How Universities and Non-profits Use Pinterest

As Pinterest is becoming more and more popular, the type of users on it are expanding as well. While colleges, universities and non-profit organizations probably aren’t the first thing you think of when you imagine a Pinterest user, universities and nonprofits all around the country are actually jumping on board with Pinterest and finding the opportunity for great engagement. While there is no one right way to use Pinterest, we would like to take the time to look at some universities and nonprofits that are seeing success with their Pinterest account.

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Universities

Universities have begun to notice the usefulness of Pinterest for displaying fun things about their college outside of academics and are realizing how powerful of a tool it is for student recruitment. For instance, their traditions, student life, extra activities and events and the overall campus environment can easily be displayed on Pinterest by pinning images onto coinciding boards. Here, we’ll explore two specific universities’ boards that we think are doing a great job.

Baylor University

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Baylor University has a complete Pinterest presence filled with all sorts of items that prospective students, as well as current students and alumni, would be interested in. When checking out their Pinterest profile, a user is able to get a pretty good feel for what life as a Baylor Bear would be like. Here are some boards we particularly like:

Waco- Baylor’s Hometown”: This board gives viewers an idea of things that they can do off campus and the kind of environment that the university is in. The board emphasizes the fact that Waco and Baylor are partners, and it shows the amazing support that the whole town of Waco provides the university. In addition, it displays some of the other unique benefits of Waco – like its close proximity to all of the major cities in Texas. When viewing this board, you can really get a feel for the sense of pride that Baylor has in its hometown.

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Baylor Traditions“: This board includes just what the name suggests – some of Baylor’s most tried and true traditions. Light is shed on events such as homecoming, “Dr. Pepper hour”, All University Sing and more. This board provides a great example of what makes Baylor unique from any other school and will prove handy to any students trying to differentiate Baylor from other potential choices.

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Some other standout boards that caught our eye when browsing Baylor’s Pinterest profile include “Baylor Student Life,” “Baylor History” and “Baylor Tailgating and Recipes.” Should you want to browse further, click here to visit Baylor’s Pinterest yourself.

West Virginia University

West Virginia University takes a little more of an alternative approach with their Pinterest profile, including more boards centered around clothing, baking and crafts, all created with WVU in mind. While WVU does have a couple more traditional boards – such as their board focused on graduation preparation and their board displaying sports teams – we are going to show you some of their more unique boards.

WVU Gift Guides“: Here, WVU offers a pretty thorough shopping guide for anyone wanting to buy some awesome school-spirited gifts for their friends or family. Items provided include anything from clothing to duffle bags, and even some WVU-themed wrapping paper! It would definitely prove useful when trying to decide what to buy for that WVU fan in your life, and it gives off the sense of school pride that everyone wants to feel when thinking about their college.

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Morgantown Eats“: This board is a little bit more of a contemporary approach to the boards based on the city that a college is located in. Here, WVU provides countless options of restaurants and dishes offered in Morgantown, the home of West Virginia University. This is a great way to lure in prospective students, as food is always a big concern. Current students and townspeople may even find places that they haven’t already heard of from this board!

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Other cool boards to check out on WVU’s Pinterest include “12 Days of WVU Giveaways,” “Mountaineer Nation Day” and “DIY: College Edition.” Click here to go to WVU’s Pinterest profile yourself.

Non-profits

Non-profits have also started to realize the potential of Pinterest as a tool to help others learn what their organization is all about, and help teach people how to change not only their lives, but also the lives of others. Below are two nonprofits whose Pinterest profiles have made an impression on us.

PETA

PETA has a Pinterest profile filled with many boards, all centered around their ideals involving saving animals and animal rights. They do a good job of combining both boards based around a vegan lifestyle as well as boards providing information about animal success stories. Let’s take a closer look at two of their boards:

Cruelty-Free DIY“: A big goal of most Pinterest users when they visit Pinterest is to find DIY crafts that are easy for than to do and can improve many aspect of their lives. With this board, PETA does an awesome job at giving Pinterest users what they want – DIY projects that they can try and use, all while remaining true to their animal cruelty-free ideals.

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Rescue/Love Stories“: This community board is exactly what it sounds like- successful stories of pet owners rescuing and falling in love with animals. It’s an ideal board for PETA to have, as nothing helps people get behind non-profits more than seeing their successes and providing inspiring stories for them to live up to. The visuals that Pinterest is able to provide gives an even more emotional and compelling vibe to these stories.

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By clicking here, you can visit PETA’s Pinterest for yourself. We recommend taking a look at “Super-vegan-bowl Weekend!,” “Infographics” and “Things That Make PETA :) ” for more inspiration.

Make-A-Wish America

Make-A-Wish America has a Pinterest that is really dedicated to their cause, and their boards truly reflect it by providing many different views of what their organization is all about. Here are two boards that they’re really doing right.

Ways to Help“: Make-A-Wish America’s “Ways to Help” board is perfect because it provides full details on actionable, easy steps that those supporting the organization can take. By placing these events and activities on Pinterest, it increases knowledge about them and it helps to reach people that might not have otherwise heard about them.

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NON-PROFITS ON PINTEREST“: This community board is unique because it goes outside of the organization itself to support the idea of all non-profits, providing a sense of community. The board is dedicated to bringing awareness to other non-profits that are making use of Pinterest, and gives non-profits the chance to reach out to them to get their organization recognized on their page. It is a great way for them to support others dedicated to a cause and to build a community of rapport and support.

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You can learn more about Make-A-Wish America’s Pinterest page by visiting their Pinterest here. We recommend also taking a look at “I AM #FacesofWishes,” “Shop to Help” and “#MacysBelieve.”

Hopefully, we have provided inspiration for you universities and non-profits who are ready to get your start on Pinterest. There is a whole world of opportunities waiting for you- all you need to do is get started!

Know of any other great universities or non-profits on Pinterest? Feel free to leave them in the comments!

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