Social Networking: Is it the Pot of Gold at the End of the Internet Rainbow?

Everywhere I look there are conference sessions, webinars and white papers on harnessing the power of the Internet to raise money for nonprofit organizations. I agree that the Internet is a powerful tool that can be used to build the connection between a donor and a charity. But does it work for fundraising? Is it something that warrants the executive-level development positions that I'm starting to see advertised?

I was an early adopter of the Internet as a tool for strengthening the impact of the organizations I worked for. Way before Y2K hit I had launched the equivalent of an e-newsletter and online appeal – years before specific technology would be developed for these purposes. And it was successful.

The inspiration for my very first online appeal came while I was working at home late one weekday evening. Our year end appeal had come from the printer that day, and I had brought a few copies home. These weren't just any year end appeal. The founder of the organization wrote eloquently and honestly about his experience in a way that resonated and connected with the organization's donors. The average gift for these appeals was 10 times the average direct mail donation. To take it from idea to gifts coming in the door, however, was exhausting. It usually took six weeks of solid badgering and cajoling and I'm sure at least one bottle of bourbon on his part. Every year, just as I had finally given up on actually getting this to the printer in time to increase our fundraising numbers for that year, he would come through with something that took my breath away.

Needless to say, I wanted to get as much mileage out of this appeal as I could. So, I decided to just type out the text of the appeal, include a donation link and send it to the e-mail list of supporters that I had gathered to e-mail whenever anything newsworthy happened. There were maybe a thousand (at most) names on the list. The response was amazing! Donations started coming in 10 minutes after I hit send. We raised more than $25,000 from that e-mail.

So, I know it can happen – but I also know it doesn't happen that often. Before long, everyone was in the game and there were more e-newsletters available than I would ever have the time to read. Then Social Networking hit, and there was MySpace and Facebook and Twitter. I was slow to adopt the social networking sites, personally and professionally. My Facebook page is less than a year old, and I've been tweeting (or should I say, I've been following "tweeters") for about three months.

A few weeks after I joined Facebook, I set up pages for some clients and started inviting people. I must admit I was amazed to see how many people joined. Friends of mine joined causes that they had no connection to, Numbers of members rose much faster than I anticipated. It was hard for me to believe that these members would actually become donors.

The Washington Post article, To Nonprofits Seeking Cash, Facebook App Isn't So Green reinforced my belief that it was a bit too easy to become a member of a cause – said as the proud member of 31 Facebook causes. My sense was that such casual joining does not reflect a real connection to the cause, but most likely a connection to the person who sent the request. The Post supported that supposition.

According to the article:

• 179,000 nonprofits use Facebook Causes as a vehicle to promote their organization and secure donations.
  
• Only a tiny fraction of these have been able to bring in even $1,000.
  
• Fewer than 50 of the 179,000 fundraisers have raised $10,000.
  
• 25 million Facebook members have signed on as supporters of at least one cause. Only 185,000 have actually made a donation.
  
• The application allows Facebook users to list themselves as supporters of a cause on their profile page, but fewer than 1% of those who have joined the cause do so.
  
• 25 million of Facebook's 200 million members have signed on as supporters of at least one cause, making it the third-most popular of the more than 52,000 applications on the site.
  

What does this mean for non-profits?

Even though Social Networking is not quite living up to all the hype, it is an important and easy way to connect with people who care about your organization. Relationships are always going to be the things that drive your fundraising income. Facebook is one way to help you do this, but as with everything else, you have to invest time and energy to see results.

How can you make sure you are making the best use of Facebook and other social media tools?

• Get in the game. If you don't already have a Facebook page, get started now. Wild Apricot's non-profit technology blog has a great beginner's guide for non-profits using Facebook and a description of Facebook applications you can use on your cause page. These were written before the "new and improved" version of Facebook, but most of the information is still the same.
  
• Connect your current donors to your activity on Facebook. These are the people who already support your organization and whom you have a good chance to engage and inform at a deeper level through your Facebook presence. Encourage them to connect with you through your website, e-newsletter and print publications.
  
• Post new and edgy content. Remember that your goal is to get your readers to "pass it on." Post something people will want to forward to their friends. The best example of this I have seen is MoveOn's personalized Mother of the Year video. I never forward things and was so delighted by this after receiving it that I forwarded it to at least 10 friends. When you click to enter the information to forward it there is a small box below your name that is checked (you can uncheck it if you want, but I didn't) that says "I want to hear more from MomsRising and MoveOn.org about mom & family issues." Sure, this is an issue that is relevant to me, one I want to hear about– and they got my name and e-mail because they created content clever enough to really make me want to forward it.
  

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