Social Media Practices of Top U.S. Charities

Since Thanksgiving is a time when we not only give thanks for what we have, but also extend a hand to those in need, this blog post from web marketing pro Jeff Bullas is timely.

In his post Bullas cites a recent study by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research on the usage of social media by the 200 largest charities in the U.S. (based on Forbes magazine data). Among the organizations participating were the Salvation Army, American Red Cross and Easter Seals.

Bullas writes:

[A] remarkable 89% of charitable organizations are using some form of social media including blogs, podcasts, message boards, social networking, video blogging and wikis.

Blogs are the top social media tool, used by 57% of the charities. An overwhelming majority (90%) reported that their blogs were successful (though how isn’t specified). Also, about one in four of the charities with blogs use WordPress as their platform.

Nearly two-thirds (65%) of the top U.S. charities use video on their blogs, and uploading to YouTube is common.

You can read Bullas’s post for more data. One point made by a commenter to the post is that the survey isn’t about “best practices” as much as level and types of social media usage. I think that’s true. Still, as a snapshot of social media adoption by non-profits, the study offers some interesting information.

AllFacebook Marketing Conference returns to San Francisco on June 28-29! Join us and get a how-to guide for marketing to Facebook’s 800 million users. A full agenda will be announced soon. Keep an eye on our event site for more information. Special early pricing is available for only $249 until this Wednesday, February 15, so register today.