hilarious YouTube video brought to you by your favorite household cleaner; and blogs, blogs, and more blogs. Amidst all the noise there has been a notable migration of nonprofits to social media in an effort to generate awareness and raise money for their cause. And while many nonprofits have quickly adapted to the new media, many are asking, “what is it and should we be doing it too?” So for this article, we’ve brought together Topics Education employees Josh Thomas, Winn Maddrey, and Liz Barrett to discuss social media and nonprofits. In true social media fashion, they’ll be answering the questions in 140 characters, the amount allowed for each tweet.
Should all nonprofits use social media?
@jt_topics of course not. 1 size does not fit all and if your (or a potential) audience isn't on a channel, im not sure u need to be there either.
@wmaddrey No.Many nonprofits’ stakeholders will not align with social media;SM should match key groups&nonprofit’s profile.Aim@only correct targets.
@lizbarrett704 Should all businesses advertise in Food & Wine magazine?
What are the benefits of social media?
@jt_topics with so much noise out there, you gotta go to your audience where they are. u can't afford 2 wait for them to come to u b/c they prob won't
@wmaddrey Connect w/key players.Engage volunteers.Spread the word.Get news&info out.Multimedia.Cost not free,but cheap;try.Emerging/evolving.Fun.Live.
@lizbarrett704 you can make connections, build relationships and share useful information with people who would like to receive that information
What are the dangers of social media?
@jt_topics you look worse if you start a page/tweet/etc and don't use it regularly, than if you never had one to begin with
@wmaddrey Let’s see 1)Alienation 2)ditto @jt_topics = lost opportunity 3)Misalignment w/key stakeholders 4)Talk but say zero=noise 5)Unprofessional?
@lizbarrett704 wait, what’s the question, I was distracted by my childhood friend’s facebook photo album of her new cat?
How can social media help with fundraising?
@jt_topics it can alert new/bigger audiences of events (twitter/facebook/meetup/); can show what fun/success event was (flickr/youtube/fbook)
@wmaddrey Learn best practices, copy what works. Set $ goal. Go viral. Escape geographic/time boundaries. Create ambassadors/groundswells.
@lizbarrett704 get your “donate now” button in front of more people in more places
Who can we reach?
@jt_topics important to know audience you want & where they are. this isn't really a new concept; only destination is virtual not physical
@wmaddrey Age range = 18-50. Disposable income holders. Younger yet savvy. Cause-oriented/curious. Samplers/tryers.Wired nomads. Real.
@lizbarrett704 People pushing products. And young influencials who will champion your cause and help grow awareness. Just to name a couple.
How do you measure or determine success with social media?
@jt_topics friends/fans/followers/viewers/readers/subscribers is one way; stories picked by MSM another way; metrics determined by goals for outreach
@wmaddrey Start small. Many are watchers, not contributors. Incorporate it w/ other efforts and tie all metrics together (SM,web,email,etc.)
@lizbarrett704 Grow awareness, audience, and engagement. Bigger turnouts for events.
When does it make sense to contribute to the noise?
@jt_topics when you offer a unique and/or expert voice to the conversation AND when the audience matters (ie, they'd care about your opinion)
@lizbarrett704 When you see a plane land on the Hudson River and what @jt_topics said.
@wmaddrey Think. If you have something real to say,it’s not noise. When you write about nothing, that’s noise; stop.
How much time do you have to invest to create an effective outreach campaign?
@jt_topics 1st, outreach can't begin & end with soc media. It’s only 1 (multi-branched) channel but generally, AT LEAST a few hrs/wk
@wmaddrey Speed is important with SM; be fast & proactive & current & always keep it on your radar. Social media is a tool&time investmnt will depend.
@lizbarrett704 Upfront: lots. To maintain: 2 mins, 5 mins, 30 mins here and there daily. Attention Deficit Disorder here I come.
Where does the value come in?
@jt_topics value as trusted voice in conversation; in announcing events/vol opps/etc to current & potential new audiences; in sharing stories w/ MSM
@wmaddrey Intrinsic. Results may be vague; evaluation depends upon brand-building, traction, feedback (will take time). Keep team’s expectations n chk.
@lizbarrett704 follow my rule below and you’ll build trust and relationships and accumulate a posse of ambassadors for your cause
What is one rule I should be aware of?
@jt_topics be authentic. always be authentic. with good, bad and ugly news/events. always.
@lizbarrett704 engage with other people, listen and respond and do not simply be a product pusher.
@wmaddrey SM is 1 piece of arsenal; choose wisely. success relies on usage&execution. Use wrongly may=worse than not using. Use wisely may=far better.
How did you like having to respond to these questions in no more than 140 characters?
@jt_topics I liked it. Forced clarity and succinctness is a good thing
@wmaddrey For me, being concise is tough when I write.This exercise forced
consideration on each word.Inclusion & ommission were tugging @ each other.
@lizbarrett704 It's a lot easier than writing an essay about it.
3 comments:
thank you, topics! i've been waiting for you to share your SM knowledge with nonprofits who still write on paper...
i work in direct (social) services. is there a key to taping into an audience that isn't necessarily the audience we serve?
Informative and fun presentation. Thanks.
Thanks, Laura, for your question! @wmaddrey suggests this ... One suggestion is to do an assessment of your stakeholders, including those you have today and those you have tomorrow. For those you want tomorrow, an inexpensive outreach effort(s) can be conducted via social media, assuming it aligns with demographic – in terms of technology access, educational level, age, etc. - as a way to begin to grow that group. In addition, once you assess your stakeholders, you probably will find that there is a certain set for which SM is not a fit. No matter how hard you try, you will not successfully force this change. So, with those where it can align, look at how it can make your life easier. Can you use Facebook to announce upcoming volunteer opportunities? Can you use Twitter and others to announce and share grant recipients? Can you allow stakeholders, volunteers the ability to post photos of the nonprofits efforts to a Flickr photostream? Can your annual event be filmed and an edited (i.e. Shortened) version be posted to YouTube? Etc.
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