Nonprofit Nation with Julia Campbell

Episode: From Burnout to Buy-In: Advice for Social Media Managers in 2026

Guest: Kate Meyers Emery, PhD (Senior Digital Communications Manager, Candid)

Date: December 12, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Julia Campbell is joined by Kate Meyers Emery, Senior Digital Communications Manager at Candid, for an honest and actionable conversation about the reality of being a nonprofit social media manager today—and what to expect as we move into 2026. They discuss strategies for surviving and thriving amid escalating demands, combating burnout, evolving content trends, advocating for the role within organizations, facing emotional labor, and how to future-proof skills as social media continues to change rapidly.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Shifting Content Strategy in Challenging Times

• Pivoting for Relevance: After the (2025) inauguration, Candid scrapped its planned campaigns to focus exclusively on being helpful to nonprofits, especially in a difficult year.
  • Kate: “Our big mantra for the entire year is: What can Candid do to help other nonprofits right now?” [02:14]
• Data as Value: Increased focus on sharing nonprofit data, trends in government funding, food aid, etc., to meet urgent sector needs.

2. The Reality of Social Media Work in Nonprofits

• Cumulative Workload: Rapid growth of platforms (Instagram, video, ads, carousels) has added complexity, but the nonprofit sector lags in resourcing for these changes.
  • “Social media just keeps escalating…But the nonprofit sector has not been able to keep up with the infrastructure that’s needed.” — Kate [04:47]
• Team Sport Approach: Success comes from making content creation everyone’s responsibility—not just the social manager’s.
  • Gamification Example: Candid incentivized staff to create content with a points system and branded swag, driving diverse participation. [07:12]
  • Culture Shift: Regularly sharing social wins and making requests at staff meetings keeps social part of daily operations.

3. Busting Myths & Data-Driven Content Choices

• You Don’t “Have to” Do Video:
  • “It’s a hill I will gladly die on. For the nonprofit sector…you don’t have to do video, despite what other experts may say.” — Kate [09:28]
  • Video requires significant investment in time and talent; at Candid, carousels “do better” for less work.
• Constant Experimentation: Candid’s shift to posting carousels twice a week (one data-focused, one educational) based on analytics.
• Be Professionally Loud:
  • Social media should move from being an afterthought to a core part of strategy.
  • Bring data to meetings; show what content works; provide instant feedback on messaging.

4. Surviving (and Thriving) as a Solo Manager

• Repurposing Content:
  • “Less than 7% of your audience saw something the first time around…don’t worry about reposting.” [17:27]
  • Remix assets: Turn a chart into a quiz or a carousel into a script.
• Time Tracking Is Essential:
  • “If you want to have meaningful conversations with your manager about your workload, you need to understand what that workload is.” [17:55]
  • Quantifying hours for tasks like video production helps advocate for resources or prioritize effectively.

5. Managing Emotional Labor and Burnout

• System for Monitoring:
  • Candid rotates social monitoring duties to avoid overburdening individuals with negativity or abuse.
• Strict Work Hours: No expectation to monitor social outside working hours—crucial for mental wellness.
• Coping Hacks:
  • “Watching funny cat videos actually improves your mood…take a two-minute cat break and you’ll feel better.” — Kate [23:54]

6. Advocacy for Platform Change & Manager Protection

• Safer Features Needed:
  • Platforms should blur harmful content, allow generic email association to protect staff privacy, and improve moderation tools.
  • “I would love to see more protections for social media managers.” [25:33]
• Third-Party Engagement:
  • Better APIs for management tools would help shield managers from toxic content.

7. Looking Forward: 2026 & Beyond

• AI Slop Reckoning:
  • Overabundance of low-quality AI content is eroding trust; nonprofits must double down on authenticity over polish.
    • “Instead of worrying about polish, worry about trust. Worry about being human.” [28:47]
  • Algorithms will be more personalized; value-driven, helpful content (not just promotion) will dominate.
• Avoiding the “Ad” Trap:
  • Authentic, educational content serves better than direct promotion as algorithms, and audiences, become more discerning.

8. Measuring Success

• Meaningful Engagement:
  • Candid focuses on engagement rate, comments, shares, and saves—especially qualitative feedback from target audiences.
  • “If someone from a food bank writes that this was helpful for them…that is the type of thing that we are looking for.” [31:39]

9. Community as a Force Multiplier

• Supportive Communities:
  • Encourage sharing as a form of participation/donation.
  • “Leveraging our social media community is going to be huge.” [34:50]
• Ambassadors Step Up:
  • Candid and Julia note that in times of crisis, the broader community can help correct misinformation and defend brands.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Social media just keeps escalating. The nonprofit sector has not been able to keep up with the infrastructure that’s needed.” — Kate [04:47]
• “You don’t have to do video, despite what other experts may say.” — Kate Meyers Emery [09:28]
• “Comparison is the thief of joy.” — Kate Meyers Emery’s sticky note to all social media managers [36:50]
• “Instead of being jealous of what another nonprofit is able to do…open ourselves up for collaboration.” — Kate [38:01]
• “If we want to add [a new channel], it’s probably going to take this amount of time. So I need to drop xyz.” — Kate, on advocating for workload reality [18:34]
• “Bring data to meetings; show what content works; provide instant feedback on messaging.” — Kate, about being ‘professionally loud’ [12:54]
• “Watching funny cat videos actually improves your mood… take a two-minute cat break and you’ll feel better.” — Kate [23:54]
• “It’s authenticity over polish.” — Reference to Tasha Van Vleck via Kate [28:53]

Audience Q&A Highlights

• On Carousels: LinkedIn carousels are best uploaded as PDFs (“documents”), versus image sets used on Instagram. [15:51]
• Measuring Engagement: Comments, shares, and saves are more meaningful than reach or total likes. Candid now prioritizes these, especially from people the content is intended to help. [31:11]
• Sector Data: Candid doesn’t track youth-serving organizations’ engagement specifically; younger audiences prefer video and carousels, but context and community are key.
• Role of Community: Position sharing and engagement as a form of generosity, especially for those who can’t donate money. [34:36]

Practical Advice for 2026 Social Media Managers

• Shift from megaphone to dialogue: Involve staff and leadership in content, make advocacy and generosity part of the digital culture.
• Fight burnout: Set boundaries, share monitoring duties if possible, and build supportive internal and external networks.
• Track and show your impact: Use data—not just emotion—to advocate for your role and priorities, and to secure buy-in from leadership.
• Embrace experimentation: Build on what works for your audience, not just what’s trending.
• Lean into authenticity: Be human, real, and trustworthy to stand out in an AI-saturated, algorithm-driven environment.
• Repurpose and reuse: Don’t fear reposting content—remix and rebundle for maximum reach and value.

Closing Wisdom

• “A rising tide lifts all ships.” — Julia Campbell [39:04]
• “We’re not competing against each other [in the nonprofit sector]… if you see someone doing something well, reach out and collaborate.” — Kate [38:01]

Connect with Kate & Candid

• Candid on LinkedIn: For sector-wide updates and best practices
• Candid on Instagram: For a more playful, educational approach
• Kate on LinkedIn: For direct engagement and resource sharing
  “The reason I can share so much transparently is because that’s a value of Candid.” — Kate [41:03]

For anyone doing social media in nonprofits, this episode is a toolkit to surviving—and thriving—now and into 2026.