Raport 100 #nonprofitPL na LinkedIn, published by communications consultancy Instytut Dobrej Komunikacji, includes the 100 Polish nonprofits with the highest LinkedIn following, and a separate ranking of individual sector leaders.

Three fundraising figures

Three of the ten most influential individuals in the Social Justice & Philanthropy category for Poland are fundraising professionals, according to data from analytics platform Favikon, which ranks individuals based on factors including engagement and reach rather than follower count alone.

• Mirella Panek-Owsiańska, a fundraising advisor to NGOs, ranks third with 10,249 followers.
• Robert Kawałko, president and CEO of the Polskie Stowarzyszenie Fundraisingu (Polish Fundraising Association), ranks sixth with 5,835 followers.
• Fundraising consultant Katarzyna Konefał ranks eighth, with 10,813 followers.

The top position is held by Olga Kotyk, a social impact entrepreneur and CEO of the Web-Korki Foundation.

Women’s organisations lead the field

In the organizational rankings, five of the top six accounts by follower count work specifically on women’s empowerment and professional development.

Sieć Przedsiębiorczych Kobiet (Network of Entrepreneurial Women) leads the ranking with 41,000 followers, while Fundacja Kobiety Inspirują (Women Who Inspire Foundation) recorded the highest percentage growth of any organisation tracked, up 453% since the report’s previous edition in 2023, adding more than 24,000 new followers.

The report notes that women’s organizations not only attract large audiences but frequently collaborate with one another, amplifying their collective reach.

Paulina Kołodziejak-Łaska, marketing director at Sieć Przedsiębiorczych Kobiet, writes in the report:

“LinkedIn has become a key platform for consciously shaping career paths and strengthening market position. Networking on LinkedIn has stopped being merely about collecting contacts, and has become a process of building strong support networks.”

Beyond the women’s sector, education-focused organizations account for the largest single category by number of profiles in the top 100 (18), followed by technology (10) and sector or industry associations (10). The median follower count among the top 100 is 5,381.

Overall, tracked organizations grew by an average of 50% over the two-year period, though growth was highly uneven. The report’s authors note that follower count is not the sole measure of communications success, but offers a useful guide to which causes and approaches are resonating on the platform.

Photo by freestocks-photos on Pixabay

Censorship solely at the discretion of Meta

As part of the European Action Plan for Democracy and in addition to the rules laid down by the Digital Services Act (DSA) on online advertising, the European Commission has set new rules on transparency in political advertising, electoral rights and party financing through the Transparency & Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) Regulation, which comes into force on 10 October 2025. The authors of the regulation did not at any point specifically target civil society publications, nor appeals for donations, advocacy campaigns and petitions, which do not fall within the scope of the regulation.

Meta’s decision to remove all ads on political and social issues is based on a broad and personal interpretation of the European TTPA regulation. This interpretation is not shared by all platforms. In its guide published on 26 September 2025, Meta clarifies its definition of ‘political and social issues’. For example, all communications on social rights, including the fight against discrimination, the fight for women’s or minority rights, the fight against climate change and the health of Europeans, will be banned from Facebook, Instagram and Meta’s other networks. Only purely informative wording might escape the group’s censorship.

This decision is incomprehensible, given that according to the text of the Regulation, the political nature of content is determined by its issuer, not by the advertising service provider.

A major impact on European civil society

It is essential for civil society organisations (CSOs) to maintain open communication with the public as one of the most important means available for effectively sharing public information and attracting members, volunteers and donors. In this regard, social media platforms are key intermediaries for CSOs.

According to EUROSTAT[1], 59% of Europeans used social media in 2023. Facebook, with over 459 million users, is the most popular social network in Europe, closely followed by Instagram, with over 311 million users.

In France, Facebook is still the leading European social network for CSOs, with 70% of the French population present on the platform and 24.5% of them subscribing to association accounts. In Sweden, 73% of nonprofit organisations responding to a Giva Sverige member survey believe that this decision will have a negative impact on their awareness-raising, advocacy, communication and fundraising activities.

At a time when CSOs are bearing the brunt of the global economic recession, increased needs among beneficiaries and sharp cuts in certain budgets, particularly international aid, this news on the eve of the end-of-year campaigns that represents a fair share of their earnings is brutal for the sector.

Preserving the digital public space

EFA and its members fully support the objectives of the TTPA regulation. Safeguarding the integrity of elections and open public debate is fundamental to democratic societies, and CSOs play a vital role in ensuring pluralism and resilience.

EFA therefore strongly condemns Meta’s attempt to use a transparency law to muzzle the nonprofit sector. As such, EFA calls on Meta to review its interpretation of the TTPA regulation, and calls on other platforms to provide proportionate support for the preservation of the integrity of elections and public debates, and the protection of freedom of expression and information.

The EU Commission is currently preparing guidelines on how the regulation should be enforced, which may provide some opportunities for nonprofits, however, there will be no obligation on platforms to implement them.

EFA calls on the Commission to publish these guidelines as soon as possible, and to bring together all stakeholders to ensure a shared interpretation of the regulation that respects everyone’s rights and complies with the principles of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (in particular Article 11: freedom of expression and information).

Eduard Marček, EFA Executive Director says: “Meta’s ban will have a major impact on the way the nonprofit community can communicate and fundraise with its audiences that cannot be overlooked. We will maintain open conversation with the EU Commission and Meta on this issue.”

~UPDATE~

Key EFA partner Philea has also expressed concern, calling on Meta to review its overly strict interpretation of the TTPA regulation, and for Meta and other platforms to preserve the integrity of public debates, and the protection of freedom of expression and information. More on that here.

The EU Commission has now published its guidelines to support the implementation of the TTPA Regulation, and these can be found here.

Main image: Mariia Shalabaieva on Unsplash

Meta explained in a blog post that this “difficult decision” was the result of the EU’s upcoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation, which it says “introduces significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties”.

The change “creates massive confusion [for charities and fundraisers] because Meta often classifies humanitarian ads as political”, points out Danish digital fundraising expert Christian Sophus-Ehlers in an article on ISOBRO’s website.

Other commentators agree that Meta has not clearly defined what it means by “social issues”, while Fundraising Norge adds in a statement that Meta is “often inconsistent and unclear in its categorisation of ads”.

It is also unclear how the new rules will be policed. There are many examples of seemingly non-compliant advertising on the site – to give one recent example, in July the Guardian reported that pro-Israel entities have raised money for military equipment through Meta ads. Meta’s guidelines state that ads may not promote the “sale or use of weapons”.

Consider alternatives and multiple versions

A number of other EFA members have informed their members of the development, clarifying that organic posts are not impacted, and advising charities to consider alternative channels for communications and fundraising.

Sophus-Ehlers has produced a step-by-step guide to help charities check whether they are likely to be impacted by the ban – although it recognises that there is no certainty so far about this matter.

A blog on the website of Charities Institute Ireland, written by marketing agency Thrive Marketing, gives several suggestions for what charities should do. Its overarching suggestion is:

“Take a breath and step back to look at the bigger picture. What is it you get currently from using Meta in your communications mix and what is the best work-around for you?”

Thrive’s other tips include “neutralising language” and avoiding terms which “could be interpreted as politically sensitive”, and developing multiple versions of an advert in order to see which are approved and which are rejected.

Beyond the EU

Fundraising Norge’s statement also says that there is a “high probability” that the ban will “eventually” be extended beyond the EU nations, to those in the European Economic Area (EEA), meaning it will directly impact charities in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. This assumption is made because Meta’s withdrawal of fundraising products last summer was initially only relevant to the EU, but was later extended to the EEA, according to Fundraising Norge.

Thrive’s blog also points out that the ban “also affects non-EU charities… if they target audiences within the EU”.

The European Fundraising Association, which has been monitoring the development, recently met with members and has also been in direct contact with the European Commission as well as with representatives from Meta to put forward perspectives and concerns. EFA is now collectively engaged in shaping a response.

Picture by Dima Solomin on Unsplash

In the scheme, users can earn ‘virtual Sunshine’ by referring new users to sign up, and by engaging with content from charities. They can then give that virtual Sunshine to a charity which is part of the programme, meaning TikTok makes a donation.

TikTok says that partner charities are “a number of global and local charities”, including Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF), WaterAid and the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU). TikTok says it expects to add more partners “over time”.

Free ‘Pro’ version needed

This will be available to those downloading a new version of the app, called TikTok Pro.

Despite the ‘pro’ name, this is still free to download, and the website Social Media Today reports that TikTok Pro is actually a “stripped down” version of the app, with none of the livestreams, shopping and ads found on the regular version of TikTok.

TikTok Pro and the Sunshine referral scheme will be available “in Germany, Portugal and Spain to start”, suggesting it may be rolled out more widely at a later date.

Jennie York, executive director of communications and Fundraising at WaterAid, comments:

“We’re excited to be partnering with TikTok’s Sunshine Programme, turning digital engagement into real-world impact. Now, people can enjoy the content they love whilst supporting WaterAid’s life-changing projects with communities around the world. Nearly one in ten people around the world don’t have clean water close to home. With a reliable supply of clean water, babies are born healthier, children grow up stronger, women and girls spend less time collecting water and more time in work or school, and whole communities can thrive. By working together, we will change the world through water.”

TikTok’s statement adds a note about safety on the platform and in the new Pro app, saying:

“Both TikTok Pro and the Sunshine Programme are designed with safety at their core. TikTok Pro offers all the same content controls, safety and privacy tools, and well-being features as the main TikTok app. The Sunshine Programme is only open to people who have confirmed they are over 18, and the activities associated with accumulating Sunshine are limited.”

Picture by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

The Swedish Canine Welfare Association is not eligible for any aid from the state and solely relies on support and contributions from the public. For us, as for many other organizations, the loyalty of our donors is vital for our continued work. How we put their money to use is a constant consideration especially when it comes to new projects that we have not tackled before.

In 2023, there was an addition made to our bylaws, meaning our purpose changed for the first time since the organization was founded in 1908. In addition to our core values, i.e., rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming dogs, we also had to start increasing awareness and understanding of a life with and around dogs, and proactively working to minimize the number of dogs needing our help.

This opened several new doors for us to spread our message and to inform many more people about how wonderful life with dogs can be and how we can help if things do not go as planned. Pro bono campaigns with likeminded influencers were one of the ways we believed we could reach a wider audience, while also being mindful of our donors’ contributions.

Raising awareness through new channels

The Swedish Canine Welfare Association managed to help and care for 831 dogs in 2023: an increase of 45% compared to 2022. What happens in society also affects our dogs and we need to inform and spread knowledge about dogs in general. To reach out, we believe in doing so in creative ways while showing seriousness. The goal of our pro bono campaign was to increase followers and awareness of our organization and of all the benefits of sharing a life with a dog. We decided to try reaching people outside of our target audience through influencers using their social platforms, and through nonpaid collaboration, which creates higher credibility and a genuine feeling.

“I am so happy and proud to work pro bono with The Swedish Canine Welfare Association in their mission to give all dogs a second chance. With my Instagram account of over 1 million followers, I’ve had the privilege of using my platform for a cause like this. All to raise awareness and spread the word about The Swedish Canine Welfare Association’s incredible work. Posting, sharing and engaging contribute to the greater goal of giving these animals the love and care they deserve”, says influencer Therése Lindgren.

In our first campaign we sent out over 100 invitations to a diverse range of influencers who all shared an interest in dogs. In that way, we were able to reach many different target groups. Out of 100, 12 influencers joined the campaign. All made one post on Instagram where they told their followers about their experiences with dogs and informed them about The Swedish Canine Welfare Association. It was especially important that all posts were personal and unique. With many reminders and persistence, we managed to get a media value of about SEK 1 million.

Thanks to that first campaign, it has become easier for us to find more collaborators who want to help spread awareness about dogs who need new homes and canine welfare. In fact, during 2024, our media value from pro bono collaborations with influencers and other media channels reached around SEK 3 million.

It’s been a learning curve. Here are some pointers that we’ve picked up along the way:

Three pointers for successful pro bono collaborations

• Patience, patience and even more patience! Contact a lot of potential collaborators and influencers.
• Keep in mind that it may take time to reach the right type of influencers you wish to work with depending on how well known your organization is.
• Make sure you have plenty of time! Pro bono campaigns take a longer time to both find the right people, to get the yes to collaborate, and to reach the goals for the campaign than with paid campaigns. Expect it to take twice the time it would take with paid collaborations, again with it in mind that it may take a longer or shorter amount of time depending on how well known the organization is.
• Bonus tip and a reminder! Make sure the influencer or collaborator marks the work they do for you as pro bono. It makes it clearer for the donors that the influencer/collaborator is not getting paid to do this and depending on the laws of the country you’re in this may also be important for the influencer to avoid any financial issues.

Linnea Wedenberg

About Linnea Wedenberg

Linnea is responsible for the fundraising strategy, implementations, marketing and campaigns and has been working with The Swedish Canine Welfare Association for six years. During this time, the turnover increased from 40.7 million SEK (2019) to 94.4 million SEK (2023).

Erika Garmelius

About Erika Garmelius

Erika is head of communications and responsible for The Swedish Canine Welfare Association brand. She has been working for the non-profit organization for about five years. During this time, the non-profit organization has increased awareness by 12% compared to last year. In addition, engagement on their social media has increased significantly. As a result of solid work with public relations, the value amounted to SEK 66 million for 2023.

The last day a donor will be able to make a donation on Facebook or Instagram to benefit a charity in the European Economic Area will be 30 June.

In a post on its site, Meta says that from July 1, charities will need to direct users to their respective websites for fundraising purposes instead of using fundraising products on Facebook and Instagram platforms.

Fundraisers and Donate buttons on posts and pages will no longer be supported in the region, with all active fundraisers ending automatically and donate buttons being disabled. The Fundraiser API, and Facebook Donate Ads will also no longer be supported, and charities will no longer have access to Charity Manager, or past data from the features it provides.

In the post announcing the change, it says that it “remains committed to supporting nonprofits by connecting people to the causes they care about”, and that this year, it is “evolving our approach to help more nonprofits reach more donors”.

In addition, Meta’s Social Impact team is exploring new approaches to drive more donations to more charities “via their fundraising platform of choice”. One option being testing is for charities to use the Page Donate Button to link users to their website so users can donate directly. It is also exploring ways to make links to charity fundraisers more compelling to help charities engage more users.

More information on the changes is available on the Meta site.

Picture by Brett Jordan on Pexels

An essential part of our daily lives, social networks also provide associations and foundations with the means to engage their communities, increase their visibility and raise awareness of their social missions.

Social media channel use among nonprofits in Europe

Data from the 2023 Nonprofit Tech for Good Report, which covers nonprofits in 116 countries worldwide, shows that 87% of nonprofits now use social media in their digital marketing and fundraising strategies, and that 47% increased their spend on social media advertising in 2021 and 2022.

This study shows that Facebook is the most popular globally, used by 96% of nonprofits, while 73% use Instagram, 59% Twitter, 49% LinkedIn Pages, and 44% YouTube. Lower down, 16% use WhatsApp, 6% TikTok, 1% Snapchat and 1% Twitch. An earlier report from the same organisation, and with European-specific findings on social media advertising, showed that 63% of European nonprofits in 2021 were spending here, with half of these increasing their spend in that year. Facebook Pages and Instagram were the most popular social media channels for posting ads, followed by LinkedIn and Twitter.

These findings are backed up by EFA’s Nonprofit Pulse 2022 study, which showed that across Europe, use of social media channels has remained fairly steady. 73% of those surveyed said they used them to engage people (slightly down on 2021’s 76%) while use of social media for advertising rose by around a third – from 30% to 42% of respondents.

To find out how associations and foundations in France are using these channels, at France générosités, we have analyzed the presence and data of 53 of our member organisations across seven of them, presenting the findings in our 2023 social media report.

Here we share some of the data, providing insights into a number of areas including community size, ranking by activity, annual growth, and NGOs’ market penetration rates.

Evolution of NGOs on social media in France

Facebook remains the leading network in France in terms of overall users with 48 million. It’s also the leading network for NGOs, with 11.2 million followers to our 53 organizations’ pages – an average of almost 81,000 each, and a market penetration rate of 23% (the percentage of all people on the channel who follow an association or foundation). However, despite this high number, growth among our member organizations is weak (just 2% in 2023) and is beginning to slow down. The question we are asking then, is whether we have reached the glass ceiling for associations and foundations on Facebook.

However, this is not the case for LinkedIn, which is taking off! This social media channel has showed the most growth among NGOs, with a 36% increase in followers in 2023. Overall, our 53 members have 2.5mn followers on LinkedIn – an average of just over 39,500 each, with this channel followed in popularity by TikTok and Instagram. Furthermore, we also have noticed strong growth in the number of international solidarity organizations on the network, with a significant gap between them and other causes, largely due to the war in Ukraine.

Over on Instagram, it’s animal and environmental causes that stand out, thanks to content related to these causes being easily “Instagrammable”. However, lagging sector investment in this channel due to the emergence of new networks dominated by video such as TikTok and Twitch means the growth of NGO communities on this channel is slowing down (+13 % in 2023). While the NGOs present on Twitch so far remain very rare in France, we have seen a slight increase in the number of organizations opening TikTok accounts, resulting in one of the highest growth rates at +36 % in 2023. We expect to see more organizations testing out TikTok, considering that it presents a real opportunity for greater visibility and reaching new audiences.

NGOs also have a long way to go on YouTube, a channel they do not invest in as much (due to HR or investment difficulties, as well as specific formats required by the platform). Here, the market penetration rate is one of the lowest at 1.4%.

Finally, Twitter has shown a certain instability over the past few years, and we can only predict more of this to come in future. We have already seen the impact on NGOs’ accounts with the overall growth of associations on this channel slowing down despite a very good market penetration rate of 23%. While our member organizations reached 4.3 million followers in 2023, this was an increase of just 1%, and the lowest since we started our study.

Two examples of how NGOs are using social media channels

A French example:

The Fondation de France released a 45-second animated film across all of their social media platforms (Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook) called “We can’t act on one cause without acting on all”. This video shows that all the causes are linked, and that we need to act on each of them to achieve a real result. Furthermore, this animation perfectly illustrates the multiple causes that the foundation is working on. Along with this strong message, the scenes illustrating the causes are very well chosen and the link created between the causes is logical and relevant. The illustrations and colours are very soft and allow us to really understand the characters’ emotions.

An international example:

“The Color of Water” was a project created by charity : water in collaboration with Unsplash, a copyright free photo sharing platform in 2022. Their goal with this project was to raise awareness about the lack of access to clean, safe drinking water in too many countries by showing the real colour of water that people have to drink today, through the colour palette of unsafe water (brown, green, red, grey and yellow) using the Unsplash community. People were invited to submit their most striking yellow, red, brown, green, or grey images (of any subject matter) with the top images from each colour featured online and across both Unsplash and charity: water’s social channels. An original and highly visual way of denouncing the global water crisis, which allowed the cause to take a step away from its usual visual universe.

Ipek Aykut

About Ipek Aykut

After multiple communication and marketing experiences in nonprofit organizations and as a Master’s degree student in strategic communication of organizations specialising in corporate, political and digital communication, Ipek Aykut currently works as a communications officer for France générosités, a professional union for fundraising organizations. She’s in charge of promoting generosity through the information platform Infodon.fr and strategic digital communication including peer-to-peer networks.

Main picture by Tracy Le Blanc on Pexels