Social Media for Non-profit organisations
Elizabeta Gorgievska, Head of Digital Strategy at Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town, spoke about the social media landscape and how it can be beneficial to non-profit organisations (NPO). First and foremost, changes in user behaviour along with technological innovations drive adaptation to go digital. In practice, however, there is a vast number of digital technologies and platforms as well as there is a vast number of NPO’s that compete for project funding. Therefore, it can be stated that NPO’s do have customers and are somewhat a business. Consequently, NPO’s would need targeted marketing activities and are advised to think in conversations rather than in campaigns. Global results show that a combination of technologies, e.g. Facebook and Twitter together lead to a manifold of funding being raised. Moreover, social media is able to change the ‘funding-cycle’ by showing progress and results in an emotional and interactive way, e.g. through pictures and videos, as opposed to simply asking for additional funding. After showing a number of successful social media campaigns, it can be stated that social media is extremely beneficial for NPO’s while thorough planning sets the groundwork before benefits can be reaped.