Short-Form Impact: The Top 10 Nonprofit TikTok Accounts And Their Stats
Tiktok has been recently dominating the social media space, a platform where quick, engaging videos reign supreme.
We explored the 10 most followed nonprofit accounts on TikTok, analysing key metrics like follower dynamics, engagement rates, and content strategies from the last 28 days and in this blog, we will be showing you what we have found in our research.
A Brief Overview Of Tiktok
TikTok is a social media platform that has rapidly gained popularity for its short-form video content. On TikTok, users can upload both videos and slideshows, enabling a variety of content strategies.
The platform supports a range of video lengths, allowing creators to deliver their messages in quick, engaging snippets or through more comprehensive explorations.
Content creators on TikTok often use a high-energy, captivating style to quickly grab viewers' attention. This "dopamine hit" approach not only engages audiences on TikTok but also strategically directs them to longer-form content on YouTube. By linking these platforms, creators maximise engagement and seamlessly transition viewers from quick clips to in-depth videos.
Before we go into our data, it's important to address the significant challenges TikTok faces. Currently under scrutiny from the U.S. Congress, TikTok could see dramatic changes to its operations, including potential bans or forced sales, which add a layer of uncertainty for users and content creators, especially for our nonprofit organisations using the platform to push through their nonprofit efforts.
Follower Dynamics: Analysing Followers and Following
On TikTok, the World Health Organization (WHO) leads with 2.8 million followers, reinforcing its significant role in global health emergencies.
TED Talks, with 2.4 million followers, spreads innovative ideas across various disciplines, engaging a wide audience.
Here’s a brief look at other organisations:
The World Economic Forum (WEF): Attracts 1.7 million followers, focusing on complex global economic issues.
American Red Cross (ARC): With 853,700 followers, ARC is renowned for its disaster response and blood donation drives.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital: Engages 698,500 followers with its mission to defeat childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
National Public Radio (NPR): With 462,200 followers, NPR offers in-depth news coverage and cultural programming.
UNICEF: Supported by 453,200 followers, UNICEF advocates for children's rights and welfare globally.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met): Attracts 327,000 followers, sharing its vast collection ranging from ancient to modern art.
United Nations (UN): With 195,700 followers, it promotes peace, security, and cooperation among nations.
Amnesty International: Has 117,800 followers, focusing on global human rights issues and activism.
Engagement Metrics: Likes and Comments
WEF dominates in terms of profile likes, with a remarkable 18.6 million likes.
One of their most liked videos which garnered around 866,000 likes features a UK student demonstrating her invention—a bioplastic that decomposes in just six weeks.
While TED Talks places second on the profile likes, based on our data from the last 28 days, their videos receive around 6500 likes per video!
TED Talks' mission to share "ideas worth spreading'' likely contributes to their high engagement. Their broad range of topics attracts a wide audience, such as the video featuring speaker Lera Boroditsky, which explores "How Language Shapes the Way We Think," effectively bridging the gap between language and cognition.
When it comes to sparking discussion, Amnesty International averages around 150 comments on each video.
Amnesty International is a global human rights organisation, and they effectively use TikTok to engage audiences and spark discussions.
One notable example is a video that humorously addresses common misconceptions and debates about human rights attracting supportive comments such as “Keep up the fight, no matter what!” and “Don’t give up”.
Content Frequency: Posts per Day and Overall Impact
When it comes to consistent posting, St. Jude posts frequently from our data—averaging 2 to 3 posts per day on TikTok.
This high posting frequency reflects St. Jude's efforts to engage the public and raise awareness, like their recent call for participants in a charity race to support their mission.
WEF and National Public Radio (NPR) follow suit with high posting frequencies, with at least 1 post a day.
In contrast, WHO, having the highest follower count, has the least amount of posting frequency having only 3 videos posted from the last 28 days.
Virality Factors: Views per Day and Sharing Trends
TED Talks leads in daily views, averaging around 83000. Their content, while not frequent, is interesting and compelling as can also be seen from the previous metrics.
Similarly, TED excels in terms of video virality, with their content being shared an average of 261 times per video.
Duration and Density: The Role of Video Length in Engagement
Organisations such as the American Red Cross, Amnesty International and Unicef often opt for shorter video formats, averaging around 15 and 30 seconds respectively, aimed at quick and effective dissemination of information.
On the other hand, the World Economic Forum (WEF) and TED opt for longer video formats, averaging around 2 minutes per video, indicating they prefer to delve into topics deeper such as this 2 minute video from WEF explaining how climate change can alter our immune system.
Conclusion: How Does The Overall Stats Compare to Other Platforms?
It’s worth noting that when comparing these metrics with other social media platforms, TikTok's short-form content resonates with a younger audience, with 25% of US users aged 10-19 and 22.4% aged 20-29, making it a key platform for organisations to engage with this demographic.
If you've been following our series, you'll have noticed that nonprofit organisations like WHO and TED consistently lead in social media engagement, with WHO ranking prominently in our Top 10 Nonprofits on Facebook and TED topping our Top 10 Nonprofit LinkedIn Accounts.
Even as some nonprofits like WHO and TED maintain steady activity across other platforms, others vary their approach. Take the United Nations (UN): they're quiet on TikTok, not having posted since December 2023 as of writing this blog, which nudges them to the bottom of our TikTok charts. But switch to a platform like X, and you'll see they're buzzing with engagement, something we've unpacked in "The Top 10 Nonprofit X (Twitter) Accounts"
We're eager to hear your thoughts, especially if you’re a marketer or communications person at a nonprofit organisation—what strategies have you found effective on TikTok?
Share your experiences through contacting us or sending as an email and join the conversation to help us explore the impact of TikTok in the nonprofit sector.
