November 17, 2013; Care2
The Foundation Center recently studied over 1,000 foundations and their social media use, and discovered that despite the overwhelming call to utilize social networking, only 45 percent of foundations are actively using social media. The survey also found that corporate and community foundations tend to be more active in social media, while only thirty-four percent of independent and family foundations are using social media as a communications tool.
The Foundation Center put together an eye-catching infographic that compiles the survey’s data on foundation social media use. You can view it below:
Sign up for our free newsletters
Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.
By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.
As you can see, foundations are most active on Twitter and Facebook, with YouTube coming in as the third most popular social networking tool. When foundations actively using social media were asked if they had a formal social media strategy, a surprising seventy-four percent said no. Although a majority of social networking foundations don’t have a specific strategy, sixty-one percent of surveyed foundations did still see benefits to expanding their social media presence.
The top four reasons foundations saw social networking as successful to their organization was:
- To promote the work of the foundation
- To promote the work of the grantees
- Keep up with the news and trends
- Solicit proposals
All foundations included in the above infographic also have their information listed on GlassPockets, the Foundation Center’s initiative to increase transparency within foundations. Foundation Transparency 2.0 is an innovative online tool to view a foundation’s total assets and total giving, as well as a list of online communication tools the organization uses.—Aine Creedon
