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Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

Social Media: Starting Small

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starting small

Start with what you can handle

If your nonprofit organization is large enough, you may have staff specifically assigned to social media.  if it is new enough, you may have started online before you opened an office!

But many nonprofits are not large, few are rich, and only a few have social media in their DNA.  You may be one of the many saying to yourself, “I know I need to do something with social media, but how do I start?”

I’ve been there.  A few years ago, I was the only communications person at a community-based nonprofit organization.  (I was also the development person, and the outcomes person…but that’s another story!)

I knew that my agency couldn’t possibly do Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Youtube, and the next new thing that came along–let alone do them well.

Here’s what I think will work for you: start small.

  1. Start with your website.  It’s not social media as such, but everything you do leads back to it.  When someone arrives on your website, will they find something that’s valuable to them?  Is your site attractive and easy to navigate?  And a really simple thing that too many of us overlook: do all your links work?  If you can do only one thing online right now, it should be to improve your website.
  2. Know your audience. You don’t have time to send out messages at random hoping some of them will touch your readers’ hearts. Click on the link for a humorous guide to audience research.
  3. Think about your objectives. Let’s imagine you succeed beyond your wildest dreams in getting the audience you address actually to pay attention.  What do you want them to do as a result?  Try to narrow it down to one primary objective for each specific audience.  I know how hard that is.  Do it anyway.
  4. Now, pick one medium.  Ideally, it should be the one your supporters use. If they’re on Facebook, choose Facebook.  If it’s Youtube, choose Youtube.  Practically speaking, you will probably pick the medium that your supporters use most which your organization uses already.  However you pick, do pick one, and only one–and then concentrate single-mindedly on learning how to use that medium better.

Give yourselves at least six months to become really good at connecting with your supporters on just one of the social media you use.  That’s do-able, isn’t it?  Try it and watch your influence grow.

Why Should Nonprofits Bother with Social Media?

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Why bother?When people hear that I consult to nonprofits on communications, sooner or later, they ask me, “Dennis, is it really worth it? Can I raise funds for my organization on social media?”

I’m sorry, folks, but those are two different questions.

Question 1: Are Social Media Worth It for Your Nonprofit?

First, think about what you’re trying to accomplish with your communications. As we saw yesterday, you need a strategy. Who are you trying to reach? What do you know about them? If you engaged them successfully, what would they do?

If you know the answers to those questions, you will know whether or not social media are an important part of your strategy. Even if they are, there are ten things you should take care of before you ever start on social media.

But in the end, chances are social media will be worth it for your nonprofit. Why? Because you need loyal supporters.

People give their first gift to your organization for a variety of quirky reasons. When they  continue to give, it’s for one reason: because they have come to know, like, and trust you.

You will win loyalty by giving people ways to get to know, like, and trust your organization…and nothing lets you do that more often, in a more convincing way, at less cost, than social media.

Question 2: Can I Raise Funds on Social Media?

Let’s turn this question around. When you go on Facebook, or Twitter, or Instagram, are you looking for a chance to donate?

No?

Well, neither are your donors.

People use social media to stay in touch with their friends. Your challenge is to make people regard your organization as a friend.

A friend who asked you for money every time he came over to your house would soon stop getting invited. If your organization asks for money whenever you’re online, people will stop inviting you onto their screens.

The 80-20 Rule

If you really understand social media, you will follow the 80-20 rule. 80% of the time your organization is on social media, share content that’s interesting to your audience.

  • Engage in conversations with them. You know they’re interested if they’re the one who brought up the topic!
  • Post information that they won’t find everywhere else. Make them feel smarter.
  • Post “fun” content that they will enjoy. If it relates to your cause, great, but as long as it doesn’t actually conflict with it, it’s all good. Friends are not all business–and you want to be their friend.

20% of the time, call your audience to action.

  • Poll them, or ask them open-ended questions.
  • Invite them to lobby their elected officials, online.
  • Offer them a chance to volunteer.

And yes, perhaps once in a great while, you can ask for money. It will work better if it’s directed toward a specific, tangible goal, and if they can track their progress toward that goal in real time. General appeals rarely work on social media.

So Tell Me Again, Why Should I Bother?

Maybe you shouldn’t. If your specific donor pool isn’t on social media– because of language barriers, for instance–maybe you shouldn’t be either.

But if your audience is on social media and you’re not, what you’re telling them is, “You’re not worth it to me.”

You won’t spend the time to reach them where they like to be? Then you are not their friend. And over time, they will give their attention, time, and money to the organizations that make them feel valued. Being one of those organizations–that’s why it’s worth it.

 

Any Nonprofit that Runs Like a Business Will Go Broke

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Are you tired of being asked, “Why can’t you run your nonprofit like a business?”

I’ve written about how nonprofits can use advice written for businesses (with just a little translation).  When it comes to nonprofit finance, however, some business wisdom is just wrong.

Clara Miller, the former director of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, explains why.  In her wonderful article, “The Looking-Glass World of Nonprofit Money,” she lists seven assumptions that businesspeople make that–in the nonprofit world–are just not true.

  1. “The consumer buys the product.” False. Donors and funders buy the “product” (which may be a service, a program, or a campaign), and clients benefit from it.
  2. “Price covers cost and eventually produces profits, or the business folds.”  False.  Nonprofits are devoted to their missions and will keep on pursuing the mission as long as they  can.  They have a sideline in fundraising to support their “business”–but it also saps energy away from the reason they exist.
  3. “Cash is liquid.”  False.  Government and foundation grants are often restricted to specific purposes and can’t be used to pay for anything else.  A nonprofit can get more grants and have less money to pay its day-to-day costs of doing business!
  4. “Price is determined by producers’ supply and consumers’ ability and willingness to pay.”  False.  Since the consumers don’t pay (see #1), they don’t have the say.  Government or foundation funders decide what they’re willing to pay AND how many clients the nonprofit must serve in return for the money.  If it’s not enough, the nonprofit has to make up the difference with fundraising, or the quality of service suffers.
  5. “Any profits will drop to the bottom line and are then available for enlarging or improving the business.”  False.  Many nonprofits have spent less than budgeted only to see their budget reduced for the next year, on the theory that they must not really have needed the money.
  6. “Investment in infrastructure during growth is necessary for efficiency and profitability.”  False.  Well, actually, true, but not recognized by funders!  Many funders want to pay for program, but only a far-sighted few will invest in building capacity for the future.
  7. “Overhead is a regular cost of doing business, and varies with business type and stage of development.”  False.  As Miller says, “Overhead is seen as a distraction—an indication that an organization is not putting enough of its attention and resources into program.”  (Thankfully, this is beginning to change, but only beginning.)

Nonprofits, have you heard well-meaning but useless advice from people who think you ought to “run like a business”?  What would you want those people to know?

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