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Social Networking for Nonprofits: Panacea or Hype?

Ewart NewtonBy Ewart Newton

EVP, Electronic Services, Diversified Nonprofit Services

March 2009

This is the first in a series of articles that discusses the benefits, costs, uses and myths about social networking for nonprofit organizations. Source material and other related information can be found using the bibliography and links below this article.

Social networking, such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and many others has created a buzz reminiscent of when Hotmail transformed email from being a business tool to a central part of everyone's life. People are talking about social networking. More importantly, huge numbers of us are using these technologies to connect with friends, colleagues and the world at-large. Quantcast estimates that 65.6 million Americans used Facebook, 67.9 million used MySpace, 77.9 million used YouTube and 4.1 million used Twitter in January 2009.

Executives in organizations of all sizes really took notice when Senator Barack Obama used social blogs, MySpace, Facebook and YouTube to build a massive network of supporters, volunteers and workers. His use of social networking transformed political campaigning and helped Senator Obama raise unprecedented funds.

Boards and managers of many nonprofits are asking, "How can we do what Senator Barack Obama did to mobilize many new volunteers...to raise money from new sources...etc?"

Lessons Learned From The Obama Campaign

Before we look at the lessons from the Obama presidential campaign, let's define social networking. Broadly speaking, it's a collection of people and/or organizations that come together to share interests. On the internet, this takes many forms including blogs, collaborative content creation, video sharing, socializing, business networks, and email blasts.

The Obama campaign mobilized over 3,000,000 people on Facebook and MySpace combined (over 3 times the number reported for Senator John McCain's campaign), many of whom became volunteers and evangelists for his campaign. He uploaded almost 1,800 videos to YouTube that were viewed over 18 million times (9 times the McCain campaign). Senator Obama's campaign reportedly raised over $600 million, much of it online (2,900,000 donations; 93% less than $100). Using 16 different social networks, his campaign kept his supporters (and the media!) updated instantly and constantly.

The Obama campaign had Senator Barack Obama at its epicenter. He is a celebrity and a charismatic leader. He had a strong message delivered into a highly partisan political scene. Many of his supporters were highly-interested, young people; the most active demographic of social networkers. A presidential campaign has vast numbers of potential voters, donors, and volunteers to target. Added to this was 24/7 media coverage which kept images, sound bites, stories and opinion about the campaign flowing constantly into homes, in the streets, at workplaces and so on.

But the "rock star" personality that Senator Barack Obama became and the perfect environment for social networking were not the total reasons for success. The Obama campaign made connection to supporters using social networks one of its strategic objectives. It had the support and participation of the highest levels of the campaign, including Senator Barack Obama. Significant talent, money and time were allocated to social networking, and the campaign maintained a highly-focused and detailed approach to managing its use of social networks.

So what about social networking and nonprofits?

Nonprofits want what Senator Barack Obama achieved... widespread awareness, large numbers of engaged supporters, many donors, network effects, and low-cost ways to reach these people, mobilize them and collect money from them.

But it is important to be realistic. Few nonprofits have the charismatic, celebrity leader, even in their local market. Having a celebrity or celebrities that support your organization is not the same as having the celebrity at the center of the organization.

Analysis of the Obama campaign numbers show that his campaign's reach to users of Facebook, MySpace, etc., while large in absolute numbers, represented only a few percentage points of the total user base. So, even if a nonprofit could achieve the percentage reach similar to the Obama campaign, the absolute number of people it will reach will be quite small.

Social networking is not a silver bullet for fund raising. But it is useful and potentially valuable in many ways, including:

  • Connecting with clients and other stakeholders
  • Changing your communications to a more conversational mode instead of the one-way "publishing" approach of most communications to this point
  • Shifting the culture of your organization to listen more... to clients and other stakeholders
  • Establishing a cost efficient way to build awareness
  • Friendraising... the first step in cultivation and relationship building.

We'll discuss these opportunities in more detail in future articles.

Suggestions For Getting Started

Future articles will provide more information about planning and implementing various social networking techniques.  But you can get started now:

  • Learn about social networking, what it is, how it works, who uses it. Links to several useful sources of information are given below.
  • Try it! Open an account for yourself on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or one of the other sites. I suggest you ask a few of your friends if they have accounts and open your account on the same site. This way you will become part of their conversations quickly. Look at how it works, what happens, what results from it.
  • Talk to other people. Ask about their experiences... personal and business. Find out what they think works and what does not work. If they use it for business, ask how they measure the impact and cost/benefit of using social networking.
  • Keep an open mind. Things are moving quickly. Facebook started in 2004 and already claims to have 175 million users worldwide!!

Use Common Sense

As with most internet technologies, social networking sites are sometimes targeted by viruses and other bad software. You should apply the same techniques you use to prevent viruses in your email, etc. and be careful how you share confidential information about you or your organization. Awareness and common sense are needed here as much as anywhere.

Important New Way To Do Business

Social networking is neither a panacea nor hype. But it is already an important new way to do business and will become increasingly valuable for organizations that understand it and invest in it.

Free Software Isn't Free: There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

By Ewart Newton
Executive Vice President, Diversified Nonprofit Services

April 2009

This is the second in a series of articles that discusses the benefits, costs, uses and myths about social networking for nonprofit organizations. Source material and other related information can be found in the bibliography and links published on theperfectnonprofit.com website.The subtitle of this article alludes to the fact that we cannot get "something for nothing". Even if something appears to be free, there is always a cost, although that cost may be hidden. (Wikipedia: TANSTAAFL) So it is with "free" software.

The direct costs for using the software may be zero. There is no fee (at time of writing) to set up and use an account on Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Facebook and others. But there are indirect costs to you and your organization:

  • Time to decide which technologies to use.
  • Time to learn how to use these technologies effectively.
  • Time that must be invested to create content and communicate with people on your network.
  • The cost of switching from one technology to another or adding a new technology. Three years ago, if you were making this decision, you may not have known about Facebook. Today it is "the place to be". Next year?
  • The alternative uses of that time and expertise that may be more productive elsewhere (sometimes called the "opportunity cost").

Think of it the way you should think about a special event. Many organizations talk excitedly about the money they make from (say) a golf tournament. Many organizations do not look at the total cost of the event... the costs of staff time, volunteer time and so on. This is not to say that all special events are bad ideas. But it is important to understand all the costs of planning and hosting the event and what the organization gets net of these costs.

If you take the same approach with social networking you will make informed decisions and your organization will establish, and may attain, realistic goals. Even if the software you use is free, the other costs can be substantial.Make a Plan; Adopt Technologies IncrementallyInformed decisions are usually more effective than actions based solely on the latest "great thing". With new technologies, it is often difficult to be precise. But even estimates can be helpful. As a minimum they open your eyes to fact that there are costs and they cause you to consider the real benefits.

Make a plan!

  • Define your objectives. Consider your potential market. How many people in your community are likely to use social networks? What percentage do you think you can attract to your network? What will you get from your relationships with them? Awareness? Volunteers? Donations?
  • Identify the technologies and networks you will use to connect with these people.
  • Identify the skills and costs of creating content and conversing with these people. Remember, this must be an ongoing investment of time and skills.
  • Create a budget. Include the direct costs such as software. But also include the indirect costs

Adopt Technologies Incrementally

Track what is happening in your networks. Learn what works. Identify where you are having success. Switch resources (people, time, focus) to these areas. You can get started now:

  • Learn about social networking, what it is, how it works, who uses it.
  • Try it! Open an account for yourself on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or one of the other sites. I suggest you ask a few of your friends if they have accounts and open your account on the same site. This way you will become part of their conversations quickly. Look at how it works, what happens, what results from it.
  • Talk to other people. Ask about their experiences... personal and business. Find out what they think works and what does not work. If they use it for business, ask how they measure the impact and cost/benefit of using social networking.
  • Keep an open mind. Things are moving quickly. Facebook started in 2004 and is close to 200 million users worldwide!!

Intangible Costs

Social networks have other "costs" that were not prevalent with earlier technologies, including:

  • Social networks are more conversational than traditional websites and so you must be willing and able to "talk" to people constantly. You can't simply plan to publish your ideas once a month or once a week. You can't even set the agenda for what you talk about. These things are driven by the other people in your social network.
  • You don't "own" the conversation. Sometimes, people may say things you disagree with. Sometimes they may criticize your organization. What do you say? What do you do? If your organization is well-run and open about its performance, such criticism will be infrequent and others in your community will rebut it. Being defensive may only increase the hostility. But it takes a strong stomach to stand back and wait for other people to counter such criticism.
  • Social networking can be addictive. Are you and your staff using social networks to enhance your organization or is time being wasted on trivial matters? Think of it like time spent "at the water-cooler". This can be beneficial - relationships are strengthened and informal communication can help the organization. But you cannot afford to have people here too long each day!

None of this is to imply that social networks are bad for nonprofits. Quite the opposite. An organization that practices transparency and does good work in its community can benefit from using social networks. Indeed they can help instill a culture of openness, listening to your constituents, and partnership with your community. Think of it as "collaboration with your community".

 

Using Social Networking Technologies in Your Organization

No "Silver Bullet", But Social Networking is Valuable

By Ewart Newton
Executive Vice President, Diversified Nonprofit Services

June 2009

This is the third in a series of articles that discusses the benefits, costs, uses and myths about social networking for nonprofit organizations. Source material and other related information can be found in the bibliography and links published on theperfectnonprofit.com website.

It's About Cultivation, Not Fund Raising, Today!

Social networking grabbed the attention of nonprofits during the political campaigns of now-President Obama. Extraordinary amounts of money were raised and tens of millions of people participated in one of the most effective movements of modern times. Boards and executives are asking, "How can we do what Senator Barack Obama did to mobilize many new volunteers and raise money from new sources?"Fund raising online is a small but growing source of income for many nonprofits. Using social networking for fundraising (the "Barack Obama campaign model," if you like) is in its infancy for nonprofit organizations. For most, it is not likely to generate more than a few hundred dollars!

Many people are familiar with a Facebook application called, "Causes." At the time of writing, over 25 million people had joined at least one Cause on this website. Over 230,000 nonprofits were using the Causes application. The numbers are very impressive. But, less than one-percent of these people had made a donation through the website. The largest Cause had over 5 million Facebook members and had raised $50,000. That's an average of one cent ($0.01) donated per member! And this does not account for the staff and volunteer costs to raise this money. Clearly, at present, this is not a "silver bullet" that will solve your fund raising needs. (The Washington Post: Greenwell, 2009)

But the real story is the value of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other social networking websites in communicating with people, educating them about your organization, and keeping them informed about what you do. These technologies can help you stay close to your constituents (donors, volunteers, clients, staff, etc.) and reach new people - cultivation and relationship-building.

The most important principle of successful fund raising applies online as much as it has always done, "People Give to People." This was confirmed by a survey conducted in January 2009 by Cygnus Applied Research and summarized in an article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy stated that, "While a recession may not seem like the ideal time to seek out new donors, many people in the survey (42.5 percent) said they would give to a charity they had not supported in the past if someone they knew was seeking the gift." (The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Preston, 2009)

Organizations should apply this principle when using social networking. Communications from unknown people are likely to have only the modest levels of success associated with cold calls and untargeted mail campaigns. But, if your organization's message is communicated from friend to friends then it will likely be more effective because it carries with it the personal credibility that is already established in these relationships. Engage the organization's staff, volunteers and other friends in this process. Give them information and ask them to use their social networks to disseminate and promote it!

Don't Publish, But Start Conversations Instead

Perhaps one of the most significant changes that social networking is bringing to organizations is the shift from what has been overwhelmingly a one-way communication to a more conversational mode of communication. Traditionally, organizations have published newsletters, reports and so on to donors, volunteers, and other community members. These are still important. But through the use of social networking, the organization will get opinions, ideas and feedback from its constituents. Organizations that shift their culture to tap into this will deepen their relationships, engage constituents more actively, and be better informed about community needs and perceptions of the organization. These changes are fundamentally important for any organization to be successful going forward.

Think About Other Uses of Social Networking

Social networking has many benefits that go beyond the resource development goals of your organization. For example, these technologies are being used in many for-profits and nonprofits to enhance the sharing of information and expertise and development of new skills within the organization. A survey, by The MASIE Center, of over 1,000 learning professionals found that large numbers of organizations already use social learning: social networks and social technology for specific organizational learning outcomes. Over 60% of respondents stated that social learning is valuable.

Complete survey results and analysis are at: http://www.masie.com/social1 (Masie).

Make a Plan!

  • Define your objectives. Consider your potential market. How many people in your community are likely to use social networks? What percentage do you think you can attract to your network? What will you get from your relationships with them? Awareness? Volunteers? Donations? Consider internal uses such as sharing information and expertise within the organization by staff, board, volunteers, etc?
  • Identify the technologies and networks you will use to connect with these people.
  • Identify the skills and costs of creating content and conversing with these people. Remember, this must be an ongoing investment of time and skills.
  • Create a budget. Include the direct costs such as software. But also include the indirect costs

 

Using Social Networking

Get Your Feet Wet!

By Ewart Newton
Executive Vice President, Diversified Nonprofit Services

July 2009

This is the fourth in a series of articles that discusses the benefits, costs, uses and myths about social networking for nonprofit organizations. Source material and other related information can be found in the bibliography and links published on theperfectnonprofit.com website.

It's Time To Get Your Feet Wet!

Now it's time to get started. The good news is that many of your colleagues and constituents are already using these technologies in their personal lives. So people are familiar with using them to communicate and share. The challenge is that you need to get business value from your social networks... not just facilitate hundreds or thousands of personal conversations.

In an earlier article, I suggested that you try social networking technologies incrementally. Following this general advice are some ideas for possible use in your nonprofit organization. Track what is happening in your networks. Learn what works. Identify where you are having success. Switch resources (people, time, focus) to these areas. You can get started now:

  • Learn about social networking, what it is, how it works, who uses it.
  • Try it! Open an account for yourself on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or one of the other sites. I suggest you ask a few of your friends if they have accounts and open your account on the same site. This way you will become part of their conversations quickly. Look at how it works, what happens, what results from it.
  • Talk to other people. Ask about their experiences... personal and business. Find out what they think works and what does not work. If they use it for business, ask how they measure the impact and cost/benefit of using social networking.
  • Keep an open mind. Things are moving quickly. Facebook started in 2004 and is close to 200 million users worldwide!!

Ideas For Using Social Networking In Your Nonprofit

  • Engage your constituents with informative discussion about your organization and what it is doing. Example technologies: Facebook, MySpace.
  • Share virtual tours of your organization, including what goes on behind the scenes if appropriate. Ask your "friends" to share with their friends. Ask for feedback, comments, and ratings. Example technologies: YouTube, Facebook, MySpace.
  • Share news about your organization. Ask your "friends" to share with their friends. Ask for feedback, comments, and ratings. Example technologies: YouTube, Facebook, MySpace.
  • Share thoughts and opinions about your field of expertise. Example technology: Twitter.
  • Open up communications within your organization: Example technology: Yammer (a Twitter-like technology that can be used for "private" networks, such as sharing information internally in your organization with staff or board).
  • Organize a campaign to attract in-kind donations... things you need for your administrative functions (e.g. office supplies) and your programs / services (e.g. books for a literacy program).
  • Identify candidates for jobs within your organizations. Example technologies: LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace.

The most important thing is to get started. Even modest success will teach you a lot and become the foundation for more innovative use of social networking. But, as always, set goals, measure results and adapt to improve your process.

Set Goals

Decide what you want to achieve and how you will be able to measure your success. Initially, you may only identify a few metrics, such as numbers of people in the network, numbers of views of a video and so on. But it is easy to enhance these with questions to your network "friends" asking for their reaction, feedback and suggestions for improvement.

The important thing is to consider social networking the same as any other "business process":

  • It has goals (increasing awareness, market research, attracting volunteers, etc,) It has outcomes / results
  • It has costs (please refer back to the second article in this series: Free Software Isn't Free: There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch)
  • Define and measure these and adjust your approach accordingly.

Do's and Don'ts

Do

  • Listen to what people are saying in your network. One of the most important impacts of social networks is that they can transform an organization into one that listen to, and converses with, its constituents moving away from the traditional model where almost all communications flowed in one direction - out from the organization. The same benefit can occur internally between staff at all levels of the organization, enhancing the traditional tops down model of communication.
  • Ask for feedback. Start conversations. Be open to discussion and ideas from other people.
  • Participate. You must take the time and effort to be a contributing member of the network. You cannot sit on the sidelines. Give what you can to the network... your expertise, your ideas.
  • Be authentic. If you treat this as another piece of marketing collateral, people will see it as such and the network will soon wither.

Don't

  • Over-manage or control the network. Think of it as shared by all the participants.
  • Think of this as traditional, one-way communications. You are not publishing information to your staff or constituents. You are conversing with them.
  • Use the network as just another marketing channel. Done right, you will get as much valuable information from others in the network ("market research") as you will communicate to them about your organization.

 

Next Article In This Series The next article in this series will be published in August 2009 on theperfectnonprofit.com. Titled, "Evaluating the Benefits of Social Networking" it discusses how to measure the impact and costs of social networking for your organization.

 

Do’s and Don’ts of Social Networking

Get Your Feet Wet!

By Ewart Newton
Executive Vice President, Diversified Nonprofit Services

August 2009

This is the fifth in a series of articles that discusses the benefits, costs, uses and myths about social networking for nonprofit organizations. Source material and other related information can be found in the bibliography and links published on theperfectnonprofit.com website.

Top Ten List

Social networking is an opportunity for nonprofits. Still in its infancy, it offers the potential to connect with your constituents… clients, donors, staff and others. Social networking is also the subject of much hype. It is not a silver bullet. But if your organization participates effectively, it can be an important way to converse with the people you need to engage and talk with!

Here are ten do’s and don’ts of social networking:

  1. Be active. No longer is an occasional message, press release or web posting sufficient. You need to post information, news, and opinions regularly.
  2. Contribute. Don’t sell. Social networks are more conversational than traditional websites and so you must be willing to "talk" with the people in the network. This is not a press release. This is not a newsletter. It is not a website. Social networking is a participation sport!! Comment on the posts (and “walls” and “tweets”) of the people who are part of your social networks.
  3. Listen! You don't "own" the conversation. One of the most valuable aspects of social networking is the transformational effect it can have on an organization. Social networking can infirm you what is on the minds of your constituents.
  4. Know that everything you say reflects on you and your organization. It is a personal and social network, but what you say will define how other people view you and your organization
  5. Understand what social networking can do. It is ideal for building awareness and engaging people in your mission. Don’t expect it to be a major fundraising tool.
  6. One size does not fit all. Consider with whom you want to engage. Understand what they want. Clients, volunteers, donors, staff and board members all have different needs. You may need to contribute to several networks to meet the needs of each of these people.
  7. Make a plan. Define your objectives. Measure the results.
  8. Make it part of your strategy to engage constituents. If it is not important enough to you to be a strategic asset then you’ll probably get mediocre results from the time and money you invest.
  9. Experiment! Try it! Open an account for yourself on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or one of the other sites.
  10. Be flexible! Keep an open mind. Things are moving quickly.

 

Next Article In This Series The next article in this series will be published in September 2009 on theperfectnonprofit.com. Titled, “Evaluating the Benefits of Social Networking” it discusses how to measure the impact and costs of social networking for your organization.

 

Bibliography & More Information

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com

Masie, E: http://www.masie.com/social1

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com

Web Strategy by Jeremiah: http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/11/03/snapshot-of-presidential-candidate-social-networking-stats-nov-2-2008

Quantcast: http://www.quantcast.com

Social network service: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Networking

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Preston, C.: http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/7442/just-over-half-of-donors-plan-no-decrease-in-giving-in-2008

The Internet and the 2008 Election: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/252/report_display.asp

The Washington Post: Greenwell, K. H.: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/21/AR2009042103786_2.html

Twitter: http://twitter.com

Wikipedia: TANSTAAFL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TANSTAAFL

Younger Voters & Obama Supporters Lead US Online Political Charge: http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/younger-voters-obama-supporters-lead-us-online-political-charge-5466/pew-election-politics-obama-mccain-social-networking-online-spring-2008jpg

Yammer: https://www.yammer.com

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com

About The Author

Ewart Newton's technology experience spans the development of an electronic publishing system that reached 90,000 people in 100 countries in the mid-90's, being one of the instigators of an intranet in a global 100 company, and co-founding a software company, to his present position as EVP for Electronic Services at Diversified Nonprofit Services. He has spent over a decade working with nonprofit organizations to implement and customize cost-effective technology solutions.