The role of social media in nonprofit environmental organizations: An analysis of impact and use

Abstract

Smith, Katherine. Masters of Natural Resources. The Role of Social Media In Nonprofit Environmental Organizations: An Analysis of Impact and Use With social media becoming a main communication tool, environmental nonprofits are using social media platforms as a main way of communicating with the public and their audience. This paper analyzes, measures and compares the social media engagement of six different North Carolina environmental nonprofit organizations. Tweets and Facebook posts were collected from each organization over a specific time period and analyzed and measured for engagement levels based on values of likes, shares, etc. As part of the study, I also analyzed the type of content the organizations were sharing in regards to subject matter, categories, and possible motivations. This study found that all of the organizations were consistent at posting to both platforms on a regular basis. However, the organizations differed in the type of content in relation to subject matter, motivation, and category. Additionally, organizations that included an image in their post had higher rates of engagement then just text alone. Nonprofit organizations need to be strategic in the type of content that they share, adding images and other types of multimedia will likely result in higher levels of engagement.