Nonprofit Hashtag Strategy
August 19, 2021
A constant challenge for any nonprofit or cultural organization is how to continue to bolster their brand and stay relevant on social media. Because nonprofits rely on donations, fundraisers, and user participation, they need to constantly be updating and evaluating their marketing strategies.
One of the most effective and immediate ways to connect with visitors and other organizations online is through hashtags. The challenge, of course, is identifying the best and most relevant hashtags to make you visible and the ways in which you spread those hashtags.
Below we’ll get into the best hashtags for nonprofits and how to utilize hashtags in your marketing strategy.
Hashtag best practices for nonprofits
Before we get into which hashtags are best for your organization, there are a few best practices that nonprofits should keep in mind when thinking about how to use a hashtag.
When utilizing hashtags, organizations should remember to:
- Not overdo it – Marketing platforms have found that more doesn’t necessarily mean better. They found that engagement actually decreases after a certain number of hashtags are attached. While instagram engagement decreases after 11 hashtags on a post, it increases by 200% on Twitter with 2 or less hashtags.
- Create an experience – There are a number of ways to implement experiences into your hashtags. One way is to automatically enter users into contests or giveaways if they use a particular hashtag. You can generate excitement and increase engagement by attaching fun, tangible events to your hashtags.
- Engage your users – You can engage with users by creating and managing chats based on a hashtag. Individuals who contribute to the chat with a Tweet, for example, can include the hashtag, which will spread the link quickly and effectively.
- Have fun and be creative – The key with hashtags is to utilize what’s happening in your local community and the world to come up with fun and creative hashtags. Holidays, seasonal events, and community-based ideas are all great resources to generate hashtag ideas.
- Monitor your efforts – Nonprofits who simply share hashtags without evaluating or monitoring their efforts are making a big long-term mistake. If you’re going to evolve, improve, and develop informed marketing strategies, you need to monitor hashtag engagement and hashtag analytics to see what’s working, work isn’t working, and make adjustments where it’s necessary.
Depending on the social media platform you’re using, the ways in which you distribute your hashtags will be different. It’s important to do your research and try to ascertain the most effective ways to share hashtags in order to drive engagement and increase your following.
Museum hashtags
Museums have a lot of opportunities to share a number of different hashtags based on the various events and exhibits that they’re offering to the public. Because a lot of these exhibits are in circulation, museums should have a fresh supply of ideas, content, and hashtag options from which to attach to their posts and shares.
Museums should attach their hashtags online and in person at the actual exhibits. You can include hashtags on the physical informative description of the event as well as through videos and posts that you share on social media that relate to your exhibits.
While your hashtags will heavily depend on your particular exhibits and events, below are some general hashtags that museums can make use of:
- #Art
- #Arthistory
- #Fashionhistory
- #Digitalart
- #Augmentedreality
- #Virtualreality
- #Sharkweek
- #Science
- #Sciencemuseum
- #Interactivemuseum
Zoo hashtags
Zoos can benefit in a similar way to museums because they have a rolling list of events and zoo attractions that change with the progression of the year. Zoos can utilize the addition of newly acquired animals, either born under their roof or received from outside the zoo, in order to generate excitement and engage with the public in a fun manner.
Again, their hashtags should be spread online as much as they are in person. By adding a hashtag to information plaques throughout the park, you can encourage visitors to further connect with your zoo by adding hashtags to their photos and videos that they share with their family and friends online.
Some common hashtags zoos might utilIze could include:
- #Baby[animal name]
- #New[animal name]
- #Savethe[animal name]
- #Sharkweek
- #Zoophotography
- #Loveanimals
- #Zoovideos
- #Wildlife
- #Wildlifeconservation
- #Zookeeper
Charitable event hashtags
Charitable events, donations, and volunteering efforts are all essential components of nonprofit organizations, and making sure the public is privy to all the amazing things your nonprofit is doing for your community and the world is essential to garnering support and increasing your membership and donation count.
Nonprofits should also remember that a lot of people who give to nonprofits are those who are willing to volunteer and be a part of nonprofits, so you should be attempting to reach high-profile donors as much as the average person trying to contribute their time for a good cause.
Some nonprofit hashtags you should be using can include:
- #Volunteer
- #Charity
- #Philanthropy
- #Donate
- #Causes
- #Nonprofit
- #Savethe[charity subject]
- #Fundraising
- #Change
ACME can help your nonprofit thrive
Getting the word out on your donation and nonprofit efforts can be as difficult as managing your events, donations, members, and ticketing needs. ACME offers a complete and robust solution for your membership management, online ticketing, and donation needs.
Request a demo and learn more about how ACME can help you today.