Assessing the Value of Social Media for Organisations: The Case for Charitable Use

Abstract

Social media offer opportunities for organisations of all sectors to communicate with their audiences. There is little understanding, however, of what value these services actually provide for many of these organisations. Focusing on the charitable sector, this paper brings together the results of a number of studies into a triangulation whose own results and findings are discussed, and an overall model of value assessment for social media is presented. Emphasis is placed on eliciting the motivations and aims of both the charity and their supporters, along with observing the actual behaviour that then occurs from each side. By comparing these phenomena, and appreciating how they all interact with each other, it is argued that greater understanding around how valuable a particular organisation will find social media can be obtained.