
It’s important to focus on a key message and ensure the hashtag resonates with your audience. Consider brand values, mission, and products or services.
Is your hashtag something your audience would naturally use or search for when looking for similar content? This is where a lot of hashtags don’t work.
Pro tip: Hashtags can be a powerful tool for your next event or conference. Adding these hashtags to each marketing and fundraising post will help you reach a focused audience and keep them interested.
Make sure to use the hashtag on all your social media platforms. Continue to use it with all posts for your event, conference, or campaign and promote it through your website, promotional videos, and conversations with supporters.
Businesses understand the benefits of hashtags more than most. To gain more attention, offer potential sponsors a branded hashtag that combines your mission and their business.
Regularly monitor the use of your hashtag and engage with users who are using it! Like, comment, and share user-generated content to foster a sense of community. Assess the effectiveness of your hashtag campaign and make necessary adjustments.
Implementing a well-thought-out hashtag strategy and leveraging branded hashtags can enhance your organization’s online presence. By following the steps and tips outlined in this guide and incorporating best practices for hashtag usage, you can amplify your message, reach new audiences, and build meaningful connections with new and existing donors.
Remember to monitor and analyze the performance of your hashtags and adjust your strategy as and when needed!
As you begin to create a strategic and intentional approach to hashtag usage, Donorbox is here to help with the tools you need to amplify your social media campaigns. Use Peer-to-Peer to mobilize your followers to create fundraising pages of their own and Donorbox Crowdfunding to turn your social media campaign into a catalytic force that inspires change.
If you’re looking for more marketing ideas, the Donorbox Nonprofit Blog provides fundraising tips and resources for nonprofits of every size!
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Kristine Ensor is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience working with local and international nonprofits. As a nonprofit professional she has specialized in fundraising, marketing, event planning, volunteer management, and board development.
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Kristine Ensor