Marketing

Every Nonprofit Hashtag in One Big List

Author: Terry Ibele

November 13, 2017

Contents

🕑 5 min read

For the past two years I’ve kept a running list of all the nonprofit-related hashtags I’ve come across.

I use them to join conversations, see what nonprofits are talking about, and find new people to follow.

If you’re looking for any nonprofit-related hashtag, you’ll likely find it in this list. I’ve categorized all the hashtags and used TalkWalker’s free hashtag analyser tool to give you the estimated monthly mentions of each hashtag (both from Twitter and other social media platforms).

And at the end of this list, I share the most effective hashtag campaign I’ve ever come across.

The Great Big List of Every Nonprofit Hashtag

Here’s how to read this list:

#hashtag: explanation if necessary — monthly mentions in social media

Click to jump to a section:

General Nonprofit Hashtags

#association — 773.8K
#charity — 540.0K
#CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility — 83.7K
#foundation — 905.0K
#nfp — 3.6K
#NGO — 63.1K
#nonprofit — 93.6K
#nonprofits — 26.0K
#notforprofit — 2.7K
#socent: social enterprise — 15.6K

Membership Hashtags

#members — 2.8M
#membership — 212.7K

Technology Hashtags

#nptech — 1.4K
#nptechjobs — 33

Marketing Hashtags

#npmarketing — 24
#SM4NP: Social Media for Nonprofits — 117

Business-Related Hashtags

#ICT4D: Information and Communication Technologies for Development — 1.4K
#impinv: impact investing, 6.3K
#socap: social capital — 145
#socialbusiness — 2.2K
#socimpact — 11
#soenterprise: social enterprise —NA
#sofinance: social finance — 5

Donations and Fundraising Hashtags

#CharityTuesday: use this to jump on the trend of encouraging donations on Tuesdays — 11.3K
#crowdfunding — 104.4K
#crowdsourcing — 8.8K
#donate — 877.2K
#DonorLove — 31
#donors — 270.7K
#funding — 626.4K
#fundraise —17.2k
#fundraising — 189.6K
#giveback — 13.2K
#GivingTuesday —22.1K
#grant — 536.5K
#grants —125.1K
#philanthropy —31.4K

Volunteering Hashtags

#microvolunteering — 36
#volmgmt —486
#volunteer — 7.6K
#volunteers — 2.5K
#volunteering —64.4K
#voluntweet — 132
#LOVols (Leaders of Volunteers)—210

Change Hashtags

#4change — 199
#activism — 331
#advocacy — 411
#begrateful — 3.3K
#cause —4.8m
#causes — 464.2K
#dogood — 25
#DoSomething: Started by DoSomething.org to encourage change — 719
#video4change — 56

Social, Environmental, and Human Rights Hashtags

#aid — 9.2K
#bodyimage — 2.8K
#change — 122.1K
#changemakers — 3.8K
#climate — 1.2M
#climatechange — 178.4K
#disabilities — 104.4K
#earthtweet — 40
#eco — 256.7K
#education — 26.9K
#fairtrade —10.9K
#green — 2.7M
#health — 4.4M
#humantrafficking — 12.7K
#humanity — 450.3K
#humanrights — 9.8K
#impact — 42.3K
#peace — 2.2M
#socialgood —4.2K
#sustainability —127.9K

Nonprofit Twitter Chats

Below are a number of nonprofit Twitter chats where people share expertise, tips, and stories related to nonprofit work.

To join a chat, simple search for, or use the associated hashtag on the day the chat takes place. Some of these Twitter chats have seen better days, but I hope by publishing this list, it will give them some new life!

#assnchat: Association Chat, Tuesdays at 2:00 pm (ET) — 1.4K
#commbuild: Community Building chat, Tuesdays at 1:00 PM (ET) — NA
#grantchat: Tuesdays at 12:00 PM (ET) — 143
#fundchat: Fundraising Chat, Wednesdays at 12:00 pm (ET) — NA
#leanimpact: Wednesdays at 2:00 PM (ET) — NA
#m4np: Mobile for Nonprofits, fourth Monday every month, 1:00 PM (ET) — 3
#npcons: Nonprofit Consultants, third Tuesday of the month, 4:00 PM (ET) — NA
#npmc: Nonprofit Marketing Communications, last Thursday of the month, 1:00 PM (ET) — 111
#nptalk: Nonprofit Talk, Wednesdays at 3:00 PM (PT) — 20
#smnpchat: Small Nonprofit Chat, every other Friday at 12:00 PM (ET) — NA
#socentchat: Social Entrepreneurship Chat, first Wednesday of the month, 4:00 PM (ET) — 55
#startinggood: A chat focused on crowdfunding, Wednesdays at 6:00 PM (ET) — 2

Click through to claim your 60-day trial of WildApricot to create effective QR codes that will speed up event check-in.

The Most Effective Use of Hashtags I’ve Ever Seen

Despite what you may read elsewhere, just using hashtags in your posts will never give you any meaningful results — likes, shares, followers.

That’s because there’s nothing inherently attractive in a hashtag. Hashtags are simple a means to categorise and find information.

But that’s the beauty of them. They make it easier to find and share value.

The nonprofits who’ve understood this have seen the most success.

Take the example of the Cruise Line International Association, the world’s largest cruise industry trade organization.

They decided to create their own value by giving away a free cruise to one person every week for a month — with a catch.

People could only enter if they took a selfie and used the hashtags #CruiseSmile and #Sweepstakes (two hashtags they created) when they posted to social media.

The contest quickly took off and thousands of people started using the CLIA’s hashtags. By the end of the month, more than 83,000 people entered the giveaway and followed CLIA on their Twitter and Instagram accounts.

This campaign was successful because the CLIA offered something of high value and used hashtags as the route to receive it.

Here’s how your nonprofit can do something similar.

Think about what type of value you can create for your audience — maybe it’s a contest like the CLIA, or maybe it’s a free webinar, a discounted membership, or a networking event.

The point is that the best use of hashtags are when they lead to something of value that people want.

So, next time you’re planning a social campaign, instead of thinking about which hashtags to jump on, instead, think about how to use them to lead people to something valuable at your organization.

Best of luck with your campaigns!

Don’t Forget to Follow WildApricot on Twitter

Every day we post links to actionable tips and resources to help you engage, retain, and grow your membership.

WildApricot — @WildApricot
#1 rated Membership Management Software for small-medium membership organizations.

Additional Resources:

Twitter for Nonprofits: Does Your Organization Really Need to Tweet?(WildApricot.com)
Instagram For Nonprofits: The Ultimate Guide(WildApricot.com)
45 Nonprofit Twitter Experts Who Tweet Great Advice (WildApricot.com)
10 Inexpensive (or Free) Nonprofit Marketing Tools That Create Stunning Visuals(WildApricot.com)
The Future of Visual Social and What It Means for Nonprofits (JCSocialMarketing.com)