From Our Brains to Yours
Organizations Don’t Have Friends
A couple of weeks ago the Washington Post set off another kerfuffle among online communications devotees (we like our kerfuffles, evidently – the infamous newsletter kerfuffle is just now dying down) when it published an article on the disappointing fundraising numbers turned in by Facebook Causes. It turns out that it’s not as simple as making it possible to donate, even via Facebook. I suspect that getting people to engage in the social activity of joining a cause and the solo activity of donating to that cause are two very different endeavors, which explains why Causes can have hundreds of thousands of supporters, but only a few donors. (Donna Callejon of Global Giving voiced the suspicion before I did at the Politics Online conference a few weeks ago, where we presented together on a panel.)
Reaction to the article was swift and fierce, with the bulk of the outrage seeming to point in the direction of defending online engagement – in this case, presumably building and cultivating Supporters via Facebook Causes – for it’s own sake because that engagement will eventually yield mission-critical results (some examples of very smart reactions along those lines: Beth Kanter and Allison Fine). There was also a fair amount of outrage regarding outdated assumptions built into the author’s assessment of fundraising via Facebook, mainly that such activities are geared toward extracting dollars, or turning supporters into donors. In this day and age, we should not treat our lists as ATM machines, but as… friends?
While I think there often is value in engagement, I object strongly to the argument that engagement for engagement’s sake is a responsible strategy for organizations. Setting aside the ranting about treating the internet as an ATM machine, it’s critical to remember that individuals engage online for different reasons than organizations. I’ve just reconnected on Facebook with the woman who was my best friend when we were neighbors as ten-year-olds. We live a time zone apart now and we engage for the sake of engagement – our connection is important to us as individuals, regardless of any future payoff. When an organization engages, it’s to further a specific mission – to help that organization deliver better services, more effectively change policy or elect someone. Individuals need connection to friends, family, coworkers… the social network part of social networking. Organizations need connection to supporters – donors, volunteers, and activists – and hope to tap into social networks to make those connections. To confuse the two types of connections is silly and problematic.
So, should you venture forth and add Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking tools to your fundraising toolkit? Maybe. If you have resources to spare to make sure you’re engaging people and time to wait to see if they’ll turn into supporters. Even if you have neither time nor resources to spare when it comes to raising money, it might make sense for you to engage your supporters where they’re already spending time for other reasons. But at the end of the day, as an organization you need supporters who will take specific actions to further your mission. Don’t engage online unless you’re clear on the who, how, and why social networking tools are the best way to get you there.
UPDATED: Of course my friends Shabbir Safdar and Jason Alcorn are crazy smart and already all over this. Check out their post on measuring the impact of social media: How One Nonprofit Measures the Impact of its Social Media Marketing.