Future Fundraising Now

The dollar value of social network mentions

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by

Jeff Brooks
in

What is a mention on Facebook worth? Maybe something. The FreshNetworks blog reports on a study that looks at the value of social network sharing: How much is a share on Facebook or Twitter worth in sales?

The study looks at activity on Eventbrite, a ticket sales site that encourages people to tell others online that they’re going to events. It found that every time someone says via email or one of the main social networks, “I’m going to an event; you should too” — that generates $1.78 in ticket sales.

It breaks out this way:


  • Facebook: $2.52
  • Email: $2.34
  • LinkedIn: 90¢
  • Twitter: 43¢

How does this apply to fundraising? Probably not a lot. But it suggests that making it easy for people to “share” what they’re doing for your cause can’t hurt. Suppose you somewhere at the end of the online giving process, you offered a series of social network links that allowed people to post a link that says something like I support [Cause]. You should too.

It might well drive others to give. Try it.

    Comments

    2 responses to “The dollar value of social network mentions”

    1. Howard Lake Avatar
      Howard Lake

      Thanks for sharing those, Jeff.
      Their value to fundraisers? I reckon they are pretty useful for fundraisers for several reasons:
      1. they remind us that some social media actions can (and should be) measured in terms of dollars (well, pounds over here)
      2. they show that email is still very important for driving sales or donations
      3. they show that relying on a single channel or tool is no longer enough
      4. maybe they will inspire nonprofits to come up with their own valuation on how much a share is worth. (OK, that’ll be harder than it is for Eventbrite which simply has ticket sales to track, whereas nonprofits have donations, regular donations, tickets, memberships, tax-efficient gifts and much more).

    2. Howard Lake Avatar
      Howard Lake

      Thanks for sharing those, Jeff.
      Their value to fundraisers? I reckon they are pretty useful for fundraisers for several reasons:
      1. they remind us that some social media actions can (and should be) measured in terms of dollars (well, pounds over here)
      2. they show that email is still very important for driving sales or donations
      3. they show that relying on a single channel or tool is no longer enough
      4. maybe they will inspire nonprofits to come up with their own valuation on how much a share is worth. (OK, that’ll be harder than it is for Eventbrite which simply has ticket sales to track, whereas nonprofits have donations, regular donations, tickets, memberships, tax-efficient gifts and much more).

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    The future of fundraising is not about social media, online video, or SEM. It’s not about any technology, medium, or technique. It’s about donors. If you need to raise funds from donors, you need to study them, respect them, and build everything you do around them. And the future? It’s already here. More.

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    Jeff BrooksJeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 35 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you’ll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com. More.

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    The future of fundraising is not about social media, online video, or SEM. It’s not about any technology, medium, or technique. It’s about donors. If you need to raise funds from donors, you need to study them, respect them, and build everything you do around them. And the future? It’s already here. More.

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    About the blogger

    Jeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 30 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you’ll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com.