How Your Animal Sanctuary Can Benefit from Social Media

Does your animal sanctuary use social media? Love it or loathe it, there are some perks:

• Creating a presence on social media is a way for supporters to check you out. And to many people, it makes your animal sanctuary look more legitimate.
• On your end, being active on social media not only helps you connect with supporters, but it also gives you a way to show your authority on your favorite subject – animals!

And of course, social media also enables you to share adorable videos and pictures of animals, which is why the Internet was invented, after all!

Animal Sanctuary Social Media Tips

When you’re using social media, you’ll want to make the most of your time and effort there. Consider these best practices:

• Fill out your profile completely and make use of all a platform’s features as much as you can.
• Acknowledge all comments on your posts (unless they’re from a bot).
• Follow accounts that are relevant to your success, like people who could be donors or volunteers. Also follow back accounts that follow you first, unless they don’t look trustworthy.
• Create a plan for posting on social media. At the end of every month, for example, figure out what you’re going to post for the month ahead. Do you need volunteers or donations? Do you have any events coming up? Any success stories? Do you have thoughts on the state of animal welfare? Mix posts like these with videos and pictures of your animals. Research and decide on which hashtags you will use.

In addition, here are tips specifically for animal sanctuaries:

• Look for special days on the calendar related to the animals you serve. Creating content around these observances can help drive traffic to your animal sanctuary’s site.
• Make your content shareable so supporters can share it on their own accounts.
• Encourage supporters to use a special hashtag unique to your animal sanctuary, and to create their own content about your organization. You can use this content (called user-generated content) on your accounts.
• Think about your online tone of voice and the words you use to portray your animals.

Best Social Media Platforms for Animal Sanctuaries

So how do you know which social media platforms to use? In general, any animal sanctuary should use the platforms where their supporters are. You can easily find this out by asking them. You can do this with a poll that you email, put it on your intake forms, or just ask when they come in person.

That being said, the most likely social media platforms for nonprofits are Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Let’s take a quick look at each.

Facebook’s size (2.9 billion monthly users) and functions make it good for nonprofits – you can add a donate button. Also, your supporters can link to your page when fundraising for birthdays. You may also want to create a Facebook Group for your supporters to have discussions.

Instagram is owned by Facebook’s parent company Meta. It shares similar features (both use short-form videos called Reels and offer the chance to do live videos) but has extra features of its own. Take advantage of this visual platform to share videos and images of your animals.

TikTok’s video-only app leans toward the entertaining side, although there are plenty of informational videos as well. While the most active American TikTok users are young, half are between 30-50 years old.

Twitter gives you the platform for short updates. Tweet about your sanctuary, your animals, or your thoughts on animal welfare or animals in the news.

LinkedIn is the platform for professionals to connect. More than just a place to post a resume and find a job, LinkedIn can help your animal sanctuary attract the attention of corporate donors.

Share Your Animal Sanctuary’s Story

If your animal sanctuary is looking to increase its presence online, join the Petoodle community. List your organization on Petoodle and share your story with potential donors and sponsors.