Thought your mission-driven organization was kicking it in social media? You may need to think again.
Don't put all your nonprofit's eggs in one Facebook basket.
If your nonprofit has put all your online marketing eggs in one Facebook-fan page basket, you need to read this article from All Facebook: The Unofficial Facebook Resource. In the article, Brian Carter describes how, on average, fewer than 20% of your Facebook fans are even seeing your posts. And that’s probably not the way you want your nonprofit to be treated.
Changes Facebook made at the end of 2011 have impacted who sees your posts, seemingly with the intent to move toward a more monetized system. Just check your own personal news feed. How many status updates are you getting from the pages that you’ve joined? For me, they are few and far between.
What’s the solution? There are many options, but in my mind the system we’ve been advising for clients during the past few years still seems to be the best practice. Own your content and house it on your own online property, whether it is a blog or website. Then use the social networking sites (which may come and go – think MySpace) as tools to share your message.
How are you using social media to share the message of your mission? Let us know in the comment section below.
