Posted 05.08.2016 by Josh Krakauer
5 Do-Good Organizations Doing Darn Good Social
Social good meets good social.
No one ever said social was easy. Thinking up campaigns, designing posts, setting up a content calendar; the steps are many. The stars have to practically align to create a beautiful, noticeable presence on social. It’s even more spectacular when you find a cool organization that really gets it, and demonstrates good community management, good design, and all-around good things on social. To put things in perspective, here are five organizations doing a (better than) good job at social marketing.
SoulPancake
SoulPancake was started by a group of creative, go-getters including Rainn Wilson, Devon Gundry, Shabnam Mogharabi, Golriz Lucina, and more. The goal of SoulPancake is to “MAKE STUFF THAT MATTERS.” Their mission is to open up a dialogue about spirituality, creativity, and philosophy. SoulPancake creates content that gets you to “Chew on Life’s Big Questions.” Here’s what’s good:
Diversity of content
Sharing and posting a mix of videos, articles, GIFs, and stills helps your audience never get tired of your posts. It keeps ‘em on their toes.
Timely, relevant content
The world moves fast, so keeping up-to-date on current events is key. Posting about timely cultural events such as David Bowie’s death help keep your page relevant (as long as you genuinely have something to say).
Sharing content not produced by SoulPancake
SoulPancake has a #ShortFilmFriday that features awesome videos they find online. Promoting and sharing other artists’ work, now that’s good stuff.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soulpancake/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/soulpancake
Thought Café
Thought Café is a quirky motion graphic studio based out of Toronto, Ontario. They specialize in making kick-butt animated shorts promoting social justice, self-education and critical awareness. Thought Café’s content is a-okay and definitely makes my day. (Should I keep rhyming?) Here’s what’s good:
Beautiful, thought provoking content
(I know I have said it a million times.)
Well it’s all awesome, I promise.
Office culture content
Audiences care about the people behind the projects. Posting photos of employees, office lunch time, interns, etc. gives your fans a glimpse into your workplace culture. It helps them connect to you and your brand in a deeper way.
Educational and timely content
Need to learn about Thor, chemistry, world history, anatomy? Thought Café has you covered.
Consistent aesthetic that achieves brand recognition
Thought Café has a very distinct style that can be easily recognized when scrolling through your newsfeed.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thoughtbubbler/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thoughtcafe
Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls
Smart Girls’ focus is exactly what it sounds like. Founded by Amy Poehler and her partner in crime, Meredith Walker, Smart Girls promotes “Changing the World by Being Yourself.” They are working to create a safe, inclusive community that encourages learning, positivity, exploration, and curiosity. Smart Girls influence people to “truly be their weird and wonderful selves.” And we think it’s pretty cool. Here’s what’s good:
Consistent, frequent publishing
Simple, but important: Smart Girls maintains a very active page with 10+ posts per week. They also stay very engaged with their audience by replying and liking comments.
Original longer-form content
Smart Girls does a great job generating blog posts that are relevant to their audience, in their signature voice.
Awesome content curation
Smart Girls does an amazing job with content curation. They find relevant articles, photos, artwork, videos, interviews, etc. to share with their audience.
Giving credit where credit is due
They do a great job at giving the artist, author, videographer, musician, writer, photographer or whoever credit for their content. Giving attribution for work kind of makes you a good human.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amypoehlersmartgirls/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/smrtgrls
Kid President
“Not cool Robert Frost, not cool!” Kid President is what you expect a child president to be. Imagine a kid-like determination, and positivity combined with the activist, get-stuff done attitude of a president. The Kid President organization says, “I believe kids can change the world. I also believe grown ups can change the world. It just takes all of us working together.” This happy-go-lucky, world changing page is bound to make your day a little brighter. Here’s what’s good:
Legit community engagement
The Kid president team does a great job interacting with their community. They respond to comments, answer questions, and build relationships with their fans.
Positive, uplifting posts
Sometimes the internet sucks. It happens, but Kid President does a great job throwing some positivity into your newsfeed. They share fun, engaging content that is sure to make your day a little better.
Cute original content
Not only is their content uplifting, it’s cute and consistent (notice how that word keeps coming back). They have a well-established style that is playful and appropriate for their message.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KidPresident/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamkidpresident
Harry Potter Alliance
“We turn fans into heroes” is the Harry Potter Alliance’s motto. The HPA is a nonprofit founded in 2005. It is a “Dumbledore’s Army for the real world.” They give individuals the tools to be an activist, and make a difference in the world. The HPA “uses the power of story and popular culture to inspire fans to be like the heroes they read about.” Here’s what’s good:
Creative campaigns
The HPA does a wonderful job creating campaigns with a strong call-to-action. The posts for the campaign are easily recognizable due to consistent branding and clear messaging.
Good platform management
In addition to creating easily-identifiable campaigns, they also do a great job managing multiple platforms simultaneously. The HPA manages Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr with the shared purpose of creating a positive space for fans.
Fundraising with tact
Give, give, ask. One of the simplest methods for engaging with your audience and getting what you need. Strong social brands build trust, community, and provide useful information to their fans before asking for something in return. The HPA does a great job of not nagging, or being too aggressive with their asks/CTAs. They are able to ask their fans to support their mission in a kind and tasteful manner.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehpalliance/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHPAlliance
Tumblr: http://thehpalliance.tumblr.com
These are a few of my favorite organizations doing good social, good design, and all-around good things. Your turn: Who are your favorite do-good organizations on social?
