Why Images and Videos Are Essential to Your Nonprofit’s Social Media Strategy
Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2025 5:36 am
Social media marketing for nonprofits can be tricky. With limited volunteers and limited budgets, many nonprofits are unable to “invest” in paid social media advertising .
However, social media is one of the best marketing channels for philanthropic organizations. 87% of nonprofits are already using social media for recruitment and fundraising. They are also satisfied with the success rate of these channels.
So how do these organizations leverage social media marketing on a limited budget?
The answer is simple. Prioritizing Image and video content.
Images and videos, collectively called visual content, country email list can drive your social media efforts by improving visibility and reaching a wider audience.
This article examines the importance of images and videos in a nonprofit's social media strategy , their impact, and some best practices for using them.
In this article
Why Images and Videos Are Essential to Your Nonprofit’s Social Media Strategy
How Images and Videos Can Increase Social Media Presence
6 Best Practices for Using Images and Videos on Social Media
How Nonprofits Can Create or Find Images for Social Media
Leverage visual content to build a social media presence
FAQ
Why Images and Videos Are Essential to Your Nonprofit’s Social Media Strategy
Images and videos are essential to your nonprofit social media strategy.
Marketing for a nonprofit organization has two goals: building a community and influencing them toward a cause. Both of these goals are easily achieved through the large user base of social media.
Many social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram , and Pinterest , are largely based on visual content. Even text-based channels like LinkedIn and Twitter use images and videos to some extent to grab the user's attention.
The best part is that these content channels are free and generate huge organic traffic. Organizations that cannot spend a lot on their social media marketing can use these platforms to achieve the same goals as paid marketing.
However, due to the above advantages, both for-profit and non-profit businesses are widely using these channels. As a result, it makes them highly competitive.
So, if you want to stand out as a charity and reach the right audience, you need an engaging visual content strategy that demonstrates your cause.
But first, you need to understand how visual content impacts your nonprofit social media strategy.
How Images and Videos Can Increase Social Media Presence
Images and videos are powerful ways for people to tell their stories. Visual storytelling works for all organizations, but it’s especially effective for nonprofit social media campaigns because:
Quickly grab attention
Social media users have short attention spans and skim through most of the content. But images and videos break up the monotony of scrolling text, bringing the user's attention to your organization.
They are also effective at powerfully communicating your cause when there are limitations on text-based content.
Generate greater engagement
Generating greater engagement with visual content is easier than with text-only content. Combining images with text on platforms like Twitter will help you convey more, creating room for interaction.
People also love to interact with visual content. For example, carousel posts with multiple images and videos received more engagement than other Instagram posts .
Create a personal connection
51% of people donate to a cause they feel personally connected to. Even if you can’t reach people in person, using video and images on social media for nonprofits helps build stronger relationships with your audience.
Visual demonstrations of the nonprofit's social cause, work, and positive impact create an emotional connection. These emotions motivate people to volunteer, campaign, or support the organization fundraising campaigns .
Increase reach through easy sharing
Sharing content online is the new word of mouth. And nonprofits should capitalize on this by making content easily shareable.
Compared to text-heavy posts, sharing images and multimedia is more intuitive. Social media platforms also provide features for easy sharing through tagging, direct messaging, and bookmarking options.
To leverage these benefits of social media for nonprofits, you need a solid social media strategy. Even with limited resources, you can create your own strategy by following these best practices for social media marketing through images and videos.
However, social media is one of the best marketing channels for philanthropic organizations. 87% of nonprofits are already using social media for recruitment and fundraising. They are also satisfied with the success rate of these channels.
So how do these organizations leverage social media marketing on a limited budget?
The answer is simple. Prioritizing Image and video content.
Images and videos, collectively called visual content, country email list can drive your social media efforts by improving visibility and reaching a wider audience.
This article examines the importance of images and videos in a nonprofit's social media strategy , their impact, and some best practices for using them.
In this article
Why Images and Videos Are Essential to Your Nonprofit’s Social Media Strategy
How Images and Videos Can Increase Social Media Presence
6 Best Practices for Using Images and Videos on Social Media
How Nonprofits Can Create or Find Images for Social Media
Leverage visual content to build a social media presence
FAQ
Why Images and Videos Are Essential to Your Nonprofit’s Social Media Strategy
Images and videos are essential to your nonprofit social media strategy.
Marketing for a nonprofit organization has two goals: building a community and influencing them toward a cause. Both of these goals are easily achieved through the large user base of social media.
Many social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram , and Pinterest , are largely based on visual content. Even text-based channels like LinkedIn and Twitter use images and videos to some extent to grab the user's attention.
The best part is that these content channels are free and generate huge organic traffic. Organizations that cannot spend a lot on their social media marketing can use these platforms to achieve the same goals as paid marketing.
However, due to the above advantages, both for-profit and non-profit businesses are widely using these channels. As a result, it makes them highly competitive.
So, if you want to stand out as a charity and reach the right audience, you need an engaging visual content strategy that demonstrates your cause.
But first, you need to understand how visual content impacts your nonprofit social media strategy.
How Images and Videos Can Increase Social Media Presence
Images and videos are powerful ways for people to tell their stories. Visual storytelling works for all organizations, but it’s especially effective for nonprofit social media campaigns because:
Quickly grab attention
Social media users have short attention spans and skim through most of the content. But images and videos break up the monotony of scrolling text, bringing the user's attention to your organization.
They are also effective at powerfully communicating your cause when there are limitations on text-based content.
Generate greater engagement
Generating greater engagement with visual content is easier than with text-only content. Combining images with text on platforms like Twitter will help you convey more, creating room for interaction.
People also love to interact with visual content. For example, carousel posts with multiple images and videos received more engagement than other Instagram posts .
Create a personal connection
51% of people donate to a cause they feel personally connected to. Even if you can’t reach people in person, using video and images on social media for nonprofits helps build stronger relationships with your audience.
Visual demonstrations of the nonprofit's social cause, work, and positive impact create an emotional connection. These emotions motivate people to volunteer, campaign, or support the organization fundraising campaigns .
Increase reach through easy sharing
Sharing content online is the new word of mouth. And nonprofits should capitalize on this by making content easily shareable.
Compared to text-heavy posts, sharing images and multimedia is more intuitive. Social media platforms also provide features for easy sharing through tagging, direct messaging, and bookmarking options.
To leverage these benefits of social media for nonprofits, you need a solid social media strategy. Even with limited resources, you can create your own strategy by following these best practices for social media marketing through images and videos.