Consider social media sharing as a form of generosity this GivingTuesday

This GivingTuesday, you may want to try something a little different as part of your social media strategy: Consider social media sharing and engagement as a form of generosity.  

By doing this, you’re encouraging your followers to amplify your organization and cause to reach a broader audience. It also helps cultivate the support of a younger generation that’s also highly active on social media, potentially turning them into future donors. 

In this blog, we’ll dive into why social media sharing is useful on GivingTuesday and a great way to encourage generosity.  

Why social media sharing should be viewed as a form of generosity

Twenty-nine percent of online donors say that social media is the communication tool that most inspires them to give. Here’s the catch. They need to see your social media content to be inspired to give, and only a small percentage of your followers sees what you share. For example, on Instagram, around 12% of followers typically see your content, but on Facebook and LinkedIn, it’s 4% or less.  

This is where social media sharing as a form of generosity comes in. 

Before we jump into why this works, let’s talk about what an algorithm is. Each social media platform has an algorithm that determines who sees your content and who doesn’t. Most prioritize content that other people are liking, sharing, and commenting on. More engagement means more people see your social media posts.  

Basically, if you want more people to see your GivingTuesday posts, you need your followers to reshare, comment, and like your social media content in advance. More eyes on your content means more opportunity for donations.     

Lean into Gen Z’s view of social media sharing as generosity

Introducing this option as a way to support your cause can also be valuable for reaching younger followers who may not yet have the money to donate financially.  

A few months ago, we surveyed a group of people from Generation Z (Gen Z) to get their thoughts on nonprofit social media. When asked an open-ended question about how they supported nonprofits, 71% cited social media sharing.  

Here is a selection of these folks’ responses to the question “how do you support nonprofits?”: 

• “…[by] sharing social media, liking/interacting with posts, and just raising general awareness about the issue by talking about it” 
• “Yes, [by] sharing on social media and spreading awareness via conversation” 
• “I repost [on social media] and share the word” 

How to add social media sharing to your GivingTuesday ask

So, now that you’re convinced social media is a form of generosity (or you’re at least humoring us), what does it actually look like to add this in? 

1. Provide a social media sharing option as part of the ask. It doesn’t need to be the primary or even secondary ask, but it needs to be obvious. The goal isn’t to present this as something to do instead of donating but as an add on. 

2. Explain why this is important. Communicate that every comment, like, and share can help boost the post. That way, followers know they are helping you reach new audiences (and therefore more supporters).  

3. Make sure you provide all the information necessary to make it happen. On Facebook, for example, the goal would be followers using “Share to feed” with a quick story about why your nonprofit matters. Whereas on Instagram, you’d want them to share your content to their Stories. 

4. Ask them to tag your nonprofit so others can find you. The other benefit of this approach is that you can see the post and others’ reactions to it. 

5. Finally, thank them. If you are able to see the reshared post, you can thank them directly by commenting on it. You can also do a more general post thanking everyone who engaged and shared your social media content to make the day successful. 

If you’re wondering how all these elements come together, here is a brief example of what this could look like: 

• Today is #GivingTuesday! We need your help to advance our work and fulfill our mission. Here are three ways you can make a difference today.  
• First, you can donate. Donations allow us to keep doing good work every day, and it’s people like you that make it all possible. Visit this link to give now. 
• Second, you can volunteer. Volunteers are a vital part of our team.  
• Finally, you can like, comment, and share this post on your social media. By engaging with our post, you help spread the word about the work we do to new potential supporters. Give us an extra boost by reposting it to your feed with a story about why our work matters to you. Don’t forget to tag us at @YourNonprofit, so we can thank you for sharing! 

Social media sharing gives your followers the opportunity to encourage others to join them in supporting your organization. By tapping into this form of generosity, you are also reaching and cultivating a broader audience of potential donors and volunteers for the future.