7 Tips for Nonprofits Getting Started on Instagram

Yesterday I wrote about the benefits of utilizing Instagram for nonprofit fundraising and supporter engagement as part of my Social Media Summer Series. Once you have decided to include Instagram into your social media plans, integrating this relatively new application is relatively easy. To ensure that you maximize all that Instagram offers, you might want to consider the following tips through the implementation phase and while sharing your photos on this growing platform:

1. Create Your Profile. Creating your profile is easy but make sure you select a username that easily identifies your organization. Use acronyms only if your organization is known by an acronym or you risk not being found. Also be sure to include your organization’s logo as the profile photo, a short description in the biography about your organization using your keywords as well as a link to your website. Maintaining consistency with your branding throughout all your social media and other online strategies is important as each impression builds loyalty with  (potential) supporters.
2. Connect to Other Platforms. The beauty of Instagram is the ability to quickly and easily share your photos with other social media platforms so be sure to connect your Instagram account to your Facebook page, Twitter account and other platforms that your organization has a presence on. Most importantly, ensure that the process works by posting a few test pictures on each platform to confirm that you are properly connected and photos are being shared. If you can’t find your desired social media platform, you might want to try….
3. Pinstagram. It may sound like a hybrid between Pinterest and Instagram but it is a third party application that can be used to monitor and manage your Instagram activities online without having to use your smartphone or hand held device. The free service application integrates seamlessly with your regular Instagram account and lets you view pictures, search tags and users, view who is following you and share pictures to the larger social media platforms, including Pinterest!
4. Select Your Photographers. Depending on the size of your organization and social media initiatives you should select one or more amateur photographers that will be the eyes for your organization. They must have a clear understanding of the organization’s image, mission and the message that each photograph should be projecting. Your photographer(s) will be the eyes, and essentially the voice, of your organization so choose wisely and have some assurance they are capable of taking photos worthy to represent your organization which leads us to…..
5. Only Post the Best. Undoubtedly there will be many pictures taken by your photographer(s), however that does not mean that they should all be posted. In fact it’s preferred that many remain on the cutting room floor and that only the images that best represent your cause and it’s vision get posted and shared. Posting each and every picture that is taken, may devalue your Instagram content and could lead to a loss in followers and interest.
6. Tag with Keywords. An excellent feature that should not go unused is the ‘Tag’ feature. Tagging your pictures with #hashtagged keywords will ensure that your photos show up in searches by visitors interested in viewing pictures that contain the same keywords. Conversely you could also search photos to share by entering keywords related to your interests in the search function. Keep in mind that only alpha-numeric characters can be hashtagged on this application and there is a limit of up to 30 keywords.
7. Follow & Interact. Engaging through Instagram cannot be one-sided. It’s essential to connect with likeminded users and organizations by searching for them using your keywords (on Instagram called ‘tags’) and following then subsequently interacting with them. Doing this will also draw them in to view your content, follow you back and learn more about your organization which will grow your reputation and popularity on the application.

Please note that Instagram is currently only on iPhone and Android and cannot accommodate Blackberry users as yet. As of the date of this article, the Instagram site states that they “are currently working on making iPhone and Android experiences as solid as possible. Only then will [they] consider other platforms.” As a Blackberry user myself I’m hopeful that this happens sooner rather than later. After researching this platform, I can see why it has become so popular and can’t wait to jump in. See you soon on Instagram and, until then, happy snapping.

Feel free to browse through the other posts in my Social Media Summer Series for nonprofits which includes a series on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Pinterest along with other related topics.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.