How Nonprofits Use The 6 Big Social Media Platforms
After discovering who the top 10 nonprofit organisations are on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter (now X), TikTok, and LinkedIn, let's dive into what distinguishes the big 6 social media platforms from one another.
This comprehensive look will help us understand how each platform uniquely supports nonprofit engagement and outreach.
Average Followers/Subscribers
The average followers/subscribers per platform are as follows:
Facebook - 12.7 million
Twitter/X - 8.2 million
Instagram - 6.9 million
LinkedIn - 5.3 million
YouTube - 3.7 million
TikTok - 1 million
Facebook is clearly the preferred platform for nonprofits, but why is this so?
Easy Interface - You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to use Facebook. This means people of all ages and tech-savvy levels can access the user-friendly platform, ensuring a wider reach.
Analytics and Advertising - Facebook’s analytics provide key insights to nonprofits about their followers, which helps them customise their social media and advertising strategies.
Multiple Page Options - For example, a Facebook “Page” is great for regular post updates, while a group is better for discussions, and the Events feature is great for inviting and keeping track of attendees for nonprofit events.
Varied Content Formats - In comparison to the other platforms, Facebook’s niche isn’t tied to a specific media type and it supports all formats. So, organisations can easily share photos, videos, links, and text of varied lengths.
The World Health Organization is a good example of an account that varies its content on Facebook, with alternating photo posts like this infographic on health precautions to take during the summer:
On the other hand, X/Twitter is mainly used for sharing concise text posts that follow a character limit.
Average Posts Per Day
When it comes to average posts per day, Facebook and X interchange their places with X having a higher average.
Twitter/ X - 15.97
Facebook - 8.24
LinkedIn - 6.64
Instagram - 2.15
YouTube - 0.78
TikTok - 0.67
Just goes to show how being active really matters!
According to PRDaily, engagement rates on LinkedIn skyrocketed to 44% since last year and brands are now posting 10% more frequently.
This can be due to the influx of young professionals logging into the site since most employers now require their staff to have a LinkedIn account and to the gradual rise of social media in general.
So, what are nonprofits posting on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn’s top profit is TED, which is a video-based account, for example, this one giving career advice:
But we can also see a lot of link posts like this one from the Mayo Clinic:
Average Likes Per Post
Just by looking at the graph, we can see that Instagram has a notably high likers per post average (14,300) while the rest of the platforms’s averages fall below the 2000s. From this, we can infer that the over 2 billion active Instagram users are also highly interactive with posts.
Here's a rundown of the top 10 nonprofits' average likes per post per platform:
Instagram - 14,300 likes per post
TikTok - 1,120
Twitter/X - 1,060
Facebook - 850
Youtube - 540
LinkedIn - 480
Photo and video posts both do well on Instagram and receive a ton of engagement.
One example is this adorable video of Tashi, a child from Bhutan showing off her animal sound-making skills while in the learning centre:
Average Comments Per Post
Here’s what the average comments per post look like across each platform:
Instagram - 375 comments per post
Facebook - 160
Twitter/X - 150
YouTube - 60
TikTok - 32
LinkedIn - 19
YouTube and TikTok aren’t the ideal platforms for discourse because most viewers head to these apps just to watch (not to comment).
Meanwhile, Facebook and X have a fairly active comment section since both platforms are built to encourage communication with people from all over the world.
Even with the lowest average, the comments on LinkedIn still contain substantial discussions around nonprofit posts.
For instance, this is a recent post by the United Nations (UN) about work requirements, which a few professionals on the app left their 2¢ on:
Average Shares Per Post
For social media shares, arguably one of the most effective ways of reaching newer audiences, here’s how these platforms performed:
X wipes out the other sites with an average of 518 retweets per post
Facebook is next with 170
LinkedIn has an average of 83 and
TikTok has just about 50 shares per post
These metrics don’t apply to Instagram and YouTube because their share counts aren’t public.
X/Twitter is an excellent platform for real-time communication, especially for nonprofits that focus on sharing news and updates about their advocacies
For example, this post from the UN with an urgent update regarding the situation in Gaza:
Or this video a few days later:
Connecting The Dots: Our Final Thoughts
Social media platforms have become essential tools for nonprofits to expand their reach, engage with supporters, and advocate for their missions. Our exploration of the top 10 nonprofits on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube, showcases a diverse range of organisations effectively leveraging these platforms to make a difference.
Facebook is going to get you the widest reach with the highest average followers. Meanwhile, Instagram and X allow for the most engagement with their users, being the most interactive. Instagram is also best suited for campaigning with influencers.
However, despite our extensive research, there is no guaranteed formula for success across all 6 platforms. Fortunately, all the platforms offer simple analytical tools to help gradually improve your nonprofit’s performance.
We’d love to know your thoughts on this. Got any insights? How is your organisation playing the social media game? Your input can help our analysis on the matter.
Let’s talk about it! Contact us through email so we can discuss further.
