16. Listen: Monitor, Compile, Distribute I took an American Red Cross class I thought was less than satisfactory. […] The local chapter director. called me to talk about it honestly. They care about me and they’re willing to go the extra mile. I am now significantly more likely to take another class than I was before.” - Blogger
28. Loss of control over their branding and marketing messages Dealing with negative comments Addressing personality versus organizational voice (trusting employees) Make mistakes Make senior staff too accessible Perception of wasted of time and resources Suffering from information overload already, this will cause more
110. Summary: Scaling social media means working more like a network, less like an isolated organization You can make the transition with small incremental steps and be successful
I wear many hats these days. I’m the CEO of Zoetica, write Beth’s Blog, and have been Visiting Scholar for Nonprofits and Social Media at the Packard Foundation
Define network nonprofit
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicmcphee/422442291/Problem statement: Explosion in size of nonprofit sector over last twenty years, huge increase in donations and number of nonprofits, and yet the needle hasn’t moved on any serious social issue. A sector that has focused on growing individual institutions ever larger has failed to address complex social problems that outpace the capacity of any individual org. or institution to solve them.
Solution: Networks of individuals and institutions that reduces the burden on everyone, leverages the capacity, creativity, energy and resources of everyone to share solutions, solve problems. This changes the definition of scale for social change - was institutions now networks. http://www.flickr.com/photos/uncultured/1815645413/
The transition from working like this to this – doesn’t happen over night, can’t flip a switch
The transition of how a nonprofit goes from institution to looking like and working more like a network is what our book is aboutThe transition isn’t an easy, flip a switch – and it happens – it takes time Some nonprofits, newer ones like Mom’s Rising have networked nonprofit in their DNA, while others – institutions – make the change slowly.Way of being transforms into a way of doing
They also know that in order to have more impact, they need to scale. They wanted to go beyond having social media be a silo in the communications department, and through the Target experience they realized the value of employee use of social networks/social media. They worked on a social media policy, guidelines and an operational manual so that anyone working in affiliates as well as national could be ambassador on social networks. The guidelines also extend to volunteers. The overall policy is encouraging, not controlling. The operational handbook gives them specific steps, examples, and tips for being effective.
For example, they are able to provide advice and support to their affiliates who want to use Twitter effectively. Show example of all Twitter Accountshttp://redcrosschat.org/twitter/Now they have this network set up in the event of a disaster to quickly spread news/information.Their constituents/donors/stakeholders expect them to have a presencehttp://redcrosschat.org/twitter/#comment-37060 (screen capture of this comment)Summarize: The Red Cross found value from social media – by monitoring brand, reaching out to new supporters, and mobilizing them – and they did it by following these incremental steps: listen, engagement, build relationships, mobilize and scaleIt isn’t just Red Cross that has found value in Twitter. Here’s a couple of brief examples.
A month after our gathering in Atlanta. Shawn Admed shared news of a meeting with the Red Cross, an organization he now describe as “unfortress.” He applauds them for exploring ways to team up with a free agent. The hardest step is for most organizations is the first one. They have to admit their fear of a loss of control that prevents them from working with free agents – and get to a conversation to explore the possibilities. The Red Cross took that first step. There are actually 12 steps – and we lay this out in the chapter on social culture.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/444790702/Fortresses work hard to keep their communities and constituents at a distance, pushing out messages and dictating strategy rather than listening or building relationships. Fortress organizations are losing ground today because they spend an extraordinary amount of energy fearing what might happen if they open themselves up to the world. These organizations are floundering in this set-me-free world powered by social media and free agents.This trajectory changes when organizations learn to use social media and actually become their own social networks.
The opposite of Fortresses, Transparents can be considered as glass houses, with the organizations presumably sitting behind glass walls. However, this isn’t really transparency because a wall still exists. True transparency happens when the walls are taken down, when the distinction between inside and outside becomes blurred, and when people are let in and staffers are let out.University of California Museum of Paleontology, “Introduction to Porifera,” http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/porifera/porifera.html (accessed on May 21, 2009). Opening the Kimono in Beth’s Blog: A Day in the Life of Nonprofit Social Media Strategists and Transparency,” Beth’s Blog, posted August 3, 2009, http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2009/08/opening-the-kimino-week-on-beths-blog-a-day-in-the-life-of-nonprofit-social-media-strategists-and-tr.html (accessed September 30, 2009).
Transparent organizations behave like these sponges. They are anchored, they are clear about what they do, and they know what they are trying to accomplish. However, they still let people in and out easily, and are enriched in the process. This can only happen when organizations trust that people on the outside have good intentions, a key ingredient for relationship building. Organizations are transparent when: Leadership is straightforward when talking to various audiences.Employees are accessible to reinforce the public view of the organization and to help people when appropriate.Their values are easily seen and understood.Their culture and operations are apparent to everyone inside and out.They communicate all results, good and bad. Transparent organizations consider everyone inside and outside of the organization resources for helping them to achieve their goals. Jake Brewer, the Engagement Director for the Sunlight Foundation, describes his organization’s efforts to be transparent this way: “We often ask in team meetings, 'How can the community help with this?' or 'How can this be more open?' The result is that instead of an internal email that only the team sees, all of our Twitter followers see it along with our staff.”http://www.flickr.com/photos/avelino_maestas/3886212111/sizes/o/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hermida/490868828/Share pair, where are you and what does it look like?Ask Very social, Ask Not all, Ask MiddleWhat does your organization need to do to be more social?
Organizational culture is the psychology, attitudes, and experiences and beliefs of the people who lead organizations. Culture impactsUse social media to engage people inside and outside the organization to improve programs, services, or reach communications goals. Embrace mistakes and take calculated risksReward learning and reflectionUse a “try it and fix it as we go” approach that emphasizes failing fastOvercomes organizational innertiaUnderstand and appreciate informality and individuality do not necessarily indicate a lack of professionalism and caring.Trust staff to make decisions and respond rapidly rather than craw through endless check-ins and approval processes
There is also a need to describe your social media strategy in terms of the value – how it will help you reach your goals. Many leaders are “yellow thinkers” – that is they need to see the results laid out in advance before they will say.Pre-school California – there is also a conversation about value – and that happens by connecting social media strategy to communications objectives.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uncorneredmarket/370672187/Examining contingency plans, worst case scenarios – having that conversation and building it into their policy and operational guides.
Don’t do anything stupid – Social MediaDon’t moon anyone with camera
Testing of the policy – and there may be things that you didn’t think
But it really boils down to common sense ….
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maistora/4319082766/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tom-poes/505598151/in/photostreamI’ve been watching you ….Some of you already know that ….
So, be sure to pay attention – you may find your organization in this presentation! Because we used one our favorite social media tools – an excel spreadsheet –to follow your web sites to social media outpostshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/mikaelmiettinen/3697535285/
This examples comes from a small nonprofit based in Kenya – called Wildlife Direct – that has a mission around Wildlife Conservation … They have lay out a theory of change for how their social media support supports their mission …They have blogging platform is 50 different animal blogs – and the conservationists are blogging from the field - The conservationists blog, potential donors read stories, engage, and donors make contributionsRangers do anti-poaching – and more wild lifeThey’ve raised over $1 million through their blogging platform …But there’s one more secret to their success … can anyone guest what that is?
Here’s an example from the Brooklyn Museum that is using social media do drive its membership – a socially networked membership – where they are trying to get their fans to take the next step - and become members
They’re even experimenting with Four Square …. A location based social network where the status line is not what you’re doing, but where you are – so your friends can find you. Think about dogs and fire hydrants …Anyway, the Brooklyn Museum had this pilot – to test out who of their audience using it, they also had a group on staff go out into the neighborhood and check into location establishments and leave tips “Great place to have lunch while visiting the museum”The point is that social media is brilliant integrated with their membership program.http://www.flickr.com/photos/neatonjr/2346078093/in/faves-cambodia4kidsorg/
How do you get started?http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanobjc/2712391135/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yandle/844341197/Lay out all planned communication and marketing events and opportunities for the year and determine which ones you want to socialize …
This is a listening/engaging system that integrates both traditional media (press mentions) w/social media reputation management. Listening is red – and there are different posts for listening ..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefanomaggi/3564156120/Affinity: don't look for numbersWhen looking for influencers, you must not forget that these people will help you generating a lead: it could be a subscription, a purchase, a dialogue or a thousand more actions but the influencer should push influenced to act.So let's rethink it: are you looking for someone who can reach the highest number of users?Probably not. The one you're looking for is a person that can make an impact on the followers and inspire them, move them to act and push them to spread the message he is carrying. Real influence is not measured (only) with numbers. It's fundamental to understand what kind of affinity an influencer has with the audience.Communicate the signal and wipe out the noise by choosing the right people.
So, now you’re all probably freaking out and saying – OMG … I don’t have time to have one-on-one conversations with 1,000 people – you don’t have – the idea is to find the influencers .. Let me show you
Another way to say this: You need to start thinking of an integrated content strategy75% of online news consumers say they get news forwarded through email or posts on social networking sites52% say they share links to news with others via those means.http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1508/internet-cell-phone-users-news-social-experience
Let’s look at this in terms of crawl, walk, run, flyDoes your web site suck?Have you not linked your social outposts?If you have, next step is to engage, spread, and remixThen get to the advanced stage of co-created contenthttp://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2010/02/24/live-from-oms-the-10-step-content-strategy/
donations, leads, new subscribers, increased page rank,Interaction ReputationLoyaltySatisfactionSentimentFeedbackInsights about what worksDonationsLeadsSubscribersMembersSaved Time Saved CostsIncreased page rankSigned petitionsCalls or emails to government officials
http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrolibraryarchive/4078416459/in/faves-cambodia4kidsorg/http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2010/04/spreadsheet.htmlMeasurement should inform specific decisions and/or actions.Do not measure everything, but do measure what is most important to your goals.The data you gather should help you learn
Testing
Rewards learning and reflectionTry it and fix it approach – fail fastAppreciates individuality and that does not indicate a lack of professionalism or caringTrusts staff to make decisions and respond rapidlyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vo4M4u5Boc
What's one small step that your organization can take towards being a networked nonprofit? on the back of business card - and draw a winner free copy.
I wear many hats these days. I’m the CEO of Zoetica, write Beth’s Blog, and have been Visiting Scholar for Nonprofits and Social Media at the Packard Foundationv