If your organization is still resistant to utilizing social media tools, it is time to catch up with the times. Social media has risen to the forefront for businesses to reach consumers and dedicated audiences nationally and globally. Thanks to social media, you can now better inform others about your organization’s mission, recruit more volunteers, and humanize your organization.

Are you still not convinced? We have 13 reasons why you need to make a social media plan for your organization today, we promise you will not regret!

1. Expose yourself: It should be your goal to consistently expose your organization’s mission to an ever increasing audience. Social media can help target specific individuals to your organization by providing brand resources and information to a social following. For example, if your organization wants to attract volunteers, you can begin announcing volunteer projects through social media.
2. Add more customer service: Support the unanswered questions requiring customer service with the use of social media. Social media allows your organization to show the communities where it serves while providing immediate answers to questions.
3. Start a conversation: Start a conversation with those who truly care about your organization. Ask your friends and followers what they like, what needs to be improved, etc. By opening this conversation up through social media, you will have the ability to improve the overall function of your organization.
4. Be an open book: Social media opens the door to letting the public know what everyone thinks about your organization, use this to your advantage! When someone makes a negative comment about your organization, respond to it professionally and provide resources to better serve that individual. Others will tend to look more favorably upon your organization when they see how you handle business.
5. SEO, SEO! Pages that utilize social media tend to have higher search results on Bing and Google. This feature will allow new users to find your organization more easily!
6. I’ll scratch your back, if you scratch mine: Social media is the new word of mouth. When your page starts to get likes and retweets, new potential volunteers are only a click away. When others see what their friends interact with on social media, their interest is more likely to be sparked.
7. Provides great brand exposure: Use social media to build a community. Allow users to start conversation and share resources, so that they will turn to your page when they need help or want to serve.
8. The fans will flock: When more people share your organization’s content through social media, the more popular those resources will become across the internet. It is important to promote your organization’s events, resources, service opportunities, etc. through social media in order for its popularity to grow.
9. Everybody is doing it: Believe us, your targeted audience already knows about social media and they are probably using it. Get on the train too and interact with them.
10. Your partners are using it: Most businesses and nonprofit organizations are now using Facebook and Twitter on a daily basis. Join them! Social media becomes easier to use everyday with its frequent improvements and user friendly tools.
11. Build your influence: Get to know the people who interact with your social page the most; they will be more likely to influence others to visit your page and utilize your resources. You may be able to attract and reach more volunteers through this influence.
12. Allow your organization to be more relatable: A business or organization becomes more human when it participates in social media. Users can feel more connected to your organization because they can provide their feedback and communicate with actual employees. It allows users to see the behind the scenes of an organization.
13. It’s a full proof plan: New users are more likely to trust your organization when they see it on social media and can understand the purpose. When users see interactions and engagement, it allows them to trust the overall reputation of your organization.

We hope these 13 reasons convince your organization to jump on board with social media! You will only benefit from starting a social media plan at your organization.

How does your nonprofit organization use social media? We would love hear your comments and tips in the section below!