I keep hearing about nonprofits that are struggling with social media. You’re job is hard enough without not knowing how to use these free and powerful tools.
I want to offer you the opportunity to pick my brain for 30 minutes. We’ll talk through Skype or over the phone and you can ask me whatever you like about social media. This is a chance for you to learn. I won’t be selling anything. It’s all about helping you.
In my career, I’ve benefited from the wisdom and generosity of others and I want to continue the tradition.
Contact me to set up your call. I’ll take the first five to sign up.
In the past I’ve talked about how nonprofits can get terrific exposure by having a Facebook fan page. Facebook is one of the most popular websites in the world. Doesn’t it make sense to associate your organization with it? Remember people are much more likely to see your updates on Facebook than on your website.
I Facebook "Like" You!
With that in mind, in the past you wanted people to become, “fans,” of your page on Facebook. But now things are slightly different. Facebook has switched out being a “fan” with “liking” a page. So you need to tell people who might want to join your Facebook presence to click the “like” button.
Facebook likes to make these occasional tweaks to its system even though they sometimes seem to be change for changes sake. Nevertheless, Facebook is a great platform for connecting with your followers.
YouTube continues to be a great tool for nonprofits wanting to connect and market with their fans. With newspaper and TV staffs cut dramatically, why rely on these outlets to get your message out to the public? Take control of your message and your future.
Today I want to show you a short clip from a ballet company. The group wanted to find a fun way to raise awareness of its annual performance of The Nutcracker. They took a nutcracker doll and took pictures of it around the city. The pictures were edited together and then added a “ticking” sound. A couple of full page graphics were added and voila, the group had a video. Other than time, the project cost nothing.
This video was made without the use of any video. Just still pictures and graphics. It was edited with Windows MovieMaker, a free program. With YouTube, its easy to share the clip and even post it to social media sites like Facebook or embed it into a website.
Every day more and more nonprofits are under pressure to start using social media. I think it’s a great idea, even if you’re just sticking your toe into the water with one tool. But very often the call to action comes from a board member or a senior member of staff who may have other motives.
While they may not know it, are they trying to have social media substitute for some task they don’t like to perform? Fundraising is a big one that comes to mind. Do they think that if they start using YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter that they’ll never have to ask the community for a dime again? In their minds, the cash will just magically pour in. Then when this doesn’t happen, you’re suddenly in trouble and don’t have a backup plan.
This is one of the biggest mistakes people can make with a social media strategy. Don’t think of it as a tool that will replace a task. Instead integrate it into your fundraising, communication, and outreach processes. Over time you then may be able to shift more of each function to online methods. But it takes a while to build your capacity. Resist the urge to dive head first into social media with the idea that it will save you from having to do something else.
As a nonprofit, I understand that there’s never enough time to get everything done and there are always emerging challenges. But to maximize your social media strategy, I want you to spend a few minutes ever week doing some homework.
I want you to spend a few minutes online looking at what other nonprofits are doing. Check out your competition locally as well as national organizations. Are they using tools like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter in new ways. Can you gain inspiration from them and bring those techniques back to your office?
It’s also important to see what doesn’t seem to work in your mind. Just because someone is doing something online, doesn’t mean that it will resonate with a nonprofit’s supporters.
Think of this research time as an investment in your nonprofit fundraising and relationship building.
As a nonprofit, in today’s economy, does it make sense to do some free market research? Social media can make it happen.
Survey Monkey is a free tool that allows you to ask questions to your supporters. You can give them quizzes, let them vote of the time of your events, and asked them what they’d like to know more about. A basic account is free and includes:
100 responses per survey
10 questions per survey
15 question types to choose from
Ability to collect emails via weblink or email
If you’re concerned about people not responding to your survey, then offer some sort of prize to a selected entry. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. Just enough to move people to action.
You can put the link to the survey on your blog, your electronic newsletter, your facebook page, and even on Twitter.
Should you allow your social media contributions to be open to comments? It may feel like you’re giving up control of your post. After all, some wacko could put up some really disturbing stuff.
But if you’re too conservative when it comes to allowing posts, you could lose the opportunity to create a community among your supporters. Here are some things to keep in mind about comments:
With things like blogs, YouTube, and Facebook, you are able to set up rules for comments. You have it so that no comment is posted until it is approved by you. You’ll receive an email notification when it’s time to review a comment.
Sometimes a critical (but not nasty) comment can be good to allow to be posted. It can result in others being motivated to jump on your keyboard and defend your agency. Build that relationship.
Respond to the comments. Try to say more than just, “Thanks,” and continue the discussion. People like to know that they’re being heard and you’re response will make them more likely to post in the future.
In our past few posts we’ve been discussing electronic or e-newsletters. They can be a great way to quickly pass on information to your supporters. And in today’s economy, they can be a lot less expensive then mailing a printed newsletter. Plus you can also share your newsletter through a blog or even your nonprofit’s Facebook page.
The biggest mistake that nonprofits make when it comes to sending out an electronic newsletter is not keeping to a regular schedule of publication. Most of the time the agency is very excited about having an e-newsletter and sends out an issue or two. But then things like the daily grind, vacations, and unexpected work derail the process. Before long, the idea is collecting dust.
This is a major turnoff to your supporters. When they give you their email address, think of it as a contract between them your nonprofit. You’ve made a commitment to electronically send information and updates to them. You need to make sure that the project can be fulfilled by multiple people and won’t be affected by any “distractions.”
Still not convinced? Think of it like this: A man and a woman meet and have an immediate connection. The man asks for the woman’s phone number which she eagerly provides. But then the man never calls the woman, leaving her confusing and angry. No matter the reason why he didn’t call, do you think she would ever want anything to do with him again?
The same rules apply to your nonprofit and a donor. Much like the woman in my example, who’s to say that another nonprofit won’t win her friendship and financial support simply by keeping a promise to stay in touch.
The biggest threat to a nonprofit electronic newsletter is the spam filter. Nowadays there is so much junk floating around the Internet that any kind of mass mailing could result in your newsletter being mistaken for spam. And some email providers might then blacklist you, making it impossible for your nonprofit to send to anyone else who uses email services like Yahoo! or AOL.
There are a couple of ways for your group to avoid the spam challenge:
Use an email marketing system. Two that immediately come to mind are iContact and Constant Contact. With both a subscriber to your newsletter has to confirm that they do want to receive the electronic communication. These plans aren’t free (Some run about $12-15 per month for up to 500 subscribers.) but they do come with some nice design templates that can make your communication look very professional.
The other option is to distribute your newsletter through social media. Post the info on a blog or even better, on Facebook. Many people check Facebook even more than their email. If someone becomes a fan of your nonprofit’s page, then they’ll automatically get your latest news as soon as you post it. It’s also much easier to forward a newsletter through social media.
In the final post of this series, we’ll look at another mistake that can doom your e-newsletter no matter how you distribute it.
Maybe you’re still on the fence about whether social media can help your nonprofit. Then I encourage you to follow thislink and read a thought provoking blog post by Seth Godin.
Godin is not shy about sharing his opinion of how noprofits have dropped the ball in not fully embracing social media tools. Do you think that the nonprofit world has been too slow to use these techniques? Or is the problem not a resistance to new things but rather a shortage of staff time.
I enjoy articles that make you think and I like the fact that Godin echoes my feeling that an agency’s volunteers should play an active role in a social media strategy.
I keep hearing about nonprofits that are struggling with social media. You’re job is hard enough without not knowing how to use these free and powerful tools.
Posted by Ken Okel 
