A vast majority (88%) of non-profit professionals readily admit email and their organization's website are their most important communications tools. But with 97% of non-profit professionals reporting a Facebook presence in the same recent study by the Case Foundation and Social Media for Nonprofits, why does Social Media continue to take such a distant backseat in the digital arena?
Consider this: Facebook has grown to over one billion monthly active users, and measured on its own would be the third largest nation on the planet. Twitter has evolved into a tool that can topple dictatorial regimes, spread rapid-fire news, and call supporters to immediate action. Shouldn't non-profits and associations be focusing more attention harnessing this awesome power?
According to Rita Shuarma, writing in Nonprofit Quarterly, "most (74%) use social networks as a megaphone, announcing events and activities and sharing organization-centric info." Fewer still, just "53% actually follow the best practice of posting issue-centric content to establish thought leadership in their nonprofit's area(s) of focus," she writes. What's missing still, surprisingly, is a measure of true user engagement.
In 2014, associations, PACs and nonprofits achieving true digital success are those truly learning to engage, and collecting as much information back as they are sending out.
In fundraising, email remains the most powerful digital tool in your association or non-profit's arsenal. This isn't likely to change any time soon. However, your email fundraising strategies are likely to evolve over the years if you aim to remain successful - because the digital climate never stops changing. Email addresses change, user habits change, as do technical challenges such as the delivery patterns and guidelines of email providers.
Why are the giant, generic email lists dramatically less successful today? One reason is that 65% of all emails sent in the US each day today are automatically delivered to spam folders - and many of those are the emails rented by candidates and associations and companies trying to reach people who didn't ask for your email.
Which is better, emailing your entire membership list one big email from your president about a generic issue and asking for money for a generic purpose at the end? Or, segmenting your entire membership list based on their individual issues of concern as they relate to your organization, and then sending them each a personalized email from your president tailored to the issue (or issues) you know they each care about?
Why is social media changing? Same reasons, essentially. From megaphone to soapbox, social media platforms are today so much more. They serve now as opportunities for associations, PACs and non-profits to engage in meaningful dialogue that affects real change and acts as a catalyst for quantifiable action... if only people and organizations and companies would use it more.
Social media is an incredible tool not only to disseminate information to your universe of fans and followers, but a similarly incredible tool to learn more about them. As the saying goes, knowledge is power - or in this case, a more engaged membership, which participates more, donates more, engages more, even votes more regularly than before. And today, when it costs an average 3-times more to recruit a new member than to retain an existing member, digital communications are proving to be the most effective resources for associations and non-profits today. Just imagine what we'll all be able to do tomorrow.