Which is a Better Use of Time: Facebook or Blogging?

There are only so many hours in a day and many smaller non-profits don’t have the luxury of having a social media manager. Between e-mails, Twitter, Facebook and a website, social media fundraising can make any CEO exhausted. With limited time and limited resources, what should you focus on to get the biggest return on your time investment?

The social media world is obviously vital to the existence of any non-profit organization. In a world where cell phones and iPads are the new appendage in the evolutionary process, this is the best and easiest way to stay connected to your donor base. E-mails are great but if you send a mass e-letter, you’ll probably get an abundance of responses in the process which take more time that you have to spare. Twitter is great for comments and short updates, but there is no depth to it. Facebook is perfect for sharing pictures and paragraphs but not everyone is a member.

Of course your website is the 3-D version of your organization and your spokesperson on the web, but not everyone is going to take the time to click every tab or read every page. Blogging is great if you have the passion of a writer and you can really get in depth with your topics, but will your donors take the time to search out your blogs? So we’re back to our original question: what genre should you invest your limited time in to?

On StepbyStepFundraising.com, Gayle Thorsen advises “If you truly don’t have the staff time to blog at least once a week or make a Facebook update twice a week, you shouldn’t be considering either medium… If you do have adequate staff resources, go back to your strategic communications plan to make this decision. You have to start there—with what you want to happen as a result of your communications efforts… Each organization has unique goals and needs, they have to drive your choice. Don’t be seduced into thinking that because everyone’s on Facebook or such-and-such an organization has a blog, that you have to do the same thing.”

Here’s the breakdown: If most of your financial support comes from individual donors, Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with them. If most of your support comes from grants and foundations, have a stellar website with a blog attached. For major events, giveaways and milestones, send an e-mail from an address that is not your personal one and delegate an assistant to sort through what’s important and what can be skimmed over.

Whichever method you choose to implement, social media is an important aspect to non-profit fundraising. Being consistent, detail oriented, informative and heartfelt is the best way to approach this forum.