Nonprofits set the pace re: online social media!
09:02, 29 July 2010
.. Posted in Communication, Outreach and General Mngmt.. Link
I get really annoyed by calls by people from corporations for nonprofits to act more like the for-profit sector. I've always thought it should be the other way around: nonprofits have a LOT to teach the corporate world.
For instance, a new study shows that large nonprofits outpace businesses and other types of organizations in adopting social media, according to the Society for New Communications Research. The study, by the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and Financial Institute, a Seattle research firm, found that 97 percent of the biggest U.S. charities use social media, a higher rate than comparable businesses and academic institutions. Ninety-three percent of the surveyed nonprofit groups maintain a Facebook profile, 87 percent use Twitter, and 65 percent have blogs (thanks for the heads-up about this from The Chronicle of Philanthropy).
It's a shame that nonprofits don't have the financial luxury of for-profits to issue white papers and hold conferences touting their innovative or successful business models. And you won't find corporations funding such activities, per their ongoing aversion to funding "administrative" functions at nonprofits rather than "direct service." A shame, because corporations could learn so much from nonprofits that would improve their resources management, staff support and community outreach.
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