Launched in 2016, a short video-sharing platform launched in China has become one of the biggest social media phenomena of our times. With its unique take on rapidly user-generated and consumed videos, TikTok has perfectly positioned itself to be one of the go-to applications if you want to attract and build a following for your non-profit endeavor.
Due to the short nature of these videos, it is easier than ever before to consume hundreds in a day, which explains how quickly videos can go viral on TikTok, garnering millions of views in a few days if not a few hours.
The question however is, is TikTok good for nonprofits?
And the short answer is yes. TikTok for nonprofits is a worthwhile platform to pursue and with the right tips you can have your non-profit page up and running successfully, reaching millions of users every month.
To learn more about social media for nonprofits, read our detailed articles on Instagram for nonprofits, TikTok for nonprofits, LinkedIn for nonprofits and YouTube for nonprofits.
To read about our comprehensive article on digital marketing for nonprofits, click here.
1. What is TikTok?
TikTok is a video-sharing platform that focuses on making and sharing short-form videos. These videos are typically between 15 to 60 seconds long, and often feature people engaging in entertaining skits, pranks, and jokes or dancing to their favourite music.
With over 1.2 billion active monthly users as of 2022, TikTok sits right behind some of social media’s biggest names, including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
2. Benefits of Using TikTok for Nonprofits
TikTok has exploded into popularity, particularly within the younger generation. It is frequented by millions of young men and women between the ages of 18-24, which make up about 43% of its user base. Combined with the rest of its users, a whopping 1.2 billion active users consume content on TikTok on a monthly basis. Having such a large audience to potentially reach makes TikTok for non-profits a considerable venture.
Furthermore, the nature of TikTok makes it so that it is relatively easy to go viral on. Through studying trends and strategically using hashtags, nonprofits can create videos that align with trends to propel their videos into the viral domain and reach millions of users.
As it turns out, a majority of TikTok’s users are in their youth, which means activists can target the up and coming generation through TikTok for their non-profits, and educate and motivate them to support pressing issues.
Lastly, you can create hashtag campaigns with TikTok For Good, which is an initiative by TikTok to help support social causes for the betterment of its users and society at large. Partnering with TikTok For Good can lead to exclusive, promoted hashtags for your non-profit that are visible to everyone, prompting users to make content around your tag, and spreading awareness for it.
In the end, TikTok for non-profits is a brilliant way to raise awareness and garner support for your cause!
3. How Do I Get My Nonprofit on TikTok?
To start using TikTok for non-profit purposes, simply make a TikTok Pro account, which will give you access to advertising privileges and analytics.
Then you will need to grow your account through regular uploads and community engagement, and once you have established an online presence for your non-profit, sign up for a digital fundraising platform such as Tiltify and get your charity/non-profit approved there. Once it is approved, you have to create a charity profile on Benevity Causes, which adds credibility to your cause as an established non-profit and also gives you access to receiving donations from corporate companies. After this you will become eligible for donations and be able to use TikTok for non-profit ventures.
4. Can You Do Fundraising on TikTok?
To start fundraising on TikTok, it is important for your charity to be approved on Tiltify. If it is approved, you can feature your fundraising link beneath your bio on your page, making it visible to all of your page visitors. Users who support your nonprofit can feature your fundraising link beneath their profile bios as well, lending you support.
Another way to raise funds is through Donation Stickers, which become available to approved charities for use in their videos. Donation Stickers let users donate directly to your cause right through the application, making donations swift and simple.
Lastly, like on YouTube, you can generate revenue by hosting ads in your videos, which can be a powerful, additional source of funds. However, ad revenue requires that your account have at least 10,000 followers, with a minimum of 100,000 accumulated views over the past month.
5. 7 Tips to Use TikTok for Nonprofits
5.1 Create unique and fun content
To truly stand out and make an impression on viewers, it is important for nonprofits to create engaging content that fully utilize TikTok’s video creation tools. These include AI voiceovers, a large library of music, animated captions and a variety of fun filters and video editing capabilities.
These tools turn your videos into visually hooking creations that people love to see. Furthermore, videos less than 60 seconds long are ideal since they are more likely to be viewed completely and engaged with properly. Pair this with content connected to popular trends to ensure your videos get seen by a maximum number of people.
An example of creatively unique content is this video by Malalafund on TikTok. Other videos on the page also show a uniformity between ‘in-video caption styles’ which boosts brand identity.
5.2 Always stay ahead on the trends
While in every sphere of life, plagiarism or copying is frowned upon, it is actually one of the best ways to gain popularity and virality on TikTok. While not exactly plagiarism, taking inspiration from popular trends and remixing them boosts your post engagement and features you on more feeds. Therefore, if there is a certain challenge or dance trending these days, think about how you can relate your cause to it and get to shooting a video!
An example of this can be seen here, where the ‘Usher Challenge’ has been used under the context of furthering STEM education among women.
5.3 Use the right hashtags
When you use hashtags that describe your video content, your videos will reach a large number of people who are interested in content surrounding that particular hashtag. This allows nonprofits to not only reach an audience, but an audience that will potentially be interested and willing to support their cause.
An example of using relevant hashtags is this educational video uploaded by Charity: Water, where the tags #learnedontiktok and #valentinesday are used.
5.4 Post frequently
Just like any social media platform, the secret to success is having a consistent upload schedule and uploading quality content, even if you will use TikTok for nonprofit reasons. By uploading frequently, you help your nonprofit by boosting views and followers, since the algorithm will feature its videos in more user feeds and drive increased traffic to your page.
Posting frequently also demonstrates that your nonprofit is active and consistently working to further its mission.
Check out Unicef’s TikTok page, where they frequently upload content to educate and inform their audience.
5.5 Use TikTok live to engage with your audience
TikTok live is a feature similar to Instagram Live, wherein you can interact with your followers in real-time and engage them intimately.TikTok live is great for building trust with your followers and creating a sense of transparency. It allows your followers to feel more personally connected to your organization, thereby motivating them to become more engaged with, and supportive of your cause.
5.6 Take the help of influencers
Influencers are TikTok personalities that have already made it big on the platform. They will usually have upwards of hundreds of thousands, to even millions of followers who can be reached through partnerships. Partnering with influencers is a guaranteed way of rapidly increasing your reach and follower count, while educating and spreading awareness to new audiences.
When searching for suitable influencers to approach, be mindful of your organization’s values and if they align with a particular influencer’s. Value alignment is essential because it determines the audience you will be reaching out to, and your own public image after affiliation with these TikTok celebrities.
You can make long-term deals with influencers to support your cause, and explore fundraising opportunities with their follower base.
Nonprofits on TikTok such as Unicef have partnered with influencers to spread their message, one such partnership being with Charlie D’Amelio, the most followed TikToker on TikTok.
5.7 Switch to a TikTok Pro account
Switching to a TikTok Pro account will let you gain insights into video performance analytics and allow you to make data driven decisions when coming up with new content ideas.
Leveraging data to create content that you know your audience will engage with is essential when your nonprofit is competing to be featured on user feeds. Studying and applying the insights gained from performance analytics is going to ensure your TikTok nonprofit page will continue to grow organically and get the highest, most optimized levels of engagement.
All nonprofit pages mentioned previously use TikTok Pro to maximize their video performance, proving TikTok for nonprofits is beneficial and necessary if a large audience is to be reached.
6. Case Studies: Examples of How to Use TikTok for Nonprofits
- Malalafund – empowering women to learn and educate themselves through relatable, creative skits.
- Unicef – using TikTok for nonprofit purposes by informing and educating followers on social issues, and partnering with globally recognized celebrities.
- Girls Who Code – posts educational videos motivating women to take up STEM fields, with consistent uploads and engaging skits.
- Movember – promoting men’s health with fun and vibrant videos, edited beautifully with TikTok’s creator tools.
- No Kid Hungry – fully utilizing TikTok for nonprofit purposes by spreading awareness about food depravity among children and making sure to create uniform content for brand identity.
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