Download - Social Impact Nonprofit Social Media Survey

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Table of Contents

Research Methodology 3

Executive Summary 4

Detailed Findings 5

Moving Forward 16

Respondent Profile 17


Research MethodologyDates of interviews: July 29th – August 17th, 2009

Survey mode: Telephone

Sample: 200 Nonprofit and Foundation Executive Directors and Senior Communications Officials

Margin of error: +/- 6.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level

Notes: Numbers may not total 100% due to rounding.


Executive Summary• There is extensive experimentation with social media in the nonprofit

sector, but only half (51%) surveyed are active users

• Most nonprofits (67%) say social media is changing how they communicate with broad external audiences, but not narrower categories of stakeholders

• Most nonprofits (52%) do not currently have the infrastructure, staff and expertise necessary to take full advantage of social media’s potential

• Nonprofit executives (83%) understand that social media makes it easier for supporters to organize independently – underscoring how critical it is for nonprofits to demonstrate their value and relevance to advocates

• Ultimately, for most nonprofit executives (79%), the true value of social media has yet to be determined for their organizations


Strategic Implications• The findings of this research offer insights into how nonprofits and foundations can

optimize their use of social media in the future. Successful nonprofit organizations will:

– Move from experimentation to implementation of strategic programs that drive digital engagement

– Focus on two-way conversations that build meaningful and sustainable connections with a range of priority audiences

– Invest in social media capacity as a means of achieving brand building, advocacy and fundraising goals

– Demonstrate their unique impact to underscore relevance to advocates

– Measure social media with key metrics for visibility, engagement and advocacy


Nonprofits are experimenting with social mediaAlmost all nonprofits – especially larger ones – are at least experimenting

with social media, but only 51% are active users

51% are

active users

of social media

Organizations with an operating budget of $25

million or more are even more likely to be experimenting

heavily – 51%


Social media is worth the investment

Strongly Disagree Somewhat DisagreeStrongly Agree Somewhat Agree

Total Agree 77% 24%

AGREE OR DISAGREE?

Less than one-quarter of nonprofit executives believe social media isn’t yet worth the investment, while three-quarters say it is more cost effective


Social media is a priority for the future

In the next two years does your organization plan to use social media more, less or the same amount you do now?

Nonprofit executives overwhelmingly assert that they plan to use social media more moving forward

Social media will be demanding a bigger piece of nonprofit’s spending dollars in 2010 – 69% believe their communications budget next year will stay the same or decrease


In general, is social media changing the way your organization communicates with…

External audiences are the current targetSocial media is primarily changing the way nonprofits communicate with

broad external audiences, but not narrower categories of stakeholders


And would you say that social media has had a positive impact, a negative impact or no impact at all on the quality of your communications with…

Total Positive Impact

67% 45% 39% 31%

External impact is positiveTwo-thirds of nonprofit executives believe social media has had a positive

impact on their external audiences, but are less certain about other stakeholders


My organization's website and participation in social media builds awareness

of our organization

My organization believes our current social media

strategy gives us a competitive advantage in comparison to our

peers

55%

40%

22%

19%

38%

46%

33%

42%

-10%

-11%

-28%

-21%

Strongly DisagreeSomewhat Disagree Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree

Social media seen as less effective for fundraising

AGREE OR DISAGREE?

For now, focus is on building awarenessNonprofit executives view social media as effective in raising visibility

and building awareness of their organizations – more so than for fundraising

Orgs with an operating

budget of $10 million or more are more likely to say social

media engages external

audiences – 93%


Many have an uncertain relationship with social media

Which best describes your organizations’ relationship with social media?

We love it and are good at it

We like it but are struggling with how to implement it

We are intrigued but haven't really used it yet

We reluctantly use social media as it becomes necessary

We are not sure how to do it or why we should

Organizations with an operating budget of $25 million or more are even more likely to love it and

be good at it – 44%

More than six in ten (61%) say they like or are intrigued by social media, but struggle with implementation

Nonprofit's policies are still catching up – 64% say their organization

does not have policies in place for how employees and board members

can post information on social media sites


Building awareness of your

organization

Supporting fundraising

efforts

Mobilizing people as advocates on your

organization’s behalf

Traditional Media Social Media

Somewhat more effective

Much more effective

Social media seen as more effective for

organizing, but not other types of

outreach

Which is more effective…

Social media…

Somewhat more effective

Much more effective

Traditional media…

For:

Social media reigns in organizingNonprofit executives see social media as more effective than traditional media to

mobilize advocates; more so than for awareness building or fundraising


Strongly DisagreeSomewhat Disagree Strongly Agree

AGREE OR DISAGREE?

Somewhat Agree

Total Agree 83% 84%

Yet it’s a double-edged sword in organizingMost believe social media makes it easier to organize advocates on behalf of their

organization – but also for people to organize independently – underscoring how critical it is for groups to demonstrate their value to advocates



Total Agree 78% 47%

AGREE OR DISAGREE?

65% say they do not have enough overall communications staff

Depth and expertise create barriersMany nonprofit organizations of all sizes acknowledge they do not have

the necessary staff and expertise to execute their social media programs



Total Agree 78% 61%

AGREE OR DISAGREE?

Ultimately the jury is still out on valueWhile a majority of nonprofit executives believe the rewards outweigh the risks,

most also acknowledge they haven’t yet determined the value of social media for their organizations


Appendix: Respondent Profile


Respondent ProfileJob Title

CEO/President 7%

Executive or Managing Director 16%

EVP/SVP/VP/Director of Communications 53%

EVP/SVP/VP/Director of Development 19%

Other 6%

Role in Organization’s Communications Efforts

Directly manage or oversee all communications 38%

Part of a senior team that directly manages or oversees all communications 40%

Directly manage or oversee certain kinds of communications 22%

Type of Organization

Nonprofit organization 96%

Grant-making foundation 1%

Both 4%

Organization’s Communications Department Size

1-2 people 32%

3-4 people 32%

5 or more people 34%

Don’t know 3%

Primary Focus of Organization

Multiple issue-focused 36%

Healthcare 20%

Children and family issues 13%

Education 10%

Humanitarian relief 8%

Human rights 5%

Economic development 3%

Environment 3%

Global development 3%

Arts and culture 1%

Other 2%

Annual Operating Budget

$25 million or more 20%

$10 million to less than $25 million 23%



Gender

Male 40%

Female 60%


FOR MORE INFORMATION:

PAUL MASSEY, [email protected]

STEPHANIE BLUMA, [email protected]

JULIE HURBANIS, [email protected]

COLIN MOFFETT, [email protected]

VICTORIA SNEED, [email protected]

TANYA FEINSTEIN, [email protected]

KRC Research700 13th Street NW

Washington, DC 20005

mailto:[email protected]




