Joining the online discussion

LOVE them or loathe them, the ubiquitous social networking and blogging sites are a fact of life in the 21st century

US research shows that these sites accounted for 17 per cent of all time spent on the internet in August 2009, nearly three times as much as in 2008.

The popularity of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, and LinkedIn has even got our politicians curious, with some posting ‘tweets’ during question time in parliament.

Attracting 90 million users in the US and 200 million users worldwide, Facebook in particular has grown as a market leader; advertisers collectively spend billions to get their brand on the social networking medium.

And as charities struggle to market themselves amid the global economic downturn, the not-for-profit sector is turning to social networking and blogging sites to boost exposure and recruit volunteers.

Guildford-based People Who Care is the latest NFP to turn to the medium to market its services and attract younger people to the organisation.

PWC is a volunteer-based organisation that provides services to the frail-aged, younger people with disabilities, and others in need.

With just a $25,000 annual marketing budget, the organisation relies heavily on volunteers to deliver its services.

“With the current economic downturn, People Who Care has seen an increase in demand for its community services of 35 per cent, placing increased pressures on existing resources,” PWC general manager Andrew York said.

“With increasing competition for a piece of the funding pie, People Who Care is increasingly facing pressure to diversify its current revenue base and look for other self-sustaining options.

“As a result, People Who Care has made a key strategic decision to proactively develop methods of raising funds and securing sponsorship to keep it in good financial shape.”

Mr York said that included recruiting Gen Y individuals to regularly post messages on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube to promote PWC among a younger demographic.

But Mr York said NFPs needed more than just individuals utilising social networking sites to market their brand, with PWC engaging Brando Marketing in July to implement its three-stage ‘Intelligent Marketing’ strategy.

The aim behind this engagement is to collaboratively research, develop, implement, monitor and evaluate an effective strategy to measure and continually improve the marketability of the People Who Care brand and business generation, Mr York said.

“With the engagement of Brando it is envisioned that People Who Care will build its reputation via word of mouth. That is, ensure that each volunteer that participates tells one or two people of the fantastic experience they had,” he said.

PWC employs 28 staff and in 2008-09, had 3,000 people volunteer about 200,000 hours, translating to about 10 full-time employees.

The organisation provides services such as transport, home maintenance, day care, and social support services throughout the metropolitan area to the frail-aged and those with disabilities living independently in their own homes.

PWC joins a raft of other charities to strategically use social networking sites including World Vision, Cancer Council Australia, Australian Red Cross, The Salvation Army, Osteoporosis Australia and Mission Australia.