Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

This afternoon at the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits Annual Conference, I attended another great session called “Social Media Technology: How to Raise Money, Recruit Volunteers, and Spread Your Message” by Chris Meade, COO of NPower, Charlotte Region.

NPower is a nonprofit consultancy that helps other nonprofits with technology. It has 13 affiliates around the U.S. Chris did an amazing job covering a huge topic in a little over an hour.

He opened the presentation with some general definitions and examples of what social media is and how it differs from traditional, linear communication. After going over some of the implications of using social media, Chris reminded everyone that social media is not a replacement for traditional forms of communication, but an add-on.

He broke down the field into four categories: Communications (podcasting, vlogs, blogs, rss, listservs), Organizing and Networking (event management, mapping, aggregators), Knowledge and Collaboration (wikis, bookmarking, discussion forums), and Hybrids (mashups, social shopping).

He then described the three ways that nonprofit can use social media.

(1) Raising Money: Friends asking friends for donations (sponsors for a 5K run), affinity shopping

(2) Recruiting and Engaging Volunteers: Friends getting others involved, self-service scheduling and participation (invitation management, meeting handouts), where knowledge is the volunteer’s contribution (support groups sharing stories and creating a body of experience and knowledge), training for staff, volunteers.

(3) Spreading the Message: Campaigning and advocacy, marketing and storytelling about mission and programs.

Next he shared some specific examples.

Komen effectively uses the “Friend to Friend” fundraising model for its walks/runs/events. You as a volunteer can use their template to ask friends to support you and you can chart your progress, including an honor roll of givers. You set a limited goal and your personal relationships help you meet it. They also do a ton of affinity shopping (all those pink products, the Garth Brooks Pink CD, etc.)

Kiva, the microlending network, lets donors lend to specific entrepreneurs in the developing world in very small amounts. At end of the loan period, you can get your money back. Default rate is less than 1%. It’s a very good way of taking wealth and helping other people on a one to one basis. The social media technology allows these very personal investments and connections to be made between people who are worlds away from each other. Volunteers have created a whole community around microlending.

wikiCancer — Allows people to create and edit the content of the site with stories and “what to do when diagnosed” tips. Wikis allow you to bring others in and compile resources and the latest thinking on an issue. You don’t have to wait for someone else to tell you the answer, because you are creating the answers yourself as a group.

Volunteermatch — A match-making site for nonprofits and volunteers that has grown into an online community, so you can hook up with other people who are interested in the same things you are.

NPower uses Sharepoint as a portal for its board, so they can share documents, calendars, etc. You don’t have to mail that board packet if everyone can easily access it online. Npower also uses Sharepoint as the CMS for their website.

Greenpeace is doing great work with viral videos on YouTube. (The hotel wireless blocked YouTube, so Chris couldn’t show the videos he wanted in the session, but I found them.) Share your message in 1-2 minutes. Well-linked videos allow you to dig deep and explore.

In closing, Chris offered these questions for nonprofits who are thinking about social media:

Is your audience online? More and more people will be, so it’s good to start now, even if your audience isn’t really there yet.

Are you willing to let others shape and morph your message?

Are you willing to share the “secret sauce?” You have to be willing to share strategy before it’s fully baked.

Do you have the time and interest to seed the process?

Chris suggests experimenting with social media as a new means of communication or volunteer engagement before using it as a fundraising tool. Move in slowly. Explore the various free sites, then procure and explore paid tools and technology that you can manage, once you have a good feeling for how it can work for you.

Much of the battle in helping nonprofits communicate more effectively is in convincing them to put a different spin on what they are currently saying in person, in print, and online.

When talking to donors, that spin might be changing the language from the first person (”We, the nonprofit”) to the second person (”You, our supporter”). When marketing an event, that spin might be emphasizing the social and networking aspects to generate “I gotta be there” buzz, rather than the technical details that will come from behind the podium (which that excited person will probably use to justify the purchase order to attend).

To experienced communicators, this kind of spin is obvious and second nature. But to nonprofit staff new to the communications world, the whole concept of spinning can feel manipulative and slimy. And, of course, spin really can be a bad thing when done with selfish or ill intent or to mislead your audience. Some people prefer to call it “messaging” because that sounds better than “spinning.” But to me, it’s the same thing: Getting the information we want to distribute out there in a way that will appeal to our intended audience.

How can you get comfortable with spin, but remain authentic? Here are a few tips:

Be personable. When communications come from a real person, rather than a faceless organization, they feel more genuine. If your name and face are attached to the communication, you are more likely be sincere, even if you are spinning a story.

Don’t exaggerate. Don’t say you are hosting the best or the most important conference of the year unless you have a whole bunch of people who are willing to give you testimonials that say your conference is the best or most important conference they attend each year. Back up all of your enthusiastic claims with facts or testimonials.

Pay attention to your stomach. There is sometimes a fine line between being a little queasy about a bold new approach and feeling sick to your stomach because you know if you get called out, you’ll crumble. Never say anything you don’t actually believe to be true and always feel confident that you can defend what you said if challenged. Even if the packaging of your message flops, as long as you were completely honest and sincere in delivering it, you’ll be OK.

Be specific. Use specific, descriptive language. The more vague you are, the more wiggle room you leave for being misunderstood - or being accused of the bad kind of spin.

Concede unfavorable facts. If certain facts don’t support your position, don’t pretend they don’t exist or, even worse, make up lies to dispute them. Concede them, and then clearly present why your case trumps the other side’s facts. (Certain politicians regularly fail on this point, which is one reason why the American public no longer trusts them.)

Keep these tips in mind, and spin away!

This week’s edition of the Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants was about getting your message through the clutter. I just came upon another creative example of how a nonprofit is getting its issue in front off its audience - in this case, state legislators.

The Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina distributed a 2007 wall calendar to the North Carolina General Assembly. This by itself is not that interesting. Lots of groups produce calendars. But what sets this one apart is the photos. Instead of happy new homeowners and small business people that you’d expect to see in a CRA calendar, this one includes photos of trashed, abandoned, and burned out mobile homes across the state. The group is trying to get the General Assembly to address the 40,000 dilapidated and abandoned mobile homes marring the otherwise lovely Carolina countryside by passing a tax on new mobile homes that would fund clean-up efforts for old ones.

The captions were also priceless: “Single Wide (SW) seeks new tenants. Meth users and vagrants considered. No credit? Bad credit? No problem! Available for walk-ins.”

It’s easy to brainstorm how other nonprofits could do the same thing on their issues — Scott Mooneyham of the Capital Press Association did so in his column, which is where I learned about the calendar.

What would you put on an advocacy calendar distributed to your state legislators?