NGO’s for Social Media
| July 2, 2022 | Posted by Vinaya under Social Media |
If you work for a not-for-profit organization or an NGO, then this article may be useful to you.
Tight budgets, grueling schedules and doubting Thomas’s can often drive a NGO towards eternal stress. But despair not; social media is here for you! A lot many NGO’s have now allotted a huge chunk of their promotions and marketing budget for print, TV and outdoor campaigns to include more of social media.
India has a large number of NGO’s and with rising social issues, NGO’s are usually short of funds. And given the very nature of this business – ‘not-for-profit’, survival often gets tough. We list here some of the basic grounds on why adopting social media is not only beneficial but also advisable for a NGO.
Ideal for a start-up NGO
You are short of funds and volunteers when you launch your brand, unless you are funded by charitable trusts. At this stage all you need is a cost-effective method of spreading your message and finding the community that is likely to yield to this message.
Offers a zero-cost marketing tool
It costs nothing to create your Facebook fan page other than your time. The same goes for Twitter and Youtube. And if you hire an agency, it would cost you only a third of what you would have spent had you entailed services of a traditional marketing firm. Since distribution of information is faster online, it is economic and effective comparatively.
Provides for rich multimedia content
Just as pictures are worth a thousand words, videos are worth a thousand and more words! You could upload pictures and videos onto your blog, Facebook fan page, Flickr, Youtube, etc. Displaying the work that you do in the form of photographs and videos of the various events and causes you undertake goes on a long way to remain etched in one’s mind rather than plain textual stories.
Enables effective word of mouth
As the medium is a social one, the message spreads organically. Members of a community tend to believe other members and take their word for it. This enables faster, efficient distribution of your message. Given the nature of the message, the likelihood of it getting viral is high.
Enables community sharing
Members of a community are more likely to share information amongst themselves and act upon it together. You could also factor in the ‘goodness’ incentive one receives upon sharing social causes to the community at large. As per studies, there are more youth, women and seniors active on social networks today and they are more inclined to volunteer for social causes. This is reason enough to find action oriented, like-minded people to grow your movement.
Social media is about relationships and relationships alone. If you can build relationships, then you can garner support for your cause. So build relationships, go social!
We are keen to showcase NGO’s that have made fantastic use of social media as these could serve as case studies for budding ones. Do share about the NGO’s that you have come across in the comments section or you could email us at [email protected]
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http://lighthouseinsights.in/2011/07/deep-griha-society-ngo-using-social-media.html Deep Griha Society | Lighthouse Insights
