NFPs To Increase Social Network Staffing
29 April 2010 at 3:22 pm
In the US, as many as 50% of Not for Profits say they will increase employee staffing related to social networks in the coming twelve months, according to a new analysis of NFP social network use.
Half of the more than 1,000 NFP professionals surveyed in the Nonprofit Social Benchmark Report indicated their organisation would increase staffing around social networks, with 20% saying they will increase funding for external resources such as consultants, designers and over the next twelve months.
Sixty seven percent of respondents said their organisations currently allocated ¼ to ½ of a full time employee to developing their social networks.
The Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report, a joint initiative between the Nonprofit Technology Network, Common Knowledge and the Portal, found that Not for Profit organisations continued to increase their use of social networks over 2009 and early 2010.
The report found Facebook and Twitter continued to be the preferred networks for NFPs, with LinkedIn and YouTube remaining steady, however MySpace usage was significantly down.
The report found that Facebook continues to be the social network of choice for NFPs, with 86% of organisations indicating they have a Facebook presence – a 16% increase on 2009. Facebook usage among NFPs continues to grow with new organisations coming onboard, and those previously present continuing to use the social network.
The average community size on Facebook experienced a drop from 5,391 members in 2009 to 2,440 in 2010, however the report attributes this to the large number of new organisations joining the network and pushing the average down.
Twitter continued to grow as an important communication tool for NFPs, with the average community size (number of followers) for an NFP growing by a huge 627%, from 286 followers in 2009 to 1,792 in 2010.
Overall, NFP usage of the Micro-messaging network increased 38% from 2009, with 60% of respondents using the platform in 2010.
YouTube and LinkedIn usage remained steady over the last year, with 48% of organisations using YouTube, and 33% using LinkedIn, however MySpace experienced a 45% drop in usage, from 26% in 2009 to 14.4% in 2010.
Organisations that are heavily committed – employing two or more full-time employees to maintain their commercial networks – expressed the highest levels of satisfaction with their efforts, describing their investment as ‘very valuable’.
Between February 3 and March 15 2010, 1,173 Not for Profit professionals responded to the survey about their organisation’s use of online social networks.
Have you taken part on our Pro Bono Australia one-minute online survey to assess the Facebook Factor in Australia. Follow the link to tick the boxes and let us know about your organisation’s use of Social Media. Click HERE.
