CHOICES: Measuring Return on Investment in a Nonprofit Organization

Background: Social Media Use By Nonprofit Organizations

In the past decade, social media has become a more important tool for nonprofit organizations. Transformational social media communication tools have significantly increased audience access to nonprofit organizations engaged in cause marketing and advocacy. While often thought of as primarily a communications tool, when used effectively, social media can help nonprofit organizations better meet their missions. Social media has provided increased ability not only for outreach and advocacy, but also for education, collaboration, service provision, volunteer recruitment, and financial support (Shirky, 2008; Pynes, 2009). The new tools have also resulted in greater expectations from the public for organizational communication leadership and technology skills. There are four critical areas to evaluate when surveying the current landscape of nonprofit social media utilization: Usage, Coordination, and Responsibility, Strategy, and Organizational Capacity.