5 great homelessness charity social media posts
Social media is a crowded place. It’s tricky for charities to be seen and stay in their donor’s zone of consciousness. Then there’s the pressure of creating high-quality content that gives value, inspires action, campaigns for change, and demonstrates impact. Juggling those competing priorities makes planning your content feel like an epic task. Sometimes you just need a little inspiration to get those creative juices flowing. Below, we’ve shared five inspiring homelessness charities leading the way on social media and how you can replicate their success in your own charity’s social media content.1. Crisis
Crisis is a charity fighting against injustice for homeless people. Their post about the Vagrancy Act, which makes it a crime to sleep rough in England and Wales, is a cracking example of how to create a compelling campaign. Their post uses both text and animated video to get their point across. They grab and hold a reader’s attention by demonstrating the reality and scale of the problem with a compelling hook: ‘…tonight every person sleeping rough could be arrested. Sounds ridiculous, but in the last 5 years, that’s happened to over 8,500 people’. They question the ‘twisted logic’ behind the law, using emotive language and rhetorical questions to spark a reaction. They present a clear, simple call to action (follow a link to a petition to #ScrapTheAct), making it easy for their audience to be part of the change. And use a short animated video to highlight that other countries have already changed the law after finding it archaic, unethical, and unconstitutional. Kudos to the team behind this one.2. Depaul
I just love Depaul‘s post featuring a video of Lizzie, a Nightstop Host volunteer. Sharing her experiences is a super smart piece of marketing.It’s got a dual purpose too – it attracts potential volunteers, and encourages young people in need to get in touch. Lizzie is the perfect choice for the video. She’s warm, friendly, and describes herself as ‘an over-65 living in Newcastle.’ She’s just like you and me. She shows volunteering to be an everyday, accessible activity. Her kind persona makes her a friendly face for young people looking for support, making first contact a little less frightening.View this post on Instagram
3. Shelter
Shelter’s post is an example of a charity offering value to those it supports to build trust.
Threatened homelessness is a common problem experienced by people Shelter supports.
Creating a template email and phone call script for them to use when they feel vulnerable and scared makes perfect sense.
Their post establishes their expertise and offers free, practical support when people most need it.
Great job!
4. Centrepoint
Since its launch, Centrepoint‘s helpline for homeless young people has helped over 25,000 young people. Centrepoint cleverly demonstrates its value by reconstructing call audio. Hearing a caller’s voice describing their real-life problem is powerful. So is Centrepoint’s calm, helpful response explaining exactly how they’re going to help.It’s ace because it really shows the immense value of their helpline to young people in crisis.This is the story of just one of the 25,000 young people we’ve supported through our Helpline over the last five years.
Watch to see how we can help. If you’re homeless or at risk, please reach out: https://t.co/O5eoNK2Acp pic.twitter.com/zFfD33Eum6 — Centrepoint (@centrepointuk) January 9, 2022
5. St Mungo’s
St Mungo’s post is a bang on example of a structured charity social media post. It covers the what, why, and how to support their essential work quickly and clearly.
They begin with why: ‘Sleeping rough in winter isn’t just miserable. It can be deadly.‘ They move on to what they do: nightly patrols to ensure rough sleepers are safe. Then finish with a solid call to action (‘help save a life today‘) with details about supporting them. It’s a mic drop moment.
Hope you’ve found this list useful. Use it for good to kickstart your next social media campaign.
