Social media has become an important cornerstone of digitization without discussion. We all spend Around one third of our online time in social networks and like to be influenced there into buying decisions and opinions.

For companies, not only in the NGO/NPO sector, social media is therefore a huge opportunity to grow, to identify new potential, to get to know their target groups better and to improve their business in the long term.

 

To what extent has digitization arrived or already been implemented at Swiss nonprofit organizations?

With the evaluation of the social media presence of the top 12 Swiss non-profit organizations, a first superficial assessment can be made.

The size of the social media community should be treated with caution: Fake accounts, follow bots, and major cleanup campaigns by Instagram and Twitter raise eyebrows.

At the latest since the adjustment of the Facebook algorithm at the beginning of 2018, the number of followers and fans no longer has a direct influence on the reach and has therefore become obsolete as the sole measure of success.

"We want the time people spend on Facebook to encourage meaningful social interactions," Mark Zuckerberg said in November 2017.

Since then, companies have had to rethink how they attract the attention of their customers, or even just to reach them at all.

 

What really counts on social media

"Social media is a strategic challenge that affects the entire company," explains UX designer Dirk Unger from the Campfire agency. "The goals to be achieved with social media must be derived from the corporate strategy. However, this also requires a change in thinking within the company, which has not yet taken place for many."

And so many Swiss companies, not only in the NGO sector, continue to measure the success of social media by the number of followers.

 

Among the top 3 NPOs in terms of community size on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are, as last year, WWF Switzerland, Greenpeace Switzerland and Terre des Hommes, each with a total of over 100,000 followers.

In contrast, the winners in terms of community growth compared to the previous year include SRC (+44.8%), Unicef Switzerland (+35.7%) and Terre des Hommes (+28.5%). These NPOs realized the greatest community growth last year - a good indicator of inspiring content and the implementation of a user-centric strategy.

Losers in the 2018/2019 year-over-year comparison in terms of community growth include Save the Children (-2%), World Vision Switzerland (+1.8%) and Swissaid (+2.9%).

 

Takeaway

To determine the actual success of their activity on social media, companies must set strategic business goals and measure them both quantitatively and qualitatively. On social media, therefore, sales and traffic can be useful indicators of success in addition to customer engagement and loyalty, which thus naturally go beyond social media alone and for which a professional tracking and measurement system is required. Many companies already see social media as far more than just a marketing tool that helps them sustainably realize a customer-centric brand, in customer dialog, in innovation management, and in corporate growth.

Every 4 seconds a child starves to death, 357 million children live in conflict zones, and more than 152 million children have to go to work instead of school every day. Switzerland's leading children's aid organization fights against this misery.

For the awareness and donation campaign, Terre des hommes decided to work with Wirz Activation in a two-stage evaluation. The first measures are now on display in time for World Food Day on October 16. At the center of the campaign are touching subjects with unadorned images of suffering children.

To appeal to younger donors, Terre des hommes uses the mobile payment app Twint to activate donations for posters. All Twint codes used are "unique" and generate exciting tracking insights with every activation.

The main medium of the campaign is a large household litter bin. In addition, the campaign can be seen in advertisements and inserts, on streetcar hangers and floor stickers, flyers, and of course on online/social media channels.

On the initiative and through the mediation of Wirz Activation, the aid organization is also teaming up for the first time with Felfel - the innovative provider of menus and snacks at the workplace. Terre des hommes is present on more than 300 refrigerator screens and receives a platform in Felfel's newsletter and social media presence. In addition, during the week of World Food Day, Felfel donates a fixed amount for each sale of a specific menu.

Wirz Activation welcomes Terre des hommes as a customer. Previously, the "Stiftung Kinderhilfe Sternschnuppe" (Shooting Star Foundation) and the Swiss specialist organization "Licht für die Welt" (Light for the World) had already chosen Wirz Activation on a project-by-project basis.

The agency will use a 360-degree fundraising campaign to convey Terre des hommes' core message: that every child in the world has the right to be a child. In addition to a high-circulation mailing and advertisements, out-of-home measures and online activations are planned for the fall.

Managing Director Amar Abbas comments: "The fireworks of advertising messages that modern people are exposed to have a decisive influence on how NPOs should communicate today. Meaningfulness alone has long since ceased to be enough to reach the people out there. It's about the same techniques and mechanics we use with our traditional BtC clients."

Operation Libero and the media project Republik are models for successful digital campaigns in Switzerland. Operation Libero, which emerged in 2014 as a young civil society's response to the mass immigration initiative and right-wing conservative isolationist tendencies, has been orchestrating political campaigns since 2015 with a well thought-out social media strategy: In 2017, for example, it helped both the asylum reform and the bill for easier naturalization to succeed.

Journalists from the Republic set out in spring 2017 with the ambition to realize an independent online magazine with 750,000 Swiss francs - and raised over 3.5 million francs with a crowdfunding campaign! The project was successfully launched in 2018.

But what about the social media competence of established nonprofit organizations? A recent rating shows that many NPOs still have some catching up to do.

Which NPOs are fit for the digital transformation?

Meanwhile, NPOs, associations, and campaigners have also discovered social media as an amplifier of political messages. Not only do they use it to promote voting and election campaigns, they also successfully collect signatures and donations via online channels. Nevertheless, only a few NPOs are really fit for the digital future: The WWF has had a Chief Digital Officer (CDO) since November 2016, who is responsible for leading his organization into the digital future. The following rating shows that the number of fans and followers of NPOs is still comparatively modest compared to digitally mature companies (as of April 2, 2018):

Source: Pluragraph.de (Evaluation: Consign)

Strikingly, only five of the top 12 NPOs use the emerging channel Instagram, which attracts a younger audience that tends to be female. NPOs and associations will have to sharpen their social media skills in the coming years. They are challenged to increase the number of their fans and followers, their reach and the number of interactions with a strategically planned use of social media.

Strikingly, only half of the top 12 NPOs use the emerging channel Instagram, which attracts a younger audience that tends to be female. NPOs and associations will have to sharpen their social media skills in the coming years. They are challenged to increase the number of their fans and followers, their reach and the number of interactions with a strategically planned use of social media.

Touching storytelling creates attention

An important means of touching people and involving them in campaigns is storytelling. Touching stories make people concerned and receptive to appeals for help or donations. Social media are ideally suited to formats that blend text and images to create moving and evocative stories. A successful social media strategy relies on relevant, regular, and wisely distributed content. Strategically planned content marketing ensures that target groups are drawn to your own website via social media channels - and converted into convinced members, supporters or donors.

Successful "Free Giacobbo" campaign

A good example is provided by the "Free Giacobbo" campaign of the Swiss section of Amnesty International: The petition for the Burmese comedian Zarganar, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison in his home country, is launched in May 2011 by a sensational Twitter campaign. On Sunday evening, 150 active Twitter users are asked to demand the release of the allegedly arrested Swiss satirist Viktor Giacobbo. Reason for his arrest: insulting the Federal Council. The tweets include a link to a video on YouTube showing Giacobbo in an alleged prison. The satirist explains the fate of his Burmese colleague and asks users to sign the Amnesty petition. Through retweets, the video spreads quickly and is also seen by journalists. On Monday morning, the topic is already the cover story on the online platform blick.ch ("Giacobbo goes to jail for colleague"). The YouTube video has 67,400 views, the Facebook page of Amnesty Switzerland gains 2,500 followers within three days - a doubling of the previous community. And last but not least: Amnesty Switzerland receives over 20'000 signatures via newsletter for the release of the Burmese satirist.

The campaign contains everything that makes for successful social media management: a surprising idea, a prominent influencer, drama, and a moving appeal that touches people and calls them to action. And above all: it conveys a user promise that is designed to last and can be repeated for similar actions. Finally, an important success factor is the fulfillment of the promise: Zarganar is released by the Burmese rulers in October 2011 along with other political prisoners.

Because children have an important, unique ability: imagination. Alone with the power of their dreams, they can transform a mere piece of cardboard into an impregnable castle or a supersonic rocket. The agency uses these moments of carefreeness, freshness and lightness to show that children have the right to simply be children in all life situations.

The four print motifs of the campaign show children from all over the world in their homeland, captured in a moment of reverie and play. The spot, realized with stop motion, brings their imaginary world to life. It invites the audience to share this moment of escape from reality and remember their own childhood.

The text is constructed in such a way that the brand becomes established through the repetition of "Terre de" together with an expression associated with childhood, thus promoting awareness. Since the Terre des hommes brand name remains French in all markets, the agency decided to be consistent with the brand's roots and presents an identical concept in French for German-speaking Switzerland. The national campaign can be seen on television, posters and mobile devices, in the press and on social media from September 26.