Presented as a three-hour workshop for the Virginia Association of Fund Raising Executives, September 11, 2012

1. Tales from the
Getting World of
Slizzerd, Nonprofit Social
Media Crisis
Michael Communications
Vick &
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2. Kivi Leroux Miller
New Book
in the
Works!

4. REALITY: The Control
Train has left the station
and you aren’t on board.

5. REALITY:
Everyone is
a spokesperson.
flickr.com/photos/conbon/2873195559

6. REALITY: If people think you
suck, they don’t need your
permission to say so.
flickr.com/photos/akhir/3769294894 Flickr: Adrian Miles ©

7. REALITY: But most of what
you encounter will be
neutral or positive.

8. REALITY: You can’t totally plan
for a social media crisis, but
you can get a clue.
flickr.com/photos/brenbot/3419626959

9. REALITY:
Assess your
risk and
make a plan.

10. When something goes wrong,
wouldn’t it be great if . . . .
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevendepolo/5463419639/

11. • Your supporters would cut you a
little slack when you did goof up.
• Your supporters trusted that
what you said was true and
authentic.
• Your supporters had your back
when others attacked.

12. Let’s Play the
Opposite Game!

13. How Can We Pursue a
Social Media Strategy That . . .
• Encourages people to kick us when
we are down?
• Builds mistrust so people assume we
are lying and hiding something?
• Ensures that we are abandoned to
fend for ourselves?
As a group, brainstorm at least 10 answers
to your question, then star your top three.

14. Let’s Make a List of
What NOT To Do if You
Want to Prep for a
Social Media Crisis
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15. As we go through
these three case
studies, write down
one DO or DON’T
per Post-it note.
You’ll need these later!

16. Getting Slizzerd
1 Rogue Tweet at the
American Red Cross
Honest Mistake Adeptly
Handled with Humor and Grace
= Everything Turns Out Just Fine

17. http://www.tacticalphilanthropy.com/2011/02/the-story-behind-red-crosss-twitter-faux-pas

22. As a Table, Discuss the Post-
It Notes and Start a Social
Media Do’s and Don’ts
Checklist.

23. Komen for the Cure
Responds to Critics with
2 Silence & Leftover
Mummy Prostate Tweet
Controversial Decision
Slowly and Poorly Explained
= Devastating Impact on Fundraising
and Irreparable Damage to Brand

24. The AP story broke, and within hours, Planned Parenthood sent a fundraising email:

25. Within a few hours, the ratio of anti-Komen’s decision to
pro-Komen’s decision was about 80 to 1 on Twitter.

26. The ratio was about 10-1 on Facebook, and people started
to complain that comments were being deleted. Energizer
also took a beating since it was in the last update.

27. It took nearly 24 hours to respond on Facebook . . . And it
just made things worse.

28. Meanwhile, the last tweet about prostate cancer in a
mummy was in place for over 24 hours.

29. When they did tweet, they did it badly.

31. When the apology came three days later, it was too little,
too late.

32. As a Table, Discuss the Post-
It Notes from This Case and
Add to/Edit Your Social
Media Do’s and Don’ts
Checklist.

33. Michael Vick’s
Redemption with the
3 Humane Society of
the United States
Controversial Decision
Well-Explained with Sympathy for
Opposing Views
= Everything Turns Out Just Fine

34. HSUS was no
Michael Vick fan.

35. The story about the partnership breaks . . .

36. Three blog posts in three days to answer questions . . .

39. Create an FAQ page so you have something to link to.

40. Make rules clear . . .

41. 18 months later . . .

42. And the story continues . . .

44. HSUS continues to explain the decision . . .

45. As a Table, Discuss the Post-
It Notes from This Case and
Add to/Edit Your Social
Media Do’s and Don’ts
Checklist.

46. Let’s List Do’s and
Don’ts During a Social
Media Crisis
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47. Now Let’s Put the
Checklist to Work with
the “What Could
Possibly Go Wrong
Next?!?” Game

48. You work for Meals on
Scenario Wheels. 15 of 150
#1 people get sick one
night and two are
hospitalized.
PINK CARDS: What could possibly go wrong next? What could
be the next shoe to drop? Write one challenge per card.
GREEN CARDS: Write down one tool, solution, or tactic to
overcome the challenges that might come up.

49. You work for United Way.
Your boss, trying to impress
Scenario
some potentially big
#2
donors, makes a joke about
the President’s birth
certificate.
BLUE CARDS: What could possibly go wrong next? What could
be the next shoe to drop? Write one challenge per card.
PURPLE CARDS: Write down one tool, solution, or tactic to
overcome the challenges that might come up.

50. Let’s Play!
Teams to the front.
Challenger Team plays a card.
Solutions Team plays
one or two cards in response.
You decide if nonprofit sinks or swims!

51. Some Closing Reminders . . .
• “Don’t Be Scared, Be Prepared” – Brainstorm and
practice!
• Be there ahead of time, listening and building.
• Let them know you hear them, immediately.
• Assume the best in their intentions, until you
know otherwise.
• If you screwed up, apologize. If you didn’t,
explain. Do not confuse the two.
• Be honest, clear, and concise. End the news cycle!

52. THANK YOU!
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