While online events such as Twestival suggest that charities could soon be using sites like Twitter and Facebook to reap donations a new Chronicle survey shows that the nation’s largest charities aren’t yet receiving big rewards from those sites.
As part of its annual online fund raising survey, The Chronicle asked some of the nation’s largest nonprofit groups to share how much money they raised through the use of social media in 2009—and the results were less than overwhelming.
Of the 177 organizations that answered the survey only 110, or roughly 62 percent, reported that they were using some form of social media as part of their online fund-raising efforts.
Of those, a much smaller number reported the amount of money that they raised through social media.
And the groups that did raise money reported modest totals.
Here’s a thumbnail look at the results:
• Thirty-six groups raised $408,000 on Facebook, with a median total of $1,000 per organization.
• Sixteen groups raised $36,000 on Twitter, with a median amount raised of $500.
• Six groups raised $245,000 through blogs, with a median amount raised of $11,500.
• Two groups raised $500 on MySpace.
What does this mean?
Not surprisingly, it means that the nation’s largest charities haven’t yet figured out how to raise large sums of money through social networks.
But a bigger question looms: Can charities effectively raise money through tweets and Facebook profiles?
The answer depends on your goals. If you’re looking for short-term results, the answer is probably no.
But social media isn’t set up to be a fund-raising medium. Instead, it’s a tool to build relationships.
And since so much of fund raising is about relationships, it stands to reason that any medium that helps build relationships is useful. It just takes time for those relationships to flower into gifts.
Do you agree? Will Facebook and Twitter pay long-term rewards for patient charities that are looking to raise more money? Or are fund raisers better served spending their time elsewhere?
Post a comment to share your thoughts.
3 Responses to Social Media Yet to Bring Big Money to Charities
janemcg - April 27, 2010 at 4:49 pm
I think it will definitely pay off in the end for nonprofits to connect to donors using social media. Of course they need to be using it well and actually building those relationships and having conversations about the causes. Using Facebook and Twitter is only a part of a nonprofit’s communication efforts and no, they should not expect that all they need to do is have a presence. They need to add value. A nonprofit that is on Twitter but not using it well gives an indication that they are not using time efficiently which then makes you question if they are making a difference. Why would you donate to an organization who doesn’t use time efficiently? So having a social media presence can either hurt or help you. It can only help you as long as there is a strategy in place, but if they are not adding anything, then they should not bother.
socialmediarox - April 29, 2010 at 3:35 pm
As a social media professional for a large nonprofit group, I feel that I can reach present and future donors and build relationships all in one. In addition, with social media, we can find our groups of individuals that have an interest in what we do and connect with them in a new way rather than just email, traditional mailings etc. It is great to see people with Blackberry and iPhones to connect with us while they are on the road, to get news and updates delivered to their office or wherever they choose to connect. We are able to connect with future generations of Philanthropists and the youth can relate more seeing you on sites like facebook and Twitter…
christopherfox - April 30, 2010 at 7:35 am
This is a little interesting, but it’s not very helpful research. It’s more of a symptom of the problem than it is an insight about social media. You can’t focus on the amount of money raised via social media without also trying to assess awareness and advocacy and their indirect benefits. You also can’t ask questions about effectiveness without asking questions about effort and quality. What were the strategies of those respondents who hit well above the median amount? How much effort did they invest? And what was the level of engagement they maintained? As a community, we might have better answers about social media if we asked better questions.