You've seen "social media" paired with "not profit" a lot lately, but usually in the context of Facebook's and Twitter's valuations. Nobody writes about social media and the real non-profits - the ones that are that way by design, not by design flaw.
If you think it's hard selling actual products and services during a recession, imagine what it's like to be a non-profit, whose donation machines rely largely on people and corporations willing to pay actual cash for - I won't say "nothing," but I will say "nothing tangible."
Non-profits are tapping into corporate sponsors with a truncated value proposition: "Donate to us, and then you can tell whoever you want that you've donated to us." Yes, the non-profits provide some sponsorship exposure and promotions, but they're not in the media business. It's really up to their sponsors to tout their support of a non-profit's cause, and generate goodwill from their own customers in the process. You can position it as a privilege for those who have donated, but in this economy it's going to be perceived as a burden.
It shouldn't be. I think non-profits actually should be in the media business. How? There are thousands of blogs and small websites published by people who support each non-profit's cause, with varying enthusiasm. They have a unique opportunity to cobble these sites together into a vertical advertising network designed largely (maybe even solely) to support their corporate sponsors.
Building a vertical ad network can be done on a shoestring budget, and by one person. And the result is that non-profits would be able to deliver on behalf of their corporate partners millions of brand impressions per month, all within the context of the cause they champion. Even more importantly, these websites are more than pixels on a screen - they represent individuals. People who share their beliefs and can be mobilized to act as ambassadors on their behalf, or on the behalf of their sponsors.
Most vertical ad networks reward participating publishers with a revenue share, but in the case of non-profits I think recognition would go much further than reward. And if reward is necessary, it need not be monetary, and it need not be the same value as the media the participating site generated. An exclusive $8 t-shirt might be warmly received in exchange for $500 worth of media generated on a supporter's blog.
Is this the right solution for every non-profit?
Dunno. But the better question is whether what worked last year is likely to work again in 2009.
