Social media for nonprofits
Social media can be a great help for nonprofit organizations. According the 4th Annual Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report from NTEN, Common Knowledge and Blackbaud, 98% of over 3,500 nonprofits who responded to the 2012 survey used Facebook, 72 percent used Twitter, 44% used LinkedIn and 23 percent used Google+.
Identify your social networking goal. Do you want to speak to donors, volunteers or the press? Do you need more donations or to ask that for specific donations? Maybe you want to show off your organizations hard work, establish new business relationships or reach out to those in need. According to the survey the most common fundraising tactic on Facebook is to ask for an individual Gift.
Social media can help your nonprofit to:
- Increase traffic to the organization’s website. Be sure your website content is rich with appropriate content that aligns with your nonprofit’s goal. Add contact information, show readers your work, and be sure to add a way to collect donations of that’s part of your goal.
- Get more contacts on your email list. Email is still a very effective marketing tool. Be sure to capture and mark a new email sign-up with the information on how they found your list.
- Attract, retain and motivate supporters. Chat up events, volunteers work and how your nonprofit help those in need
- Get donations of goods, time or money
Choose 2 to 4 social networks you can honestly devote time to. Consider some of the networks not mentioned in the survey. Photo intensive networks like Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter Vine are a great for nonprofits who want to get the word out about their work and needs.