The Nonprofit's Social Media Content Planner

Resource Guide

The Nonprot’s

Social Media

Content Planner

Table of

Contents

Introduction: 3

1. Sample Weekly

Social Media Content Planner 6

2. The 5-Step Process

to Customize Your Approach 14

3. [Template] Fresh Weekly

Social Media Content Planner 27

Conclusion 35

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Introduction:

What Is a Social Media

Content Planner?

A social media content planner helps you organize your content and media

promotion across various platforms in one centralized place to fill out your

marketing calendar.

A Strong Weekly Social Media Content Plan

Allows You to:

→ Ensure posts are spaced out appropriately

→ Publish at optimal times based on best practices

→ Reflect your mission consistently across the channels where donors

interact most

Why Is Social Media

Important for Nonprots?

4.2 Billion

people use social media

worldwide as of 2021

1 Hubspot, The Digital 2021 Global Overview Report.

https://blog.hootsuite.com/simon-kemp-social-media/

2 Classy, The State of Modern Philanthropy 2020.

https://go.classy.org/reports/the-state-of-modern-philanthropy-2020

51%

of campaign traffic on Classy

came from social media

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Social Media Consistency Directly Impacts Giving

When you post and engage with followers on social networks, you:

→ Reach donors in new areas of the world

→ Drive donors to your existing email lists

→ Increase participation in fundraising campaigns

→ Get real-time feedback from donors

→ Boost visibility and overall exposure of your cause

The Approach: Simplify Social

With Your Content Planner

The Nonprofit Social Media Content Planner simplifies content planning

into a repeatable weekly practice that keeps you consistent and effective

to engage your donors. In the pages to follow, you’ll find a Weekly Social

Media Content Planner Template and a comprehensive process to put it

into action.

Once you conquer the process of planning a week’s worth of content, you’ll

confidently be able to build out a month, quarter, or even a year’s worth of

compelling social media posts.

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

How to Use the Nonprofit Social Media

Content Planner

1. Learn: Get familiar with our done-for-you Weekly Social Media Content

Planner Template to inspire ideas quickly and plan out posts to

implement into your schedule right away.

2. Customize: When you’re ready to take it a step further, follow our

five-step process to customize your own blank Weekly Social Media

Content Planner Template.

3. Execute: Build each weekly social media content plan into a full

calendar for your organization, and return to this guide regularly to

refresh your strategy with new initiatives.

The Outcome: A Social Media Strategy

Built on Post-Pandemic Best Practices

to Engage the Modern Donor

It’s time to get creative, so we’ve done the foundational research for you.

This guide is based on:

→ Trends in donor behavior on social media

→ The best time to post on each channel

→ The engagement metrics for each channel

Sample Weekly

Social Media

Content Planner

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Monday

InstagramFacebookTwitterTikTokClubhouseLinkedInSnapchat

8 A.M. 12 P.M. 4 P.M. 8 P.M.

In-feed:

Host a 48-hour

giveaway for anyone

who signs up to

give monthly

In-feed:

Reshare of Instagram

giveaway post

Story:

Promote the giveaway

with a countdown timer

Tweets 1 through 7:

Reasons to give

monthly

Tweet 8:

Share LinkedIn article

Tweet 9:

Share donation page

and mention giveaway

Rooms to speak in:

Exchange recurring

donation strategies

in nonprofit

leadership rooms

Article:

“The Monthly Impact of

Supporting Our Cause”

Story 1:

Promote giveaway

Story 2:

7 reasons to give

monthly

Post:

7 reasons to

give monthly

Story:

Promote the giveaway

with a countdown timer

Reel:

7 reasons to

give monthly

Message/Theme:

Recurring Giving

CTA: Donate

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

InstagramFacebookTwitterTikTokClubhouseLinkedInSnapchat

8 A.M. 12 P.M. 4 P.M. 8 P.M.

In-feed:

Carousel of images

that show 5 ways to

get involved

In-feed:

Reshare carousel of

images that show 5

ways to get involved

Story:

Invite followers to

hear founding story

on Clubhouse

Tweet 1:

Share a fact about

your cause

Tweet 2:

Reminder for giveaway

Tweets 3 to 7:

Reshare/comment on

cause-related posts

Rooms to speak in:

Cause-related rooms

Rooms to host:

Our founding story

Article:

Share a resource to

learn about your cause

Posts:

Thank corporate

sponsors who advocate

for your cause

Story 1:

Promote your

founding story

Story 2:

5 ways to support your

cause video

Post: 5 ways to support

your cause

Story:

Invite followers to

hear founding story

on Clubhouse

Story:

Reminder for giveaway

CTA: Go to Website

CTA: Enter Giveaway

CTA: Go to Website

Tuesday

Message/Theme:

Cause Education

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

8 A.M. 12 P.M. 4 P.M. 8 P.M.

In-feed:

Team member spotlight

and fun facts

In-feed:

Reshare team

member spotlight

Story:

Point to Instagram to

see giveaway winner

Live:

A day in the life of a

team member

Tweets 1 through 3: Fun

facts about a

team member

Tweet 4:

Last reminder

for giveaway

Tweets 5 through 10:

Reshare/comment on

team member posts

Rooms to speak in:

Nonprofit leadership,

managing

effective teams

Rooms to host:

Have the team share

why they chose your

organization and their

personal ties

Posts:

“A Day in the Life”

series featuring a

team member’s

passions and work

Story 1:

Giveaway last call

Story 2:

Highlight

giveaway winner

Story 3:

Share “A Day in the

Life” featuring

a team member

Post:

Fun facts from the team

Story:

A teammate goes

live to announce

new monthly donor

giveaway winner

CTA: Volunteer

CTA: Giveaway/ Volunteer

CTA: Volunteer

CTA: Go to Website

CTA: Giveaway

InstagramFacebookTwitterTikTokClubhouseLinkedInSnapchat

Wednesday

Message/Theme:

Introduce the Team

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

8 A.M. 12 P.M. 4 P.M. 8 P.M.

Story:

Promote double

donation hour

In-feed:

Reshare—

encourage followers to

share and tag

Tweets 1 through 3:

Promote double

donation hour

Tweets 4 through 7:

Live updates on double

donation hour

Rooms to host:

Why your cause needs

support now, promote

double donation hour

Posts:

Share double donation

hour and how to

sponsor a similar

match in the future

Story 1:

Promote double

donation hour

Story 2:

Last call for double

donation hour

Story 3:

Impact of double

donation hour

Post:

Team member shares

double donation

hour details

Story:

Promote a double

donation hour to match

new donations up to a

certain amount

In-feed:

Encourage followers

to share and tag

friends to support

matched donations

Live:

Offer live updates

for progress to hit

matching hour goals

CTA: Donate

CTA: Donate/Become a Corporate Sponsor

CTA: Donate

InstagramFacebookTwitterTikTokClubhouseLinkedInSnapchat

Thursday

Message/Theme:

Activate Supporters

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

8 A.M. 12 P.M. 4 P.M. 8 P.M.

In-feed:

Host a photo contest

asking supporters to

share their “why” with

a specific hashtag

In-feed:

Create poll with final

entries for people to

vote on the winner

Story:

Promote photo contest

and share entries

Tweets 1 and 2:

Promote photo contest

Tweets 3 through 6:

Reshare

impactful tweets

Tweet 7:

Share winner of

photo contest

Rooms to speak in:

Cause-related rooms

Rooms to host:

Supporters share

stories of impact

Rooms to host:

Share your thought

leadership with donor

engagement and

retention best practices

for nonprofits

Post:

Reflection to show the

before and after impact

of your organization’s

work in the last year

Story 1:

Promote photo contest

Stories 2 and 3:

Share entries and

have people vote

Post:

Time-lapse style video

of donation growth

over the years

Story:

Promote photo contest

and share entries

Reel:

Time-lapse style

video of donation

growth over the years

CTA: Donate

CTA: Go to Website

InstagramFacebookTwitterTikTokClubhouseLinkedInSnapchat

Friday

Message/Theme:

Share the Impact

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

8 A.M. 12 P.M. 4 P.M. 8 P.M.

Story:

Donor takeover day

to share why they

love your cause

In-feed:

Impactful imagery of

supporters with

thank you message

Live:

Donor shares

favorite moments

Tweets 1 through 7:

Donor takeover for the

day to share reasons

they love your cause

Tweet 8:

Redirect users to

watch your Instagram

and Facebook live

Rooms to host:

Share your thought

leadership with donor

engagement and

retention best practices

for nonprofits

Stories 1 through 4:

Reshare clips from

donor takeover

Post:

Pre-recorded mashup

of donors using

one word to describe

why they give

In-feed:

Impactful imagery of

supporters with thank

you message

CTA: Donate

InstagramFacebookTwitterTikTokClubhouseLinkedInSnapchat

Saturday

Message/Theme:

Donor Spotlight

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

8 A.M. 12 P.M. 4 P.M. 8 P.M.

Story:

Poll the audience

on what your next

campaign theme

Story:

Promote live Q&A

on Instagram

In-feed:

Reshare challenge to

encourage donations

Tweet 1:

Ask for questions for

your live Q&A

Tweets 2 through 15:

Live tweet responses to

common questions

Rooms to speak in:

Nonprofit industry

Rooms to create:

Host a room to call for

new fundraising ideas

and get live feedback

Stories 1 through 5:

Share clips of

responses to

common questions

Post:

Inspire a trend tied

to your cause (e.g.

pushup challenge)

Reel:

Inspire a trend tied

to your cause (e.g.

pushup challenges

for donations)

Live:

Host a Q&A session

CTA: Visit Website

CTA: Donate

InstagramFacebookTwitterTikTokClubhouseLinkedInSnapchat

Sunday

Message/Theme:

Start a Conversation

The 5-Step

Process to

Customize

Your Approach

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Step 1: Determine Which Channels

You’ll Post On Regularly

Learn about what differentiates today’s most popular social media

channels to find the best fit based on your organization’s donor base.

Instagram

Monthly Users: 1B

Largest Age Group: 25 to 34

Usage: 29 minutes per day

Facebook

Monthly Users: 2.7B

Largest Age Group: 25 to 34

Usage: 38 minutes per day

Twitter

Monthly Users: 187M

Largest Age Group: 30 to 49

Usage: 3.53 minutes

per session

Set up a business profile to leverage all

of the advertisement features available.

Use Classy for Facebook to allow

fundraisers to duplicate their personal

fundraising pages right to Facebook.

Use Twitter to stay up to date on your

area of work and establish a voice in the

important conversations.

3 Sprout Social, Social Media Demographics to Inform Your Brand’s Strategy in 2021.

https://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

TikTok

Monthly Users: 100M

Largest Age Group: 18 to 24

Usage: 45+ minutes per day

Clubhouse

Monthly Users: 6M

Usage: Varies between

11 to 40 hrs per week

Monthly Users: 738M

Largest Age Group: 46 to 55

Usage: 63% of users log in

at least once per month

Use TikTok For Good to promote

campaign hashtags, gain best practices,

and analyze your impact.

Take advantage of the Clubhouse

Nonprofit Plan to get a free

organization membership.

Look at LinkedIn Newsletters and

LinkedIn Groups to engage supporters

and corporate sponsors.

4 Influencer Marketing Hub, Clubhouse Statistics [2021].

https://influencermarketinghub.com/clubhouse-stats/

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Snapchat

Monthly Users: 265M

Largest Age Group: 13 to 34

Usage: 26 minutes per day

Use Snapchat geofilters and filters to

help donors promote their support for

your campaigns.

PRO TIP

Overlap the content you create between various channels to expand your reach with less

effort. For example, a TikTok video you create can easily be posted as an Instagram Reel,

shared on your Facebook timeline, and repurposed into smaller Snapchat stories. Don’t be

afraid to experiment with more channels using the same consistent content.

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Step 2: Dene Which

Content Type to Post

Now that you know where you’ll be posting, it’s time to define what you’ll

be posting. Get inspired by our list of content varieties to consider or add

your own into your priority list.

→ Creative contests

→ Giveaways

→ Campaign promotions

→ Stories and photos

of impact

→ Organizational

announcements

→ Time-bound content

(holidays, etc.)

→ Informational infographics

→ Conversation starters

→ Testimonials from donors

→ Testimonials from

beneficiaries

→ Summary or teaser of

blog posts

→ Internal culture shares

→ User-generated content

→ Behind-the-scenes

highlights

→ Commentary on

current events

→ Re-shares of

interesting content

→ Short videos

→ How-to tutorials

→ Live polls

→ Q&A sessions

→ Quotes

→ Tip carousels

→ New research and trends

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Use this page to fill in your content goals.

Content to Prioritize Each Week:

10.

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Step 3: Outline How Often

to Post Each Week

Start to align the content you’ll post to a schedule that considers the best

time and days to share on each social media channel.

Social Media Frequency Best Practices by Channel

Instagram

High-engagement windows: 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., 2 p.m.

on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday

Suggested frequency: 1 to 2 posts per day

Facebook

High-engagement windows: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Suggested frequency: 1 posts per day

Wednesday,

Friday,

Saturday

All Week

5 CoSchedule, “How Often to Post on Social Media.”

https://coschedule.com/blog/how-often-to-post-on-social-media/

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Twitter

High-engagement windows: 2 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Suggested frequency: 7 to 15 posts per day

TikTok

High-engagement windows: 9 a.m. on Tuesdays, 12 a.m. on Thursdays,

5 a.m. on Fridays.

Suggested frequency: 1 post per day

6 Influencer Marketing Hub, “Best Time to Post on TikTok.”

https://influencermarketinghub.com/best-times-to-post-on-tiktok/

All Week

Tuesday

Thursday

Friday

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Clubhouse

High-engagement windows: Before and after working hours,

and during breaks

Suggested frequency: at least 1 interaction per day

High-engagement windows: 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Suggested frequency: 1 post per weekday

Snapchat

High-engagement windows: Vary by individual

Suggested frequency: Spend 30 minutes engaging per day

All Week

PRO TIP

Use the analytics and insights available in your social media accounts across various

channels to see when your unique audience engages the most. There’s always room to

get specific about your posting schedule outside of average benchmarks.

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Step 4: Align Your Narrative

With Existing Calendars

Take a look at the following ways you can leverage the work your team has

already done to plan content that engages donors. You can easily sync

each existing calendar up with your social media strategy to define key

narratives and timely themes to drive your post content.

Potential Calendars to Pull Key

Narratives and Timely Themes From:

→ Your nonprofit’s blog calendar

→ Your nonprofit’s email calendar

→ Campaign promotion schedules

→ Event schedules

→ Holidays

→ Cause awareness days and months

→ Employee birthdays and anniversaries

→ Organizational milestones

→ The first day of each season

→ Giving Tuesday

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Record Your Findings to Shape Upcoming Posts:

Use this page to fill in your key narratives and timely themes.

Key Narratives

→

Timely Themes

→

PRO TIP

Think about the entire donor experience when you create your social media strategy. You’ll

want to know what emails are being delivered, what posts are being shared, and what

campaigns are live on a given day to create a strong brand presence and avoid confusion.

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Step 5: Create Your

Daily Post Structure

It’s time to put steps one through four together into a daily breakdown

that will guide you as you get ready to fill out your Weekly Social Media

Content Planner.

→ Align a timely theme or key message to each day of the week as a

focus point

→ Identify which days you’d like to post on the various channels you select

→ Align the best content type to each day to tell your story on

each channel

→ For any days when you won’t be posting, feel free to leave them blank

Get Started

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Use this page to fill in your findings from steps one through five.

Day of the Week

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Theme/Message Channels Content Type

[Template]

Fresh Weekly

Social Media

Content Planner

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Message/Theme:

Morning Late Morning Afternoon Evening

CTA:

InstagramFacebookTwitterTikTokClubhouseLinkedInSnapchat

Monday

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Morning Late Morning Afternoon Evening

CTA:

InstagramFacebookTwitterTikTokClubhouseLinkedInSnapchat

Message/Theme:

Tuesday

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Morning Late Morning Afternoon Evening

CTA:

InstagramFacebookTwitterTikTokClubhouseLinkedInSnapchat

Message/Theme:

Wednesday

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Morning Late Morning Afternoon Evening

CTA:

InstagramFacebookTwitterTikTokClubhouseLinkedInSnapchat

Message/Theme:

Thursday

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Morning Late Morning Afternoon Evening

CTA:

InstagramFacebookTwitterTikTokClubhouseLinkedInSnapchat

Message/Theme:

Friday

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Morning Late Morning Afternoon Evening

CTA:

InstagramFacebookTwitterTikTokClubhouseLinkedInSnapchat

Message/Theme:

Saturday

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Morning Late Morning Afternoon Evening

CTA:

InstagramFacebookTwitterTikTokClubhouseLinkedInSnapchat

Message/Theme:

Sunday

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

Conclusion

Track Your Social Media ROI

Social media is in a constant state of change. The best way to stay ahead is

to understand the data behind donor engagement. As your posts perform

better, you reach more supporters and the likelihood that those supporters

convert into donors increases too.

Start Tracking

The Nonprofit’s Social Media Content Planner

InstagramFacebookTwitterTikTokClubhouseLinkedInSnapchat

Top Metrics to Track Results

Followers:

Views:

Followers:

Mentions:

Saves:

Story views:

Followers:

Mentions:

Story views:

Followers:

Story views:

Story replies:

Overall Engagement Rate Calculator:

total likes + comments

followers

Followers:

Mentions:

Retweets:

Followers:

Mentions:

Story views:

Followers:

Club Invitees:

Room attendees:

Use this chart to measure your content plan against key metrics and

quickly pivot at any time using the weekly social media content planner

as your flexible foundation.

100

Digital Marketing

Checklist

It’s a powerful tool to master social media for your

nonprofit, but even more powerful when that social

media strategy is built into your overall digital

marketing plan.

Use this checklist to bring simplicity and planning into

every aspect of your marketing efforts.

Get the Checklist