I saw an interesting poll being conducted on Social Media Today asking "Does Social Media have its own budget in the corporation or does it have to go begging?". There were less than 100 votes but by a 2 to 1 margin Begging seems to be the order of the day in terms of funding social media in corporations. Does anyone here want to comment on their own experiences in terms of this? For my clients, some have set up modest budgets while others are willing to dabble and experiment as long as there is little or no cost (preferably no cost).

Yes I have seen this but I also have seen the opposite where the majority of the advertising/marketing spend is for social media through third party partnership or directly (but it also depends on the type of product and type of targeted consumer). For example, I am working with a client whose social media initiative includes widgets and polls on online communities, both unbranded and branded. These were small one quarter initiatives and if the campaign goes successfully, the social media budget will definitely be expanded. I hope this answers your question.