Social Network Report Reflects Nonprofit Fundraising and Engagement

Working in nonprofit fundraising and recently delving into the world of blogging and social media made me particularly interested in the recently released,3rd Annual Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report 2011. The report aims to chart nonprofit trends in an area that is continuously growing and evolving at an alarming rate. I (personally) was curious to see how how/if these new channels were performing with nonprofit fundraising. I was also interested in seeing how these results compared to the recent findings in The Nonprofit Research Collaborative (and Part 2), the Blackbaud Index on Charitable and Online Giving and the Millennial Donors Report 2011 (and Part 2).

The report was compiled by NTEN a membership organization of nonprofit professionals, Common Knowledge an internet consulting agency and Blackbaud the leading provider of software and services specifically for the nonprofits. The goal of the report was to provide insight into the behaviours and trends of social networking and how they relate to operational areas like nonprofit fundraising, marketing, and communications.

The data was compiled in January and February 2011 and was based on 11,196 survey respondents representing nonprofits of various size and sector. The survey inquired about the nonprofit’s practices and the use of online commercial (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin) and house (created on nonprofit’s own platform) social networks.

Image courtesy of 3rd Annual Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report 2011.

Although the findings are extensive, the following are the reports own top ten findings:

1. Facebook is the Leader. Of all commercial social networks  89% of nonprofits report having a presence on Facebook, followed by Twitter at 57%, YouTube a close third at 47%, LinkedIn fourth at 30% and Flickr at 19%.
2. They Get Larger Every Year. The use of commercial social networks by nonprofits is getting larger every year, with the only variance being Twitter which held steady with a small increase of 2%.
3. Donations Growing on Facebook. Although this area is growing, the overall results of total money raised is minimal compared to other fundraising channels, with 46% reporting raising between $1-$10,000 and 0.4% having raised over $100,000.
4. Social Networking Valuable to Nonprofits. Over the past 3 years there has been a steady rise with 82% responding that they find their presence on these sites as valuable.
5. Rise in Newer Platforms. However as the new kids on the block they are not seeing as many nonprofits embracing their platforms, these include: FourSquare, Jumo, Vimeo, Yelp, Picassa, Ning and Delicious.  Also listed are donor-empowered and peer-to-peer sites that we have written about in the past, like Crowdrise, FirstGiving, Razoo and Causes
6. Nonprofits of All Sizes Can Be Successful. You no longer have to be a large organization to successfully fundraise through social networking platforms as a common denominator was a following of 100,000+. This shows that it is important to consider building your network first amongst other strategies.
7. Environmental /Animal Causes and International Services Top the Charts. Nonprofits in these sectors have seen the largest support and represent 1st and 2nd respectively in number of followers.
8. House Social Networking on the Rise. These sites hosted by a nonprofit’s own platform has seen an increase of over 70% in members with large nonprofits benefitting most likely due to access to resources.
9. Fundraising is Not #1. House social networking is used for program and service delivery more than fundraising, with 55% citing this as the main reason for house social networking as it allows them to convey their mission, values and other information in manner unique to their nonprofit.
10. Communications, Marketing & Fundraising Top the List. These are the departments cited as responsible for house social networks within an organization and the ones that tend to benefit most with IT departments helping with more complex/technical issues.

The Annual Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report for 2011 is incredibly informative and can lend insight into how social networking is currently performing with nonprofit fundraising, marketing and communications. I encourage you to read the full report.

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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 and advancing the missions of the non-profits we proudly serve.