Strategic Leadership and Social Media for Social
Good
University of Richmond, Jepson Alumni Center
Friday, July 24, 2009
Leading Change
Sandra J. Peart, dean, Jepson School of Leadership Studies
YouTube Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6H6rcY8C5o
• Social media is new, but it’s not going away
• Leadership is influencing conversations and other people – the technology enables more
conversations and different types of conversations
• Leadership is about listening and conversing; it is by nature social
• Social media gives us new opportunities to shape conversations
• We can all self initiate many more transactions than we used to, so many leaders feel like they
have lost control – This is a challenge and an opportunity
• You want to create conversations that support your brand and organization
• Social media is the result of a cooperation between people, technology (and its evolution) and
economics (it’s become cheap enough)
• In organizations, people are wary about things they don’t know about
• Media has flattened the horizon where leadership takes place (the hierarchy has become flat)
• Aggregating the talents in your organization will equal a collective wisdom that is far greater than
the expert advice of one person
• People now have a greater opportunity to inform the world
• Until now, we’ve been getting information through surveys (at a high cost), we can now get
emergent information that can be tracked in real time…for free – This allows us to get things
right
• Technology allows us to see, in real time what people are thinking about, talking about and
what’s important to them
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The Big Picture
Jon Newman, partner, The Hodges Partnership - @jonnew
YouTube Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6H6rcY8C5o
• Means of communicating has changed, but the information that we communicate hasn’t
• There are more adults on social media platforms than teens
• Social media is simply using internet and mobile tools to share and discuss information
• Social media philosophies: transparency, relevance, consistency, honesty, education, providing
value
• Non profits should
o Engage and communicate with current stakeholders
o Encourage them to be ambassadors (Red Cross Online Ambassador Training:
https://www.redcrossonlinetraining.org/Distance/Default.aspx
o Engage with and educate new audiences
o Expand your community
o “Friendraise not fundraise” – build your base
• Things to consider…
o Ask stakeholders where they are (where they spend their time online)
o Do research to determine a strategy and appropriate platforms
o Social media should flow from a broader communication strategy
o Should start from a senior level
o Social media should not replace other forms of marketing
o It isn’t expensive, but it takes time
• Good examples: Marriott on the move blog (http://www.blogs.marriott.com/) & Zappos CEO on
Twitter (http://twitter.com/Zappos)
• Perceived barriers: fear of negativity, legal issues, time, return on investment, measurement
• Getting past the perceived barriers:
o Negative is happening with or without you
o Tools enable direct response in a crisis (particularly through blogs and commenting)
o Start slow and build your community
o Set goals for friends, followers, etc.
• Start by listening: What are they saying about you and your competition
• Listen to your stakeholders and find out where they are
• Let your constituents know that you’re there
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Case Studies and Best Ideas Panel
Aaron Dotson, principal and creative strategist for Elevation
Conaway B. Haskins, III, state director, office of Sen. Jim Webb
Jon Newman, The Hodges Partnership
Scott Pharr, co-owner PharrOut
Cynthia Price, director of communications for ChildFund International
YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKYPM0FXfNQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1KQO-0rQXc
• ChildFund International Case Study - @childfund
o ChildFund is currently running a campaign to grow their followers on Twitter and for
every 200 followers they get, they are sending a gift oversees (details about the campaign
are in a blog post: http://tinyurl.com/lehkwt )
o Their goal is to increase name recognition, visibility and educate people about what they
do
o Prior to beginning the campaign, they had 600 followers and no one was engaging with
them; they had no influencers
o They hired CRT/Tananka to develop the strategy, and then used Geoff Livingston to be
an initial voice for them. Given a very limited budget, they thought that getting someone
who was established with an existing community, and some experience dealing with
bloggers was the best way to go.
o They also revamped their blogs to allow for in-depth stories and photo albums
(http://childfundinternational.wordpress.com/)
o The next phase of the campaign will involve continuing to inform the community and
sending items oversees with Flip Cams so that the giving and benefits of that giving can
be documented and added to the website.
• Best Ideas:
o Your first network to reach out to must be your employees – Start with an internal
communication campaign
o Get the conversation started, get people involved and follow up
o Keep informing people
o Contribute to the conversation, exchange ideas
o Use social media capital in measured ways
o Have strategic objectives
o Leveraging these tools is a great way to connect with your constituents
o Include bloggers on your media lists (Haskins) & identify the key influencers
o Traditional media is shrinking and following the news in the blogosphere
o Smaller non-profits can seek help from larger non-profits, like Venture Richmond
(http://www.venturerichmond.com/) and Connect Richmond
(http://www.connectrichmond.org/)
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o Select people at all levels of your organization and rotate blog posts – this gives readers a
better feel of the organization (assign a content manager to check posts before they are
published)
o Make sure everything points back to your website
o Don’t dilute your brand
Social Media for Social Good: Progress and Predictions
Gradon Tripp, founder of Social Media for Social Change
YouTube Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISOfAT8csTw&feature=channel_page
Presentation on SlideShare:
http://www.slideshare.net/gradontripp/social-media-for-social-good-progress-and-predictions
• It’s about building awareness
o What can you distribute to engage with your community more effectively?
o Provides a new way to gain support
o How are you going to find your next evangelist, your grassroots supporters?
o What are the ways people can give of their skills and am I inspiring them to do that?
• It’s not just how you share your message, it’s how you listen, respond and engage
• Find more people to join your community
• Don’t think you can do it alone; find partners to help you
• People are learning about organizations through social networks and by traditional word of
mouth
• Support organizations who are passionate; give them a reason to be passionate; give them
inspiration to share with friends and colleagues
• Care, want to contribute, learn and connect
• 6 Steps
o Know your vision and apply it to everything – you should be able to explain what you do
in 2-3 short sentences
o Find your community and go tot them – where do they spend their time online?
o Share your vision and your story – is your story engaging, memorable?
o Invite your community to act – are you invested enough to ask
o Invite your community to share your message and make it as easy as possible
o Find groups doing what you’re doing and join them (i.e., Summer of Social Good:
http://summerofsocialgood.com/)
• Recommendations for Maymont’s Website:
http://www.maymont.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=217
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o Tell people how to get involved – have more calls to action
o Add a community page
o Create a Flickr groups where people can add their photos
o Create a YouTube channel
o Set up a blog
o Search Twitter to connect with similar people and organizations
• Recommendations for Fetch a Cure’s Website: http://www.fetchacure.com/
o Create a clean vision, story or call to action
o Take advantage of the cute factor
o Add a fan page on Facebook to go along with the Cause
o Find and engage online dog communities
o Add a blog – Buster Brown would be a great feature
o Engage with communities on Twitter, Flickr and YouTube
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