Charities should be using social media to deliver services, according to research carried out by social enterprise Connect Assist.
According to a survey carried out by the contact centre solutions organisation, 80 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds and 73 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds use Facebook, Twitter and the internet to get financial, social or emotional advice.
Connect Assist chief executive, Patrick Nash said: “These findings highlight just how engrained social media has become in our daily lives and how it is now seen as a critical source of information and support. Yet the charity sector is worryingly behind the curve.
“To date the only way that charities have embraced social media is as a fundraising tool.”
The survey also reveals the divide between the generations with 18 to 34-year-olds saying that if a charity can only offer one communication channel it should be via social media, while the over 65s preferred face-to-face methods.
Connect Assist commissioned ICM Research to carry out the survey of 1,000 over the phone.
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/it/news/content/12751/social_media_should_not_just_be_for_fundraising
Patrick Nash
Connect Assist
