Embracing Digital Transformation: A Guide to Digital Community Engagement for NGOs (Part 2)
By: Ashley Pettifer, Director of Client Experience and Operations, Ryelle Strategy Group
With the help of digital transformation, non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, are in a prime spot to build pathways to community engagement and think about how and where to reach the communities they seek to impact. Digital engagement is a powerful public relations and outreach tool for starting conversations around generating support for their advocacy, weighing in on issues and current events impacting populations served, and engaging sector leaders and community members.
Over two decades ago, organizations were starting to ramp up their online presence and digital channels. Today, a robust digital strategy that generates real-time, two-way engagement is considered mandatory.
So, how, exactly, can an organization enhance its digital engagement?
Building a Social Media Presence
One of the most basic but proven digital engagement practices is setting up a social media presence. These days, conversations are taking place in social spaces like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and emerging on apps like TikTok. Here, NGOs can start conversations through posts, stories, polls, and interactions with relevant populations. Engagement doesn’t need to be all day, but it does need to be every day.
NGOs can maximize productivity by mapping out a monthly content calendar. This entails careful planning and acute awareness of relevant events, awareness days, milestones, advocacies, and current events. A content calendar should tell a story that aligns with a NGO’s mission and balance relevant content that speaks to various internal and external stakeholders (current and prospective clients, partners in the sector, government agencies, and funders) and amplifies their advocacy. It also benefits to participate in digital trends, such as featuring celebrity figures who are advancing relevant causes and creating videos and memes in line with trending topics.
Beyond Posting: Active Engagement
Regular posting is just one part of digital engagement. Proactive engagement with your community yields meaningful conversations and community-building. To amplify reach, an NGO can engage in resharing, commenting, and replying to comments. These are value-adding digital interactions that can be leveraged into productive conversations about partnerships, donations, and other long-term relationships.
Staying on top of social media notifications — a like, thumbs-up emoji, or comment — goes a long way in building a pipeline to a future partnership. Similarly, it pays to engage proactively by tagging partners, donors, and key sector figures in organic posts. Digital engagement can amplify an NGO’s impact through sustained interactions and relationship-building with key stakeholders.
Does your NGO have a strong digital presence? Is your organization looking to expand your digital reach? Ryelle Strategy Group can support you in deciding how and where to invest in digital engagement to amplify your reach and impact. Check out our services page for more information.
