Potential Paper Topic: Social Media and Non-Profit Interactions

From an early age, volunteering and socially oriented initiatives have been a large part of my life. Personally, a switch went off during a volunteer activity that transformed volunteering from a chore to a passion. Since then, I have constantly been curious as to what motivates and influences each individual to participate in volunteer activities. Is it a feeling of obligation, a belief in making a difference, or just a reason to feel good about oneself? This topic has been explored in depth, but I am interested in understanding “interaction” with non-profits and how this definition has changed over the years with the integration of social media. 

I am not sure if this topic can be shaped into an insightful research topic as it may not be a deep insight and or there may not be enough information available. My thoughts may not be following the right path, but here are some elements that I would like to focus on.

I want to explore how social media has transformed non-profit engagement and experiences for those that choose to participate. I would like to see how this adaptation has been an influencer and how it has successfully elicited participation. I am not sure if this construct has tapped into something deeper with users in terms of design and creating a relationship or if it is just another fleeting medium that people interact with but are not heavily invested within. 

It might useful to divide researching interaction based on the segments targeted via social media:

1) Donors

2) Volunteers

3) Advocates

Each group has different needs and each are influenced in different manners. Gathering information on what drives their individual/segment interaction and needs might lead to some meaningful insights as to what their goals are and how social media helps them accomplish them.

Here are few areas that I would like to research:

- Understanding my people aren’t engaged and how social media has changed that interaction

- Explore what social media has done for users to engage with non-profits (ease, comfort, lack of commitment, something deeper)

- Is it just the act of feeling that they have participated or is a unique interaction with the non-profit via social media that urges this involvement?

- Can this interaction actually create loyal advocates, or is it a sustainable insight

- What needs and emotions are being met by the introduction of social media

- How should we define volunteer and engagement as time progresses

- Is there a more effective way for social media to be incorporated for the donor, volunteer, advocate experience?

The links below are just a starting point of understanding what motivates people to volunteer how non-profits are interacting and shaping their organizations around social media initiatives.

This article tackles volunteer motivations from a different angle: “Instead of asking what motivates the volunteer (accepting any conceptual category), we ask to what extent volunteering rewards the individual with each benefit taken from a complete set of possible benefits.” It focuses on the role of social groups and altruism and suggests ways of studying volunteer recruitment and retention.  These underlying concepts will help create a framework for understanding how social media can be utilized.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40800966?&Search=yes&searchText=motivates&searchText=volunteer&searchText=people&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dwhat%2Bmotivates%2Bpeople%2Bto%2Bvolunteer%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don&prevSearch=&item=11&ttl=823&returnArticleService=showFullText

This article briefly discusses how social media is influencing the non-profit sector:

http://mashable.com/2009/05/22/non-profit-social-media/\'

A few other resources are listed below might be helpful along the process as well:

http://craigconnects.org/infographic-2

http://pdn.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MiamiImageURL&_cid=272104&_user=108429&_pii=S0363811109000046&_check=y&_origin=article&_zone=toolbar&_coverDate=30-Jun-2009&view=c&originContentFamily=serial&wchp=dGLbVlB-zSkWb&md5=5ad15c1e9d5348c7d5b2164de64130da/1-s2.0-S0363811109000046-main.pdf

“Social Constructs & Human Service: Managerial Sense Making of Volunteer Motivation”

http://www.jstor.org/stable/27927661?seq=2&Search=yes&searchText=motivates&searchText=volunteer&searchText=people&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dwhat%2Bmotivates%2Bpeople%2Bto%2Bvolunteer%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don&prevSearch=&item=2&ttl=823&returnArticleService=showFullText&resultsServiceName=null

“Volunteer Work and Well Being”: Examines the relationship between volunteer work in the community and six aspects of personal well being: happiness, life satisfaction, self esteem, sense of control over life, physical health and depression.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3090173?&Search=yes&searchText=motivates&searchText=volunteer&searchText=people&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dwhat%2Bmotivates%2Bpeople%2Bto%2Bvolunteer%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don&prevSearch=&item=1&ttl=823&returnArticleService=showFullText

The Network Non-Profit: Connecting With Social Media to Drive Change by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine