The social media challenge facing every nonprofit
Nonprofits and traditional businesses aren’t always as different as they appear. Sure, they’re going to do different things with their revenue. But on the road leading up to making a sale (or securing a donation), they’ve got a lot of the same worries. They both want to get their names out there, shape their brand identities and convince people to part with their hard-earned money. They’re both worried about the economy, the competition and a changing marketplace.
Social media isn’t a push-button solution for any of those concerns — but it can be a useful tool for coping with all of them. More and more nonprofits are starting to wake up to that fact.
The trick for nonprofits is realizing that their identity and their ability to convert a prospective donor are much more closely connected than they are in the business world. You may hate a certain store’s image, but you might still shop there if they’ve got the best deal. Nonprofits have no such buffer. No one ever says, “I don’t believe in your organization, but I’ll give you money anyway.”
Having a social media presence is another way to reach prospective new donors, make calls to action and get people involved in non-financial ways. But its mightiest power comes from its ability to create and shape a public image on a shoestring budget. If your organization isn’t doing all it can to build its brand, it might be in more trouble than you think.
Do nonprofits need to approach social media differently than other organizations? What’s the tactical difference between securing a donation and making a sale?
Image credit, PinkTag, via iStock
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Tags: brand management, donations, non-profits
Categories: Editor's Take
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Posted by Douglas Naegele on December 29th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Non-profits can use social media to discover young, ‘pre-donors’. I think of ‘pre-donors’ as 18-25 year olds who are very passionate about a certain cause but don’t spend much time in the traditional sphere of donor solicitation: Direct mail, black-tie galas, or advisory boards. They would give, if asked in the right way.
Social media can convert these ‘pre-donors’ into donors by delivering the message where they live: Twitter, Facebook, and mobile campaigns. Action Against Hunger has used Facebook and its 6000+ fans to raise matching funds — a large corporate donor says, “Get this many fan responses and we’ll give you $2000″. This American Life, the radio show from WBZ Chicago, is using a mobile texting campaign to raise many $5 donations from listeners to close a $130K budget gap.
The kicker is that the value in converting ‘pre-donors’ isn’t the one-time $5 donation….it’s the identification of a willing participant. Imagine a college basketball game where the Jumbotron announces “To give $5 to our school, text HOOP to 1234″ What results, other than a handful of $5 donations, is the identification of new, willing donors. It’s as if twenty young alumni all stood up and sat next to the giving officer and said, “Yes, thank you for asking…I want to get involved.” Now that’s worth way more than $5.
Posted by Jen Travis on December 29th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Non profits need to build relationships, not just make sales. Getting a one time donation isn’t the end. Turning that one time donation into a long-term source of funding is. Social media is another, less costly and more ubiquitous way of building relationships with donors and potential donors. It extends an organizations reach into supporters’ networks and their networks. They don’t necessarily need to use social media differently than a for profit company, but they do need to use it because it strengthens their awareness and gives them easier and less costly ways to bring more donors into the fold.
Posted by Beth Kanter on December 29th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
You asked a great question – What’s the tactical difference between securing a donation and making a sale?
The difference in securing a donation is that nonprofits have to tug at the heart strings, be meaningful for the donor. They have to demonstrate good value. Donations are discretionary – people give to people they know, causes they know that are making a difference.
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