Fido, Facebook, Family, and Foundations

In the process of preparing for the Council Learning Lab on social media at the Family Philanthropy Conference, I came across some pretty interesting data: 14 percent of dog owners have created a Facebook account for their pet!  And 15 percent of these dogs have more than 100 friends - it gives a whole new meaning to man’s best friend.  This is pretty impressive given that the average human Facebook user has 245 friends. There must be some really popular dogs out there.

You may be wondering what this has to do with foundations -other than the fact I was trying to work my dog Riley into my presentation. Part of the workshop will be focusing on how, as a sector, foundations are behind the curve when it comes to social media. While studies vary, only about a third of foundations use Facebook, with roughly the same amount on Twitter. Meanwhile, the nonprofit sector has nearly 90 percent participation on Facebook and almost 60 percent on Twitter. This leads to a lot of conversations that grantmakers are missing out on online that deal with key issues, community developments, new ideas, and other interesting information that they need to know about to reach the next level.

“Tools of Engagement: Family Dynamics and Social Networking,” one of two free Council Learning Labs taking place during the conference, will examine some of the fears and obstacles preventing foundations from jumping on the social media bandwagon, as well as the some of the generational differences that exist in family foundations and the role they play in social media engagement. Rosetta Thurman will be joining me, and she’ll address how social media can help provide future leaders with a voice within their foundations. Sam Stern, who leads the social media efforts at The Patterson Foundation, will discuss how his organization overcame several challenges that other foundations also face on a regular basis.

If you are unable to attend the Family Philanthropy Conference next week, I encourage you to follow along on the Council’s social media platforms (Twitter hashtag: #cofmb). And if you are attending, I look forward to meeting you in person, during which time I will try and persuade you to submit a blog of your own during the conference.

Mark Carpenter is manager, public relations at the Council on Foundations.