Facebook may be the king of social media, but it’s not the one that people under the age of 30 turn to when they use social networking sites. The social media platform for audiences under 30 is Snapchat. In fact, Facebook continues to lose market share to Snapchat with the younger generations.

The following are some of the stats and facts about Snapchat.

  • Snapchat has 188 million users around the world.
  • Users spend at least 30 minutes on the platform daily.
  • 60 percent of users use the camera on Snapchat every day.
  • In the U.S., Snapchat is used by 41 percent of people between the ages of 18 to 34 years of age.

Why should your nonprofit care about Snapchat?

  • Fundraising pipeline.The number one reason your organization should care about Snapchat is that your nonprofit is probably losing approximately 25 to 35 percent of your donors through attrition each year. That means you’re always prospecting for new donors and Millennials and Generation Z are the most activist and socially conscious generations. It makes all the sense in the world to appeal to young donors and get them associated with your nonprofit, even if they are not yet prepared to contribute at the levels that older generations can give.
  • Behind the scenes action.One of the best things that is a crucial aspect of Snapchat is that it’s not the place for any slick content. Snapchat is all about keeping it real, and it’s an excellent opportunity for you to get used to presenting your nonprofit in a genuine way to your audiences. If you can come across as authentic on Snapchat, you can easily translate this skill to the other social media platforms, including Facebook. Snaps are all about video, fun and a behind the scenes looks and this is an excellent platform to practice the art of keeping it real and light, which is vital to capturing the attention of young users.

What are a few of the best tips to become successful on Snapchat?

  • Daily snaps. In today’s world, where there is so much information reaching the eyes of people, you have to be on Snapchat every day. Not only will this practice get you comfortable using the platform, but it will also help you keep your brand top of mind for Snapchat users.
  • Appreciate disappearing content. One of the best innovations, which has been copied by Facebook, is disappearing content because it creates a sense of urgency. When you post snaps on Snapchat, create a series that can be used for your fundraiser with content that will help drive the need to act.
  • Be creative with Snapchat stories. The stories feature allows you to compile snaps as they were taken and provide audiences a linear “story” progression or arc. This is a handy tool you can use to tell something like “a day in the life” or some other programmatic sequence, which will help you get attention.
  • Snapchat allows brands to sponsor ads, lenses or geofilters. This will enable you to create ten-second clips, augmented reality through the lens, or filters that can only be used in specific geographic locations. All of these creative and fun tools and opportunities allow you to promote your brand and the work your nonprofit does in your community.

For brands that are not accustomed to using Snapchat, it may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of articles on the internet about how to familiarize yourself with this particular social media platform, which includes Snapchat itself, or this insightful article from The New York Times.