Engaging Younger Audiences with Pop Culture & Humor
A Guide to Meme Marketing for Nonprofits
Connecting with younger generations like Gen Z and Millennials can be a tough nut to crack for non-profits. These digital-savvy groups seek content that feels genuine, relatable, and—most importantly—entertaining. That’s where meme marketing comes in! For-profit brands have been using memes to boost engagement for a while, but non-profits? They’ve barely scratched the surface.
Memes offer a unique way for nonprofits to humanize their brand and connect with a diverse online audience. Whether it’s a clever take on a trending topic or a light-hearted jab at everyday struggles, memes can help your organization step away from traditional donation asks and build an online community that feels more like a conversation than a sales pitch.
Start by asking yourself: What kind of content does my audience share, like, and comment on? Check out what people post on Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter). Take note of their favorite meme formats, catchphrases, or running jokes—this will help you understand their sense of humor.
Once you’ve understood your audience’s humor, think about how to connect it to your mission. For instance, if you notice a trend involving a popular meme template, try creating a version that speaks to your cause. Staying culturally relevant is key, but always consider the subject matter. Keep things light and positive for topics like volunteering or event promos. For more sensitive issues, find a way to bring out a message of hope or encouragement. The goal is to add humor where appropriate while still respecting your organization’s values and the issues you’re tackling.
Before you dive headfirst into meme creation, it’s important to make sure your content aligns with your organization’s mission. Memes should complement your overall strategy, not distract from it. A good approach is to use trending topics and pop culture references to draw people in but always bring it back to your key messages. For example, if you’re promoting the Red Kettle campaign during the holidays, add a festive spin to a trending meme. You could use a popular meme format to highlight a funny holiday scenario, like the struggle of holiday shopping, and then tie it back to your Red Kettle program with a light-hearted message about giving back. Sometimes, it can even be an opportunity to lead to a meaningful call to action, like donating or volunteering.
For example, the Red Kettle Kickoff used a reel using Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” where she says “it’s time!” This playful, familiar sound caught people’s attention and set the tone for the holiday season, while creatively tying back to the Red Kettle Campaign’s festive and energetic spirit.
Whether promoting an event, spreading awareness about an issue, or celebrating your supporters, memes offer a low-pressure, fun way to keep your followers engaged without feeling like you’re constantly asking for donations.
Meme marketing for nonprofits is still gaining traction, but some success stories are already out there.
Here’s how The Salvation Army’s accounts are doing it:
These examples show that nonprofits can play the meme game, too, while still keeping the focus on what matters—building connections and raising awareness.
Mr. Men and Little Miss Memes: Remember those “Mr. Men” and “Little Miss” memes? YouthDownSouth gave them a camp twist! By combining the familiar characters with relatable camp scenarios, they created shareable content that got lots of love from their audience.
Barbie Movie-Inspired Memes: When the Barbie movie was the talk of the town, YouthDownSouth jumped on the trend and tied it back to their youth programs. The result? A fun, colorful meme that resonated with our audience and gave them a chance to showcase what their youth programs are all about!
Another example is the ‘We’re Blank, Of Course We…’ Meme: Candidates South and SA Women Ministries teamed up to do the ‘We’re Blank. Of Course We…’ meme—applying it to the life of Salvation Army officers! This fun and collaborative post boosted followers on both pages and highlighted everything Officers do in a simple, lighthearted way.
Video Memes: Candidates South also hopped on the TikTok trend, “Acting Like You’re in a Wes Anderson Film,” to give followers a virtual campus tour of the Evangeline Booth College during their 730 Weekend. The video captured the distinct cinematography style of Wes Anderson movies, providing a fresh and creative look at the campus for virtual attendees while introducing a sense of whimsy to the content.
Ready to give it a go? Tools like CapCut, Kapwing, Canva, Imgflip, and Adobe Spark make meme creation super easy, even if you don’t have a graphic design background. Choose templates, add your own text and images, and you’re good to go!
When it comes to sharing, think about which platforms your audience uses most. Instagram and Twitter are meme goldmines, but don’t sleep on LinkedIn, which is becoming more open to light-hearted, yet informative, content. Timing is everything, so aim to post during peak engagement hours, and remember—quality over quantity. You want your memes to be sharable and impactful, not just noise in a crowded feed.
Something to keep in mind is that memes have continually grown and changed over time! Memes are no longer just funny reaction images with text on them. Memes can be vertical videos, particular audios, or specific sentence structures. So when we refer to memes, we mean anything from your classic reaction picture with text to video trends.
Want even more engagement? Ask your followers to share their own memes or meme ideas that relate to your cause. It’s a fun way to get everyone involved and feel like they’re part of your mission.
“Ok, guys. That’s all good and fun but my topics are too serious to meme about.” you say. I hear you! One last tip we’d have is make your memes local! Is there a local famous restaurant you can make a shoutout post to? Does your city have any local quirks, shops, or events that locals would resonate with? Those are the perfect opportunities to create memes that would appeal to a broader audience without necessarily having to just talk about your unit and your services. (Bonus points if you can make these posts collaborative with other local accounts, partners, or sponsors.)
Looking For Accounts To Follow?
Check out some accounts that are killing the meme game!
Salvation Army Accounts:
@YouthDownSouth
What we love: This account uses memes to promote and announce their event sign ups for their Gen-Z audience. They also use photos of their youth to create their own meme templates.
What we love: Similar to YouthDownSouth this account has Gen-Z posting style down pat! Looking for Salvation Army program coded posts? (some Gen-Z slang there for you) Look no further.
For-Profit Accounts - Product Based Industries:
@Cava
What we love: Move over Wendy’s, Cava has been dominating the meme game on Instagram. Focusing on the love for Cava’s food, these memes are highly relatable, making them highly shareable.
For-Profit Accounts - Service Based Industries:
@Evite
What we love: Ok, we could do a whole deep dive on their social brand strategy but the Cliff Notes version is: Instead of directly promoting their service (online invitation software) they post how-tos and meme-y content about event planning. Genius!
What we love: Although their content steps out of your typical meme/trend format, Morning Brew relates breaking news in hilarious and thought-provoking ways through skits and colloquialism.
What we love: Similarly to MorningBrew, Washington Post shared breaking news in a funny and digestible way. The key difference here is they completely separate their audiences. Their Instagram and Facebook content is more serious and typical for a news site but their TikTok is completely dedicated to short form funny videos.
Memes are more than just a fun way to pass time on the internet—they’re a powerful tool for non-profits to connect with younger audiences in an authentic and relatable way. By mixing humor with your mission, you can share your story in a way that resonates with people on a personal level.
So go ahead, give meme marketing a try! Experiment with different formats, track your success, and most importantly—have fun. You might just find that a little humor can go a long way in building a stronger community around your cause. And who knows? Your next meme could be the one that makes people laugh and click the donate button.