realist's guide to social media for nonprofits

A Realist’s Guide to Social Strategy for the Non-Profit World

24 February, 2010

Welcome.

I Am a... I Am Not a...

• VP/Account Management and Digital Strategy

• Brand, marketing, communication strategist

• Researcher and planner

• Social media addict

• Social media “specialist”

• Technologist

• Analyst

• Non-profit “expert”

Social Media Doesn’t Have to Be Super-Complicated

• Online applications, platforms, media which aim to facilitate interaction, collaboration, and sharing of content

Blogs Easy to publish website that allows anyone to publish their point of view and usually allows comments. WordPress, Posterous

Microblogging Conversation in 140 characters or less Twitter

RSS Really Simple Syndication: a tool that brings you updates Google Reader

Widgets/Gadgets Mini-applications that connect to the Internet and typically have a specific function Widgetbox

Social Networking Sites that allow you to connect to friends, family and colleagues online or meet people with similar interests Facebook, Ning, etc.

Chat Text-based, interactive online discussion, either one-on-one or group # Twitter chats, etc.

Forums One of the most “tried and true” social technologies; users post questions/comments, respond to others bbPress

Podcasts Audio and video files distributed through websites Apple iTunes

Video/Photo Sharing Sites that allow users to post, view and search videos or photos YouTube, Flickr, etc.

Wikis Sites that support multiple contributors with shared responsibility for creating and maintaining content Twiki

Survey Says...Strategy

• How to expand use for more effective awareness-building, events, fundraising

• How to integrate social media into overall marketing and fundraising strategy

• How to best engage, inform, educate audiences

• How to grow networks once established

• How to set goals/benchmarks and measure ROI

• Social media guidelines/risks/pitfalls

Marketers are like kids at Rita’s candy shoppe, gazing at all the pretty opportunities. Most of us are afraid of strategy, because we don’t feel confident outlining one unless we’re sure it’s going to work.

-Seth Godin

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Strategy is the road. It answers how you will engage.

GOAL: 29,029 Feet

OBJECTIVES: Reach top of Everest; don’t die

STRATEGY: Be as prepared as humanly possible

TACTICS: Intense training; best climbing team; right route for weather; use best tools available

Survey Says...Tactics• Community sites, blogs, forums, web chat

• LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr

• Blogger relations

• SMS/texting

• RSS feeds

• Google analytics

• File sharing applications

• How to manage time investment : )

The Best AdviceI Can Give You

• Figure out what you are going to DO with social media first, and why.

• Then, worry about all of the shiny objects.

• The tools will always be changing. Your mission won’t.

Goal: A Solid Planning Foundation

• Approach to social media strategy

• Examples from the non-profit world

• Tool demos/explorations as desired

• Group brainstorming/idea sharing session

It’s about raising money.But it’s got to be about

more than raising money.

Engagement is the New Awareness

Consider What Your Audience is Doing Online

Best Way to Engage: Be Useful.

Top 10 Tips on Approach• Think about what you can offer your supporters, and

how you can facilitate, not how you can “push out messages.”

• Speak as humans, not as a company.

• There are natural storytellers. Find them, and the best stories your organization can tell.

• Find someone really passionate about talking with your supporters.

• Create ways for your supporters to actively participate in content creation. Many of the most successful social media efforts are truly grass roots.

Top 10 Tips on Approach

• Always be listening.

• The more responsive you can be, the better.

• Building relationships is a long-term commitment, not just a “campaign.”

• Learn by doing. It’s really the only way.

• Experiment and don’t be afraid of “failure”. If something doesn’t work, adjust and keep trying or try something else. Because...

Serendipity Happens.

ORGANIZATION: Blood Drive

OBJECTIVES: Increase blood donations among teens

STRATEGY: Enable donors to encourage friends

TOOLS: Facebook event page & discussion threads

RESULT: 23% increase over previous blood drive with no other changes to communications

Red Cross 12-Step ProgramStep 1 Get Social Media SavvyStep 2 Learn Our PhilosophyStep 3 ListenStep 4 Engage with National Social MediaStep 5 Learn from Chapter Social MediaStep 6 Evaluate Organizational GoalsStep 7 Create Your Social Media StrategyStep 8 Choose Your ToolsStep 9 Let National Know What You’re Up ToStep 10 Implement Your PlanStep 11 Measure Your Successes and ChallengesStep 12 Send National Your Links and Measurement Data

Wendy Harman, American Red Cross

Listening Tools

• Google Alerts and Google Reader

• Twitter Search

• Various Software Subscription Products

• Radian 6, Meltwater Buzz, others

The Basic Building Blocksvia Chris Brogan

• Grow bigger ears

• Make a friendly and useful base on your site

• Extend into outposts

• Integrate into other tools like E-mail marketing

OBJECTIVE: Rally community of supporters

STRATEGY: Create a safe place where women can talk online; extend the conversation to where the audience already is

TOOLS: Community site first; Facebook cause and 20+ other outposts later

RESULT: Increased advocacy; $92,000 in donations during October 2009 Breast Cancer Awareness month attributed to social media; total 2009 donations increased 22% over prior year

via Beth’s Blog beth.typepad.com

http://community.nationalbreastcancer.org/

After all these years in marketing, I’ve finally gotten to sit back and

watch the numbers roll in.

-Kevin Williams, CMONational Breast Cancer Foundation

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ORGANIZATION: ASPCA

OBJECTIVES: Rally community of supporters

STRATEGY: Feed their passion

TOOLS: Ning community, Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr

RESULT: Engaged Facebook community 268,000 strong


http://bit.ly/adMEoL

ORGANIZATION: Wildlife Direct, Nairobi, Kenya

OBJECTIVES: Raise funds to protect wildlife

STRATEGY: Enable donors around the world to communicate directly with the people they are funding

TOOLS: Blogs are primary

RESULT: Website visits and donations up four-fold; 50 lions saved last year


http://lionguardians.wildlifedirect.org/

http://vimeo.com/7393055via Beth’s Blog beth.typepad.com

ORGANIZATION: American Humane Society

OBJECTIVES: Increase engagement and donations

STRATEGY: Empower pet lovers to become ambassadors

TOOLS: Photo contest; Facebook tool to solicit votes from friends

RESULT: 31,000 entries; $377,000 raised

Grace Markarian, American Humane Society, via Beth’s Blog beth.typepad.com

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/spay_day/

American Humane Society Metrics

• # of submissions

• # of photo views/voting participants

• # of friends/fans/members over time

• # of new names added to E-mail file

• # and content of blog comments

• # of blog subscribers

• # of inbound links

• # of donations/amount of donations


American Humane Society Lessons

• Integrating social media into your campaigns can help build online actions like donations slowly

• E-mail marketing remains the #1 success driver

• Social media allows HSUS to reach audiences they may not reach through other channels

• Must allocate resources to monitor and communicate with this audience to sustain success

• Participating in social network sites requires constant willingness to learn


ORGANIZATION: American Red Cross

OBJECTIVES: Create an empowered online community of supporters; Maximize donations for Haiti earthquake relief

STRATEGY: Connect people to what’s happening on the front lines; Make donating as easy as possible

TOOLS: Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Ammado;Text-to-donate

RESULT: Text-to-donate yielded $800,000 in first 24 hours; $5 million by day two; $22 million first week; 14% of total

http://www.redcross.org/

ORGANIZATION: The Girl Effect

OBJECTIVES: Raise awareness and funds

STRATEGY: Prove to potential supporters that they really can make a difference

TOOLS: Video was primary

RESULT: 471,000 views on YouTube; 115,000 Facebook Fans

http://www.girleffect.org/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIvmE4_KMNw

ORGANIZATION: Charity Water

OBJECTIVES: Raise awareness and funds

STRATEGY: Inspire

TOOLS: Website, video, Twitter

RESULT: First non-profit to one million Twitter followers

http://www.charitywater.org/

http://twitter.com/charitywater

A Beautifully Simple Way of Thinking About It

via Hugh MacLeod

• Figure out what your gift is, and give it on a regular basis

• Make sure it’s received as a real gift, not an advertising message

• Figure out what it is that your trail of breadcrumbs leads back to

Group Sessions: Applying to United Way

• Part one: What are our goals and objectives? Who are the audiences we are seeking to rally?

• Part two: What will our approach/strategy be? What type of content is our “gift”/will be effective?

• Part three: Discussion/demo of tools as desired; What listening and conversation tools will we prioritize?

Recommended ResourcesOngoing Twitter Chat : #nptech - great way to meet people to learn from/share with on Twitter

Allyson Kapin: Non-profits - Time to Get Mobile http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2010/1/15/nonprofits-time-to-get-mobile.html

***Beth Kanter/Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofit Organizations Can Use Social Media to Power Social Networks for Change:

http://beth.typepad.com/

http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2009/02/how-do-you-measure-the-success-of-dog-to-person-fundraising-on-social-networks-dollars-or-doggie-tre.html

Chris Brogan’s blog: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/grow-bigger-ears-in-10-minutes/

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/the-building-blocks-of-social-media-for-business/

Forrester Research Consumer Technographics Data : http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/profile_tool.html

KDPaine’s PR Measurement Blog: http://kdpaine.blogs.com/

Mobile Active http://www.MobileActive.org

Nonprofit Tech 2.0: A Social Media Guide for Non-Profits http://nonprofitorgs.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/10-nonprofit-text-alert-campaigns/

***We Are Media wiki http://www.wearemedia.org/

***Wendy Harman, American Red Cross: http://wharman.posterous.com/social-media-handbook

***Top Three Recommendations

Thank you.

[email protected]

twitter: @suespaight

414.224.0212

If you want to keep the conversation going, I will offer to participate in ongoing Twitter chat at:

#greatriversSM

realist's guide to social media for nonprofits

Business

american humane

beths blog

girl effect

social media

funds strategy

raising money

rally community

enable donors