by Susan S. Flaherty

Created on: August 07, 2009

While many praise the glories of a social web strategy, for many non-profits such strategies are distracting at best and huge money pits at worst. A strong communications program requires that organizations define their target audiences, key messages and most effective distribution channels. The social web channel may be right for some audiences at some times, but it is certainly not the panacea for every non-profit's woes.

For organizations that regularly rely on broad appeal and distributed fund raising from lots and lots of volunteers, a social web strategy may make sense. For example, study-abroad programs and many disease-fighting organizations come to mind. However, local hospitals, community centers and homeless shelters are not likely to find a reliable source of new volunteers and new networks that make the investment make sense. In the long run, getting to know your donors and getting them to connect with your organizationnot with Volunteer Jane Doe who will be running for something or other this Octoberis likely to yield a bigger payoff.

Some web enthusiasts chant, If you build it, they will come. They emphasize the noisy world of communications in the 21st century, and propose more noise as the only way to reach future generations of donors. While web-based social networking does enable frequent communication with many people, it is by no-means as cheap as its proponents claim. By the time you add up the cost of creating and maintaining the hardware, software, and technical and content staffing, expenses can soon outpace your direct mail budget.

And honestly, how many of those web communications will have a positive impact on their intended recipients? I have certainly regretted opting-in for the all-too-frequent occasional emails from many a good cause. In fact, some of these organizations became downright annoying and I hope never to see their names again. And how many of you simply don't open emails from those people who tend to send too many jokes, chain letters and solicitation emails?

In Building Donor Loyalty, Adrian Sargent makes a compelling case for focusing on the lifetime value of a donor. On average, personalized communication yields higher loyalty and overall giving than a typical churn and burn direct mail, email, or social networking strategy. Donor response rates from snail mail and email continue to decline while costs continue to rise. Sargent's researchand the experience of thousands of experienced non-profit leaders and other fund raiserspoints to sustained, personal, meaningful contact as the better investment.

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