An interesting piece of work this week from research consultancy nfpSynergy, which has explored the exposure charitable organisations achieve via leading digital platforms such as FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube. One of its key findings was that social media can be “a great leveller, with smaller charities outshining larger ones”. In some cases, charities even outperform huge retailers and big businesses.
Top performers according to nfpSynergy driver of ideas Joe Saxton are The Royal British Legion, RSA and Comic Relief – which emerge as the 3 UK-based charities with the largest social media presence. By platform, the Royal British Legion heads the Facebook rankings, with 1,875,926 ‘likes’; the Tate heads the Twitter rankings, with 304,987 ‘followers’; and RSA tops YouTube rankings, with 79,341 ‘subscribers’.
Social media presence does not reflect income
These headline findings appear as part of nfpSynergy’s Charity Social Media League Table, which compares the social media presence of all UK charities. It then goes on to analyse the Top 50 UK charities by fund-raised income - comparing the Top 25 of those against the Top 25 UK shops, and Top 25 FTSE companies. Among its findings, nfpSynergy says 92% of the Top 50 UK charities (by fundraised income) use Facebook, 96% use Twitter and 90% use YouTube, while 74% have at least one blog.
Significantly, however, “there is little correlation between a charity’s income and its social media presence, with small charities often outdoing larger ones”.
Charities which punch above their weight include “Comic Relief, the V&A, Royal Opera House, Amnesty and Greenpeace”. Among those charity sectors which use social media to great effect are “arts, animal and cancer”.
In terms of comparisons with the private sector: the Top 25 UK shops have nearly 50% more (201,643 shop; 140,531 charity) Facebook ‘likes’ than the average Top 25 UK charity by fundraised income. But they have 7,000 less (17,215 shop; 24,658 charity) Twitter ‘followers’ - and less (466 shop; 620 charity) YouTube ‘subscribers’. Meanwhile, the Top 25 FTSE companies by market cap. have a tenth (14,830 company; 140,531 charity) as many Facebook ‘likes’ as the Top 25 UK charities by income; an eighth (3,086 company; 24,658 charity) as many Twitter ‘followers’; and less than a third (186 company; 620 charity) as many YouTube ‘subs’.
A compelling story, a topical issue, a celebrity
So what can the PR industry surmise from such findings? Well let’s look at the positives first: “Social media provides a cheap and simple way to engage with supporters, and can be used to great effect by an organisation of any size,” says Saxton. “This is borne out by the fact that there is little correlation between charity income and social media.”
So what’s the key to engaging with audiences? Well the clear message from nfpSynergy’s figures is that charities can boost their profile if they tell a compelling story, address a topical issue, involve a celebrity or have access to interesting content. It’s no surprise, for example, to see Comic Relief at the top of the pile, given the talent it can call upon. Indeed, nfpSynergy’s own figures show that celebrity-related social media usage is massive, citing Dr. Gregory House’s 19 million Facebook ‘likes’; Coldplay’s 3.6 million Twitter ‘followers’; and Charlie McDonnell's 876,000 YouTube ‘subscribers’. It stands to reason then that any charity which has an authentic relationship with a celebrity is well-placed to boost its profile (think about the support Marie Curie Cancer Care derives from actor Hugh Grant).
News and social justice
It is not that surprising, either, to see museums and galleries well-placed, since they have interesting content to share (and leverage). And the likes of Amnesty and Greenpeace are clearly reaping the benefits of being an important and engaging part of the international news and social justice agenda. This message has clearly also been taken on board by The Royal British Legion, which has tapped into the widespread concern felt by the UK population for the fate of service men and women in locations such as Afghanistan.
A word of caution
There are, however, more problematic issues for agencies and charities to consider before the plunge headlong into social media. The first is that Facebook and the like can also be used by audiences to voice criticisms. So any PR strategy designed to drive social media engagement needs to incorporate a response mechanism for disgruntled visitors.
Secondly, and more importantly, PR agencies and their clients need to derive a view on why there is a lack of correlation between income raised and levels of social media support. Perhaps the simple explanation is that showing interest through social media is the first step on a journey to donating. Or maybe FaceBook fans are young people who will one day grow into cash generators for charities.
Are there more effective places?
But agencies and charities also need to consider whether there are more effective places to direct PR efforts in order to raise charitable funds. Is there, for example, something about FaceBook that makes visitors disinclined to part with their cash (perhaps viewing the click of the like button as a conscience-salving alternative to donations)?