5 online engagement ideas for nonprofits

Writing for Kivi’s Nonprofit Communications Blog, Kerri Karvetski offers up some creative ideas that can help nonprofits engage their audiences online.

1. Ask artists to illustrate

As part of a larger hashtag campaign, invite an artist or artists to illustrate your supporter’s thoughts submitted online. Or devise a more focused campaign for illustrators to share original ideas and thoughts through art – like this UNICEF campaign.

2. Make a reading list

Curate your own list relevant for your supporters, while encouraging them to share their own through your social media channels.

3. Story contests

Karvetski suggests launching a six-word story contest for small digital spaces, such as Twitter. Other writing-related contests centred around short stories longer than six words, or poetry, could also spur engagement. UNICEF’s ‘Tiny Stories’ campaign is a great example.

4. Bumper sticker contest

Invite your supporters to submit bumper sticker ideas, then choose the best ones and ask your supporters to vote for their favourites. Supporters can then order their favourite bumper stickers via a small donation.

5. Instagram contest

Invite your supporters to spread the word about your cause through a 30-day Instagram campaign, complete with an engaging hashtag. A theme can be posted and shared each day, and supporters can post original images reflecting that theme, and using the campaign’s hashtag. You could even select winners each week or at the end of the campaign, awarding them with appropriate prizes.

Featured photo: http://klarititemplateshop.com/, Flickr Creative Commons