scholarly journals The Use of Social Media by Non Profit Organizations

Author(s):  
Joanna Kos-Łabędowicz
Author(s):  
David Chapman ◽  
Katrina Miller-Stevens ◽  
John C Morris ◽  
Brendan O'Hallarn

Non-profit organizations are actively using social media platforms as a way to deliver information to end users, yet little is known of the internal processes these organizations follow to implement this tool. We present a case study of one non-profit organization, Blue Star Families, Inc., that is actively engaged in advocacy and civic engagement. We offer a new model to explore non-profit organizations’ use of social media platforms by building on previous models and frameworks developed to explore the use of social media in the public, private, and non-profit sectors.


Author(s):  
Dinesh Rathi ◽  
Lisa Given ◽  
Eric Forcier ◽  
Sarah Vela

This paper presents emerging results of a national online survey of Canadian Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) on their perception and use of social media, and their role for the purpose of Knowledge Management (KM). Based on results from the first 320 respondents spanning across local and provincial boundaries, these findings provide insight into what social media platforms are preferred by these organizations, what tasks they are used for and the tasks for which these tools are considered most effective.Cet article présente les résultats d’une enquête nationale effectuée en ligne auprès des organismes canadiens sans but lucratif (OSBL), les interrogeant sur leur compréhension et leur utilisation des médias sociaux, et le rôle de ceux-ci dans la gestion des connaissances. Sur la base des données obtenues auprès des 320 premiers répondants, se situant par-delà les frontières locales et provinciales, ces résultats permettent de comprendre quelles sont les plates-formes de médias sociaux préférées par ces OSBL, pour quelles tâches elles sont utilisées et pour quelles tâches ces outils sont considérés comme les plus efficaces.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekah Bjork ◽  
Brian Palaggi ◽  
Ryan McKee

Non-profit organizations in the United States are becoming more dependent on the use of social media accounts, to market to their mobile audiences, because they are free to use. With the constant advancements in technology, True Friends marketing department struggles to keep up with the lack of staff and necessary resources. The researchers chose to investigate how True Friends Organization could improve the quality of their mobile engagement through the analysis of their social media and Google analytics accounts. Specifically, the researchers implemented action research to evaluate if the increased use of Instagram expands True Friends mobile audience. The researchers evaluated how technology helps to create unique cultures amongst mobile audiences, as well as why social media as a medium is so important. Participants of this study included True Friends mobile audiences on Google Analytics, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Their mobile audience consists of participants from California, England, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, and Wisconsin. The study meticulously focused on social media as a medium for True Friends to communicate with their mobile audience, and how each of their accounts helps to create a distinct culture.


Author(s):  
Sarah Vela ◽  
Eric Forcier ◽  
Dinesh Rathi ◽  
Lisa Given

This research paper explores how ‘social knowledge’, as an emergent category of organizational knowledge, flows through non-profit organizations (NPOs). Examining findings from qualitative interviews with 16 individual from Canadian NPOs on their use of social media for Knowledge Management (KM), the paper builds on KM theories and epistemologies to propose a model for the assimilation, dissemination and creation of ‘social knowledge’ in NPOs.Ce rapport de recherche examine comment la «connaissance sociale», en tant que catégorie émergente de la connaissance organisationnelle, circule dans les organisations sans but lucratif (OSBL). Nous avons examiné les résultats d’entretiens qualitatifs avec seize personnes provenant d'OSBL canadiennes sur leur utilisation des médias sociaux aux fins de la gestion des connaissances. Notre rapport s'appuie sur les théories et l’épistémologie de la gestion des connaissances pour proposer un modèle de l'assimilation, de la diffusion et de la création de «connaissance sociale» dans les OSBL.


Author(s):  
Shannon Lucky ◽  
Dinesh Rathi

Social media technologies have the potential to be powerful knowledge sharing and community building tools for both corporate and non-profit interests. This pilot study explores the social media presence of a group of forty-six Alberta-based non-profit organizations (NPOs) in this information rich space. In this paper we look at the pattern of presence of NPOs using social media and relationships with staffing structures.Les médias sociaux ont la capacité d’être de puissants outils de partage de la connaissance et de rassemblement communautaire pour les organisations à but lucratif et sans but lucratif. Cette étude pilote explore la présence dans les médias sociaux d’un groupe de quarante-six organisations sans but lucratif (OSBL) albertaines dans cet environnement riche en information. La communication portera sur les modèles de présence des OSBL dans les médias sociaux et les liens avec les structures organisationnelles.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma E. Duke ◽  
Kathleen C. Sitter ◽  
Nicole Boggan

Online communication continues to provide opportunities to connect, mobilize and disseminate information amongst direct service organizations. While the use of social media among non-profits continues to expand, there is a paucity of research that documents the extent to which online channels – particularly social media – are adopted and used amongst organizations that support sex workers. Online advocacy efforts have grown over the last decade, with sex workers and non-profit organizations at the forefront. This article evaluates the presence and social media strategies amongst organizations providing direct services for sex workers in Canada. Eighty-seven organizations operating in Canada were examined to assess both the types of social media channels used, and the online strategies employed. Results indicate there is a propensity for agencies to engage in multiple social media platforms with spaces for service users to post information in lieu of static sites that predominantly support one-way communication. Recommendations and best practices include integrating postings across platforms for efficiency, developing and maintaining safe spaces online, and focusing on channels that support multilogue communication.             Keywords:  Sex work, social media, knowledge


First Monday ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Sandoval-Almazan ◽  
Andrea L. Kavanaugh

The use of social media by public administration has been growing steadily, and fostering important transformations in organization, costs, citizen interaction and efficiency. Citizens are increasingly more informed about government activities, performance, and claims solutions. Citiizens and non-profit organizations are in greater communication with each other about government planning and response to complex and collective problems. Social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and WhatsApp, as well as related tools, such as commenting, liking, tagging and rating, change the distribution of information, power and resources. The growing maturity of public officials in the use of these tools not only creates new opportunities, but also engenders problems. Many politicians, public officials and public servants are seeking ways to adapt their daily operations and practices to make effective use of social media for interaction with non-governmental organizations and with citizens and to provide information and services more efficiently. The papers in this special issue on social media and government capture the current state of some of these opportunities and problems.


2017 ◽  
pp. 132-161
Author(s):  
Anita Medhekar

The use of social media for information dissemination for education, environmental movement, natural disasters, emergency, election campaign, grass root movements, non-profit organisations, public health communication, and marketing for health promotion, e-governance, and political revolutions is well known. The economic significance of the health and medical tourism sector in the global healthcare business should not be underestimated. Internet is playing a leading role as a platform for the dissemination of medical tourism business information. In this century, more and more actual and potential tourists are accessing the internet and social media applications to find and disseminate factual information regarding medical tourism facilitators, destinations, super-speciality hospitals, specialist doctors and nurses, quality and accreditation, accommodation facility, cost, waiting period for surgery and sharing their positive and negative experiences to inform potential medical tourists. Healthcare providers and medical tourists acquire information, create, collaborate, communicate and disseminate healthcare and medical tourism related information through the Word-of-Social-Media (WoSM) tools such as FaceBook, Flickr, Twitter, Blogs, Forums, YouTube patient testimonials, Google Plus, LinkedIn, Photo and video sharing, Alexa and mobile applications. Therefore social media has a great potential as an information source and a knowledge dissemination tool for tourism industry to network and create clusters locally and globally, to exploit new innovative technologies for interaction and collaboration between the healthcare providers as well as the medical tourists. The main contribution of this chapter is to explore and discuss the role and use of social media applications for knowledge dissemination by hospitals and the medical tourists in the global business of medical tourism in India.


2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1052-1071 ◽  
Author(s):  
María del Mar Gálvez-Rodríguez ◽  
Carmen Caba-Pérez ◽  
Manuel López-Godoy

Purpose In view of the increased impact of social media, non-profit organizations (NPOs) should review their management model for stakeholder relationships. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of factors on the use of Twitter by NPOs as a mechanism for disclosing information and dialogue with their stakeholders, and in particular: “donor dependence,” “fundraising expenses,” “organizational age,” “organizational size,” “online community size,” “network activity” and “board size.” Design/methodology/approach A content analysis of Twitter use as a strategic communication tool was conducted and a multivariable linear regression analysis was performed. Findings Smaller organizations and those with a larger online community are the most interested in implementing Twitter as a one or two-way communication strategy. Likewise, the NPOs with the highest degree of donor dependence strive most in the use of contents of Twitter as one-way communication mechanism. Social implications This study contributes to a better understanding of social media implementation in the NPO sector and advances the identification of the main causes that motivate NPOs to improve their accountability through social media. Originality/value The paper’s subject is relatively innovative due to the scarce studies focussing on social media used by NPOs. In spite of the advantages offered by Twitter, few studies have specifically addressed NPOs’ current use of this platform, and fewer still have analyzed the factors that motivate them to use this tool.


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