We’ve spent this Friday chatting with some great Lawrence-area community organizations about social media, so we’re ending the week in brainstorming mode: How can Lawrence, as a community, best use social channels to engage citizens with our nonprofit community, whether that means taking advantage of services offered, attending events, volunteering time or money, or spreading the word to friends about organizations that make a difference in our lives?

We’re already fortunate to have a really keyed-in nonprofit scene in this area – check out this Twitter list of active nonprofits (and let us know if we need to add you to that list) – as well as a community of Facebook and Twitter citizens who welcome getting the latest news about charities and organizations they support on channels they’re used to using every day.

Better still, nonprofit organizations nationwide are recognizing the importance of deepening their relationship with social media, and not simply as a source of donor funds. NTEN, the Nonprofit Technology Network, released a study based on 2010 surveys indicating, among other things, that fundraising took a distant second place to marketing when it came to nonprofits’ social media goals.

There’s quite a bit of meat in the report, as well as a nice summary over on the Through Nonprofit Eyes blog – some takeaways:

– 86% of respondents said they had a Facebook presence, up 16% from 2009
– 60% of those surveyed said their organizations are on Twitter, compared to 43% in ’09
– 20% said they plan to increase spending on social media projects in the future

If you’re part of a nonprofit or community organization, how does social media fit into your overall roadmap for getting the word out? If you’re not, do you interact with nonprofits via Facebook, Twitter or other social media channels? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments below.