Social Media Strategy and Organisational Communication in Nigerian Non-Governmental Organisations: Evidence from Plateau State

Non-governmental organisations in Nigeria increasingly rely on social media platforms for stakeholder communication, advocacy campaigns, donor engagement, and community mobilisation, yet structured social media strategies aligned with organisational communication objectives are uncommon. This study examines social media strategy and its effectiveness in supporting organisational communication among NGOs operating in Plateau State, North Central Nigeria. A survey of 60 communication officers and programme managers at 20 registered NGOs was complemented by a content analysis of the organisations' public social media accounts over a six-month period. The study evaluates platform selection rationale, content planning practices, audience engagement metrics, crisis communication preparedness, and alignment between social media activity and organisational communication strategies. Findings indicate that Facebook and WhatsApp are the predominant platforms, with Twitter and Instagram used by fewer than 30 percent of organisations. Only 25 percent of the surveyed NGOs had documented social media policies, and engagement rates on organisational posts averaged below 2 percent across platforms. The study identifies staff capacity limitations, funding constraints for content production, and absence of social media analytics monitoring as key weaknesses. Recommendations include development of a Nigerian NGO Social Media Strategy Template adapted to the resource constraints of civil society organisations. Keywords: social media strategy, NGOs, Plateau State, organisational communication, digital advocacy.