There are some unique parallels to how franchises market themselves on social media compared to the non-profit sector.

A recent story in Social Times about the non-profit sector and its use of social media to raise awareness got me thinking about the unique parallels between how franchise brands market themselves on social media compared to charitable organizations.

The focus of most non-profits, just like franchises, is to raise brand awareness, which converts into donations, or sales in a franchise’s case. One of the most effective ways to do this is by leveraging and courting online audiences. According to the 10th annual benchmark report from M+R, the non-profit sector re-invested $0.04 of every dollar it raised in fundraising last year and within that spending directed their funds into three main efforts – lead generation (38 percent), new donor acquisition (31 percent) and paid search ads (23 percent).

Sounds familiar, right? The parallels to franchising don’t stop there. Just like franchising, non-profits are relying heavily on social media to spread their message. The story goes on to say that branding programs, especially when tied to a video campaign, have performed the best across these digital platforms.

There are some interesting similarities between the two industries and they way they are allocating dollars against online and social branding – that’s for sure.