What are some of the benefits non profit organizations can get from using social media?

[jaime_luhn]

How can non profits utilize social medias such as Facebook and Twitter to their advantage? What are these advantages?

[AndyB]

Generally it is opt-in (facebook friend, twitter follower) so you know you are hitting a relevant audience. It is a free and quick way to get good information out to people who are interested.

[Susan]

That is an excellent question! Having done some volunteer social media coordination work for non profits, I know how beneficial social media tools can be to an organization if utilized wisely.

We often think of social networking as a personal tool, used for connections to family and friends, and at times for professional networking in order to advance one's career and/or find a job. As it's evolved, of course, more and more companies have turned to social networking as a medium for brand marketing, advertising and community driven initiatives. These days you should look at social media as using social networks with the purpose of expanding one's brand/logo/organization in a particular community or among a certain demographic/population segment.

Whether you need to recruit volunteers, "evangelize" your cause, increase your visibility for donation and funding purposes, or jump start a non profit campaign, social media tools can effectively support all of these issues and more. With the right strategies, the virtual community can be garnered to support your organization's mission and cause.

One of the best examples of social media usage by not-for-profit organizations can found in the history of charity: water. Charity: Water was founded in 2006 to raise awareness on the need in the poorest countries and communities for such basic necessities as clean water. What made Charity: Water unique in the beginning was its effective use of social networking outlets to spread their mission. On Twitter, Charity: Water is currently a verified account with more the 1.3 million followers. Their Facebook page has more than 52k fans.

Although I have volunteered with non profits on social media issues, I have not worked with Charity: Water. I just know them to be an excellent example of non profit social media campaigns done right!

Some things to remember before embarking on a social media strategy for your non profit org:

Develop and disseminate a sound mission statement (sounds basic, but it's amazing how many staff/volunteers are clueless about their organization's ultimate mission).

Determine your purpose(s) for existing in the virtual realm.

Utilize "one" voice (i.e. only one official account on any given network) but have 2 or 3 designated posters - so if staffing changes or one person is unavailable at any given time it doesn't derail your social media campaign. Make sure that these designated posters are working together!

Become involved in the virtual community and engage your followers. If you're on Twitter tweeting about your cause but you're not interacting in the community and your providing interesting content (read: news about something other than yourself) then people won't care as much about your message.

Make sure your online presence (web site, blog, etc.) is user friendly! There's nothing worse than caring about a non profit cause only to get lost in the confusion of their web page!

That should give you a good start! Best of luck!

[faithfulvegetable562]

Its a good branding tool. You can get free exposure for your non profit organization. In addition, you can add friends from the entire world. It won't make or brake your marketing efforts, but it will certainly help you get some exposure.

See our facebook profile on our site link below.