For non-profits, tough economic times hampered by a slow recovery have dealt a major blow to organizations looking to make an impact in the world. Increasingly charitable organizations have turned to non-traditional means for raising awareness and reaching potential donors.
One of the emerging platforms for successful 21st century social organizations has been Pinterest. Yes, the social network that first gained popularity after allowing teenage girls to post pictures of their food is now actually helping put food on the table in developing countries.
Read below to see how organizations like the team behind the coffeemakerslist have used Pinterest to spark positive change in the world.
Strong Infographics that Digest Complex Issues
A quick search of Pinterest reveals organizations like Impact Earth Ventures sharing infographics that drive attention to their organization's causes and the needs of their organization to achieve its altruistic goals. A series of bullet points is boring, but adding colorful backgrounds with graphs and pie charts to help visualize information is an effective way of reaching audiences suffering from a social media attention span.
Tackle Unsettling Issues with a Softened Marketable Layout
Non-profits looking to raise money must first convince their audience that there really is a problem worth solving. The first step in explaining a problem is capturing your target audience's attention. Infographics (mentioned above) are effective at conveying information. But, you need to be able to draw the reader in to read the facts that you need to convey. A tasteful clip art image or other Photoshop developed content that looks professional and inviting is a key first step.
Building on the excitement garnered by an image or infographic must be nurtured with increasingly informative content.
If it's good enough for Huffington Post...
For example, this content from a Huffington Post article that was shared via Pinterest provides an excellent model for organizations looking to communicate distasteful information. The entire purpose of the piece is to draw attention to the impact that underage parenting in developing countries has on a society's ability to evolve into a strong, healthy, self-sufficient community.
While this information isn't especially savory, it's important to convey it effectively and tastefully. Using friendly images and content allows for readers to get the necessary information without being completely turned off from the problem.
Directing Traffic from Pinterest
In the example above, courtesy of Huffington, they've used Pinterest to direct traffic to one of their articles covering the needs of organizations looking to combat rampant underage pregnancies in the third world. You'll notice that only the image and infographic was shared via Pinterest. Clicking on the infographic to enlarge it takes viewers directly to their article. This is an incredibly effective way to build a traffic channel to important content on your organization's site.
By engaging your audience on Pinterest, and then delivering more of the same content on your own website, you can build an increasing level of engagement with your organization as a potential donor learns more about the problems your non-profit works hard to help solve.