Two Looks At Nonprofit Social Media
Here are two good items on nonprofit use of social media.
For a macroview, The Nonprofit Quarterly reported recently on a Craigconnect study of fifty top US charities using social media, grouped in these focus categories — Animal, Children, Cultural, Disaster Relief, Environment, Health, Veterans & Military, and Women.
All the charities compared are pretty big, and NPQ noted that all but one has a full or part-time dedicated staffer working on social media. But who knows what ‘part-time’ means. If I had fifty people on my fundraising staff, I guess I could let one fool around a bit on social media 🙂
[I’d love to know the first-year renewal rate of these orgs … but I digress.]
For a much closer look at how a big-league nonprofit uses social media, check out this review by Beth Kanter of the Facebook efforts of the Humane Society of the US. These guys just hit the one million fans mark. And as this article describes, that doesn’t just happen.
Beth’s post asks “When is one million fans on Facebook worth more than a million bucks?”
My answer — Not yet! — is different then Beth’s. But I’m looking through the lens of fundraising; she’s looking at activism. And there I’ll concede, yes I’d like to have a million followers … recruited by my communications staff. [Then maybe they’d let my fundraising staff do a bit of testing on those fans!]
Tom
Behavioral Science Q & A
Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]
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I’m not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language. I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, here’s a couple […]
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Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]
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Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]
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There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]
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I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
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