Winning stakeholder buy-in without posting every social media request
You’re finally ahead of the game. The content plan’s mapped out, the posts are drafted, and you’ve even scheduled next week’s Reels. Deep breath. You’re on it.
Then: ping.
“Can we post about this event... today?”
Cue the mental Tetris.
Because nothing says “boundaries” like a last-minute request from a Very Important Department. And if you’ve ever found yourself squeezing things in, reshuffling posts, or calculating how many more favours you can say “yes” to this week - you are so not alone.
Charity social media managers are some of the most over-stretched, under-resourced communicators out there. You’re expected to:
Promote every team’s initiative
Keep the calendar full
Be timely, reactive, strategic and creative
...all while your audience’s attention span sits somewhere between 2-8 seconds. Oh - and a third of people would prefer you weren’t even on their feed.
No pressure then 😅
And yet - you’re also the one holding the thread between your organisation’s strategy and your audience’s attention. Which means: not every post can (or should) make it onto the feed.
This is where the art of saying ‘no’ (and getting stakeholders to thank you for it) really matters.
Because it’s not just about gatekeeping content. It’s about creating clarity, consistency, and trust - both with your audience and your internal teams.
Why structure helps you say “not now” (without burning bridges)
Content strategy isn’t about doing more. It’s about choosing better.
When requests come flying in - from fundraising, HR, partnerships, or your CEO - it’s tempting to say “yes” just to keep the peace. But over time, that leads to:
A messy, reactive calendar
Repetitive or diluted messaging
And yep, burnout (yours)
This is where structure helps. It gives you a language to say:
“Here’s why this doesn’t quite fit.”
“Let’s adapt it to meet our goals.”
“Yes - next month, when we’ve got space.”
Frameworks don’t just make your life easier. They help others understand what social media is really for - and why you can’t just post everything, everywhere, all at once.
They shift the conversation from “Can we post this?” to “How does this support what we’re already trying to do?”
Meet the Content Trifecta: Your 3 step framework for better decisions
Inside the Social for Good Accelerator, we teach a number of planning and content decision-making frameworks. But there’s one we come back to again and again - especially when you’re reviewing your own plan or juggling content requests from multiple teams.
We call it: The Content Trifecta.
When someone asks, “Can we post this?”, run it through this simple 3-step framework:
✅ Does it serve our audience?
✅ Does it support our goals?
✅ Is it right for the platform?
If it’s a yes to all three - brilliant. Hit "post".
If it’s only hitting one box… that’s your cue to pause, tweak, or rethink.
And when you use this framework with stakeholders - looping them into your decision-making instead of shutting them down - that’s when real buy-in starts to happen.
The Content Trifecta helps you reposition, not just reject. Because not every “no” has to be final - and not every “yes” has to be immediate.
Let’s try it out
Example 1: A beautifully produced 5-minute staff video lands in your inbox. It’s heartfelt. Thoughtful. Cost a small fortune.
✨ Great for internal comms.
🤔 Not quite audience-first or Instagram-ready.
Could you turn it into a 30-second clip? Add captions? Open with a hook that speaks to the viewer, not the org?
Example 2: A colleague wants to share a one-off volunteer shoutout. One photo, no quote, no link. Lovely sentiment, but it’s not exactly compelling content.
❤️ Nice team moment.
📉 But low audience value and weak visual impact.
Could you reframe it as a carousel: 👉 “Meet the 3 people who made X possible last week”. Or add a quote to humanise the story and link it to your bigger volunteer narrative?
Saying no doesn't make you difficult. It makes you strategic.
And when you do it well - with empathy, clarity, and a little structure - your stakeholders won’t just accept it. They’ll thank you for it.
Want to go deeper?
The Content Trifecta is just one of the frameworks inside the Social for Good Accelerator - our charity training programme designed to help you go from reactive to strategic (without burning out).
We created the Accelerator to help as many charities as possible - giving them the skills, clarity, and confidence to use social media with purpose and impact. 💙