Are you a nonprofit organization that wants to raise funds for your project? In this article, I will go over how TikTok for nonprofits has a positive impact, and how your organization can use it to help raise awareness, earn more donations, and spread your mission worldwide.
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Why Should Nonprofit Organizations Use TikTok?
Besides being a powerful platform for marketing and promotion, TikTok can also help nonprofits spread their message and increase donations. Here are three reasons why nonprofit organizations should consider using TikTok:
Fundraising Opportunities
TikTok provides various tools that can support fundraising, such as donation stickers and live stream features. These tools can be used to create engaging fundraising campaigns, allowing non-profit organizations to reach a large audience and collect contributions in different ways. By using TikTok LIVE, organizations can also host live fundraising events or create short, compelling videos that encourage users to donate directly through the app.
Connect with Young Supporters
TikTok is an ideal platform for engaging with younger audiences, as the majority of its users are under the age of 30. Since this user base is highly active on social media and more likely to share content that resonates with them, nonprofits can leverage this feature and create content such as participating in popular challenges, making educational videos, or telling compelling stories to raise awareness and support from younger generations willing to support the causes they care about.
Additionally, younger users are more open-minded to digital campaigns and can help build long-term support for the cause, ensuring sustained engagement and donations over time.
Cost-Effective Marketing
Compared to traditional advertising platforms, marketing on TikTok is often more affordable, making it an ideal option for nonprofits with limited budgets. This cost-effectiveness is especially beneficial for low-budget organizations like charities, schools, and community groups, allowing them to create and share videos at minimal expense while still reaching millions of potential supporters.
Nonprofits can use TikTok’s algorithm to make a big impact by sharing powerful stories about their mission, joining in on popular trends, or starting their own challenges and using donation stickers. This lets them connect with their community and raise awareness without spending a lot on ads, unlike what’s often needed on platforms like Google and Facebook.
>>> Read more: TikTok Ads Cost: How Much Should You Budget for Your Campaigns?
How Can Nonprofits Use TikTok?
TikTok offers nonprofits a dynamic platform to engage with their audience, raise awareness, and drive participation through a variety of creative features. Here are two effective ways you can use to make the most of TikTok features to engage with your supporters.
TikTok LIVE
TikTok LIVE allows nonprofits to connect with their supporters, interact, ask, and answer questions in real-time. You can leverage this feature to host Live Fundraising events and share compelling stories about your projects, as well as answer viewers’ questions on the spot, and provide immediate updates on your initiatives.
You can also use TikTok LIVE for showing “behind the scenes” tours, offering sneak peeks, interviewing beneficiaries and staff, and updating followers on how donations are making an impact. I found it the most effective approach for nonprofits because, through this real-time interaction, your supporters not only feel more connected to your mission but also see the direct results of your contributions and may feel more willing to continue supporting your cause.
Create Viral Campaigns
Nonprofits can use the power of TikTok to create viral campaigns that spread their message globally. To build a viral campaign, nonprofits should create content that showcases real stories from those they help, use trending challenges that are suitable to their mission, and ask followers to share personal stories or experiences related to the cause.
Plus, collaborate with TikTok influencers who are passionate about your work, and always include a clear call-to-action that encourages viewers to get involved.
For example, you can consider initiating a hashtag challenge that is consistent with your mission. In 2020, the #DanceForChange campaign by Global Citizen encouraged users to post videos dancing to raise awareness about social issues.
By encouraging users to create their own versions, Global Citizen’s challenge resulted in millions of views and thousands of user-generated videos, significantly raising awareness and driving engagement with the cause.
Strategies to Promote TikTok for Nonprofits Effectively
As TikTok grows in popularity, non-profit organizations have an excellent opportunity to use the platform’s features to promote their causes and communicate with supporters. Below are some strategies to help your nonprofit use TikTok more effectively.
#1. Build Brand or Cause Awareness
TikTok’s unique algorithm and vast user base make it an excellent platform for nonprofits to raise awareness about their cause. You can start by creating content that tells your organization’s story in a compelling way like highlighting your mission, showcasing behind-the-scenes footage of your work, or sharing impactful stories from those you’ve helped.
For example, Conservation International, a nonprofit focused on environmental conservation, creates videos showing the impact of their efforts on wildlife, along with educational content about why their work is crucial. They also use trending sounds and participate in popular challenges related to their cause to increase visibility and reach a broader audience.
#2. Build a Loyal Supporter Base
Regularly engaging with your followers is the key to building a loyal supporter base on TikTok. In my experience, consistently engaging with your audience by responding to comments, creating interactive content, and hosting live Q&A sessions can amplify your connection with your followers as it shows that you really care about their reactions. Also, creating interactive content, such as polls and challenges can encourage followers to actively participate and share their experiences, further strengthening their connection to your cause.
#3. Educate Your Target Audience with TikTok
TikTok is known as an entertainment hub for short-form videos that often go viral, making it a powerful platform for reaching a wide audience. For nonprofits, the challenge lies in creating short educational videos that are both engaging and effective in raising awareness and funds. Fortunately, TikTok offers a variety of features like effects, stickers, and hashtags that can help nonprofits craft thrilling content that captures attention and drives support.
To clarify, we have the case of Feeding America, a nonprofit focused on ending hunger, created a series of TikTok videos that highlighted the scale of food insecurity in the U.S. They paired these videos with actionable tips on how individuals could help, whether by donating, volunteering at local food banks, or simply spreading the word through social media. This campaign successfully engaged viewers and inspired thousands of people to take action, significantly boosting donations and volunteer participation.
#4. Stay Up to Date with TikTok Trends
Trends on TikTok change rapidly, so keep an eye on what’s popular and find creative ways to tie these trends back to your cause! One of the most common yet effective ways to stay up to date is to incorporate a trending song or dance into your content in a way that feels authentic to your nonprofit.
For example, if your nonprofit focuses on mental health, use a song like “Happier Than Ever” by Billie Eilish to underscore powerful, personal stories from those who have benefited from your support. Then, share heartfelt testimonials and stories to connect emotionally with viewers and highlight the importance of your work. This approach not only aligns your content with what’s trending but also raises your cause to a wider audience if your video goes viral.
#5. Consider Paid Advertising
Organic reach on TikTok can be powerful, yet it is extremely time-consuming. If you want to boost your effort quickly and effectively, consider investing in paid advertising. Paid ads allow you to measure the success of your campaigns more accurately with the key metrics, helping you refine your strategy for upcoming events.
TikTok offers various TikTok ad formats that can help you target specific demographics and achieve greater visibility, such as:
- In-Feed Ads: Nonprofits can effectively use In-Feed Ads to share impactful stories and key messages, seamlessly blending into users’ feeds to maximize engagement and connect with audiences organically.
- Branded Hashtag Challenges: For nonprofits aiming to create a viral movement, Branded Hashtag Challenges are ideal. They encourage user participation and help spread awareness by having supporters create and share themed content, making the campaign more interactive and widespread.
- Branded Effects: Branded effects let nonprofits add custom effects and donation stickers, simplifying the donation process and encouraging immediate action from followers.
If you are still wondering about using TikTok ads to help your non-profit organization, consider hiring a marketing agency like Mega Digital to help you do all the things you need.
3 Successful Examples of TikTok for Nonprofits
Many non-profits have found TikTok to be an effective way to share their stories and earn donations from supporters worldwide. Here are the 3 of the most successful organizations I’ve found on this platform.
American Red Cross
With nearly 853.6K followers and up to 14.9 million likes, The American Red Cross has made a significant impact on TikTok. This organization attracts supporter by highlighting their community contributions and sharing important disaster preparedness tips from how to save a dog that’s choking to steps to take during a tornado.
They are successful in taking advantage of short videos to share these tips and attract attention, effectively using the platform to educate the public and maintain their status as a leading nonprofit humanitarian organization.
Aquarium of the Pacific
Aquarium of the Pacific really makes a huge success on TikTok with 2.8M followers and 55.9M likes. This nonprofit knows exactly how to use the cuteness of its animals to create TikTok videos. By skillfully blending trending hashtags with more niche ones like #aquariumofthepacific, they’ve succeeded in boosting their reach, with their own hashtag now reaching 1 million views.
Their social media team also does an excellent job of keeping the content fresh and diverse. On their profile, you’ll discover a variety of posts, from fun facts about aquatic creatures to behind-the-scenes glimpses into the daily lives of staff members, as well as guided tours of the aquarium’s exhibits.
British Red Cross
Another case that effectively uses promoted ads on TikTok to expand its reach and engage broader supporters is the British Red Cross. With a follower base of over 444.9K and 7.7M likes, the nonprofit strategically uses in-feed ads to promote key campaigns, driving awareness and encouraging donations.
They also create challenges like #MilesForRefugees feature real-life stories of people impacted by their work and use captions with clear messaging and strong call-to-action to make their ads more authentic and appealing.
Conclusion
Through this post, I hope you’ve picked up some helpful tips to make the most of TikTok for your nonprofit. With the right approach and a clear understanding of the opportunities and benefits, TikTok can be a valuable platform for enhancing your project. I hope this guide helps you craft impactful campaigns that spread your project and earn more donations.
