Social media has long helped nonprofits engage with existing supporters and draw in new ones. It’s been less clear how well social media works for fundraising, particularly newer platforms. But some groups that work with animals have found success using TikTok to connect with their biggest fans and raise money to support their missions.
One of the key potential benefits for nonprofits: TikTok can be a place to connect with young supporters. The short-form video platform has exploded in popularity among Generation Z, as one of its top three social-media sites. Nonprofits, however, have largely been slow to jump on the bandwagon. Just 6 percent of nonprofits were using TikTok last year, according to the 2023 Nonprofit Tech for Good Report. This compares with 95 percent using Facebook and 73 percent using Instagram.
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Building a strong social-media following can be time consuming for nonprofits, notes a recent survey by Ideas42, a nonprofit that serves as a consulting and design firm. But for organizations that invest the time, it’s “a valuable tool for an organization to kind of build their brand and tell stories,” says Eleni Fischer, principal behavioral designer at the organization.
Explore, Be Authentic
TikTok is known for short videos that reel viewers in, often with content that is humorous, lighthearted, informational, or trending. For organizations looking to hop on TikTok, the first step is to get acquainted with the platform as a user, says Madeline Walden, digital content and community manager for the Aquarium of the Pacific, which has more than 2.8 million TikTok followers.
“You can’t really create for a world that you’re not already immersed in,” Walden says. “Get on there, find your niche, find your algorithm, and just see what works for your nonprofit.”
The aquarium uses TikTok to connect with supporters and raise money. Its following grew during the pandemic, when the social-media content it produced was a key way the facility interacted with supporters while the physical location was closed.
What keeps the aquarium’s followers engaged is a steady diet of authentic, fun content that provides information or a behind-the-scenes look. Among the things TikTok followers have gotten to see: an octopus splashing staff, male penguins building fancy nests to impress the ladies, and a demonstration of the volume difference between seals and sea lions. Spoiler: Sea lions bark loudly and often.
The KC Pet Project, a shelter in Kansas City, Mo., takes a similar approach to TikTok. The staff often share fun looks at the animals in the shelter, but they also put a real emphasis on telling stories about the pets they’ve taken in. Because the shelter wants to find homes for the animals, the group often shares stories about the animal’s situation before coming to the shelter and its improved condition after being cared for. The aquarium’s approach is more educational, whereas the shelter’s videos are meant to inspire someone to adopt or share the video with friends who might be looking to adopt.
The aquarium and the shelter create videos based on their objectives for their feeds — education and adoption — which in turn helps them build strong brands on TikTok, Fischer says. It’s critical to determine the organization’s goal for each platform and the kinds of stories it wants to tell there, she says. That way, even if there’s employee turnover, the social media can stay consistent.
“That could really pay dividends for a group,” Fischer says, “taking that time together and revisiting that strategy when you can, so that the person that’s then responsible for the social media can always have something to go back to and something to base their posts off of.”
Video for Fundraising a Team Effort
Posting videos on social media takes time and effort, so it’s a good idea to make it a team effort that involves multiple employees. When the Aquarium of the Pacific does livestreams, it takes the work of many staff members to pull it off.
“On World Ocean Day in 2021, we streamed for 12 hours straight with that donation button on our screen, and we saw great results,” Walden says, noting the event raised $4,800 and netted an additional 200,000 followers.
So what does an organization stream for 12 hours? In this case, it was aquarists — the professionals who care for the sea creatures — interacting with animals and answering questions from participants, who tended to drop in throughout the day to watch. Segments with the octopus were particularly popular, Walden says.
One of the biggest difficulties nonprofits have is finding the time to create content, says Fischer, with Ideas42. Both the KC Pet Project and Aquarium of the Pacific use the whole team to capture videos, and the social-media person edits them for online use.
One of the the Kansas City shelter’s most popular videos shows an 11-year-old shih tzu found covered with massive tufts of matted fur. Once shaved, the dog was 6 pounds lighter, much happier, and later adopted. Katie Grissum, communications and design coordinator for the shelter, recorded the vet staff shaving the dog, which she edited down into a minute-long video to share his story. Staff members regularly bring animals from the shelter into the office to get more candid videos where the animals are more playful than when they’re in the kennel, where there’s more noise and lots of other animals.
One of KC Pet Project’s most popular TikTok videos.
Employees do a lot of filming in advance any time they know the organization will be asking for donations.
“We’ve been consciously watching out for stories and just going into the vet clinic and grabbing those photos when they first get here and then [through] their healing journey and keeping track of those animals,” says Tori Fugate, chief communications officer. “That way, we are able to really show, this is what this dog looked like when he got here. But look, because of your donations, look at what the impact was. And now that this dog is either adopted or available for adoption.”
The shelter had a successful GivingTuesday with the help of TikTok and matching grants, raising about $120,000. The funds are much needed, as the shelter was on track to take in the most animals it ever had in a single year. Between inflation and a lack of affordable housing that allows pets, more people have been unable to keep their animals, and the shelter has had a surge in people surrendering their pets.
TikTok has also been helpful in finding homes for the animals. Some people have come from as far away as Las Vegas to adopt an animal they’ve seen at the Kansas shelter. Social media gives new life to animals who have been at the shelter for an extended period. Fugate points to the impact of a video of Roscoe Jenkins, a dog who had been at the shelter for more than two months.
“It was just him carrying around a toy in his mouth in the office,” she says. “And we had a line of people here to adopt that dog the next day. It’s just been truly lifesaving to be able to get some of these dogs out there that haven’t been noticed.”
