Social-Media Marketing Efforts Give a Lift to Nonprofit Campaigns

Despite those who may write off social media as a fad, the numbers don't lie: Currently there are 100 million members on LinkedIn, 200 million members on Twitter and 600 million members on Facebook. And more importantly, the people engaging on social-media networks are the same people that make up fundraisers' donor bases.

The social channel works exceptionally well for the nonprofit space. Such campaigns, two of which fall into the fundraising category, are explored in the comprehensive report "Social Media Success: Best practices for creating, implementing and managing social media marketing strategies, plus 7 multidisciplinary case studies." Just published, click here to find out more.

However, isn't getting involved in the social channel pricey? It doesn't have to be. There are vendors who can set up everything for a company, and there are a number of free Web-based tools — such as Social Mention, IceRocket, Google Alerts and HootSuite — that can be great assets to a social-media marketing program for any discipline.

But social-media success isn't just about the tools you use. According to Jim Gilbert, CEO of multidiscipline direct-marketing agency Gilbert Direct Marketing and social-media director for gourmet home-delivery company The Fresh Diet, the success or failure of a social-media marketing strategy is directly linked to the content that's delivered.

"The right content can turn casual viewers into fans, fans into buyers and buyers into brand advocates," Gilbert explains. "Most importantly, the right content builds engagement."

One of the case studies in the report is about the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). In the wake of British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and oil spill in April 2010, the conservation organization leveraged Twitter and Facebook as a communication and fundraising hub.

NWF was already active in its social networks, but the urgency of the oil spill didn't give Digital Marketing Manager Danielle Brigida and her team any lead time to plan a strategy — instead Brigida had to quickly address the oil spill crisis on the nonprofit's social networks and continually post relevant content while remaining on message. The oil spill was also the first time NWF used social media to respond to a crisis, and Brigida recognized the risk involved with being incorrect or user-generated content being potentially inappropriate.

"If you make a mistake, be ready to apologize and just be open, honest and transparent about what's going on," she advises.

The wildlife conservation organization found Facebook and Twitter successful for sharing information and fundraising. NWF created a Facebook Causes page, allowing supporters to donate directly to help affected wildlife in the oil spill area, and it used Twitter to push out news and encourage donations. The nonprofit was even able to gain celebrity endorsement on Twitter for its cause.

The revenue raised by nontraditional fundraising like social media for the oil spill campaign was three times higher than the revenue raised by direct mail, and NWF spent only 4 percent of funds raised through nontraditional means, compared to the 23 percent of funds spent for direct-mail campaigns.

Today, a number of nonprofits are considering or testing into social media. NWF's success in fundraising through Facebook Causes and Twitter further validates these channels, especially due to their low cost and higher ROI when compared to traditional direct-mail fundraising efforts.

Melissa Ward is senior content editor of DirectMarketingIQ, the research division of the Target Marketing Group. She can be reached at mward@napco.com.