Portland Communications, a London-based strategic communications firm, conducted a first-of-its-kind study of how philanthropists use social media.
Bill and Melinda Gates top the list of the 50 philanthropists in the world with the highest social media reach. Business magnates Richard Branson and George Soros come in second and third place respectively.
Nearly half of the top 50 social philanthropists are based in the US, but philanthropists from emerging markets are also widening their social media reach. Eight out of the top 50 philanthropists are from Africa with Tony Elumelu in the top 10.
Interestingly, four out of the 8 Africans featured are from Nigeria, highlighting the potential of this huge African powerhouse. Facebook is the most used social media platform by the top 50 philanthropists, with all of them using the platform across all regions.
Twitter follows in close second, with 94% of the philanthropists actively using Twitter. LinkedIn comes in third place, with 88% of philanthropists using it on a regular basis.
According to the study, Africa had the highest percentage of philanthropists on Instagram.
Launching the study, Mark Flanagan, Portland’s Senior Partner for Content and Digital Strategy, said: “Having worked with a number of foundations and philanthropists, we were surprised to see that there weren’t really any existing studies into the way philanthropists use social media.
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“Historically and traditionally, philanthropy has been a private enterprise. Now, philanthropists are increasingly using social media to promote their work, to mobilise resources and to shape debates,” said Mr Allan Kamau, Head of Portland Nairobi.
It analysed the following social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest, Weibo and QZone.
The top 10 philanthropists are:
1. Bill & Melinda Gates (Bill& Melinda Gates Foundation)
2. Richard Branson (Virgin Unite)
3. George Soros (Open Society)
4. Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation
5. Herbert and Marion Sandler (Pro Publica)
6. Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg Philanthropies)
7. Elon Musk (Musk Foundation)
8. Michael Dell (Michael and Susan Dell Foundation)
9. Tony Elumelu (Tony Elumelu Foundation)
10. Jeffrey Skoll (Skoll Foundation)
The most used social media platforms by philanthropists are:
1. Facebook – 100%
2. Twitter – 94%
3. LinkedIn – 88%
4. YouTube – 64%
5. Google+ – 60%
6. Instagram – 34%
7. Pinterest – 12%
8. Weibo – 8%
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