The element of cost reduction is imperative when the non-profit organization has to work with limited resources. Social media has the opportunity to cut costs for the non-profit organization because it is technology-driven. The use of social media allows for faster information sharing while lowering the cost incurred during participation and coordination. However, the organization has to adopt social business strategies that positively drive fundraising; expose low-cost opportunities to market products as well as the opportunity to reorganize product components competitively.
Being a relatively liberal platform, the use of social media like Facebook do not surcharge to gain exposure among the target audience and double as an advocacy tool to champion issues that are of interest to proponents. About exposure, the use of social media will allow flexibility to popularize within the wider social market without extra cost. To maximize their use of social media platforms, organizations need to be smart and creative.
Take, for instance, enhancing flexibility in their engagement by being more informal or intimate thus enhancing the opportunity to raise awareness; link with opinion-makers and stakeholders as well as market their brand (Baird and Fisher 2005, 5). Social media foster collaborations across organizational boundaries because of the spatial online connectivity and access at relatively low cost. Non-profit organizations can use the opportunity of extensive reach to constructively collaborate with the audience and enlist suggestions or comments regarding their operations. The audience will not pay any special fee for their suggestions or comments but only ordinary online access charges.
Social media have opportunities that are not restricted to a particular social group. This means the use of social media as a cheaper option, an organization can tap from social capital regardless of whether the source is an individual, family, school, club, or a collection of individuals. Social media provide an equal chance for those accessing to easily communicate and interact in cyberspace within the existing personal and professional networks as well as create new links.
This means social media is an indefinite renewable resource so long as membership is maintained but at no additional cost. Non-profit organizations can reach graduate school students via social media to participate in their operations as part of their market campaign (Donlevy 2003). Being an online interactive platform (that is, read-write web), social media provides a low-cost opportunity for non-profit organizations to use in publishing and reaching out to a wider or global audience (Lea et al. 2006, 121). A non-profit organization can tap the benefits of the social network followers through their presence in the network and add to their brand value.
Take for instance, when organizations encourage their employees to operate social media accounts to cross-promote online advocacy. Personal social media accounts can be cost-effective platforms where staff from organizations become online ambassadors on issues that matter to them. Motion pictures and video clips can be posted on the Facebook walls to attract a following among social network members at a friendly cost to both account owners and web visitors. Social media genres (such as Twitter and Facebook) are all web-supported thus organizations can maintain a presence across the genres without cost variations.
References
Baird, Derek E., and Fisher, Mercedes. “Neomillennial User Experience Design Strategies: Utilizing Social Networking Media to Support “Always On” Learning Styles.” Journal of Educational Technology Systems 34, no.1 (2005): 5-32.
Lea, Bih-Ru, Wen-Bin Yu, Nisha Maguluru, and Michael Nichols. “Enhancing business networks using social network-based virtual communities.” Industrial Management and Data Systems 106, no.1 (2006): 121-138.
Donlevy, Jim. “Online learning in Virtual High School.” International Journal of Instructional Media 30, (2003).