How to Make More People See Your Mission with Social Media Posts

Picture this: Sarah runs a community food bank in Manchester. She posts beautiful photos of volunteers sorting donations and writes heartfelt updates about families they’ve helped. But despite her passion and hard work, her posts barely get any likes or shares. Meanwhile, she watches memes rack up thousands of views and wonders: “How can I get people to care about our mission as much as they care about funny videos?”

If you’re nodding along, you’re not alone. Every day, brilliant mission-driven organisations across the UK struggle to cut through the noise on social media. You’re doing incredible work, feeding families, supporting young people, protecting the environment, or championing important causes, but getting that work noticed online feels like shouting into the wind.

The good news? You don’t need a marketing degree or a massive budget to make your mission shine on social media. You just need to understand what makes people stop scrolling and start caring.

Start With Stories, Not Statistics

People connect with people, not numbers. While it’s tempting to share that your charity helped 500 families last month, what really grabs attention is the story of one family, like Emma, a single mum who hadn’t eaten a proper meal in two days until she found your food bank.

Make it work for you:

• Share one person’s story instead of broad statistics
• Use their own words when possible (with permission, of course)
• Show the person before and after your help, not just the “after”
• Include photos of real people, not stock images

Think about the last time you stopped scrolling on Facebook. Was it because of a pie chart about homelessness, or because you saw a video of someone getting the keys to their first flat? Stories stick with us in ways that data never can.

Post When Your People Are Actually Online

You could write the most inspiring post in the world, but if you share it at 3am on a Tuesday when everyone’s asleep, it might as well not exist. Different audiences are online at different times, and timing can make or break your post’s success.

Here’s what works for most UK organisations:

• Facebook: Weekdays between 1pm-3pm, and evenings around 7pm-9pm
• Instagram: Lunch times (12pm-1pm) and early evenings (6pm-8pm)
• LinkedIn: Tuesday to Thursday, 8am-10am and 3pm-5pm
• Twitter: Weekdays 8am-9am and 7pm-9pm

But don’t just take our word for it, your audience might be different. Check your insights (every platform has them for free) to see when your followers are most active. If you’re a youth charity, your audience might be online much later in the evening. If you support older adults, mornings might work better.

Use Pictures That Tell Your Story

A scroll through social media is like flicking through a magazine, people judge posts in seconds based on the image alone. Blurry photos of empty meeting rooms or generic handshake shots won’t stop anyone mid-scroll.

What works instead:

• Action shots: Volunteers in the middle of doing something, not posing stiffly
• Behind-the-scenes moments: Setting up for an event, preparing meals, or even dealing with challenges
• Close-ups with emotion: A child’s face lighting up, someone’s hands working on a project, a moment of genuine laughter
• Before and after: A neglected garden becoming a community space, or a young person’s confidence growing

Don’t worry if you’re not a professional photographer. Modern phones take brilliant photos, and authenticity often works better than perfection anyway. The key is capturing genuine moments that show your mission in action.

Write Like You’re Talking to a Friend

Social media is called “social” for a reason, it’s meant to feel like a conversation, not a formal announcement. Yet many organisations write posts that sound like press releases or academic papers.

Instead of: “Our organisation facilitated a collaborative initiative to enhance food security within the local demographic.”

Try: “We worked with local families to make sure no one in our neighbourhood goes to bed hungry.”

Keep it simple:

• Use “you” and “we” instead of “the organisation” and “service users”
• Write shorter sentences that are easy to read on a phone
• Ask questions to start conversations
• Share your excitement, frustrations, and genuine emotions

Remember, people follow organisations because they care about the cause, but they engage with posts because they connect with the humans behind them.

Give People Easy Ways to Help

Every post is an opportunity to turn a casual follower into an active supporter. But asking for help needs to feel natural, not pushy. The secret is making it as easy as possible for people to take action.

Try these simple calls to action:

• “Share this if you think every child deserves a safe place to play”
• “Tag a friend who cares about mental health”
• “Comment with your favourite memory of helping others”
• “Click the link in our bio to sign up for volunteer updates”

Make sure each post has just one clear action you want people to take. Multiple asks (share this AND donate AND volunteer AND sign up) overwhelm people, and they’ll likely do nothing instead.

Your Next Step: Pick One Thing and Try It

Social media can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re already juggling a dozen other responsibilities. But here’s the truth: you don’t need to master everything at once.

This week, pick just one tip from this post and try it. Maybe it’s sharing one person’s story instead of general updates, or posting at a different time of day. See what happens. Notice what feels natural for your organisation and what resonates with your followers.

Your mission matters. Your work changes lives. And with a few small changes to how you share that work online, you can help more people discover why they should care too. The world needs to hear about what you’re doing, now you know how to make sure they’re listening.

What story will you share first? We’d love to hear about send us a message about it.