How are Charities Using Social Media in 2023?

Social media is not only a “nice to have” for charities, it’s a vital part of their communications.

It’s used to raise awareness, connect with donors, and mobilise volunteers. Here are a few innovative and creative ways that charities are using social media to build their presence and launch campaigns in 2023.

Young Scot

Young Scot create simple infographics about the issues young people in Scotland are facing, and it really works for them. They have 42,000 followers on Facebook, a further 12,000 on Instagram and 46,000 on Twitter (or X).

Their content is engaging, straightforward, and most importantly, useful. They write how-to guides on topics like:

• Staying cool in hot weather
• Safe sex
• Current policy impacting young people, like free bus travel for under 22s.

This content includes competitions to win useful tech that will aid in their education, like laptops, or discounts for various businesses. This is a further motive for young people to engage with their content.

If you’d like to know more, they’ve written about their strategy in “Communicating authentically with young people across Scotland.”

#NoWrongPath

Every August, Developing the Young Workforce launches their campaign, No Wrong Path. It was first launched in 2017 by our very own Jenn Hood. Jenn works with us to design and develop websites for the third sector.

The release of exam results can be a nerve-wracking time for young people. The campaign aims to prove that there are many different ways into the workforce.

Since its original launch, the #NoWrongPath campaign has seen a reach of over 50M with over 23,000 contributors. The 2023 campaign was launched this week, when SQA exam results were released on Tuesday the 8th August.

The campaign operates across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Video content produced as part of the campaign has almost 600,000 views on TikTok.

Valentines Day Action

Another well-timed campaign this year was from Women for Refugee Women. Their #StopProfitingFromOurHeartBreak campaign launched near Valentines today this year. In their words,

Valentine’s Day is a day of love, compassion and care.
Yet for women in detention, it’s another painful reminder that they are ripped apart from their loved ones. Detention is retraumatising and causes lasting damage to women’s mental health.

But huge profits are being made from women’s pain. Mitie and Serco are both involved in running detention centres in the UK and make ENORMOUS profits from doing so.

To take action, Women for Refugee Women posted hundreds of anti-Valentines cards condemning companies supporting detention centres. They distributed easily shareable resources to help supporters engage with the campaign online and via post.

This campaign was not only timely, but easy to engage with. The instructions were simple: download an image, and share it to social media. Encourage others to do the same.

They also drafted copy for supporters to tweet, making it as easy as possible to engage:

Rape Crisis Scotland

Rape Crisis Scotland use really thoughtful graphic design and copy. Especially on instagram, they regularly create and post easily shareable infographics and resources.

Although the subject of their content can be upsetting, their tone of voice and visual style are always calm, informative and helpful. Take a look at their instagram to see examples.

The British Red Cross

In February this year, the British Red Cross used TikTok to raise awareness about a series of devastating earthquakes in Turkey.

The TikTok featured influencer Ekin Su Cülcüloğlu, Turkish Love Island star of 2022, to deliver their message. Their original video gained over 33,000 likes and over 5 million views on TikTok alone. The video was also shared across other platforms and on news outlets.

@britishredcross

More than 11,000 people are now reported to have been killed following two devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria. Click the link in our bio to show your support and share this video. #earthquake #turkey #turkiye #syria #ekinsu

♬ Future – Official Sound Studio

The campaign featured in the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Evening Standard and many more news outlets.

By associating a familiar face with the tragedy, and using TikTok to share their message, the British Red Cross were able to reach mainstream media with their campaign.

Access Social Media Support

Of course, this is only a small selection of the great work happening in the sector.

For further advice on social media strategy in the third sector, check out this online masterclass from our founder, Ross McCulloch, The Curve: Social Media Strategy.

If you’re looking for bespoke social media support, please email robyn@thirdsectorlab.co.uk.