Are nonprofits making the most of Facebook?

Recently I logged into Facebook to explore options for donating funds to the relief efforts in Haiti. To get the ball rolling, I used the Causes application to focus my search on international aid organizations. While I was familiar with the names of many of the nonprofits appearing on my screen, I needed to visit profile pages to learn more about the mission and outreach efforts of several of the organizations. Ultimately, I made a donation to a nonprofit I have known about for years, but the experience reminded me of a 2009 research article in Public Relations Review.

Four researchers from North Carolina State University completed a content analysis of 275 nonprofit organization profiles on Facebook. The researchers wanted to know how nonprofits were using the social networking site to promote/advance their organization’s mission/activities. Granted, the sample is a small fraction of the overall number of nonprofits in the U.S., but the results are interesting. Many of the nonprofits were not taking advantage of the interactive nature of the social networking site. According to the authors:

“They [the organizations] rarely provide information in forms other than external links to news stories, photographs, and discussion board posts, and they only attempted to get interested parties involved by providing them with a contact email address to obtain more information.”

The authors noted several missed PR opportunities, including posting multimedia files, providing summaries of successful campaign efforts, and using fundraising applications such as Causes to generate fan involvement.

As I visited profile pages, I was seeking reassurance the nonprofit organizations were good stewards of their funds. In many cases, information about financial management had to be tracked to an organization’s official website. I question whether those extra key strokes were necessary.

Now I’m intrigued – What do other Facebook users expect to find on the profile pages of nonprofit organizations? Further, how might more complete profile content and the use of fundraising applications enhance relationship development between profile visitors and the organization. Looks like I have an informal investigation on my hands.

Here’s the citation for the complete article: Waters, R.D., Burnett, E., Lamm, A., & Lucas, J. (2009). Engaging stakeholders through social networking: How nonprofit organizations are using Facebook. Public Relations Review, 35, 102-106.

-Regina (and no, I’m not related to one of the co-authors of the article)

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