It is no surprise that in a recent study conducted by the Association of Fund Raising Professionals, it was shown that non-profit organizations have been setting the pace for the use of social media in marketing for the last two years.
Why?
It’s easy. Blogging, podcasting, message boards, social networking – Facebook, video blogging and wikis, is a cost-effective option for nonprofit organizations to market themselves without needing an exorbitant amount of funding.
89% of charitable organizations are using some form of social media in their marketing. Boardsource
That’s not to say that it can be done on the cheep [sic].
The same report showed nonprofits far ahead of both corporations and universities in the use of social media tools. Nonprofits were more familiar, and in my experience are more familiar; with the tools and were using them significantly more often.
Still asking, so why does social media work for nonprofit organizations?
Donors take an interest in causes that relate to them and social mediums create a more integrated experience between an organization and those very same donors.
…social mediums enable nonprofit organizations to create relationships and engage with their consituents. This allows them to nurture their online communities which, in fact creates, a viral marketing affect with little or no effort. And the costs associated with this marketing effort are often less expensive with better return-on-investment than traditional marketing efforts.
Social mediums provide a central place for nonprofits organizations to collaborate and connect.
The realm of social media helps equip individuals with an outlet and tool to help in growing their own nonprofit organizations, as well as enabling individuals who have a specific interest in a charitable organization to find it, research it and share it broadly; and when we say broadly we mean without boundary.
If this research isn’t enough to convince you that social media is a viable tool for your nonprofit organization, consider that 45% of these organizations stated that social media played a very important role in their fund-raising strategy.
How can you get started in the social media marketing of your nonprofit organization?
Boring stuff first… Boring to most folk at least – the stuff that we like doing, and could help you with 
Our organizational development consultants have experience getting organizations started with right foundations in social media – and then if you want to get more hardcore we can connect you to internet professionals…
You will need a social media policy. It’s important when entering into social media that if you decide to do it you’ll want to create a social media policy that upholds the core principles of your organization. Also, it’s important that you incorporate your social media initiative into your marketing plan.
Your policy and strategy plan should include the following:
- Who will be your spokesperson and the voice of your organization?
- Will the voice of that spokesperson be personal or professional – what does that split look like? What sort of information can you publish?
- Who will be in charge of responding to conversation and social media buzz that is created? Remember: a blog is not a blog if there are no comments.
- Who will be monitoring the social media effects, do you have any monitoring tools and procedures for their use?
- How will you protect the brand of your organization?
This will get you started in creating your policy as well as your strategy.
My time / your time
You will also want to identify any HR issues within this policy, e.g. you don’t want one of your employees telling everyone how bored they are at work when its nice outside on their own personal Facebook page, but you do want them announcing the organizations latest achievement on the Facebook page for the organization.
Tip: As with all policies, its important that your policy is clearly written and easy for everyone within the organization to understand.
(Fun bit…) Which vehicles in social media will you use? Your choices include:
- blogging,
- podcasting,
- message boards,
- social networking,
- video blogging and
- wikis.
Lastly, pick the right people. Identify who is responsible for answering conversations and participating in the social media venues; ensure the identified folks understand the responsibility they have been given.
The worst thing that could happen is that you start a social media marketing campaign, but do not interact or engage with constinuents and potential donors. Your strategy should identify, not only what tools you will use, but how they will be used and who will use them.
