Summer is a season of opportunity for your non-profit to amplify your message, engage your followers, and drive donations. By embracing organic social, creating fun and engaging content, and leveraging different platforms, you can make the most of the summer season to further your cause. 

Remember: authenticity and connection are key on social media. Let your followers see the heart and soul of your organization, give them genuine opportunities to connect, and they’ll be more likely to support your mission going forward.

Use stories for quick updates. Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok Stories are great tools for sharing daily updates in a fun and engaging way. It’s true that anything on the internet can live forever, but a lot of the content we post and engage with online is temporal and ephemeral. You can post quick snapshots, short videos, host lives, post polls, or run Q&A sessions. Stories are a great way to explore new content ideas you have without investing a ton of time.

Use Reels and TikToks to ride the wave of trends. If you’re looking to connect with a younger audience, TikTok and Instagram are the best places to do that. Find trends that you can participate in as an organization and encourage your marketing or fundraising team to get creative with it! And it’s not all dancing, we promise. 

Use Facebook groups. Look for established Facebook groups where people who share your mission or values gather online and join in the conversation! If there’s no space where the conversation is already happening, you could always start your own Facebook group for your local area. 

Pin tutorials, inspiration, and resources to Pinterest. Is there any part of your organization’s mission, vision, services, or values that you can make actionable and visual? Pinterest is often used as a vision board or recipe collector, but that’s not the only content that exists on the platform. Think about your donors’ habits that could be created into how-to content.

Use Twitter (or X) for real-time updates and conversations. If your audience is established on X, think about live-tweeting events from your organization’s perspective.

3 Content Ideas for the Summer Social Media

1. Highlight Your Team and Their (Relevant) Summer Passions

Are there summer activities that are relevant or adjacent to the mission of your organization? Is there an activity that your staff participates in during the summer months? Introduce your social followers to the people who work or volunteer at your organization through meaningful opportunities to find common ground. 

For example, if your mission is related to food security, show off your staff’s contributions to their community garden.

2. Provide Behind-The-Scenes Access for Your Summer Event or Fundraiser

Share real-time updates and highlights from your summer events and/or fundraisers. Use stories to provide live coverage leading up to and during the big day, making your followers feel like they’re a part of the action. Have a different member of staff do a takeover on your social media stories for the day to show their contributions to the main event. These candid moments humanize your organization, demonstrate the work you do, and create a sense of intimacy with your audience.

3. Organize a Summer Social Contest

Create a fun and interactive challenge or contest themed around the summer months and ultimately collects user-generated content (UGC). Make sure to include in the rules that you will have the right to share any content that is created to participate. You may consider offering small incentives, such as small prizes as a way to boost participation. Some ideas to get you started are photo contests, fundraising challenges, and volunteer drives. 

Whether you’re looking to amplify your message, engage your followers, or drive donations (or all three!), leveraging the energy of summer can be incredibly effective. We hope you have a very social summer ahead, making a big impact along the way!