Instagram is a great way to express yourself and show others what your interests and hobbies are. Instagram can also be a way to get across a point or idea you have. Charities use Instagram to gain supporters and donations.
According to Zoe Amar of The Guardian, “relatively few charities have embraced Instagram. Only 21% have a presence on the platform.”
Amar says that that percentage is “surprising” because Instagram “can be a great tool for storytelling, connecting supporters emotionally with nonprofits’ work.”
If charities do use Instagram they can use it to gain exposure and can put up appealing and thought provoking images. They can truly show their cause and what the money that goes to that charity does.
Joe Freeman, a social media manager at hospice and neurological care charity Sue Ryder said that, “Insightful photos for me, always look better in the app and actually show better rates go engagement.” Freeman is saying that photos taken by your self and not professionally are more pleasing to users of Instagram.
Amar listed the ways Charities can get the most from Instagram. This is her list:
1. Bring people closer to the action (live, up-to-date checkins and posts)
2. Build your brand
3.Involve your supporters (run challenged or competitions with a winner and reward)
4. Reach young people (sharing the views of young people and appealing to their issues and concerns and interests)
5. Define your goals (see where you can connect with other people and brands)
Joe Freeman also says that hashtags are crucial to your Instagram account and the way you use them can effect who follows you and likes what you have posted. He says, “Keep hashtags relevant and use them sparingly.”
Abigail Davies of Charity Digital News says that there are five charities who use Instagram to the fullest which makes them the most visited popular of charity instagram accounts. She says they all have this in common:
1.Quality content- wide range of compellings images and videos that tell different stories.
2. Interactive- They know how to work together with their audience and get them involved.
3. Consistency- they post on a regular basis.
The charities that do all of the above are:
- National Trust- aims to protect and preserve “historic and green places”
- UNICEF- “promotes the rights and wellbeing” of every child in 190 countries, mostly the children in need.
- WaterAid-mission to “bring safe water and sanitation to everyone everywhere by 2030.”
- Amnesty UK- organization that stands up for human rights globally
- WWF- strives to build a future “in which humans and nature thrive.”
These charities are good examples of what to model your own charity after. They have supporters because of their attention to detail to their accounts.