Insights
A report by Social Misfits Media looks at changing social media use among charities and offers tips on getting the most out of platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn
Charities are failing to integrate their frequent social media use into their organisation’s wider fundraising strategy, according to a latest survey.
The survey of 100 charities by Social Misfit Media found that three quarters are posting on social media frequently each week, with 44.4% posting five or more times a week and 33.3% posting at least three times a week. However, only 14% say that their social media use very integrated within the organisations’ fundraising strategy.
The same proportion say that their social media use is not integrated at all in fundraising efforts, with 27% saying it is ‘not very integrated’ and 45% saying it is ‘somewhat integrated’. Among charities 15.5% say they almost never post on social media and 7% say they only post around once a week.
The survey findings have been revealed in an online guide, called Make it Social, which has been produced by Social Misfits Media and sponsored by Lightful and the Institute of Fundraising to help charities make the most of social media.
The guide covers issues such as building an online community and engaging with them in an interesting way, particularly through story telling. It also covers how charities can best ask for donations via social media.
“Three quarters of our respondents report posting at least once per week, with most posting a lot more than that. We’re pleased to see this prioritisation of frequent posting, a key element of social media use,” states the report. “Sadly, we still have some way to go before social media becomes baked into organisations’ wider strategy – which we know from our own work is how you get the best results.
“But it’s looking promising, with more organisations recognising the intrinsic value of social media to their overall approach since our last survey.”
Make it Social also reveals a change in social media platform use, since it surveyed charities for its 2014 report Friends with Money.
The proportion of charities with a presence on Instagram has rocketed from 21% to 64% over the last five years. Facebook and Twitter remain the key platforms being used, with Twitter marginally more popular, up from 94% to 95%, and charities’ Facebook presence slightly down, from 94% to 92%.
Youtube is more popular, up from 66% to 69%, as is LinkedIn, from 64% to 66%. Charities continue to have a presence on smaller platforms, although these have changed. Charity presence on Pininterest, Flickr, Vimeo and Tumblr has fallen, with Reddit and Twitch among those mentioned in the latest survey.
"We can see that our 100 respondents are most present on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram – but other, smaller platforms are being used, too. Having a presence on a diverse array of platforms is important,” adds the report.
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