NFP Pulse Social Media Survey Suggests Non-Profits Focus Social Media Efforts on External Stakeholders

There has been a lot of discussion in the blogosphere and among not-for-profit circles about why and how NFP’s are using social media...but I haven’t heard a lot of chatter about just who it is NFP’s are trying to target with their social media efforts.

The ARC’s December 09 edition of the Not-for-Profit Pulse focused on a survey conducted with 81 Canadian not-for-profit organizations about their use of social media.  A summary of some of the highlights of this research is available here.  If you are interested in more information on this exciting new initiative and how you can involved, click here.

As part of this initiative, we included a question about the intended audience of participants’ social media efforts.

I found it really interesting that a majority of the social media efforts undertaken by the NFP’s in this study target external stakeholder groups, such as members, donors and the public.  In contrast, internal stakeholder groups such as the board and staff do not currently appear to be a primary target of NFP social media initiatives.

When examined in context with the rest of the survey results, I think this makes a lot of sense.  The main reasons why survey participants use social media in the first place are to facilitate communication between the organization and its members or donors and to facilitate networking between these same individuals.  Promoting, marketing and education of an organization or cause to the public was also seen as a primary reason for using social media. These key motivators fit quite nicely with the target audiences identified.

It will be interesting to see how this focus evolves as increased convergence and mobility entrenches social media even more firmly into the way we work, live and play.  There are so many social media tools already in existence that can help to facilitate communication within organizations that I wonder if it is simply a matter of time before not-for-profits begin to adopt this medium in their day-to-day operations.

What do you think?  Am I completely off the mark?  Why do you think there is relatively little focus on using social media for staff, board members and internal volunteers?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Social media is definitely the buzzword that’s on everybody’s lips these days.  The increased transparency, the relationship-building potential and the new levels of engagement it enables are just a few of the potentially powerful assets that can make this a great tool for not-for-profit organizations.

While there is something of a glut out there right now in the way of blog posts, articles, tips and other advice by an increasing number of social media ‘gurus’ about the merits, challenges and opportunities of social media,  there isn’t a whole lot of data about what not-for-profits are actually doing in this relatively new arena.

For this reason, we decided to use social media as the topic for our inaugural NFP Pulse survey.  Following are some of the high level findings of what 81 Canadian not-for-profits are doing in this rapidly evolving environment.*  We will discuss the results in greater depth over the coming weeks.

We'd also like to extend a big thank you to those of you who participated in this survey.  Please keep an eye on your inbox over the next couple of days for a link to the participant copy of the results and feel free to contact us if for some reason you haven’t received it.

Do Canadian Not-for-Profits Use Social Media?

They sure do!  86% percent of the organizations surveyed indicated that they currently have a social media presence or expect to have one within the next three years.  So whether or not you feel social media is a topic that has been beaten to death in recent months, evolving trends in this area is certainly something that NFP’s should be keeping an eye on.

Why Do Not-for-Profits Use Social Media?

Communication, communication, communication!  Opening up the lines of communication between the not-for-profit and its stakeholders is the top reason why 89% of participants use social media. 

I can’t say this comes as much of a surprise…at least not to me. If you read our October post on Member Needs and Satisfaction, you might remember that members’ sense of ‘being heard’ by their association and their ability to influence the association agenda are key drivers of member satisfaction for ARC clients.  The level of member satisfaction with the effectiveness and openness of an association’s communications tends to be directly correlated to satisfaction in these (and other) other areas.  It makes sense that many not-for-profits would jump on an opportunity to improve in this key area.

Our member needs and satisfaction research has also shown that networking opportunities is more often than not a key reason why members join associations in the first place.  With this in mind, it also makes sense that providing a forum for members to network with each other and/or with other stakeholder groups was also cited as a top reason for participants’ use of social media. 

Promoting the association or cause to different stakeholder groups was also a top tier reason for using this medium.  The huge potential reach of this medium, along with the low (perceived) cost of social media relative to other marketing outlets are likely some of the contributing factors behind this trend.

What Social Media Tools Are NFP’s Using?

In-line with the importance of networking and relationship building to so many not-for-profits, social networking applications are by far the most popular type of tool being used by participants.  In fact, 9 out every 10 respondents who are currently using social media tools indicated that they use at least one application within this category.  Blogs and e-commerce are also fairly common, with just under one half of those actively using social media claiming to use these types of tools.  In contrast, Wikis and Mashups were at the bottom of the list, each used by approximately 10% of active users.  It will be interesting to see whether this ‘social media mix’ will change as social media continues to evolve and becomes more entrenched in the way not-for-profits operate.

Of the different applications available, Facebook has a big lead over other common applications, with 86% of participants currently or planning to use it for their organizations.  Also popular is YouTube (66%) followed fairly closely by Twitter (61%).  LinkedIn was also frequently cited as an application many participants currently or plan to use.

What Metrics Do NFP’s Use to Gauge Social Media Success?

For over 1/3 of active NFP’s surveyed…none at all!  Despite all the buzz online, at conferences and by consultants about the importance of putting metrics in place, a significant portion of active NFP’s surveyed do not currently have any measures to gauge whether or not their social media initiatives are successful or not.  I like to think of myself as a strategic thinker, and I have to say this one stings a bit.  Seriously… No metrics?  None at all?   The horror!  All I can say is that as social media becomes more mainstream and association staff are pressured to justify the increasing time and money being spent on social media to board members, this number should contract…I can only hope…

Among participants that do have measures in place, analytics that include measuring hits to the organization website, blog or other application, and online buzz (comments, blog postings, etc., about the organization) are most commonly used to gauge the success of their social media initiatives.

So what do you think?  Are these results as you would have expected or is there anything here that surprises you?  Does your organization’s experience with social media jive with what we’ve found?  I’d love to hear what you have to say.

 Stay tuned for more posts to come that dig deeper in to these results and look at topics such as:

• Who is the intended audience of NFP social media?
• What are some of the challenges of creating and maintaining a social media presence?
• What are some of the lessons participants have learned along the way?

*About this research:

This first edition of the Not-for-Profit Pulse focuses on social media use among Canadian not-for-profit organizations. The sample for this survey comprises a total of 81 Canadian not-for-profit organizations with representation from industry/trade, professional, charity and special interest groups. It is important to note that the results of this survey reflect the responses from those surveyed only and are not necessarily representative of the entire Canadian not-for-profit sector.  More about this ongoing initiative can be found here.