In my role at a small nonprofit, if my boss said, “Monitoring is too expensive; we need to get rid of this,” I’d have to agree. . .up to a point. Our budget is tight, and every dollar needs to go directly toward programs and community impact. Trust me, donors don’t want to hear that their dollars are going to social media monitoring, they want to hear that their dollars are going directly to programming that serves the community. Since our social media presence is modest, we don’t pay for any social media platforms, and we aren’t running large-scale campaigns, paying for an advanced monitoring platform wouldn’t be the best use of resources. Instead, we have to focus on basic, built-in monitoring: checking comments and messages, reviewing website interactions, and tracking email link clicks. These simple methods give us enough insight to make informed decisions without diverting funds from our mission.

That said, monitoring even in a small organization is still important. As Freberg explains, it’s the research foundation for effective social media communication: it helps us understand audience behavior, track trends, and respond strategically. Regularly checking our channels and website allows us to see patterns, catch potential issues as they come up, and adjust our messaging. For instance, if we run a fundraising campaign without monitoring, we’d have no way of knowing whether our message is resonating, whether there’s confusion about services, or if misinformation is spreading in the comments. Missing these signals can affect donor trust, engagement, and ultimately funding.

For for-profit brands, or even large non-profits, that rely heavily on social media, monitoring is even more critical. Paid tools and structured monitoring programs are justified and should be defended in thos einstances because these organizations’ reputations, engagement, and revenue depend on real-time insights. Cutting monitoring in that context could mean overlooking negative sentiment, misinformation, or opportunities to engage with the audience—risks that have real financial and reputational consequences.

Ultimately, the approach depends on scale, audience, and risk. Small nonprofits like mine can get by with manual monitoring while prioritizing other KPIs, capturing enough insight to guide decisions. But for organizations where social media drives the brand, monitoring is not optional instead it’s a strategic investment that informs every communication decision.