Social Media is a Marketing Staple
Everyone has social media. Whether you have 3, 200, 10,000, or even millions of followers, humans have a voice to share their opinions, thoughts on events, and what they believe is right in the world. Now, on one hand, this culture has led to a propagation of extremism on both sides of the political spectrum, further fueling social animosity and societal dissonance. However, these platforms have also created a place for people to come together, share opinions in affinity groups, and even rally behind a cause from across the world. Ultimately, it leads us to this question: how can this engagement be converted into fundraising?
Thinking of influencer sponsored charities, the most prominent example is Jimmy Donaldson’s “Team Water” campaign earlier this year. Donaldson, with the help of other large macro influencers, raised over 40 million dollars to give people clean water in Africa.¹ While this campaign is a fantastic example of leveraging a social following to create tangible donations, it is not easily replicable, and it is not due to lack of followers.
The Reality of the Situation
In fact, over 15 million people have over 1 million followers on Instagram.² The issue is engagement. For instance, the average Instagram engagement rate for nonprofits in a survey conducted in 2025 was 4.4 percent.³ Unfortunately, oftentimes big accounts lose direct contact with their followers, creating more superficial relationships and decreasing engagement. This concept of categorizing account types has been studied by major institutions. For example, Forbes released an article which categorizes accounts as the following:⁴
- Nano influencers: 1,000 to 10,000 followers
- Micro influencers: 10,000 to 100,000 followers
- Macro influencers: 100,000 to 350,000 followers
- Elite macro influencers: 350,000 plus followers
Nonprofits, by definition, are dedicated to a social purpose. As we have talked about, getting donors involved in that social purpose requires an engaging and narrative collaboration pitch, which is where micro influencers can be exceptionally effective. When a nonprofit can target a micro influencer with a similar niche, the conversion rate will be significantly higher.
A great example is when Huggies and Walgreens worked together to support Diaper Network by partnering with Social Native, a company that connects micro influencers to organizations.⁵ Social Native specifically gave Huggies and Walgreens creators with niche parental followings that were targeted to the cause. Here, the conversion rate was higher because the conversation was relevant to the audience.
Essentially, the lesson here is that it does not have to be all or nothing. There can be real collaboration with micro influencers, who often live more typical community lives than the ultra famous, to create change and showcase specific opportunities to their audiences. By creating personal associations of specific respected individuals with your nonprofit, you will continue to attract new donors with a higher degree of efficiency.
References
- Business Insider. (2025, August 1). MrBeast’s Team Water raised over 40 million to bring clean water to Africa. https://www.businessinsider.com/mrbeast-team-water-philanthropy-project-content-creator-youtube-2025-8
- Goodwin, T. (2025). Over 15 million people have over 1 million followers on Instagram [LinkedIn post]. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tomfgoodwin_over-15-million-people-have-over-1-million-activity-7305263747546173443-45gN/
- Hootsuite. (2025, April 21). Average engagement rate by industry on Instagram. https://blog.hootsuite.com/average-engagement-rate/
- Wiley, D. (2024, April 4). Matching influencer tiers with your brand goals: A guide for TikTok and Instagram. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesagencycouncil/2024/04/04/matching-influencer-tiers-with-your-brand-goals-a-guide-for-tiktok-and-instagram/
- Social Native. (2024). Nonprofit influencer marketing and cause based creator campaigns. https://www.socialnative.com/articles/nonprofit-influencer-marketing/
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