Article on The Wall pointing out that Charities
do very well in Social Media:
1. Charities bring people together around a common cause
Social media, in its most basic form, is a way of connecting people through a particular technology or platform around a common interest. This corresponds very closely to the aims of many charities – raising awareness & advocacy, bringing people together, and forming a community around a cause.
2. Charities can measure the ROI of social media and donations are just a click away
For most organisations, social media represents a cost which can be difficult to justify if they don’t have the processes in place to measure the return on investment – especially if the organisation has no other e-commerce channels. Charities can directly solicit donations, and sites such as JustGiving.com and campaign-based initiatives like Movember are making it simple and fun for individuals to encourage their friends to get involved, collecting sponsorships or donating. This makes it easier for charities to convert intention into action and making it possible to link social media activity with donations. Other charities are taking their storefronts online by setting up shop on eBay. Barnardos has really embraced this concept. There are many benefits to this approach: the auction format means that donated goods achieve their maximum price, and the overhead is low. Volunteers can also be geographically dispersed, and can work flexible hours.
3. Celebrities love lending their clout (or should that be Klout?) to a good cause
While not all celebrity / charity tie-ups have been successful (remember the celebrity Twitter death in support of World AIDS day?), some charities have had major wins from working with celebrities and social media to get their message out there and boost donations. When Justin Bieber donated his birthday to Charity:Water, traffic to the site increased by 300 per cent, raising nearly $50,000 as a result. Although some may mock celebrity / charity tie-ups, their ability to create discussion and awareness about a charity is undeniable.
4. Kindness is cool and charities can tie up with well-known brands to make a difference
There are two schools of thought when it comes to CSR. The cynics see it as brands simply using charities to improve consumer perceptions, while others see it as a more symbiotic relationship where both parties stand to gain. Pepsi Refresh is perhaps the most well-known current initiative, whereby users can nominate a local project to be funded by the Pepsi Refresh fund.
The concept of “buy one, give one” where for every product bought by a consumer, another is given to people in need (pioneered by companies such as TOMs shoes) is also gaining popularity this year with sites like B1G1.com springing up to encourage businesses to get involved in charitable in-kind giving.
5. Social media is multimedia – charities can tell their story convincingly
Lastly, it would be impossible to explore the reasons why charities are doing so well in social media without talking about the possibilities that social media technology creates. From Facebook and YouTube to SlideShare, from Last.fm to Flickr – as well as more specialised sites like Justgiving.com and Facebook Causes – social media provides a multimedia, interactive way for charities to provide compelling stories, show the work that they do, and encourage supporters to promote causes on their behalf. This has an impact that isn’t afforded by a TV advertisement or a leaflet posted through your door. It lets people get really involved with just a few clicks.
Two points:
Firstly, this ties in to experience of what services are trusted most - many studies show that services as diverse as health, finance and cable operators are far more trusted if they are mutually owned and not-for-profit rather than privately or state held. People feel that something owned and run by the community is more likely to represent their interests.
Secondly, there is an unpleasant flipside - I noticed at TED in 2009 a profusion of blue-blazered dotcom types were suddenly running "Not For Profits" doing things that once upon a time a "For Profit" would run, and that
trend has continued. Partly this is to take advantage of the veneer of respectability, partly its because there is less legal restriction and scrutiny than with For Profits - and many of these are merely "socially acceptable" fronts to channel customers to a small coterie of For Profit service providers who own the site (this is my main issue with the current structure of StartupBritain, to give you an example).
Personally I think there is a scandal in the making here, and feel its time to put a few of the reporting requirements that commercial enterprises must use, onto not-for-profits. I recall a fascinating discussiona few years back at the UK "Webby" awards - a startup that looked at charities actual performance (to allow givers to make informed decisions) got a prize, and they said you could not believe the resistance they got from the charities!
But in conclusion - yes, Social Media loves Charities, but many for-profits have noticed - so dig into the details of that Not For Profit that wants your hard earned cash....
