Approach to social media strategy for non-profits, including case studies

1. A Realist’s Guide
to Social Strategy
for the Non-Profit World
24 February, 2010

2. Welcome.

3. I Am a... I Am Not a...
• VP/Account Management
• Social media “specialist”
and Digital Strategy
• Brand, marketing,
• Technologist
communication strategist • Analyst
• Researcher and planner • Non-profit “expert”
• Social media addict

5. Social Media Doesn’t Have to Be
Super-Complicated
• Online applications, platforms, media which aim to
facilitate interaction, collaboration, and sharing of
content

6. Easy to publish website that allows anyone to publish their
Blogs 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
Mini-applications that connect to the Internet and typically
Widgets/Gadgets have a specific function
Widgetbox
Sites that allow you to connect to friends, family and
Social Networking colleagues online or meet people with similar interests
Facebook, Ning, etc.
Text-based, interactive online discussion, either one-on-one # Twitter chats, etc.
Chat or group
One of the most “tried and true” social technologies; users bbPress
Forums post questions/comments, respond to others
Podcasts Audio and video files distributed through websites Apple iTunes
Sites that allow users to post, view and search videos or
Video/Photo Sharing photos
YouTube, Flickr, etc.
Sites that support multiple contributors with shared
Wikis responsibility for creating and maintaining content
Twiki

7. 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

8. “ 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

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

10. 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

11. 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 : )

12. The Best Advice
I 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.

13. 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

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

15. Engagement is the New Awareness

16. Consider What Your
Audience is Doing Online

17. Best Way to Engage: Be Useful.

18. 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.

19. 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...

20. Serendipity Happens.

21. 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

22. Red Cross 12-Step Program
Step 1 Get Social Media Savvy
Step 2 Learn Our Philosophy
Step 3 Listen
Step 4 Engage with National Social Media
Step 5 Learn from Chapter Social Media
Step 6 Evaluate Organizational Goals
Step 7 Create Your Social Media Strategy
Step 8 Choose Your Tools
Step 9 Let National Know What You’re Up To
Step 10 Implement Your Plan
Step 11 Measure Your Successes and Challenges
Step 12 Send National Your Links and Measurement Data
Wendy Harman, American Red Cross

23. Listening Tools
• Google Alerts and Google Reader
• Twitter Search
• Various Software Subscription Products
• Radian 6, Meltwater Buzz, others

24. The Basic Building Blocks
via 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

25. 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

26. http://community.nationalbreastcancer.org/

28. “ After all these years in marketing,
I’ve finally gotten to sit back and “
watch the numbers roll in.
-Kevin Williams, CMO
National Breast Cancer Foundation

29. 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
via Beth’s Blog beth.typepad.com

30. http://bit.ly/adMEoL

32. 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
via Beth’s Blog beth.typepad.com

33. http://lionguardians.wildlifedirect.org/
http://vimeo.com/7393055
via Beth’s Blog beth.typepad.com

34. 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

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

36. 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
Grace Markarian, American Humane Society, via Beth’s Blog beth.typepad.com

37. 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
Grace Markarian, American Humane Society, via Beth’s Blog beth.typepad.com

38. 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

39. http://www.redcross.org/

40. 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

41. 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

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

43. ORGANIZATION: Charity Water
OBJECTIVES: Raise awareness and funds
STRATEGY: Inspire
TOOLS: Website, video, Twitter
RESULT: First non-profit to one million Twitter followers

44. http://www.charitywater.org/

45. http://twitter.com/charitywater

46. 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

47. 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?

48. Recommended Resources
Ongoing 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

49. Thank you.
sspaight@meyerwallis.com
twitter: @suespaight
414.224.0212
If you want to keep the conversation going, I will offer
to participate in ongoing Twitter chat at:
#greatriversSM