Social Media Strengthens Nonprofit PR

Social Media Strengthens Nonprofit Public Relations Heather Whaling Costa DeVault [email_address] card.ly/heatherwhaling twitter.com/prtini linkedin.com/in/heatherwhaling

Getting Social
77% of active Internet users read blogs
Facebook – 250m users
10 million Twitter accounts
Social networking is more popular than e-mail
Information sharing via Facebook surpasses e-mail

A Perfect Match
Nonprofits are in the relationship business
Conversations drive conversions Social media strengthens relationships

Don’t Be Fooled
Social media isn’t:
Traditional marketing “digitized”
Easy donations
Free
Stand alone
Social media is:
Insightful
Conversational
Strategic
Valuable … when done correctly

“ The influx of charities and nonprofits to platforms like Facebook and Twitter could result in noise, congestion, and outright apathy. Spreading awareness of a good cause grows difficult when that good cause starts to seem like spam. If one tweet after another is seeking donations, people might just get fed up.”
-- Caroline McCarthy, CNET

Getting Started: 5 Easy Steps

Step 1: Measurable Goals
Why social media?
Support overall communication goals:
Increase volunteers
Strengthen relationships with donors
Influence the conversation/debate
Education
Create S.M.A.R.T. objectives

Step 2: Research & Listen
Who are you trying to reach? How are they using social media?
Surveys, polls, focus groups
What are people saying?
Where are they saying it?
Listen, listen, listen
“ If you’re always talking, you’re not listening.” – Chris Brogan

Step 3: Develop a Network
Choose the right tools
Start interacting
Create interesting content
Stay focused on overall strategy
Cultivate influencers
Promote others
Share, share, share
“ It’s not how many, it’s how good.” – Peter Shankman

Step 4: Integrate Online & Offline
Cross-promote content
Balance traditional communication with social media
Enhance media relations
Talk to reporters on social networks
HARO
Distribute social media releases
Strengthen volunteer/donor appreciation

Step 5: Measure ROI & ROE
Return on Insight = The New ROI
Return on Engagement
Twitter followers, retweets and link open-rates
Blog comments and inbound links
Web site and blog traffic
Facebook fans, wall posts and discussion comments
YouTube ratings or videos embedded on other sites
Measuring influence requires research

Tools
Real-Time Monitoring
Filtrbox
Scout Labs
SM2
Link Tracking
Bit.ly
Tr.im
HootSuite
Trend Monitoring
Google Trends
Google Alerts
Trendrr
Tweetbeep
Twilert
Survey Tools
PollDaddy
SurveyMonkey

Coming Soon …
You Go Serve – a volunteer social network
Activates people, connecting them to organizations based on skills and interests
Website, Twitter and Facebook
yougoserveorlando@gmail.com for details and to be included

3 FAQs
Whose responsibility?
How much time?
Will people be negative?

Does it really work? Does it really work??

Community Crisis Center
Situation: Raise $150,000 or close
Sarah Evans “donated” her massive online presence to the cause
Integrated approach:
E-mail & letter to donors and friends of the Crisis Center
Online appeal via Twitter, Facebook, Seesmic, PRsarahevans.com, YouTube and CrisisOvernight.org

#CrisisOvernight
Result: Raised $160,000+ in 3 weeks

Social media matters to the Coalition because when they needed extra help, their online network – people who were strangers just months ago – stepped up to the plate.

Coalition for the Homeless
Overall Goals:
Increase online brand recognition
Reach a new demographic
Increase communication and create a dialogue with donors, volunteers, advocates and stakeholders
Position the Coalition as the authority on homelessness
Encourage active involvement with the Coalition

Connect with the Coalition
5-Step Process:
Research and listen
Lay the groundwork
Create sites and add content
Maintain ongoing rhythms
Evaluate success

Troubleshooting issues
Local focus
Employee guidelines
Good, bad and ugly comments

Sample objectives:
Increase web traffic by 10%
Be mentioned on outside blog posts as least 12 times/year
Obtain bulk donations of specific in-kind items at least 3 times/year directly from social media “asks”
Increase number of Twitter followers by 50 per month
Garner 1,000 blog views each month

Measuring results
Web traffic
Mentions of Coalition on outside blogs
Social media “Challenge” results
Number of friends/followers/views

Questions?

Heather Whaling Costa DeVault [email_address] twitter.com/prtini linkedin.com/in/heatherwhaling slideshare.net/heatherwhaling delicious.com/prtini/nonprofits Shari Orr Coalition for the Homeless [email_address] twitter.com/cfl_homeless centralfloridahomeless.org

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Social Media Strengthens Nonprofit PR

by Geben Communication: Communicating ... Connecting on Aug 18, 2009

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Social Media Strengthens Nonprofit PR — Presentation Transcript