While this change may have seemed like bad news at first glance, it actually presents an opportunity for savvy nonprofit leaders to revisit best practices that are effective even with this year’s news feed updates. Here are a few ways in which you can up your Facebook game as we approach the end of 2018. 

Position your senior staff as thought leaders

Facebook’s change reflects a core truth about humans: people want to connect with other people, not organizations or brands. Make sure your senior programmatic leaders all have social media presences. If this is an issue, consider creating separate professional accounts if your leadership is more comfortable separating work and personal and push your content out through their profiles. 

Use your built-in brand advocates

For-profit companies spend lots of money cultivating relationships with people who feel so strongly about their brand that they tell others how much they love it. Nonprofits, on the other hand, rarely take advantage of their built-in base of engaged brand advocates to amplify their digital communications. Your staff, volunteers, board, and donors are passionate about your organization and give their time and money to your cause. Don’t be afraid to ask them to also share your posts and content on Facebook. 

In many cases, donors and other engaged people actually like to be asked for something other than money every once in while. Let your board members and volunteers know that you’re counting on them to spread the message. For big events, create a social media kit with sample language and messaging guidelines to make it easy for them to share your message with their networks. 

Develop an influencer strategy

Companies have been on to this for a while, but with Facebook’s recent changes, a proactive strategy to engage influential people in your field is more important than ever for nonprofits. A smart influencer strategy will define the digital influencers you should be going after, and provide examples of the types of people or organizations who fit this mold. It will outline how each of your channels should play into reaching these critical audience members, and any recommended changes necessary for optimizing your content for reaching them. This is another place to leverage your board; some of them may be—or have connections to—people who can significantly extend your reach through their personal brands and social media networks.