Nonprofits often operate with hybrid teams, part‑time staff, and volunteers spread across multiple locations. Creating a unified culture in this environment is challenging — but Microsoft Viva Engage, part of the Microsoft Viva suite and built on Microsoft 365, provides a secure, social, and integrated platform for connection and knowledge sharing.
This guide explains how nonprofits can use Viva Engage to strengthen culture, improve communication, and drive engagement across distributed teams.
Viva Engage Architecture (Accurate Technical Overview)
1. Communities
Persistent, topic‑ or role‑based spaces for collaboration. Common nonprofit examples:
- Volunteers
- Program teams
- Leadership groups
- Staff affinity or DEI groups
Communities support:
- Announcements
- File sharing (via SharePoint)
- Events (including virtual events in Teams)
- Moderation and admin controls
Learn more: Getting started with Viva Engage Communities in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support
2. Storylines
Personal, profile‑based feeds where individuals share:
- Updates
- Reflections
- Wins and impact stories Storylines appear in Viva Engage, Outlook, and Teams, increasing visibility across the organization.
Learn more: Storylines in Viva Engage | Microsoft Support
3. Campaigns
Hashtag‑driven initiatives that bundle posts across communities and storylines. Ideal for:
- Fundraising drives
- Awareness campaigns
- Staff challenges
- Volunteer appreciation weeks
Campaigns include:
- Goals
- Featured posts
- Leaderboards
- Analytics
Learn more: Campaigns in Viva Engage | Microsoft Support
4. Knowledge Sharing
Viva Engage includes structured knowledge tools:
- Answers — crowdsourced Q&A with upvoting and expert validation
- Topics — AI‑powered tagging and knowledge organization
- Expertise Discovery — identifies subject‑matter experts across the organization
These features help nonprofits capture institutional knowledge and reduce information silos.
Learn more: Answers in Viva: Introduction | Microsoft Support
Learn more: Use topics in Viva Engage | Microsoft Support
5. Analytics
Admins and leaders can access:
- Community engagement metrics
- Campaign performance
- Participation trends
- Influencer and contributor insights
These insights help measure cultural health and communication effectiveness.
Learn more: View and manage analytics in Viva Engage | Microsoft Learn
How to Set Up Viva Engage for a Nonprofit (Technical How‑To)
How to Create a Community (Step by Step):
1. Open Viva Engage
- In Microsoft Teams, select Viva Engage from the left app bar or
- Go to the web version: https://engage.cloud.microsoft/ (your tenant URL)
2. Select “Create a Community”
- In the left navigation pane, choose Communities
- Click Create a community
3. Name Your Community
Choose a clear, descriptive name such as:
- Volunteer Hub
- Youth Programs Team
- Leadership Updates
4. Set Privacy Level
You’ll choose between:
- Public — anyone in the organization can join
- Private — membership requires approval
5. Add Community Admins
Admins can:
- Manage members
- Pin posts
- Post announcements
- Moderate content
You can add multiple admins to share responsibility.
Learn more: Getting started with Viva Engage Communities in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support
Build a Campaign (Step by Step):
A community campaign in Viva Engage helps drive engagement around a shared goal using a campaign hashtag. The steps below reflect exactly what Microsoft documents for creating a campaign inside a community.
1. Open Viva Engage
Open Viva Engage in Microsoft Teams or the web app.
2. Go to Your Community
Navigate to the community where you want to create the campaign.
3. Select “Create a Campaign”
- On the right side of the community page, find the Campaigns section.
- Select + Create a campaign.
4. Define the Campaign Hashtag
- Enter a unique campaign hashtag (e.g., #ImpactWeek).
- This hashtag becomes the campaign’s name and is used to group all related posts.
5. Add Campaign Details
Fill in the required fields:
- Description — explain the purpose of the campaign
- Goals — outline what you want to achieve
- Cover image — upload a visual to represent the campaign
- Theme color — choose a color to brand the campaign
- Default publisher — choose the default post type (discussion, question, poll, praise)
6. Add Co‑Organizers (Optional)
You can assign additional people to help manage the campaign.
7. Publish the Campaign
- Save your work.
- Review the campaign in draft mode.
- When ready, select Publish to make it visible to the community.
8. Invite Participation
Encourage staff, volunteers, and leaders to:
- Post using the campaign hashtag
- Share stories, updates, or photos
- Engage with others’ posts
All posts using the hashtag will automatically appear on the campaign page.
Learn more: Campaigns in Viva Engage | Microsoft Support
Enable Storylines (Step by Step):
1. Open the Microsoft 365 admin center
- Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center and sign in with an admin account.
2. Go to Viva Engage settings
- In the left navigation, go to Settings → Org settings.
- Find and select Viva Engage (or Yammer/Viva Engage depending on your tenant).
3. Enable Storylines
- In the Viva Engage settings, locate the Storylines option.
- Make sure Storylines is turned On for your organization.
- Save your changes.
4. Communicate to staff
- Let staff know Storylines are available in Viva Engage.
- Encourage them to share updates, impact stories, and reflections, and to follow colleagues’ storylines.
Learn more: Storylines in Viva Engage | Microsoft Support
Automate Notifications (Step by Step):
You can use Power Automate to trigger actions when new Viva Engage (Yammer) messages are posted. The connector supports triggers such as “When there is a new message in a group” or “When a new message is posted”.
Here is the correct step‑by‑step process:
1. Open Power Automate
Go to Power Automate (flow.microsoft.com) and sign in with your Microsoft 365 account.
2. Create a new automated flow
- Select Create → Automated cloud flow.
- Search for the Yammer connector (used for Viva Engage).
- Choose a trigger such as: “When there is a new message in a group” or “When a new message is posted” (depending on your scenario and connector availability).
This aligns with the triggers listed in the connector documentation.
3. Add an action to send a Teams notification
- Add a new step.
- Choose Microsoft Teams.
- Select an action such as:
- Post a message in a chat or channel
- Send a message to a user
Configure the message to include details from the Viva Engage post (e.g., message text, author, link).
4. Add an action to log the post in SharePoint
- Add another step.
- Choose SharePoint.
- Select an action such as:
- Create item (to log each post in a list)
- Update item (if you maintain a running log)
Map fields from the Viva Engage trigger (e.g., message ID, message text, sender, timestamp).
5. Save and test the flow
- Save the flow.
- Post a message in the selected Viva Engage community or group.
- Confirm that Teams receives the notification and SharePoint logs the entry.
Learn more: Viva Engage - Connectors | Microsoft Learn
Learn more: Explore the Power Automate home page - Power Automate | Microsoft Learn
Conclusion
For nonprofits working across hybrid teams, volunteers, and multiple locations, Viva Engage offers a simple way to build connection and culture. By setting up communities, launching campaigns, enabling Storylines, and automating key updates, organizations create a digital space where people stay informed, share impact, and feel part of the mission. With these tools in place, Viva Engage becomes a hub for communication, collaboration, and storytelling—helping your nonprofit stay aligned and engaged as it grows.
