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Social Marketing & the International Community Foundation: Key Findings from USC Study
In the Spring 2009, Anna Cearley, a graduate student in communications sciences at the University of Southern California (USC) and former veteran border reporter from the San Diego Union, undertook a study of the International Community Foundation and its donors’ propensity to use social marketing tools (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, etc.). Among the close to 2,500 foundation donors and supporters surveyed, 122 or 5% participated in the study of which nearly 59% were existing foundation donors. Anna’s study provided valuable insights into the degree of interest among foundation donors in becoming part of an online social network community as an information resource for their international philanthropic interests.
Here are a few of the study’s general findings:
- A majority of donors use online communities. 60.3 percent of donors indicated they use online communities. 43 percent of all donors used Facebook.
- Most donors are interested in online communities for practical purposes vs. social purposes. About 62 percent of donors said that using online communities to find people who share their interests was “not very important.” About 76.2 percent of donors considered using online communities to meet new people to be “not very important.” However, 54 percent of donors said that using online communities to search for specific information was “very important” or “important” to them.
- Interest for an online community with other donors is moderate. Almost half of donors say they are “not very interested” in connecting with other donors through an online community compared to 14.3 percent who said they are “very interested.”
- Donors are more interested in connecting people who are benefitting from their donations. 87 percent said they were either “somewhat” or “very “ interested in doing so. Only 13 percent said they were “not very interested.”
- Donors want more pictures on the ICF website. 64.1 percent said they want more pictures of community projects.
Based on the findings of Anna Cearley’s recent study, the International Community Foundation has recently launched our first page on Facebook thanks to the social networking savvy of our summer intern, Ashley Grand.
To view our new Facebook Page visit:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/International-Community-Foundation/36463574876?ref=ts
To learn more about Anna Cearley and her U.S.-Mexico border based social networking, visit her blog “Across the Border” at:
http://acrosstheborder.wordpress.com/
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