PRODUCT
Samriddhi Simlai
June 2024
In the ever-evolving world of social media, influence has diversified and become more important than ever. No longer is influence solely in the hands of celebrities and macro-influencers; the era of nano-influencers has dawned. These everyday individuals with smaller, highly engaged audiences can create a significant impact through authentic and relatable content. For nonprofits, leveraging volunteers as nano-influencers presents a unique and largely untapped opportunity to generate awareness, build trust among donors, and ultimately increase donations.
Nano-influencers typically have between 1,000 to 10,000 followers on social media platforms. Their strength lies in high engagement rates and the close-knit nature of their audience. Unlike celebrities who might promote a product for a fee, nano-influencers are seen as genuine and relatable, making their endorsements more credible.
Source: Hubspot 2024 State of Marketing & Trends Report
For nonprofits, this authenticity is invaluable. Volunteers sharing their on-field experiences can provide a raw and unfiltered glimpse into the organization's work, fostering trust and a deeper connection with the audience.
Trust is the cornerstone of successful nonprofit operations. Potential donors need to believe that their contributions are making a difference. Traditional marketing and advertisements often fail to convey this trust due to their polished and sometimes impersonal nature. In contrast, content created by volunteers can capture the essence of nonprofit work in a way that is both personal and impactful.
Volunteers on the ground witness firsthand the challenges and triumphs of the nonprofit's mission. When they share stories, photos, and videos from their experiences, it resonates more deeply with audiences. This content showcases the human side of the organization, highlighting the real-world impact of donations.
For example, a volunteer at a wildlife conservation nonprofit could share a story about rescuing an endangered animal, complete with pictures and videos. This not only highlights the nonprofit's efforts but also puts a face to the cause, making it more relatable and urgent to potential donors.
The ultimate goal for any nonprofit is to maximize donations to support their cause. By leveraging volunteers as nano-influencers, nonprofits can create a ripple effect of engagement that extends far beyond their immediate reach.
Studies show that people are more likely to trust recommendations from individuals they know personally.
According to Nielsen's Global Trust in Advertising report, 83% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family over other forms of advertising. When volunteers share their experiences and endorse the nonprofit, their friends, family, and followers are more likely to take notice and engage with the cause.
Each piece of content shared by a volunteer has the potential to reach a new audience. As these followers engage with the content, they may be inspired to learn more about the nonprofit, share the content further, or even make a donation. This creates a snowball effect, where the initial impact of the volunteer's content multiplies as it spreads across social networks.
Consider the example of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s “Light The Night” event, which aims to bring light to the darkness of cancer by bringing communities together and fundraising for blood cancer cures. To spread awareness of this event and encourage online participation, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society reached out to their community of volunteers and supporters ie. real people on social media. They aimed to create authentic, engaging content that strikes a chord.
By working with 30 creators, they produced 10 on-brand videos and 25 photos in honor of the event. The Instagram videos alone achieved a 20% engagement rate and received over 19,000 in-feed engagements. Collectively, this emotionally-moving creator content reached over 240,000 users on Instagram. By incorporating real people into their promotional strategy, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society was able to humanize the event’s messaging even before it took place.
Additionally, including videos and photos in the campaign allowed the nonprofit to test different content formats on various channels to see which resonated most with their audience. This case study demonstrates how leveraging the authentic voices of real people can significantly boost engagement and spread awareness, ultimately driving more participation and donations.
To effectively utilise the power of volunteer nano-influencers, nonprofits need a robust yet user-friendly platform for content creation and management. This is where CauseCircle ecosystem comes in. Designed specifically for nonprofits, CauseCircle CMS is free to use and enables volunteers to generate and share content with an interface that's as easy to use as social media.
With CauseCircle CMS, nonprofits can deliver personalized content to volunteers, donors, and beneficiaries, ensuring that each audience segment receives relevant information that resonates with their interests and history. This helps in nurturing community relationships and maximizing donations by providing a tailored experience.
Nonprofit staff can also easily build professional pages that stay true to the nonprofit's brand without needing any coding skills. The drag-and-drop design feature makes it easy for non-technical users to create impactful content, helping nonprofits maintain a consistent and professional online presence. Additionally, managing permissions and user control is made simple with CauseCircle's secure sign-on options through Microsoft, Google, and Okta. This centralized approach enhances security and ease of use for IT management.
CauseCircle CMS also offers easy integrations with popular fundraising solutions, simplifying the process of embedding donation forms from platforms like Fundraise Up, Blackbaud or Classy. This convenience for donors can significantly amplify fundraising efforts by providing user-friendly, mobile-compatible payment forms.
To boost visibility, CauseCircle CMS includes automated SEO tools that increase search rankings by managing content under one domain and providing reliable hosting. This unified approach helps maintain consistent search engine rankings and visibility, essential for attracting new donors.
Nonprofits with limited technical resources will benefit from CauseCircle's no-code and low-code options. The platform supports top-rated developers for custom solutions and offers template automation and instant data-tagging for data-driven insights, ensuring a smooth experience for all users.
The potential for nonprofits to leverage their volunteers as nano-influencers is vast and largely untapped. By empowering volunteers to share their on-field experiences, nonprofits can generate authentic, relatable content that builds trust and engages donors. With tools like CauseCircle CMS, this process becomes streamlined and efficient, enabling nonprofits to harness the full power of volunteer-generated content.
As the landscape of social media continues to evolve, the importance of authenticity and trust in nonprofit marketing cannot be overstated. By tapping into the potential of volunteer nano-influencers, nonprofits can create a powerful and sustainable model for generating awareness and increasing donations.
By integrating volunteer stories and experiences into their content strategy, nonprofits not only amplify their reach but also foster a deeper connection with their audience. With the right tools and approach, the untapped potential of volunteer nano-influencers can become a driving force for positive change and increased support for nonprofit causes.
By Samriddhi Simlai
Samriddhi or Sam is a Seattle-based marketing professional who loves to be curious and find stories in data. Samriddhi enjoys chats about mission-driven tech, product, growth and coffee. Say hi at sam@causecircle.org. Causes Sam is passionate about: Health Equity, Climate, DEI, Art & Culture Preservation