Friends with Money

JustGiving and social media consultancy Social Misfits Media have launched a guide to how charities and social enterprises can use social media to reach more people and raise more money.

The report, entitled Friends with Money, looked at how the majority of charities and social enterprises now include social media in their online activities.

It follows the launch of a new social plugin from JustGiving that allows any charity to embed social giving into their website.

The report asked 250 UK charities and social enterprises about their social media footprint, and found that 94 percent asked have a presence on Twitter and Facebook. This is up from 2012, when only 75 percent of UK organisations asked were on Facebook and 70 percent on Twitter. It also found that 66 percent of those asked used YouTube and 64 percent were on LinkedIn.

When asked which social media platform the organisations used most frequently, 60 percent said Twitter and 40 percent said Facebook.

The guide has been produced to help charities and social enterprises, of all sizes, budgets, and remits, think more broadly about fundraising on social media. It states that social media can play a role in each stage of the fundraising process, from the identification and cultivation of new supporters to solicitation and acknowledgement.

The report looks at case studies of fundraising success on social media including Cancer Research UK’s use of the #nomakeupselfie trend and reveals that from July 2013 to June 2014, Facebook posts about JustGiving were viewed 905 million times, bringing 47 million visit to JustGiving’s website. Those coming directly from Facebook donated a total of £63million through the site. It also states that all the people who visited JustGiving directly from Twitter donated a total of £3.8million.

To download the report visit http://pages.justgiving.com/friends-with-money.html.