The Contribution of Social Media in Helping Nonprofit Organizations Achieving Their Goals
Natacha Maheshe Due on May 17th 2012
CMJR 245
Media Foundations of Communication
Research Paper
The contribution of Social Media in Helping Nonprofit Organizations achieving their goals
Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are structures that aim to serve a community, a cause or raise awareness about an issue without making any lucrative profit. They are formed by people who work or volunteer to help the organization reach its goals for a given cause. It is known that NPOs do not make money; they, therefore, have to find other means to help them get necessary funds to operate. The goals of NPOs vary from the cause they are working on, a fight that they are leading, an issue they want to raise awareness about etc. Regardless of what the goals of an NPO are, it is very important to find different means that are effective in helping them reach the goals. In this era when technology has made tremendous progress, NPOs are called to adapt and to use technology at their advantage in order to make the most out of it. As a result, NPOs turn to social media, a feature that technology is providing as a mean to help in their mission.
Before we continue further on the topic, it is important to define social media and address its features that are helpful to NPOs. “Social media consists of the information infrastructure and tools used to produce and distribute content that has individual value but reflects shared values; the content that takes the digital form of personal messages, news, ideas, that becomes cultural products; and the people, organizations, and industries that produce and consume both the tools and the content.”(Parks and Philip, web 2012). Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein, on the other hand, define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of
CMJR 245
Media Foundations of Communication
Research Paper
The contribution of Social Media in Helping Nonprofit Organizations achieving their goals
Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are structures that aim to serve a community, a cause or raise awareness about an issue without making any lucrative profit. They are formed by people who work or volunteer to help the organization reach its goals for a given cause. It is known that NPOs do not make money; they, therefore, have to find other means to help them get necessary funds to operate. The goals of NPOs vary from the cause they are working on, a fight that they are leading, an issue they want to raise awareness about etc. Regardless of what the goals of an NPO are, it is very important to find different means that are effective in helping them reach the goals. In this era when technology has made tremendous progress, NPOs are called to adapt and to use technology at their advantage in order to make the most out of it. As a result, NPOs turn to social media, a feature that technology is providing as a mean to help in their mission.
Before we continue further on the topic, it is important to define social media and address its features that are helpful to NPOs. “Social media consists of the information infrastructure and tools used to produce and distribute content that has individual value but reflects shared values; the content that takes the digital form of personal messages, news, ideas, that becomes cultural products; and the people, organizations, and industries that produce and consume both the tools and the content.”(Parks and Philip, web 2012). Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein, on the other hand, define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of
References: Klie, Leonard. "NONPROFITS Find Money ON THE WEB." CRM Magazine 16.4 (2012): 24-28. Academic Search Complete Howard, Philip N., and Malcolm R. Parks. "Social Media And Political Change: Capacity, Constraint, And Consequence." Journal Of Communication 62.2 (2012): 359-362.Communication & Mass Media Complete Kaplan, Andreas M.; Michael Haenlein (2010) "Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media" PARDEE, THOMAS. "How Do I Get People To Like My Brand On Facebook?." Advertising Age 82.9 (2011): 50. Communication & Mass Media Complete