The pale morning sunshine seeps through your blinds as your alarm clock chimes relentlessly. You roll over and… what do you reach for first?
The obvious answer for an increasing number of individuals would be, “My phone.” In our hyper-connected world, the Internet and smartphones have become essential for staying connected to people, events and the news. In 2023 Statistica reported that Americans now spend an average of 454 minutes each day consuming digital media.
Digital media, however, has transformed interactions for more than just individuals.
Nonprofits must also engage with digital media to build client and community relationships. To be successful, it is non-negotiable for a nonprofit to leverage individuals’ instinctive pull toward digital media to grow its reach and fulfill its mission.
Below are three ways to effectively engage digital media to amplify your organization’s mission.
1. Share the “why” behind what your nonprofit does.
Informed people make informed choices.
Using digital media to share information about your organization creates the foundation of awareness necessary to meaningfully engage with your community. When your audience knows the extent of the issue your nonprofit is addressing, they are able to make informed decisions about how to support your work.
With digital media, your organization can reach beyond demographic and geographic lines to share your vision with a national and global audience.
Informative digital media can take many forms. Social media infographics and blog posts are an effective way for your nonprofit to engage your audience; traditional media avenues, such as television and radio interviews, can also magnify your mission.
2. Recognize your impact.
After your organization is established, digital media demonstrating your nonprofit’s transformative work can turn awareness into appreciation.
To further develop a trusting relationship with its donors and volunteers, a nonprofit should show rather than tell its community about its significance. Your nonprofit can accomplish this by sharing powerful, engaging stories about your impact on digital media platforms. Providing concrete examples of the effects of your efforts allows community members to quantify and understand your organization’s impact.
Visual and auditory media like short videos or documentaries can be the most effective and engaging when sharing a nonprofit’s impact through success stories.
3. Be a thought leader.
Nonprofits exist to improve the lives of others. Using digital media, a nonprofit can achieve its mission and help others do the same by sharing its accumulated wisdom.
Sharing advice, connecting others to resources, and being transparent about past successes and failures allow a nonprofit to elevate the work of all nonprofits in its field.
Sharing wisdom fosters relationships and collaborations that also expand your nonprofit’s impact.
One of the best ways for an organization to share wisdom is through a company blog!
Nonprofits can also use video or audio to engage other nonprofits and provide insight for current and future successes.
This year, Caritas of Austin is celebrating 60 years of ending homelessness in Austin. Over the decades, we have engaged traditional and digital media to share our commitment to ensure all Austinites have a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home. To see our storied history in the media, view the images below.
To inquire about media features or to establish a partnership with Caritas of Austin, please contact Aaron King at aking@caritasofaustin.org.
