Social media burnout: how to reclaim your charity’s strategy
Social media can be a brilliant tool for charities, big and small. It can help you reach new supporters, build trust, fundraise, and push for change. But if you work in charity comms, you’ll probably also know how overwhelming it can feel.
Because social media is rarely your only job.
For most charity comms roles, it sits alongside everything else - campaigns, media, internal comms, stakeholder wrangling, last-minute requests, and the emotionally heavy stuff that comes with the work. And yet, there’s often an unspoken expectation that social should just… keep going. Constantly.
I’ve been there. Posting because it felt like I should. Feeling guilty for logging off on time. Convincing myself that going quiet meant letting the cause down.
Here’s the thing I care a lot about saying clearly: burnout in charity comms isn’t a personal weakness. It’s what happens when social media is treated as a never-ending task, rather than something that needs proper thought, boundaries and support.
Reclaiming your social media strategy isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing less - on purpose.
You don’t need to post all the time
This is usually the hardest bit to accept, especially in charities. But it’s true. You don’t need to post every day to be doing “good” social media.
What helps instead:
Posting less, but with more thought
Being realistic about what you can actually manage
Letting go of the idea that silence equals failure
If social media is one part of your role (and not the whole thing), your content plan needs to reflect that. A couple of strong, well-timed posts a week is often far more effective than daily filler that leaves you exhausted.
Make your content work harder
Repurposing content genuinely changed how I felt about social media.
Charities create so much good stuff - reports, blogs, campaigns, videos - but we often treat it as one-and-done. It doesn’t need to be.
A few simple ideas:
Pull quotes or key points from a blog and turn them into social posts
Break a longer video or webinar into short clips
Re-share older content that’s still relevant, with a fresh angle
This isn’t cutting corners. It’s making the most of work you’ve already put time and care into.
Social media isn’t just about posting
Another thing I wish I’d realised sooner: showing up on social media doesn’t always mean publishing something new. Sometimes it looks like:
replying properly to comments
sharing someone else’s post
having a conversation instead of pushing content
And if you can, scheduling posts in advance (using tools like Buffer or Hootsuite) can take a huge amount of pressure off. You don’t have to be “on” all the time for your charity to be present.
Pushing back is part of the job
Reclaiming your charity’s social media strategy often means pushing back - gently or firmly - on unrealistic expectations. You are allowed to:
post less
take breaks
log off on time
say “we don’t need to be on every platform”
Burnout doesn’t help your cause. It just makes good people tired, frustrated and more likely to leave the sector.
A sustainable social media approach isn’t quieter because it’s weaker. It’s quieter because it’s intentional - and human.
If this feels familiar…
If social media feels overwhelming, I help charities simplify their comms and build strategies they can actually sustain.
