Applying Benchmark Study on Social Care to Nonprofit Fundraising Donor Relations

I have written extensively about Social Media for nonprofit fundraising and today I am writing about a new term, “Social Care” that is quickly being adopted by both for-profit and nonprofit organizations and is being combined with traditional “customer service”. The importance of focusing on ‘social care’ is growing along with the use of the many available social channels. According to Mashable the monthly average time that a visitor spends on Facebook is 6 hours and 45 minutes, four and a half times more than Tumblr and Pinterest and nineteen times more than Twitter. Another interesting statistic is that 18% of online time is spent on social media sites with 56% of all Americans having a social networking profile and 22% access social media several times a day.

The recently released 2012 Customer Experience Management Benchmark Study polled 160 leading organizations which included some high-grossing and Fortune 500 companies on their current social care practices and future plans. Nonprofits can benefit from this research as it can lead to better donor care practices while engaging supporters through a growing medium. Some key highlights include:

images from Customer Experience Management Benchmark Study (click to enlarge)

• Training. To better perform their roles surrounding ‘social care’ 70% of respondents cited they need training on emerging channels and strategies. As communicating with donors has evolved to include social media it’s clear that to be effective in these strategies formal and ongoing training may be required to stay current with the many changes social media goes through.
• Level of Engagement. Interestingly 70% of organizations have an active social media platform and interact with their communities in different levels. 49% proactively search and respond to comments, 21% are listening and responding to direct inquiries, 9% only listen, while 22% are still determining their approach. As with most research, Facebook and Twitter are the platforms most used by 70% and 66% of organizations respectively. Which level of engagement a nonprofit chooses to use with their supporters will depend on which approach works best for them.
• Future Plans. When asked about the top priority for the upcoming year, the overwhelming response was 51% of organizations wanting to better integrate with traditional channels and second with 17% broader participation in more sites. Other plans also included hiring more social care agents and expanding their hours. Creating a social media/digital marketing department to focus on social care is how many organizations are growing their communities. I recently wrote how nonprofits can use staff and volunteers to help grow social communities.
• Mobile Care & Interactive Care. It seems that mobile care is not widely adopted as 70% of responding organizations stated they were not utilizing mobile care solutions and although all indications point to growth in this area 20% aren’t active in mobile care with no plans to develop an active support channel. Of the 16% that are already active 41% offer self service only and 18% provide interactive support. Only 48% of organizations offer interactive online solutions and 57% plan to see an increase in their interactive budget. These types of ‘care’ may not be widely popular yet however nonprofits should be planning to have this channel incorporated into their plans in the very near future as the need grows.

Donor care continues to evolve and nonprofits need to grow their plans to be able to adequately respond to and engage with donors. Careful planning, timely training and dedicated resources will ensure that your donors and communities receive optimal care through social media channels.

You can read my Social Media Series which includes posts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Linkedin along with many reports, trends and tips that may help with your social media marketing efforts. You can start by reading our 10 Best Social Media for Nonprofit Fundraising & Engagement Posts from 2012.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.