Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Social Media Adoption Higher for Non-Profits

I have a soft spot for the University of Massachusetts, as two of my siblings and I graduated from UMass Amherst and my sister is currently enrolled at UMass Dartmouth. Soft spot aside, a recent study by the Center for Marketing Research at UMass Dartmouth found that non-profits are more likely to use social media than Fortune 500 companies.

In fact, 75% of the surveyed non-profits utilize social media or Web 2.0 strategies to assist their fundraising and/or outreach efforts. And, non-profits are much more likely than Fortune 500 companies to blog!

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not that surprised. Corporate blogging opens up a whole can of worms. Non-profits are often smaller, perhaps with fewer regulations, than Fortune 500 companies... though this study did look at the largest US non-profits. Or, perhaps non-profits are more likely to pursue "free" marketing like social media.

Why do you think non-profits are more likely to use social media than other groups?


Study Details: The Center performed a telephone survey of the 200 non-profits named by Forbes Magazine as the largest US charities in 2006. Over 1/3 answered, which is a great response rate and makes the data statistically significant. More details are available at the Center for Marketing Research website.

No comments:

Post a Comment