Nonprofits and

Social Media:Applying SROI to New Technologies

Georgette Dumont, Ph.D.

NPOs and SROI• SROI’s main goal is to measure value creation,

which is processed simultaneously in three ways along a continuum, ranging from purely economic, to socio-economic, to social

• Attempts to combine economic and social measures

• Way to quantify NPO effectivenesso Fundingo Legitimacyo Policy player

Research Questions

• Question 1: Do nonprofit leaders see a relationship between social media and SROI?

• Question 2: What is the role of social media in obtaining outcome measures?

Data Collection• Snowball Sampling of Twitter and Facebook• Sample

o 464 accounts, 348 nonprofitso E-Survey – sent to 258 nonprofits

• 22 no email• 48 no phone• 20 bounced• Responses: 111 (43%)

o Interviews (N=10) --- sample for this study

The Sample…

Time on FB

Time on TW

Use StrategyTW/FB linked

Comm Flow Effect

A&C 1 >2yrs 1-2yrs inform Attract business no2-way

asymmetrical

Cost effective marketing; immediate

A&C 2 1-2yrs 6mo-1yr engage

Attract business; reach youth demographic; build community

no2-way

symmetrical

Cost effective marketing; ; immediate; customer service

HS 1 1-2yrs 6mo-1yr informAttract business; reach youth demographic

no2-way

asymmetrical

Cost effective marketing; ; immediate; donations

HS 2 >2yrs >2yrs engage

Attract business; monitor environment; build community

no2-way

symmetrical

Cost effective marketing; ; immediate; advocacy; broadened governance

SB 1 1-2yrs 6mo-1yr informAttract business; reach youth demographic

yes2-way

symmetrical

Cost effective marketing; immediate

Time on FB

Time on TW

Use StrategyTW/FB linked

Comm Flow Effect

SB 2 1-2yrs 1-2yrs engageAttract business; reach youth demographic

yes2-way

symmetrical

Cost effective marketing; branding; ; immediate

E/A 1 >2yrs 1-2yrs informAttract business/ donations

yes1-way

symmetrical

Cost effective marketing;; immediate

E/A 2 >2yrs 1-2yrs informAttract business; reach youth demographic

no2-way

asymmetrical

Cost effective marketing; immediate

Non 501 (c)(3)1

>2yrs >2yrs informAttract business; draw people to area

no2-way

symmetrical

Cost effective marketing; immediate

Non 501(c) (3)2

>2yrs 1-2yrs inform

Attract business; reach youth demographic; build community

no2-way

symmetrical

Cost effective marketing; immediate; intimate; Advocacy; branding

Do nonprofit leaders see a relationship

between social media and SROI?

What is the role of social media in

obtaining outcome measures?

Tell story; still nothing

What is the purpose of social media for your

organization?

How do you use the feedback?

Social Media Conceptualization

Face

book

Tw

itter

Blog Email

-+

+-

Dynamism

Depth

FeedbackMessage

Conclusion• SROI terminology not widely understood• Social media still viewed mainly as push medium• Social media is rarely thought of as a metric tool

for outcomes• Nonprofits closer to “joined up” usage have a

fuller conceptualize of the “cross-fertilization of Internet technologies

• SROI is a theory far ahead of practice