In this season of giving, more charities are turning to online resources to reach prospective donors for money and time. Yet they lag their private-sector counterparts in the adoption of these enabling technologies.
Though US charities are heavy users of social media -- 98 percent of nonprofits responding to a January Change Dynamics survey used social networks -- these organizations want help leveraging the technology. In fact, 90 percent "indicated that they are actively seeking guidance on how to best leverage social media to help meet their organizations' goals."
Foreign not-for-profits lag their US counterparts. In the next 12 months, 31 percent of Italian and 28 percent of French not-for-profits plan to use social media for fundraising, according to Blackbaud's 2012 State of the Nonprofit Industry report (registration required). The fundraising software provider surveyed 1,516 organizations in nine countries to compile its report.
In the United Kingdom, 30 percent of respondents to an Accenture survey said they have no social media plans, even though 44 percent said technology will have the "biggest impact on charities over the next five years."
According to the Blackbaud report, social media are now the second-most popular tool for recruiting new donors at not-for-profits in the UK, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, and Germany. In other nations, charities prefer requesting first-time donations at special events or pre-scheduled meetings.
Though charities in many countries have reported using social media and the Internet to recruit donors, few are calling this tool highly effective. But the technology is inexpensive to use, which is one reason so many organizations incorporate it into their fundraising and donor recruitment activities. Also, not-for-profits may lack the tools to measure and audit the results of online initiatives. It seems there is a real opportunity for a solution that can readily translate social media followers into real donors or volunteers -- the goal of any charity.
Andrew Poppleton, managing director of Accenture's UK and Ireland Technology group, said in a press release:
Charities are more supportive of technology than ever before and many are working with IT companies -- often on a pro bono basis -- to evolve their strategies and there is still clearly work to be done. Despite wanting to use new technologies, some charities are struggling to invest in areas that could show huge benefits.
Just like any for-profit business, charitable organizations typically generate most of their funds from patrons. Keeping these donors happy is key to charities' continued success -- and the ongoing success of their missions. A lot of this satisfaction revolves around communication in face-to-face meetings, speedy thank-you letters, events, newsletters, and emails. But there is little apparent use of social media in this realm. Depending on the donor's interest in publicity, recognizing volunteers or generous donations on a charity's Facebook page could be a visible yet inexpensive form of thanks that would appeal to some benefactors.
Many nonprofits accept donations online, and more are taking money via mobile devices. In the Blackbaud survey, most of the charities that took online donations in the past 12 months reported receiving 5 percent or less of their donations that way. Nonprofits reporting the most growth in their online donations had improved their Website or enhanced accessibility, increased public awareness about the online capability, added software to make donating easier, and credited the growing acceptance of online transactions.
More than 40 percent of charities in each nation Blackbaud surveyed plan to enable their Websites for mobile browsing in 2013, and charities expect to double their use of QR codes.
At a time of year when many people give unselfishly, perhaps some charities will get free lessons in maximizing social media. That truly would be a gift that keeps on giving.
Yes, I think in many cases it is a question of money. A lot of nonprofits simply don't have the cash to invest in social media, as minimal as it might be for a small initiative like a Facebook page. After all, people still need to staff the site, generate new content, and respond to peoples' posts and comments. Plus you have to come up with an overall strategy; you don't just create a page and seek Likes. Those who do social media well are definitely leveraging it to serve their ultimate goal -- of supporting the people, animals, or group they were founded to look after.
If data mining is working well for retail amongst other industries do you think it is a cost issue stopping NGO's from turning to a more targeted approach I mean it worked for the Obama campaign to raise funds!
As I've mentioned before, I think Catchafire is a positive example of non-profit using social media in a very imaginative way to promote engagement with causes.
Followers aren't necessarily donors. And donors are where it's at. Most of the money raised comes from previous donors. The ROI on getting new folks signed up may not be as great as one would think. Going after the large spenders has always been the mainstay of charity fund raising. But, the publicity garnered by social media can't hurt if done with little cost.
Social media is not an easy challenge for a nonprofit. Consider a few things
Any online donation means a credit card fee which, right off the bat, means less money spent on the cause and more on overhead.
Managing social media means staff, which means either moving them off something else or spending more money - which means more overhead.
Most social media attracts folks who already know about you - so if you have spent money preaching to the choir - not raising money from new sources. Social media favors existing friendships/relationships more than new relationships.
So the challenge for not-for-profits is how to get your existing friends/members/donors to use social media to encouage their friends to join you and donate to you.
Many not-for-profits measure success by the number of followers - but a more important metric is the number of followers who post, email, tweet about you. Followers who will take action and extend your reach are valuable. Folks who click follow and that's it - a dime a dozen (and a dime is probably an overstatement of value).
I love the idea, Alison, of using gamification to inspire donors to give. I suspect most non-profits will lag behind PBL initiatives (points, badges, leaderboards), and other gamified strategies, as they have online fundraising campaigns.
That's so true, @Joanne. I always wonder, too, when I get calendars, notepads, address labels, etc. -- especially from nonprofits that I haven't donated to in a long time. I feel guilty about keeping these items without giving them money (which I'd guess is one rationale behind the mailing), but typically don't add them to my list of supported charities for the year.
You'd think a blend of social media and gameification would be a great way for nonprofits to attract and retain donors in a less costly manner. Taking a cue from Foursquare, for example, charities could award donors badges for every set dollar amount or hour amount they donate/volunteer. Given peoples' competitive natures, you could set up all sorts of competitions and games to promote friendly rivalries - state vs. state, regions vs. region, town vs. town, etc. I wonder if any charity does this?
During Hurricane Sandy, Second Harvest on Long Island, N.Y., won accolades for its use of Twitter. Rather than just bemoaning the weather, the charity used Twitter to alert followers to the locations of open shelters, places they could find supplies/food/blankets, etc. Just read about it in Newsday (would share link, but it's subscribers only).
Thank you for sharing that link, @Ariella. It's so important to do a little digging before you donate money, time or goods to a charity. A lot of them invest the vast majority of their donations into their cause, be it searching for a cure, helping children, or finding animals homes. But there are many that use far too much money for "administration," which means salaries for their CEOs, presidents, and other staff. While charitable organizations' staffs are certainly entitled to fair pay, the vast majority of funds should definitely go to support the nonprofit's goal.
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