Instagram is a great way to share the success of your mission with people all over the globe. With over 600 million monthly active users and a huge global reach, you’ll be able to find and engage new donors, run targeted ads, and gain and retain donors.

Below are just a few ways you can use Instagram to benefit your NPO.

Tips for Promoting Your Nonprofit on Instagram

Convert Your Profile Into a Business Profile

Earlier this year, Instagram came out with Instagram for Business – a way for businesses to understand their audience, run targeted ads, and improve their overall Instagram performance.

If you haven’t already, you should absolutely convert your Instagram profile into a business profile, leveraging the data and analytics to learn more about your followers.

Instagram - Business Profile

Key items to include in your profile:

  • Name of your organization
  • Brief description — make it fun by including hashtags or emojis if possible
  • Organization logo
  • Link to your donation page, promotional landing page, or any other important page you want your followers to go to

Actively Post on Your Account

One of the worst things you can do to your followers is not post. They want to know what is happening with your organization, how their donations are helping the mission succeed, and what is coming up next that they can get involved with.

If you’re not posting, how are they going to find out?

To help keep your account full of beautiful images, use a social media calendar to plan out your posts and organize the days and times you’re going to share. In your calendar, you can also record the post engagements using the analytics from your Instagram for Business account to see what performs best with your following.

What types of images should you be posting? Take a look at what some nonprofits are currently sharing:

Instagram - Make a Wish
Instagram - Humane Sociaety

Research Hashtags

Hashtags are ways to categorize your posts within Instagram. If you search a hashtag, posts that use that particular hashtag will show up. By using popular hashtags you can get your posts in front of more people and expand your reach – exposing your mission to millions of additional people.

Researching your hashtags will help you include the ones that will get you in front of more people. There are a few hashtag research tools you can use to find hashtags that are right for your organization and photos.

You can also use the built-in search feature within Instagram to see popular and trending hashtags.

Nonprofit Hashtags

See What Your Audience Likes

One of the great things about Instagram is the ability to see what your friends are liking and commenting on. Take advantage of this feature by seeing the types of photos that your audience is interested in seeing. It can also be a way to see hashtags that might resonate with your audience as well.

Instagram can be trial and error. Don’t be afraid to test different types of photos, hashtags, and emojis to see what resonates with your audience. Soon you’ll be creating lots of engagement for your following – and seeing that translate to donations.