Direct mail may be a traditional marketing tool for non-profits to raise funds or awareness, but social media is reaching people in new ways.
Canada’s non-profit and voluntary sector is the second largest in the world, with an estimated 161,000 non-profits and charities, according to Imagine Canada, a national program that promotes public and corporate giving and volunteering.
Factor in global catastrophic events like earthquakes and tsunamis that turn peoples’ attention – and wallets – away from local needs, and non-profit societies can have a tough go of raising money.
Among social media sites, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are growing as tools to reach people who are already connecting with friends and businesses online.
Another player is Ning, a global platform that provide forums for visitors to have conversations and inspire action. The difference between traditional direct marketing and social media is the immediate interaction as people discuss issues in real time.
Crowd sourcing is at the heart of Aprons in Action, a Facebook initiative developed by the U.S.-based Home Depot Foundation. People can visit the Facebook page, read about the finalists and click to vote for their favourite charity to win $25,000.
Social media may not always translate directly into dollars, but it can raise awareness, connect people and gather information for future campaigns.
“Our mandate is to connect non-profits with software tools and technology and people in marketing communications and social media,” said Elijah van der Giessen, local organizer of Net Tuesday. “I host monthly meet-ups for people to talk about how we can fundraise effectively and use social media as a viable marketing tool.
“Last month our group was one of larger ones in the top 10 of the global NetSquared community,” he said. “Over 100 people attended, including non-profits, web innovators, social-media specialists and marketing consultants.
“At the David Suzuki Foundation we’ve learned the value of social media to create a list of donors,” added van der Giessesn, who also works at the foundation as its creative services team lead. “We build a valuable email list based on information people share when they take part in polls or sign petitions. When we send an email campaign to the list of people we connected with on social media, we get high results.”
During the recent National Organ Donor Awareness Week, the BC Transplant Society used social media to raise awareness for its “Live life. Pass it on” campaign. The campaign lets people customize their profile pictures with the tagline, “I Gave My Heart” to show online friends and networks they support organ donation.
TV ads, media, online ads, Twitter and street marketing also promote the campaign that is based on the legacy of Eva Markvoort, the late double-lung transplant who famously blogged her story.
“Just two days after the Facebook app launched, more than 700 people used it to change their profile pictures,” said Allison Colina, communications specialist for the BC Transplant Society. “We also had a definite boost in online organ donor registration.”
Recently, as the Union Gospel Mission (UGM) opened its new building on Vancouver’s east side an online transformation was taking place. In addition to the new building, the UGM debuted a new logo and launched a website with social media links.
“Social media offers an alternate medium that helps us reach and connect with a larger community,” said Jay Stewart, manager of communications and media relations for the mission. “We did a lot of communications using mail-outs in the past. But they’re not environmentally sustainable and people didn’t appreciate receiving them.”
UGM uses Twitter for immediate needs, from sharing information about events to asking for volunteers to communicating with other social service providers. During the new building’s launch, UGM was trending on Twitter, which means that it was mentioned in so many Twitter feeds, it became a common topic.
UGM also has a computer lab with Facebook to help connect people with family.
“Many people view the UGM as purely a meal destination, but we are street-level-entrenched and can serve those housed or not,” said Steward.
“If someone lost touch with family, we help them connect with different social services as well as use Facebook to help them search for a lost uncle.”