How Nonprofits Can Post Less and Reach More on Social Media

By Reuben Harney

Social media can be exhaustingly difficult for nonprofit teams to manage. It seems impossible to keep up with, unless your organization is big enough to allocate a few team members purely to posting content. Not to mention the constant advice thatʼs thrown around, like: 

•  You need to post 3x per day and repurpose your posts to optimize every platform! 
• Respond to every comment instantly to get a boost in engagement! 
• Stop posting x in 2026! Post a, b and c instead! 

Such advice is not sustainable long-term. In fact, it discourages many nonprofits from posting entirely. Thankfully, none of it is necessary. 

Quality will always beat quantity 

You don’t need to post daily, or constantly scan your engagement metrics and work like a dog to get support from social media. But what is a high-quality post? 

 In short, a post with genuine substance behind it. This can be:  

• A testimonial with a quote, full name and picture
• A data point (e.g., we’ve helped x people since June)
• Grants your group has won
• Upcoming partnerships you’ve established 

 The list goes on. 

It’s ideal to reference real events and real statistics that show the difference you’re making in people’s lives. You don’t need to be Shakespeare to write compelling content when the data is engaging in its own right. Most of your time should be spent gathering what you’re going to write about and why. Pick a cadence you can stick with long-term without running out of substance. There is no wrong answer. You can increase or decrease as suggested by your analytics and your preference as you become more comfortable with the process. 

If this flies in the face of the advice everyone’s been giving you because it sounds like it’s just too easy, let me introduce you to a charity I started working with last November and the immediate results they got. 

How Family First’s Growth Skyrocketed on Just Four Monthly Posts 

Family First is a fantastic charity on the British island territory of Jersey that steps in when a child needs specialist medical care that isn’t available locally. The work is important but the team didn’t have the time to convey that online. They were busy running the charity. 

The first thing to establish was a consistent posting rhythm. We settled on four posts per month, every month, telling a story illustrating the real impact of what Family First does. Each post was built around a real family they helped, or a concrete outcome. The goal was to create posts that people felt compelled to share, comment or act on directly. 

The results showed up quickly. After one month with this strategy — just four posts — they saw month-over-month growth of 

•  650.4% in views 
• 1,200% in likes, comments and shares 
• 1,800% in donation link clicks 

Thatʼs completely organic, with no ads or boosted posts. 

By month two, something happened that illustrated the entire strategy better than any metric could. A local man saw the very first testimonial post and decided to fundraise for Family First. He rowed 100 kilometers on indoor machines in under seven hours, breaking the British record and placing second in the world. He raised triple what he thought he would. 

What to Post Each Month 

Post 1: Testimonial. Ask people you’ve helped if they’d be comfortable leaving your nonprofit a testimonial that you can post on your social media. If possible, get permission to use their full name and an image of themselves too. Hook the reader with your own words and end the post with your own words; everything in between can be their quote (edited if necessary). 

Testimonials are clearly the best type of post. Our highest-performing posts are all testimonials. 

Post 2: Data. If a testimonial is hyper-focused on one individual, a data post is the opposite, a chance to look at the big picture. What has your nonprofit done that you have concrete numbers on? This shows scale. 

Post 3: Community. Are people actively fundraising for you? Give them credit! Ask them what it was like, why they decided your nonprofit was worth the effort, how much was raised, etc. 

Post 4: Team. If they’re comfortable with it, showcase the work one of your team members puts in each day. This gives potential clients a peek at who they might be in contact with if they were to ask you for help, and it gives donors peace of mind about who their money is going to. 

This isn’t to say you must limit yourself to these precise four types of post. Experiment and see what works for you. If you can get access to the material each month, engagement is good and you enjoy writing it, consider it a winner and get it into your monthly rotation. 

Even with this relatively low-tech approach to social media, you still have to check your monthly analytics, which is very easy to do on most platforms. Individual posts may flop, and probably will, but don’t let it discourage you. Make decisions based on the overall data. 

How to Pitch Posting Less to Your Board 

If youʼve read to this point, you’re likely in one of two camps: You may have pitched a social campaign to your board but haven’t started consistently posting; or you’re posting but aren’t getting the results you want. 

 Either way, I suggest pilot testing for three months and making a decision based on the data you’ve accumulated to that point. There is no golden number of posts you need to make per week! Social media can be an incredible tool for nonprofits provided it’s sustainable, enjoyable and actively getting you results. 

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.