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A Look at Nonprofit Social Media Use Studies

The following series will look at the results of several reports released during the 2010 year examining nonprofit use of social media.

Part 2: Facebook

Who is using Facebook?
Among the nonprofit sample groups surveyed, between 73-86% reported using Facebook. Idealware found that among the nonprofits they surveyed who reported not using Facebook, 53% planned to begin using Facebook within the following six months of the time surveyed.

How and why use Facebook?
The nonprofits using Facebook are overwhelming using Facebook Pages, some having migrated from Facebook Groups. The most commonly cited reason to use Facebook was for traditional marketing purposes followed by fundraising. Users of largely consider Facebook to “very effective” for cause marketing purposes.

How often are nonprofits posting on Facebook?
Nonprofits reported posting updates to their Facebook pages on average 6 times per week. 58% of those nonprofits who up update their Facebook pages at least once a day, describe Facebook as “very effective” at meeting their social media goals.

How are Facebook fans reacting?
Prolonged and frequent use of Facebook generally results in an accelerating growth of fans. However, while the growth rate of fans on Facebook occurs at a higher rate than the growth of email lists, the rate of disengagement is also higher.


Sources
Nonprofits and Social Media: It Ain’t Optional. Ventureneer and Caliber. October 4, 2010.

2010 Nonprofit Social Media Benchmarks Study: An Analysis of Growth and Social Engagement Metrics for Nonprofit Organizations. M+R Strategic Services. 2010.

Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report. NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Network), Common Knowledge and ThePort. April 2010.

Using Social Media to Meet Nonprofit Goals: The Results of a Survey. IdealWare, Firefly Partners, Balance Interactive, Beaconfire. February 2010.

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