The dangers of social media are clear. But the risk to a charity of not getting involved is far greater, says Carol Rudge, Grant Thornton’s Global Not for Profit Leader. And there’s plenty you can do to reduce the impact of negative trending.
Around the world, it’s taken only a few short years for social media to become a fundamental part of people’s lives. And it’s only taken a fraction longer for corporations, politicians and household brands both to realise its power – and sometimes to suffer the consequences of getting it wrong.
Not for profit organisations are not exempt from social media disasters. Placing an ill-judged photo on Facebook, posting a badly worded Tweet or suffering a high-profile donor complaint can have an immediate and long-lasting impact on your reputation and your fundraising. We all know that the consequences aren’t limited to geographic boundaries either. Should an issue go viral, it can quickly become a global one too.
It is possible that your organisation has already experienced some of these issues. If so, you will understand how important it is to control the risk of them happening again.
All this is not to say that you shouldn’t use social media – with 95% of Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) globally[i] agreeing that social media is effective for brand awareness, not doing so could put your fundraising efforts at a massive disadvantage. Instead, you should take a strategic approach to all things social, considering putting a prevention strategy and scenario-based response plan in place to limit any damage should problems emerge. Currently, however, more than two-thirds of NGOs globally do not have a written social media strategy[ii].