Intro to Social Media for Non-profits by Written Impact

Introduction to Social Media and How it is Relevant to Nonprofits

Questions:Have you implemented social media in some form with your organization: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog and YouTube?

Do you believe Social Media is a fad or here to stay?

Where is your Organization with Social Media?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng&feature=related

Social Media Revolution 2

Announce Your Mission in Times Square?

- Volunteers- Donors- Millennials + More (avg. age is 38)- Build Awareness- Deepen Loyalty- Build Community (especially for isolated constituency)- Strengthen your Brand- Position as a Leader + Innovator- Share your fundraisers, events, needs, results in real time

Reach + Engage your Audience

6

Humans are Social ...

LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Blogs and Media w/ video, photos and the power of links to blogs and websites.

A Tool in the Marketing Toolkit ...

Social Media complements Personal interaction, events, phone follow up and other online tools like your website, email, and e-blasts/e-news.

Tools for Online Social

Social Media is more effective with a strong website to build a consistent brand and to have absolute control over your message.

Social Media has spawned many aggregators and dashboard tools to make it quick and easy to monitor and post on multiple social media channels.

We have limited time, staff or $$ - how can we implement social media?

Your Website is the Core

Decide who is Responsible for Planning, Approving, Monitoring,Managing and Posting ...

Plan Content + Set Internal + External goals

Use built-in analytics and adjust as needed

Form a Social Media Team

Team-building - w/ Staff + Loyal Volunteers

Facebook - builds a sense of community

Twitter - great for recruiting, thank yous and shout-outs about successful campaigns

Blogs - help populate annual report, Board reports and a running history of the org.

Social Media and Internal Goals

Blog - heart-warming stories, SEO, media opportunities, community-building and awareness.

Facebook - build and keep in touch with community.

Twitter time-sensitive - immediate needs, thank-you, press opportunities.

Social Media and the Community

Famous ~ media such as video can make anyone a star ~ more engagement with video

Forgive ~ occasional complaints, concerns, questions from your community? You have an opportunity to respond with consistency,

class and transparency by apologizing and addressing issues

Foster ~ build good feelings by sharing the organization’s successes big and small

Feeling ~ share touching stories about the people that are touched by your organization’s services

Fundamentals ~ educate your audience with facts, figures, science, strides in treatment, innovations and more.

How Non-profits Use Social Media

Free ~ easy to set up and easy to make consistent with your brand

Fun ~ fun and for many, this is like reading a book or going to a movie. It is relaxing, distracting and interesting.

Fast ~ deliver timely information quickly; requests for donations of needed items or last-minute volunteer needs

Furious ~ build momentum before and after events and outreach

How Non-profits Use Social Media

LinkedIn is more than just an online resume - simply by checking your homepage, you can get a look into

the world of your connections and look for opportunities to engage.

Create a group to start discussions to communicate with engaged members.

Optimize the profiles of key players in your organization - board members, president, executive

director, etc. and allow yourself to be found.

Social Tools - LinkedIn

LinkedIn

Build a page (open community) for your non-profit organization

Share research, heartwarming stories and let your fans be your voice.

Be social - people are on Facebook because that’s where there friends are - think more than text: events and pictures.

Share media (video, photos, fliers, newspaper articles) with your community and re-purpose the media you already have.

Social Tools - Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

If you aren’t getting value from Twitter - you’re not following the right people. There are tools to help you find influential people (tweepi, twellow, tweepsearch)

Twitter is all about outreach. Listen then join the conversation using search tools.

Get noticed. Outreach to journalists and bloggers - media members say they get 800 good pitches frome-mail, but 5-6 Direct Messages

Social Tools - Twitter

Twitter

77 percent of Internet users read blogs

Share media like photos and videos + PowerPoint presentations

Find creative ways to share blog articles

Look for ways to engage your community - ask for guest posting, encourage + monitor commenting

Social Tools - Blog

Blog

YouTube, Flickr, SlideShare

Give specific Call-to-Action

Re-purpose Media

Share through other appropriate social media channels

Social Tools - Other Media

Other Media

Questions?

Dos + Don’ts for Linked In, Facebook, Twitter + Blog

DO have a complete profile – or make sure your organization’s spokesperson does. That includes education, website, past experience, phone number, recommendation, etc.

DON’T treat LinkedIn like an online resume. Add new connections and change your status with some frequency. Keep information up to date.

DO make sure someone from your organization is regularly posting and monitoring in your non-profit’s group.

Social Media Dos and Don’ts: LinkedIn

DON’T just think “build it and they will come.” There are 60 million status updates on Facebook daily and the average person is connected to 80 community pages - focus content on what makes your organization stand out from the crowd.

DO find ways to cross-promote your Facebook page in traditional marketing like print materials and in e-newsletters.

DON’T just wing it. Create a monthly content plan and allow time for spontaneous posts based on comments

Social Media Dos and Don’ts: Facebook

DO be collaborative. Engage a team of volunteers and staff to provide content that is approved before posting.

DON’T just think text. Incorporate other media like photos, video, events, polls, etc. in addition to text.

DO be social. People are on Facebook because that’s what where their friends are; make it fun, interesting, vary the content, incorporate what is going on in the community and in the world.

Social Media Dos and Don’ts: Facebook

DON’T leave your profile incomplete. Follow influential people in the community and have a complete profile so they will follow back with name, photo, website and bio filled out with a compelling reason why they should follow you back. Favorites, last tweets and your followers/following is important too.

DO find the right people to follow. If you think Twitter is a waste of time - you’re not following the right people. Use online directories like Twellow, Tweepsearch and Tweepi to find influential people. Reach out to your community.

DON’T just talk. Conversation is key: listen, listen, listen then interact.

Social Media Dos and Don’ts: Twitter

DO be brief. Make your content short so it is easier for others to RT (share with their network). You only have 140 characters so use for link sharing.

Don’t just talk about your organization. 60% information that is valuable to the community, 30% conversation, 10% fun facts.

Do use search.twitter.com and other tools to find the conversation. Use # - hashtags (click-able links that allow you to find and join the conversation)

#nonprofit#homeless#cancer#columbus

Social Media Dos and Don’ts: Twitter

DON’T treat your blog like your old website. Post new content once a week - but it can be as simple as a few photos or a 30-second video with an intro paragraph.

DO Turn comments ON. Create a policy for monitoring these comments, but ask questions at the end of your posts to encourage conversations.

Don’t post novels. Keep content short + simple to keep the attention of your reader.

DO think search. Optimize your blog for SEO by using keywords, categorizing, tagging and adding headers to posts

Social Media Dos and Don’ts: Blog

Make your branding + messaging consistent in traditional +web + social media channels and use to reach overall organizational goals.

Don’t reinvent the wheel. Your time is limited so write a core message and get it out to as many channels as possible with small tweaks.

Most traditiona journalists are on social media – and don’t forget about blogger outreach too.

Use social media to further spread media coverage + partnerships + events + any buzz you already have going on.

DO Integrate Social Media into your Overall Marketing and PR Strategy

Social media channels can be a great tool for fundraising, but do more than just ask for money, also ask for engagement ...

Givimo - Cool FREE non-profit tools for receiving donations and creating community - http://givimo.com/.

Thank donors and build personal relationships with them, even simple things like calling them by name.

Add the "Causes" App to your Facebook page for fundraising, but don't just limit your organization to using Causes for Facebook fundraising.

DON’T just Fundraise

Keep content short, sweet and to the point.

Short facts, heart-warming stories are the most likely to get passed along and build engagement.

Give specific call-to-action.

Add widgets like tweetmeme to make it easier for your information to be passed to your fans + followers networks.

DO Make it Easy for Others to

Spread Your Message

Use as a community builder and collaborate space.

Don’t just talk about yourself - talk about collaborators, partnerships, volunteers, complimentary organizations.

Use features like “add to my page’s favorites” on Facebook.

Highlight another organization once a month.

DON’T just Focus on Your Organization

Questions?