SOCIAL NETWORKING AND THE NONPROFIT COMMUNITY:

The “New Age” of Communication and Its Impact on Development

Matt Frazier Founder & CEO – Pursuant

follow me: twitter.com/placematt

Definition of Terms

Social Media – primarily Internet-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings. The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology and social interaction with the construction of words, pictures, audio and video. The industry might also refer to social media as “user generated content” -wikipedia

Social Media is…

BASED ON A PRESENTATION BY LEE WHITERemixed from introtosocilamedia by AnnFIOPartners

SocialMedia is…

Well…

sort of.

BASED ON A PRESENTATION BY LEE WHITERemixed from introtosocilamedia by AnnFIOPartners

You Can’t Leverage Social Media!

• The session title is a misnomer• If you are not actively involved in an online

community already, you have nothing to leverage.

• Donor loyalty is about you being loyal to your donors, until you can operate from that premise – your organization will not use social media effectively.

Social Media

REALLY is…

BASED ON A PRESENTATION BY LEE WHITERemixed from introtosocilamedia by AnnFIOPartners

a CONVERSATION…http://www.flickr.com/photos/noxdineen

That is powered by…

BASED ON A PRESENTATION BY LEE WHITERemixed from introtosocilamedia by AnneFIOPartners

“Your supporters are the message”-Marshall McLuhan

The “medium-is-the-message” guy

• Conversations among human beings sound human.

They are conducted in a human voice.

• The Internet is enabling conversations among human

beings that were simply not possible in the era of mass

media.

• These networked conversations are enabling powerful

new forms of social organization and knowledge

exchange to emerge.

From the Cluetrain Manifesto

The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual: Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, David Weinberger; Perseus Books ©2000

• Nonprofits must talk to the people with

whom they hope to create relationships.

• To speak with a human voice, nonprofits

must share the concerns of their

communities.

• If you want us to talk to you, tell us

something. Make it something interesting

for a change.

• We have better tools, more new ideas, no

rules to slow us down. We are waking up

and linking to each other.

From the Cluetrain Manifesto

People have now had a taste of two way conversations around your brand.

They won’t wait for you to talk about you.They don’t want to listen to this…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaalarchief

A few quick stats…

• 73% of active online users have read a blog • 45% have started their own blog • 39% subscribe to an RSS feed • 57% have joined a social network • 55% have uploaded photos • 83% have watched video clips

Source: Universal McCann’s Comparative Study on Social Media Trends, April 2008,

The conversation is happening…with or without you.The conversation is happening…with or without you.

BASED ON A PRESENTATION BY LEE WHITERemixed from introtosocilamedia by AnnFIOPartners

Some differences in tactics

BROADCASTBrand in control

One way / Delivering a message

Repeating the message

Focused on the brand

Educating

Organization Creates Content

SOCIAL MEDIAAudience in control

Two way / Being a part of a conversation

Adapting the message/ beta

Focused on the audience / Adding value

Influencing, involving

User created content / Co-creation

Source: Slide 10 from "What's Next In Media?" by Neil Perkin

In social media, you might be the topic of conversation without being the center of it

You will have to give up some control in order to gain more influence and followers.

Giving up control is OK.firstgiving presentation, Using social media to expand your fundraising horizons

BROADCASTMEDIA

SOCIALMEDIA

Let’s Consider What is Happening to Email

• How many email addresses have you had?• How many do you currently have?

(most people answer 3 or more)• Why do you have multiple, how is each used?• If your organization asked you for your email

address, which one would you give them?

Content used to “go viral” through email . Generally, people don’t use the channel that way any more.

Quick Case in Point

To the Twitter community, Lance is…

•Active

•Engaging

•Authentic

@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

Quick Case in Point

•Very Responsive followship

•Lance crashed his website in 10 minutes from traffic he sent there from twitter

@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

Quick Case in Point

•Credibility

•No question, to twitter community, that Lance tweets for himself

@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

Quick Case in Point

Lance Armstrong Foundation uses twitter for…

•Press releases

•Public relations

•“customer service”

•NOT exactly an audience well cultivated for solicitation

@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

Quick Case in Point – open letter “advice” to the LIVESTRONG

foundation•Shoot short video of Lance making specific impassioned appeal to his twitter audience.

@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

Lance has already communicated with his followers in this way.

Hundreds of comments poured in within days.

Quick Case in Point – open letter “advice” to the LIVESTRONG

foundation•Shoot short video of Lance making specific impassioned appeal to his twitter audience.

•Video needs to state a goal, ask for a specific amount, and automatically kick to a donation page with a specific, small gift pre-filled on the form. No “Click to Donate” buttons!

•Ask Lance to tweet it out 6 times over 3 days varying the time of day it’s tweeted and the subject line “update” that goes with it…share progress, celebrate benchmarks, express goal, give thanks, etc.

•Ask Lance to tweet as normal the rest of the day.

•LIVESTRONG twitter admin needs to follow progress and thank individual donors publicly, using twitter.

•Headline the next day (prediction)…@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

Quick Case in Point – open letter “advice” to the LIVESTRONG

foundation

What won’t be mentioned in the headline -- the months of acquisition and cultivation work Lance Armstrong has done in the preceding months to make this solicitation effective.

But…

Lance Armstrong isn’t doing acquisition and cultivation. Lance Armstrong is simply in conversation with his followers.

(that’s the best kind of cultivation)

“LIVESTRONG Raises Hundreds of Thousands in Three Days

Using Just Twitter”

@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

So, Should I Get Me a Twitter?

• If your organization is slow to adopt this new way of thinking, there are some personal strategies you might employ

• Your successful implementation should be a good case study for the administration in your organization

• Start with careful planning

@mikeyames The Pursuant Group

Thinking Things Through

• Objectives• Audience• Integration• Culture Change• Capacity• Tools and Tactics• Measurement• Experiment

• People• Objectives• Strategy• Technology

Beth Kanter

Groundswell

People

Source: Beth Kanter, from 10/08 Share Our Strength presentation

Who are these people?

Source: Forrester, Groundswell

Objective: What do you want to accomplish?

• Increase Revenue from New Donors? By how much?

• Engage New Clients for Programs? Referrals from Website – how many?

• Build Awareness of your Cause? New inquiries? Mentions of organization across internet?

PICK ONE OBJECTIVE TO START WITH…MUST BE ABLE TO MEASURE

a specific measurable result expected within a particular time period

a specific measurable result expected within a particular time period

Source: Beth Kanter, from 10/08 Share Our Strength presentation

Strategy: Plan for how relationships with

people will change• Listening• Participating• Sharing Your Story Social Media Style• Spreading Awareness, Generating

Buzz• Social Networking For Action And

Fundraising

Source: Beth Kanter, from 10/08 Share Our Strength presentation

Technology: Decide which social technologies

to use to support strategiesSEE LIST OF TOOLS for….• Listening• Participating• Sharing Your Story Social Media Style• Spreading Awareness, Generating

Buzz• Social Networking For Action And

FundraisingSource: Beth Kanter, from 10/08 Share Our Strength presentation

Tactics – Tools - Time

Listen Participate

Community Building &

Social Networking

Generate Buzz

Less Time More Time

5hr 10hr 15hr 20hr

ShareContent

Used with Creative Commons permission from Beth Kanter

Questions in preparing your organization to listenWho will do the listening and responding?

What is your response policy to criticism/praise/questions?

How much time is allocated?How will you analyze and share results?

What are the benchmarks to measure usefulness?

Beth Kanter, Listening Literacy

Online Listening

Online ListeningKeyword Search Suggestions

• Nonprofit Name• Other NPO names in your space

• Other NPOs with similar sounding names• Program/Services/Event Names

• CEO or well known associated personalities• Other NPOs with similar sounding names

• Brand or tagline• URLs of your online properties

• Industry terms or phrases related to your mission• Your known strengths and weaknesses

Beth Kanter, Listening Literacy

Social Media Tracking

Source: Danielle Brigada, NWF

Online Listening

Laura Lee S. Dooley, Online Engagement Strategist, World Resources Institute

search.twitter.com

tweetbeep.com

twist.flaptor.com

twemes.com

www.tweetdeck.com

Some tools for listening

Laura Lee S. Dooley, Online Engagement Strategist, World Resources Institute

search.twitter.com

www.twellow.com

www.chrisfinke.com/twitslikeme

www.socialbrandindex.com

twitter.com

Some tools to find others

Online Participation

•Ask questions•Comment on others blogs posts•Compliment others content•Forward and link to others content

Generate Buzz

•Open profiles on Social bookmarking and crowd sourcing sites like digg and stumbleupon•Bookmark content you like and share your profile•Promote others content through service like digg, mixx and newsvine

Share Content•Take time to create content that addresses any recurring questions your donor base is asking . This content does not necessarily need to relate directly to the mission of your organization. You are preparing content that will be genuinely helpful.

•Listen for where and when your content can be used to help a conversation or answer a question.

•Answer the questions by directing people to the content you have created.

Community Buildingand Social Networking

•Establish credibility within your engaged following network of people

•Once established, the group of people you are in conversation with will begin knowing where your expertise lies.

•Inviting an engaged followship into a custom social network becomes easy. Be sure to determine the kind of community or social network you open is based on the people, objectives and strategy you have established.

Giving Up Control

• The nature of social media is that not all content is precisely right, but the majority is generally right.

• Not all of your interaction will be positive or favorable.

• How you respond to criticism will say a lot about you and your organization.

• Pick your battles and be willing to apologize when necessary.

firstgiving presentation, Using social media to expand your fundraising horizons

Tactics – Tools - Time

Listen Participate

Community Building &

Social Networking

Generate Buzz

Less Time More Time

5hr 10hr 15hr 20hr

ShareContent

Used with permission from Beth Kanter