More on social media

The Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project is a great snapshot of the use of social media by young adults. This is particularly important for nonprofits seeking to reach this population.

The study shows a decline in blogging among teens and young adults but a small rise in adults 30+. This decline was related to the growth of social media network sites with 72% of young adults using them.

Though the Idealware survey talks about Twitter, be aware that teens and young adults are not big users of the site. Facebook is the king of social networks for adults.

Cause to Communicate loves reading these market research studies. There are gems in there if you look hard enough that will make your fundraising efforts more successful.

Twittering for dollars

Idealware just published a survey on using social media to meet nonprofit goals. Not surprisingly, the study showed that social media helped enhance relationships with existing supporters and build relationships with new supporters. Those new supporters might not be giving a lot of money but there was opportunity to establish that relationship.

LinkedIn and MySpace were the least used social media channels. Again, not surprising since LinkedIn’s focus is on business relationships and MySpace seems to be for tweens.

The most surprising answer was that respondents felt that Twitter was considered as the most-effective channel for reaching potential new supporters.

What this all really means is that nonprofits need to be more aggressive about their role within the social media network. You can’t afford not to participate.

New Year/New Decade/New Approach

Though I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions, I do find that after the holiday vacation it’s the perfect time to come back to work with some new approaches to liven up the year. So, I challenge you to come up with some ideas for how you would freshen your fund development and nonprofit marketing efforts for the year.

Some things to consider:
• Have you been using your board of directors effectively as advocates and fundraisers?

• Have you told your donors “thanks” and kept them informed about new plans?

• 2010 may be the perfect time to reach out to a new market. Do you have a plan to communicate with a younger generation?

• 2010 is also the year to become more digital in your approach. If you are not on Facebook and Twitter, are you planning to include in your marketing efforts?

• Have you considered partnering with another nonprofit to achieve results?

• Have you developed an annual plan for your marketing and communications efforts? Being proactive is more efficient and more effective than being reactive.

Whatever you do this year – whether it’s making board meetings more engaging or your website more interactive – have fun!