Getting Your Board on Board – Feeling anxious about telling your Board you need a Twitter strategy? Is your Board skeptical of the value and return on investment social media can provide? Or, do they have unrealistic expectations that you’re going to sign up on Facebook today and raise $1 million tomorrow? Either way, get the information you need to manage your Board’s expectations around social media. Find out the best ways to present the value and tangible benefits of social media to get your Board on-side. Social Media Planning – Now that you’ve got your staff and board excited about social media, what’s next? Like most plans, it starts with a strategy, one that's based on a desire to build relationships. What does a social media plan look like? What are the key elements? Where should you dedicate your time and how can you make most of your efforts? This session will present strategies and tactics you can employ, and will touch on how it all ties into the communications plan you’ve already got.

1. MYCHARITYCONNECTS
St. John’s, Newfoundland
October 4, 2010

2. GETTING YOUR BOARD ON BOARD:
THE VALUE OF BEING ONLINE
October 4, 2010

3. Today’s Presenter
Zenia Wadhwani
Director, Program Development

4. CanadaHelps.org
What is CanadaHelps?
A public charitable foundation that provides accessible and
affordable online technology to both donors and charities.
For Charities
A cost-effective means of raising funds online.
For Donors
A one-stop-shop for giving.
CanadaHelps is a charity helping charities.

5. EXPLAINING SOCIAL MEDIA

6. What is Social Media?

7. • Online
• Interactive
TECHNOLOGY • Conversational
• Real Time
• User driven
• Transparent
SOCIAL
• Engaging
• Inclusive
• Genuine

8. So-cial Me-d-ia
[soh-shuhl mee-dee-uh]
Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social
interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable
publishing techniques.
Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to
transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social
media dialogues (many to many).
It supports the democratization of knowledge and information,
transforming people from content consumers into content
producers.
Stolen from Wikipedia

9. So, why is that
complicated?

12. WHAT YOUR BOARD MIGHT SAY

13. “Our organization is based on
people-to-people interactions.”
#1

14. Connecting and communicating online is still
people to people and is very much about
building community.

15. Changes the “how you do”, not “what you do”.

16. Visible connections
Broader reach
Community building
opportunities

17. More opportunities More supporters
for peer-to-peer
communications = More volunteers
More donors

18. GivingPages Examples

19. “Online fundraising isn’t
raising enough money.”
#2

20. More Donors Online
4%
Proportion of overall online
funds to charities in 2004
9% Proportion of overall online
funds to charities in 2008

21. Online Giving Outpacing
Offline Giving
- 5% Charitable giving in 2008
Online giving in 2008 + 30%

22. Online Giving Median (U.S.)
2008 $104
2007 $81
2006 $57

23. An online presence isn’t only about $$$.
It is a source of information for your donors.

24. Provides a different way to get information to your
supporters in a timely way

25. Are you doing it right?
Successful results are cumulative and
they take time and effort.

26. A visitor who is satisfied
with their experience
with a nonprofit
website is
49%
more likely to give than
one who was
dissatisfied with the
overall experience

27. Do you have a Donate
Now button?

28. “It’s a fad.”
#3

29. Internet Usage by Canadians
Canadian Population About 34.1 Million
Internet Users About 29 Million
85%

30. Government
Mayor Miller
Prime Minister Harper
(Toronto)
on YouTube
on Twitter

31. Businesses

32. Media
CBC Globe and Mail

33. Prominent Canadians

34. Nonprofits and Charities

35. It’s Here to Stay

36. “Our donors aren’t interested in
donating online or using
social media.”
#4

37. Who’s Giving Online?
Millennials
3%
Silent
The most
Generation
15% significant
characteristic
Gen X
30% associated with
online giving is
higher education.
Baby Boomers
52%

38. 16+ million users in Canada
Percentage of Users by Age Group By Gender
5.2%
57%
16.3% 29.4% Aged 18-24 Female
Aged 25-34
Aged 35-44 43%
18.4%
Aged 45-59 Male
29.2% Aged 60+
5,500,000 6,000,000 6,500,000 7,000,000 7,500,000

39. 11th most visited site in Canada
Most active users age range 25-34
With 35-44 year-olds trailing right behind
45+ and <24 are under-represented

40. Do these people
look like your donors?

41. “Why change what works?”
#5

42. Because the way we communicate is changing.

43. Look to the future …
Future donors will be expecting
these tools and interactions.

44. Importance of
Adaptability
• Use for different initiatives
• For experiments
• Flexible

45. Mobilization
• Calls to action reach
supporters faster
• React to current events
(e.g. Haiti earthquake)

46. “Online donors are
not really engaged.”
#6

47. • More than 5 billion pieces
of content (web links, news
stories, blog posts, notes,
photo albums, etc.) shared
each week on Facebook.
• There are over 40 million
items shared on Twitter.
People are sharing and chatting more online
than offline.

48. Engagement isn’t just what happens online,
those conversations continue offline.

49. 41% of online donors describe themselves as
‘loyal’ to the causes they support, compared to
26% of offline donors.

50. 59% of online donors would
urge others to support the
same cause ... compared to
34% of offline donors.

51. Ladder of Engagement*
Happy Bystanders
Spreaders
Donors
Evangelists
Instigators
Create
Solicit Money Share
Listen
Supporter
Involvement
*Adapted from Beth Kanter

52. “It’s too risky. What if people
say something negative?”
#7

53. They’ll talk about you anyway, so start a
dialogue with your critics.

54. Keep your message strong.

55. “How will we know if we’re
successful?”
#8

56. Define success in the beginning.

57. Hard Stats
• # of followers or fans
• Amount of comments
• Click-throughs
• Amount donated

58. Balance quantity with quality.

59. Soft Facts
• Types of conversations
• Feedback from supporters
• Quality of comments

60. “It takes too much time
and costs too much!”
#9

61. Online Communication is Fast
• Online tools let you reach supporters more
quickly
• More convenient and simple than other ways
of communicating

62. Many Tools Are Free
Time and personnel investment still required.

63. Not a cure-all;
planning and integration is still important.

64. Can you afford to not be online?

65. DID YOU KNOW?

66. Credits
Ladder of engagement: adapted from Beth Kanter
Internet Statistics: Internet World Stats
Facebook Statistics: Facebook Ads
Blackbaud Index of National Fundraising Performance, April 2009
ForeSee Results - Nonprofit Website Survey, Spring 2009
Chronicle of Philanthropy, May 2009
DonorTrends, 2005
2006 donorCentrics Internet Giving Benchmarking Analysis
Jakob Lodwick by Zach Klein (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachklein/4263395/)
Pedrosimoes7 - Exchanging life experience (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosimoes7/3717536433/)
Solitaire Miles - Torch and Jazz (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cunisdiabolis/476325171/)
dave_mcmt - CCDHS Classroom, Miles City (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_mcmt/187432802/)
AnyaLogic - coffee talk (http://www.flickr.com/photos/anyalogic/2315310261/)
The first few steps by Wildxplorer (http://www.flickr.com/photos/krayker/3089031277/)

67. Your Turn

68. SOCIAL MEDIA PLANNING
October 4, 2010

69. SOCIAL MEDIA: WHAT’S DIFFERENT?

70. Traditional Media

71. Social Media

72. Traditional Media (Web 1.0 )
vs. Social Media (Web 2.0)
Few Many
Many Many
• Traditional media was about publishing.
• Social media is about networks and community.

73. Social media isn’t a strategy
• Social media is a tool for accomplishing your
goals
• Start with the question “what are my
goals?” NOT “I want to build a social media
presence”

74. Social Media Tools
WordPress Delicious
• Free blogging service • Social bookmarking service
• Expansion features with fee • Let’s you find similar websites
Facebook Twitter
• Micro blogging service,
• Social networking website
• 140 character limit
• Suite of features
Second Life YouTube
• Online virtual world • Video sharing website
• Explore using avatar • Free to upload and share
Flickr Digg
• Photo sharing website • Social news website
• Can comment on photos • People vote on news articles

75. IS YOUR ORGANIZATION READY?

76. Is Your Board on Board?
Has senior management and Board members come
onside with investing in social media … not because
of the hype, but because they understand the stats
and the future of communications?

77. Social Media Policies
Help to:
• Set expectations
• Educate staff and volunteers
• Protect your brand
• Avoid legal liability
• Clarify the reasons you use social
media

78. The Changing Nature of
Communications
• Things happen
much quicker,
easier, faster
• You WANT people
to talk about your
organization
• There’s only so
much control

79. Capacity Issues
• Do you have the
internal skills, expertise
and time internally to
use social media
effectively
• Poll your staff and
volunteers: you might
have an expert blogger
in your midst!

80. Keep Expectations Realistic
• Success takes time and effort
• Not a magic bullet of new revenue

81. MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
PLANNING FUNDAMENTALS

82. Desired Outcomes
• What are your current marketing, fundraising or
programming goals?
• What desired outcomes do you wish to achieve?
• Can social media tools be used to accomplish
these?

83. Goals
• Marketing and publicity
• Fundraising, donor
engagement and retention
• Connecting with others
around your cause
• Building relationship and
online community
• Collaboration and collective
action
• Sharing expertise on our
issues
• Movement building and social
change

84. Examples
• Goal: Attract young professionals as
volunteers and grow their engagement in our
organization.
– Social media tools are likely to help with this goal
• Goal: Build stronger, personal relationships
with our older annual donor base and talk to
them about estate planning
– Social media will likely not be helpful

85. Target Audience
• Who do you want to reach and engage?
• Be as specific as possible:
– Where do they live?
– What do they do?
– How are they currently using social media?

86. Objectives
Specific
Measurable
Actionable
Realistic
Timed
*Term first used by George T. Doran

87. Integrate
f t
• With your current marketing &
communications plans
• Tie into other online and offline marketing,
fundraising and social media initiatives

88. Sample Plan
GOAL: To broaden the base of supporters between the ages of 18-22 to the
organization.
OBJECTIVE: To increase the number of our Facebook fans by 10% by the end of the
fiscal year.
STRATEGY: Leverage our connections to the local colleges and universities through our
Board Member, Joe Stiles – President, Learning College.
Audience Tool(s) Tactic Message(s) Timeline Resources
College and 1. Facebook Initiate an We help 1 in Sept – April SWAG for
university incentive 3 people in incentives
students in campaign to our town.
our town. solicit “fans”. Help us help
more. Tell a
friend.

89. SOCIAL MEDIA PLANNING

90. Types of Social Media Audiences
• Inactives. As suspected, these are the people who aren’t engaged
in any of these social technologies.
• Spectators. These are people who read online information, list to
podcasts, and watch videos but do not participate.
• Joiners. These are people who have a profile on different social
networking sites and visit them with some regularity.
• Collectors. These are people who read lots of information and may
vote or tag pages or photos.
• Critics. These are people who post reviews online, comment on
blogs, or contribute in other ways to existing content.
• Creators. These are people who publish on the web (blog, website,
video, podcasts).
Forrester Research

91. Become the Audience
Inactive
Spectators
Joiners
Collectors
Critics
Creators

92. STEP 1: RESEARCH

93. Be a Spectator
• Research the tools
• Observe, read and watch
• Learn the language, customs and etiquette
• Get ideas about what works and what doesn’t

94. Join & Use Your Ears
• Set up accounts
• Join groups
• Follow people
• Play in the sandbox
What are people saying about your organization?
Organizations like yours?
Homework: Set up a Google Alert OR do a Twitter
Search

95. Learn From Others
Flickr + Facebook
• See how other organizations started and see
what they have done
• Ask others about their successes and
disappointments

96. STEP 2: CHOOSE A TOOL

97. Which One?
• We recommend starting with one tool at a time
• Take a look at your goals, audience and
message: what’s the best tool for the job?

98. What Does What?
Tool Uses
Blogs • News outlet – the “new” newsletter
• Blogger • Highlighting donors and partners
• WordPress
Media Sharing • Enhance visual storytelling
• YouTube
• Flickr
News & Social Bookmarking • Sharing online resources
• digg • Finding like-minded people and organizations
• delicious
Social Networking • Expanding supporter base
• Facebook • Another channel for calls to action
• Twitter

99. Still not sure? Try Facebook to start …
A little bit of everything:
• Creation of a webpage on a commonly visited site
• Build a community / “fan” base
• Talk about stuff your organization is doing or involved with
• Post pictures and videos
• Connect from your website to this page
• Ability to test several things at one time

100. STEP 3: ESTABLISH A PRESENCE

101. Have a Great Website
• Good usability
• Easy to find information
• Relevant content
• Clear calls to action

102. Comment
Start participating in the conversations by
sharing thoughts, comments, links, further
insight, etc.

103. Collect
Gather information on your cause and begin to
develop a base of knowledge from which to
speak from.
Participate by tagging and voting.

104. STEP 4: BUILD CONTENT & TRUST

105. Be A Story Teller
• Adapt your story to an online platform:
– Keep it simple
– Easy to remember
– Easy to retell
• Adapt your story to your desired audience

106. A Compelling Fundraising Event Story
Example: Fundraising event
• Blog: interview an attendee and ask
others to share their experience in
comments
• YouTube: bring your video camera and
ask people to tell you why they came
• Facebook: ask everyone who attended
to share images/stories

107. A Compelling Fundraising Story
Example: Capital campaign
• Flickr: show people the direct impact they
can have through images
• Twitter: Tweet regular updates on success
and how much support is still needed
• Blog: weekly blog post during campaign
about the impact of your organization
(get various perspectives: Board,
community, volunteer etc…)

108. Tips
• Don’t just write about your latest fundraising
campaign
– ask your donors to tell their story
• Don’t just publish a news release about
government cutbacks hurting your cause
– give your supporters the tools and platform to
take action and share their passion with others

109. STEP 5: SHARE & ENGAGE

110. Build a Following
• Become the expert
• Link everything back to your website
• Offer opportunities to do something
• ASK!

111. Starting Conversations
• Remember: social media is about engaging
and building community
• Don’t just talk at your supporters
• Think of the conversations you want to start

112. Provide Opportunities for Action

113. ALWAYS

114. Listen, Learn and Adapt
• Get feedback! Ask:
– What is working, what isn’t?
– What else would you like to see?
• Implement changes and keep trying

115. Use What You Get
• People’s stories are opportunities
for you to talk about the work you
do
• Complaints are an opportunity to
improve what you’re doing
• Members of a page or a following
is a group already interested in
you … what else can they do for
you?

116. Monitor & Measure
• Number of visits • Association with your brand
• Number of unique visitors • Donations
• Search engine rank • Tell a friends / Referrals
• Message inclusion • Petition signatures
• # of followers/likes • Surveys filled out
• Article/post readership • Visits to the organization
• Click-thrus and view-thrus • Reduced number of calls
• Repeat visitors • Number of event attendees
• Duration of stay • Volunteers signing up
• Subscribe to feeds (RSS) • Downloads
• Comments/posts ratio
• Change in awareness
• Change in attitudes

117. Build Confidence
• Get used to the tool and the
conversations happening
• Be trustworthy & consistent
• Create distinctive content
that fits with your
organization’s identity and
mission

118. Make it Part of Your Day
Make it part of your work routine
– Creating content
– Responding & engaging

119. Keep the Brand Consistent
• Offline and online branding should be very
similar in appearance
• But don’t copy the copy!

120. Promote to your Network
• Use other outlets to promote a new initiative
• Leverage your following and promote to
whoever you can

121. On To The Next!
Setup
Assess Create
Promote Confidence
Integrate

122. Keep Your Ear To The Ground
• Subscribe to a blog, RSS feed or Google Alert
• Attend training opportunities
• What’s next on the horizon?

123. Have fun!
• Interact with different people
• Make it personal
• These are fun tools!

124. Your Turn

125. ABOUT MYCHARITYCONNECTS

126. MyCharityConnects.org
What is MyCharityConnects?
CanadaHelps' online resource centre for charities – a website dedicated to
connecting charities and nonprofits to the technologies they need to succeed.
What can I find on MyCharityConnects?
• Free online resources for charities
• Information about technology , Web 1.0, Web 2.0 & social media
• Video demonstrations
• Webinars (online seminars)
• 2009 Conference materials

127. UPCOMING WEBINARS
October 13 – The Networked NonProfit: Using Social Media to Accomplish More
With Less
October 27 – How Tweet It Is
November 10 – SEO, SEM and Analytics for NonProfits
November 24 – Everything Old is New Again: Getting Back to Fundraising
Fundamentals
December 8 – Technology - a Source of Frustration or Creativity for Your
Organization?
www.mycharityconnects.org