When it comes to technology, it's often assumed that smaller organizations just don't have the resources to use the tools and services that larger nonprofits do. Fancy databases? Too expensive. Up-to-date computers on a working network? Not enough tech savvy staff to keep it going. While there are exceptions to the rule – and cloud services are helping make more of those exceptions – it's generally the case.

We see it year after year in our IT Staffing Survey – unless, as it turns out, you are talking about social media.

Another NTC means more great studies about nonprofit technology released, including the 2012 "Nonprofit Social Networking Benchmarks Report." While you're welcome to scroll down to read some key findings, we recommend you click on over to download the complete report, right now. It's free!

> Download the 2012 Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report

[Editor's note: the following is an excerpt from the 2011 Nonprofit Social Networking Benchmark Report, sponsored by NTEN, CommonKnowledge, and Blackbaud. You can get the entire report for free here.]

It turns out that nonprofits of all sizes are able to scale their fundraising efforts on commercial social networks.

We identified a subset (27 organizations) of “Master Social Fundraisers” from amongst the survey respondents. Master Social Fundraisers are nonprofits that raised more than $100,000 on Facebook over the last year. Fascinatingly, the first characteristic that jumped out reversed many of our conclusions regarding organization size: 30% of the Master Fundraisers were Small organizations ($1 to $5MM annual budget) and 8% were Medium-sized ($6MM to $50MM).

The 2011 NTC saw the release of the latest "Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report". While you're welcome to scroll down to read a brief synopsis, we recommend you click on over to download it, right now. It's free!

> Download the 2011 Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report

More than 11,000 nonprofit professionals filled out this year's survey, sponsored by NTEN, Common Knowledge, and Blackbaud, generating a veritable cornucopia of data. One of our favorite stats: more than half of nonprofits have no formal budget for commercial social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, making it all the more impressive that 30% of the organizations that have raised more than $100,000 on Facebook have budgets under $5 million.

Other highlights:

According to a survey conducted in March 2009 by NTEN, Common Knowledge, and ThePort, social networking has become an integral part of nonprofits’ online strategy. You may have already suspected that, but now you can get some hard numbers to justify that Facebook page you've been keeping so tidy and au currant. Then you can go all Matt Damon on your ED:

“You like apples? Of the 929 respondents to a survey, nearly three-quarters (74.2%) have a presence on Facebook, and 30.9% have one or more social networking communities on their own web site. How do you like them apples?”

But don’t take our word for it. Download the report and read it yourself. It’s free!

> Download the Social Network Survey Report

And if you're keeping track at home, that's two reports we've helped release during the NTC. Will there be another? Tune in tomorrow, same NTEN time, same NTEN channel.

Flickr Photo: Luc LegayYou use social networks at work, right? It's okay to admit it. In fact, we want you to tell us all about it in a survey about social network use by nonprofits that we're running with Common Knowledge and ThePort.

> Take the Survey!

It should only take you about 5 minutes to complete the survey and contribute to the nonprofit tech community knowledgebase. (It took me about 8, but I kept checking how many people were watching my fundraising video in between questions.)

We'll release the results at the 2009 Nonprofit Technology Conference in San Francisco. We'll maintain your confidentiality, and your responses are anonymous.

The Nonprofit Social Network Survey is a joint project of NTEN, Common Knowledge and ThePort

> Take the Survey!

If you have any questions or comments about the survey, please email Rachel Weidinger.