The document provides guidance for nonprofits on using social networking. It discusses the importance of social networking given changes in traditional media, outlines strategic communications planning, and reviews major social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Best practices are presented for creating pages and profiles, engaging audiences, and integrating social networking into an organization's overall communications strategy.
1. Social Networking:
A How-To Guide for Nonprofits
Jennifer Leigh
Communications Director, The Poverty Institute
jleigh@ric.edu
401-456-2752
2. Overview of this session
What is Social Networking and why is it important?: aka “I
barely have time to do what I‟m already doing and you
want me to do more?”
Strategic communications planning: does social
networking even fit?
The tools in the toolbox: what they look like, how to use
them, and who is using them well
Thumbs up for Facebook
To tweet or not to tweet?
The million other sites to pay attention to
How to make it work in your organization
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3. What is Social Networking?
A web...all interconnected
Like-minded people sharing ideas and interests
Online community building
People yapping about their lives
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4. Why is Social Networking a big deal?
Change in the media landscape: by the numbers
300: number of newspapers that folded in 2009
8: number of magazines with a circulation of one million
or more that ceased publication
500+: number of editorial positions that were eliminated
in print media
10,000: number of jobs lost in radio
100+: number of TV stations affected by Chapter 11
filings of parent companies
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5. Why is Social Networking a big deal?
Lots and lots and lots of users
so many stats and reports that show that there are a
heck of a lot of people and organizations using social
networking
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6. Isn‟t it just a bunch of kids that use it?
NO!!! Here‟s who is online that you could/should reach:
Colleagues
Members
Constituents
Policy-makers
Media
Donors
Board members
etc. etc. etc.
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7. How does it help my organization?
FREE! (at least to set up)
Create real connections with real people
Greater and more frequent engagement
New avenue to raise awareness
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8. How does it help my organization?
Convenient & quick to set up
Popular
Two-way communication
Another tool for your
communications toolbox
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9. Communicating Strategically –
Plan it Out!
Communications planning looks at how you communicate
with your various audiences
Reflects your organization‟s mission, goals and objectives,
and is integrated into daily operations.
Can be both short-term and long-term goals
Informs everything from the content of your website to the
frequency of your contacts with local newspapers.
10. Communicating Strategically –
Plan it Out!
Typical elements of a communications plan include:
Strategic direction: defining goals and objectives
Audiences: who are you talking to and what do they
believe, think, know about your organization?
Content: clear messages and talking points tailored
specifically to your target audiences
Tactics: effective delivery mediums for your messages,
such as personal presentations, email newsletter,
blogging.
Evaluation: Is our message working? Are we using the
right tactics?
11. First step: Goals
“What” your organization or program wants to
achieve
Example: Improve the visibility and positive
perception of the Institute with its key publics while
changing public attitudes toward low and modest-
income Rhode Islanders
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12. Second step: Audiences
The “Who”
Think about who you need to
communicate with to meet
your goal
Example: Businesses and Chambers of Commerce
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13. Third step: Messages
The “what you want to tell” your audience
Consider what you want to tell your audience in order
to achieve your goal
Consider “what action you want your audience to
take”
Test your message!
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14. Messages Example
The Poverty Institute and businesses have the same
goals: a stable fiscal environment, a strong, vibrant
economy and healthy communities. (though we may have
different methods of achieving these goals)
The issues that we fight for ultimately help your
employees and you (more highly skilled workforce, child
support for your workers, etc.)
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15. Fourth step: Tactics
The “tools” you use to get your message to your desired
audience
Tactics can be direct
Tactics can be mass media
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16. Tactics
Direct Mail (postcards, fliers) • Print Advertising
Phone calls • Transit advertising
Email • Outdoor advertising
Website • Public Relations
Printed Materials (brochures, • 1-1 meetings
fact sheets)
Presentations
Only list the tactics you have the resources to do!
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17. Tactics examples
1-1 meetings with key players, introducing/reintroducing
them to the Poverty Institute and explaining what we do
Pitch presentation opportunities to the Chambers of
Commerce
Email professional organizations as a gateway/middle man
to employers
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18. Fifth step: Evaluation
The “how you know if you have been successful in
reaching your desired audience” with your desired
message
Measure of effectiveness of tactic and message
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19. Evaluation example
Increased number of presentations at Chamber of
Commerce
Increased submissions into Providence Business News
Increased meetings with key business leaders
Joint submission of legislation with key business leaders
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20. Is social networking for you?
Start small...build big
Set goals...what are you trying to accomplish with your
communications?
• increase engagement?
• acquire new supporters of your work?
• raise money?
• increase membership?
Define your audience...is social media a good tool to reach
them? (it‟s ok to say no!)
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22. The major sites…
Facebook: Friend builder
Twitter: Broadcast & Community Builder
YouTube: Broadcast content to the world
Flickr: Photographs to inspire
LinkedIn: Professional connections
MySpace: Talk to teens and musicians
Blogs: Your own online newspaper
Social Bookmarking: Sharing information
SOURCE: NTEN conference: Social Media Basics for
Nonfprofits
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23. Facebook: What it is
Site that lets people share updates photos, videos, articles,
links and more with Friends who they have to approve to be in
their network
Business and organizations can create “Fan Pages” which
other Facebook users can “like”
By numbers alone, the most popular social networking site
today, with more than 400 million registered users
If Facebook were a country, it would be the 4th largest behind
China, US and India
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24. Facebook: Why people love it
ME ME ME! Great way to promote yourself and your
organization
Interactive multi-media...post photos, videos, links
Interactive web of friends
Reconnect with long-lost friends
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29. Facebook: Anatomy of the NEWSFEED
FRIEND
SUGGESTIONS:
generated by
Facebook
FACEBOOK
ADS
EVENTS
CHAT
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30. Facebook: Anatomy of the NEWSFEED
NEWSFEED
VIEWS
STATUS UPDATE
NEWSFEED
Shows your friend’s
photos, who they are
friends with, interactions
between your friends,
and who “like” and
comments on their
status updates
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31. Facebook: Anatomy of the NEWSFEED
NEWSFEED
VIEWS
STATUS UPDATE
NEWSFEED
Also shows posts from
NEWSFEED organizations you
the
“like” as well as re-posts
from friends.
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33. Facebook: Anatomy of the PAGE
TABS
STATUS UPDATE
YOUR ORGS
PHOTO
EDIT YOUR PAGE
NEWSFEED
INSIGHTS INTO
HOW YOUR
PAGE IS DOING
PEOPLE THAT
“LIKE” YOUR ORG
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34. Facebook: Anatomy of the PAGE
YOUR ORGS
PROFILE PICTURE
EDIT YOUR PAGE
SUGGEST TO FRIENDS
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35. Facebook: Anatomy of the PAGE
INSIGHTS INTO
HOW YOUR
PAGE IS DOING
PEOPLE THAT
“LIKE” YOUR ORG
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40. Facebook: The LINGO
• News Feed: your homepage that shows your posts and your
friends posts
• Status Update: What you and your friends have to say
• “Like”: a quick way to appreciate a friend‟s post; puts a
“thumbs up” on their post
• Comment: a response to a post that goes directly beneath the
post in the newsfeed and profile page
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41. Facebook: The LINGO
• Friend Requests: someone that asks to be your “friend” and
therefore have access to your wall posts, photos, etc. (can
control what they see via privacy settings)
• Profile: a person‟s personal page that shows all of that person‟s
posts, friends posts to them, their photos, etc.
• Wall: the section on your profile page that show your posts and
the posts from your friends
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42. Facebook: Recent Changes
• “Fan” to “Like”
• No longer are a “Fan” of a page...you “Like” it (though you
still get the same updates and interaction as you would as a
Fan)
• “To improve your experience and promote consistency across
the site, we've changed the language for Pages from "Fan" to
"Like." We believe this change offers you a more light-weight
and standard way to connect with people, things and topics
in which you are interested.”
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43. Facebook: Recent Changes
• Community Pages
• built around topics, causes or experiences.
• intended to capture public-facing topics, concepts themes
and anything else that doesn‟t fit into an “official” page
• won‟t generate stories in your News Feed
• won‟t be maintained by a single author
• Users can help improve the page, and add content (like a
wiki)
• Examples: geographic locations, types of cuisine
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44. Facebook: Recent Changes
• Connections: asking users to link their profiles to pages that
currently exist
• Will most likely boost the “like” counts of Pages
• More interconnectivity, more interlinking
• Hovercards: if you mouse over a linked item in a profile, you‟ll
see a box pop up showing a little more information about the
item as well as the option to like
• Increased privacy settings: so that people have more control
and options over their privacy settings
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45. Facebook: Creating your page
• Must have your own individual page, first
• Go onto another org‟s page, click on “Create a page for my
business”
• You are now the administrator, and can set other facebook
users as administrators, as well
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46. Facebook: Creating your page
• Upload a picture that will appear as your “Profile Picture”
• Edit all information (best to get approval on this, first)
• Begin posting! (you must go onto your profile‟s page to have the
status update appear from your organization)
• Easiest way to get to your profile page: go to the “search” button
on the top of your Newsfeed page, type in your orgs name
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47. Facebook Best Practices
Don‟t just post during the workday…post at night and on
weekends
Follow other pages/people to listen to what they have to
say
Make your posts and your interactive: add links, photos,
etc.
Keep your posts to 3 lines or less
Stay active, but don‟t overpost
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49. Twitter: What it is
Social networking service that allows users to
communicate with their “Followers”
It’s open to anyone, so you can follow or be followed by
people you know and people you don’t
Microblogging: communicate via short messages and
updates called “tweets” that have a maximum length of 140
characters
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50. Twitter: Why people love it
Changing the definition of “real time” news
Staying up to date on current events
Making friends around the world
Connecting with like-minded people (“Lost”ies)
Following celebrities
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58. Twitter: THE LINGO
• Tweet: A post to Twitter - text only, 140 characters maximum
(including spaces)
• Timeline: A series of tweets displayed on a Twitter page
• Follow: When you follow someone on Twitter, that means you
elect to see in your timeline the tweets that they post
• Your “friends”: are the people who you follow
• Your “followers”: (a.k.a. “tweeps,” or “tweeple”) are the
people who have chosen to see your tweets
• @ Replies: Supports back-and-forth conversation via tweet
replies
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59. Twitter: THE LINGO
• Direct (private) messages: sometimes abbreviated to
“DM.” You can send private messages on Twitter that are
visible only to you and the recipient
• Short URLs: You can include links in your tweet simply by
posting the complete URL, including “http://”
• Hashtags: When you insert a # in front of keywords, you
make it easy for Twitter users who don‟t already follow you to
find your public contributions to the coverage or discussion on
that topic.
• Trending: hashtags categorized by popularity, which depends
on a vast number of people tweeting on the topic at the same
time
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60. Twitter: Setting up the account
• Go to twitter.com and click the “sign up” button in top right
corner
• Pick what name and handle you want to display
• Follow instructions on the email that is sent to you to activate
your account
• Your account is created!
• Search for people and organizations that you want to follow
• Begin tweeting by simply typing in a message in the white box
under „what‟s happening‟
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61. Twitter Best Practices
Listen first tweet later
Search keywords related to your organization or issue
Create lists to organize and monitor different
stakeholders
Promote your allies before you promote yourself
12 to 1 rule
Engage other organizations and users
Use @ messages
Use url shorteners for ALL external links
Bit.ly
Stay active
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62. Other great tools
MySpace
One of the original social networking sites
Similar to Facebook, but profile is more customizable
Still very big with teens and bands/musicians (which was
its original intent)
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64. Other great tools
YouTube
Online community where users can create, upload and
share their videos
Thorough, searchable database of videos
YouTube is 2nd largest search engine next to Google. Every
minute, 24 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube.
How your can use it
Organization Channel
Upload news clips, trainings, webinars,
Create a short promo video for your organization
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66. Other great tools
LinkedIn
The more “professional” social network of the Big Three. It lets
users create an online resume and network with their peers,
colleagues, business associates, etc.
Businesses and orgs can also set up profiles on the site
6-degrees nature of the site allows you to reach out to
people through already existing connections
How you can use it
Recruit and check references of new hires, volunteers
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68. Other great tools
Blogs:
a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with
regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or
other material such as graphics or video. Entries are
commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog"
can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add
content to a blog.
News
Politics
Organizations
Community
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69. Other great tools
Blogs: How you can work with bloggers
Build relationship with bloggers
Comment on blogs
Send info/help blogger write a blog
Write a blog
Promote a blog
Cross posting
Live blog
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70. Other great tools
Blogs: Creating your own
blogger, wordpress, typepad
• establish a strategy
• define an editorial policy
• find a voice
• create compelling content
• use keywords
• post on a regular schedule
• link from homepage
• engage with readers
• spread your content
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72. Other great tools
E-newsletters
Just like a printed newsletter: a way to highlight 3-4
pieces of news to send out to various audiences
Online e-news sites make it quick and affordable to
have a tailored newsletter that you manage
A good engagement tool to keep various audiences
updated on important issues from your organization
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74. 3 key questions to ask yourself before embarking
in social media:
1) Do you have engaging content that provides indisputable
value?
2) Can you maintain a consistent flow of content that can
draw attention and inspire others to share and advocate
3) Where will the content come from? Internal resources?
Volunteers? Board?
75. Making Social Networking Work in your Organization
If you decide that social media is a tool you want to use....
Meet with your team to discuss objectives
Put someone in charge of social networking (though many
can be involved in generating content)
Define your tone
Discuss privacy
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76. Making Social Networking Work in your Organization
If you decide that social media is a tool you want to use....
Set a schedule
Create a posting calendar
Set standards and institute policy
Create a submission form
Create Social Media Policy form
Use tools to help manage your social networking (i.e.
Tweetdeck)
Monitor how your sites are doing
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77. How to use social media well
• LEVEL 1 Involvement: “Listen” Mode
• Create your profile
• Follow/Friend those you feel are relevant (media, legislators,
other orgs, your “competition”) so you can “listen” to what
they say and stay up-to-date on what is going on/being
discussed
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78. How to use social media well
• LEVEL 1 Involvement: “Listen” Mode
• Facebook: Do a search for keywords, pages or people
relevant to your issues
• Twitter: follow dialogues and research key issues using Twitter
Search and hashtags (#). Create Twitter lists to keep track of
these people
• YouTube: watch videos on relevant topics or from similar
organizations
• Blogs: keep a list of important blogs on your issues, and
monitor them on a regular basis
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79. How to use social media well
• LEVEL 2 Involvement: “Reactive” Mode
• Post timely information from your organization
• news articles you are mentioned in
• upcoming events you are hosting
• new reports, materials, etc. from your organization
• encourage people to sign-up to your e-news or donate
• Reply to those that comment on your page/feed
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80. How to use social media well
LEVEL 3 Involvement: “Proactive” mode
Come up with new content for your page/feed
contest
polls
exclusive content for your social media users
Comment, interact and encourage conversation on other pages/feeds
use @tagging
Retweet/repost information
comment on relevant blogs and encourage bloggers to post on a
certain issue
Host online events via social media sites
Twitter parties/Twinterviews
Event Invitations via Facebook
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81. How to promote your page and get followers
Twitter: follow people
Facebook: Suggest to friends (and have others suggest to
friends!)
Promote in all aspects of your marketing
E-news
website
e-signatures
at events
donor materials
Be a resource, and they will seek you out
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82. Cardinal Rules of Creating Content
Key word in social marketing: SOCIAL. Be social! Share
photos, tell stories, and offer great content that your followers
will want to share with their fans
Write in a personal tone
Use “we”
Write as if it is a 1-1 experience
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83. Cardinal Rules of Nonprofit Social Networking
Be human: establish a familiar and appropriate tone
Expect the unexpected: Plan, experiment, adapt
Be relevant: acknowledge and build upon the existing
community and what members are already talking about
Be patient: building a following takes time; be in it for the
long-term
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84. Cardinal Rules of Nonprofit Social Networking
Listen: follow what others are saying, don‟t just be a “volume-
out” experience
Be transparent: communicate as if it was a face to face
experience‟
Stay active and involved
Promote sharing and seek dialogue
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85. Remember...
People often stress the importance of reaching certain
numbers of followers/fans on Twitter, Facebook, etc., but the
essence of social media lies in relationship building in an
effort to build a community.
It‟s not about using the latest tools…but the tools that work for
you.
It‟s not about listening to experts, it‟s about person-to-person,
genuine interaction that you will have with people. You will find
the most value in your own experiences with social media.
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86. Conclusion...what we learned
Social networking is one big web
Plan your communications, and figure out which
audiences you need to reach, and if social networking is
a tool to reach them
There are many different sites you can be using
Start small, build big...listen, be reactive and/or be
proactive
Be genuine and real
Social networking is just one tool in the tool box of
communications tactics
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