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Social Networking

Make it Easy for Online Readers to Spread the Word

Nothing’s more powerful than having your audiences spread the word about your program, organization or new leadership. Such "viral marketing" is far more powerful than your organization telling its own story as friends tend to listen to friends, and believe what they say.

To generate viral marketing, make it as easy as possible for your audiences to spread the word. here are two great ways to do so:

1) Include a ‘forward to a friend’ link in your e-news and e-advocacy campaigns.

2)Enable your audiences to spread the word more broadly, via social networking tools. Here’s how:

Crafted to double as direct communications with your target audiences. They have to be engaging, succinct and formatted for easy digestion (lots of bullets, white space and short paragraphs).
Integrate key tools to link to spokesperson bio and contact info, related resources and more. They’ll make a world of difference.
Feature the single keyword for the release in the page title tag, the primary content heading (in your list of releases, or in your site) and the text at the top of the release (ideally in the first sentence of the first paragraph).
One click buttons to Share the Story (more engaging than Forward to a Friend):
- Add the site to reader’s bookmarks via Delicious
- Rate the site via DIGG.

Calvin College’s release on its Sushi Theatre is a great example. Note the prompt to Share the Story, and the easy-to-use links to do so. Also, as higher ed marketing guru Bob Johnson points out, "the topic of the press release, ‘Sushi Theatre’ is included in the title tag for the page, making it more likely that a search engine ‘spyders’ will find and index it. The keyword in the title tag is then repeated in the major text heading (the headline in this case) on the page, and again early in the text itself."

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Nancy Schwartz on March 8, 2007 in Media Relations and Press, Nonprofit Communications, Social Networking | 0 comments
Tags:Bob Johnson social networking press release spread the word Calvin College

Kevin Bacon Wants Your Donors to Work their Connections — Via SixDegrees.Org

“All human beings are connected through relationships with at most six other people.” — Wikipedia

Thanks to Katya Andresen for the heads up on SixDegrees.org, just launched by Kevin Bacon and friends. Jumping off from the the popularity of the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game, Bacon, celeb friends and family, and partners Network for Good, Entertainment Weekly and AOL hope to inspire individuals to motivate their friends and family into online giving. I like it when a drinking game is parlayed into charitable giving.

Clearly Bacon gets giving. And he’s capitalized on relationships with co-celebrities to power the launch. Among those plugging their favorite charities are Bacon’s wife Kyra Sedgwick (NRDC), plus celebs Nicole Kidman (UNIFEM), Ashley Judd (YouthAIDS) and Robert Duvall (Pro Mujer), among others. A real all-star cast.

Now us regular folks are invited to be celebrities for our own causes by joining the Six Degrees movement. Jump on today — what a great tool for your nonprofit’s fundraising.

Here’s how it works–

Option 1: Visitors to SixDegrees.org can find out about a favorite celeb’s charitable work and make online donations to that cause
Option 2: Users can easily grab a celebrity
“badge to add to their blogs, emails, etc. or create their own badge with their own photo or their charity’s logo
- The badge displays a photo, a short blurb on the
  charity of choice, and a “donate now” button. Plus, donation total to date via that badge.
- Soon, users will be able to plug badges into other social networking venues like MySpace, Facebook, etc. or email.
- It’s visually compelling, interactive (with the totals) and personal. It works.

As Andresen comments, “I find it interesting to have had this celeb-extravaganza experience the same day research came out showing celebrities don’t much influence giving, but that…friends and family (do). Our hope is the site will draw people because of the novelty of the celeb involvement, but that what will engage them is a chance to be a celebrity for their own cause, in their own circles, by asking people to support their own favorite charities. ”

Great idea, great execution, great way for Network for Good to differentiate itself from other online donation folks like Chip In.

P.S. SixDegrees.org was launched at the Sundance Festival with all accompanying glamour. More here.

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Nancy Schwartz on January 25, 2007 in Case Studies, Fundraising: Innovations & Research, Nonprofit Communications, Social Networking | 0 comments
Tags:kevin bacon network for good six degrees six degrees of separation celebrity badges kyra sedgwick Chip In giving badges katya andresen

Nonprofit Do’s for My Space Success — How-Tos for Raising Awareness and Promoting Advocacy

With all I’ve researched recently, I’ve come up with few examples of nonprofit wins via MySpace. Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot was a definite winner via his MySpace campaign powered by mastermind Jacob Colker. Now finally, thanks to nonprofit technologist Beth Kanter, here are a few more lessons from the field:

Promoting Advocacy — 4 Keys to Success

Campaigns: Genocide Intervention Network, Save the Internet, Save 1800 Suicide
Keys to Success

Reach out to people where they already are on MySpace
Forget physical location
Let participants take ownership, stay out of the way
Minimize fundraising

Raising Awareness

Campaigns: Defenders of the Wildlife, Oxfam America, The Humane Society
Top Tips for Your MySpace Page

Integrate photos and videos to bring your nonprofit’s work to life
Update your page frequently, so friends (your MySpace audiences) will get in the habit of frequent visits
Articulate specific actions you want friends to take — sign a petition, register for your nonprofit’s e-news
Maintain some consistency branding-wise with other communications channels (Caveat from Getting Attention–You have to customize the tone to the MySpace demographic, 50 and younger)
Go beyond your own circle of like-minded organizations, e.g. nonprofits can reach out to for-profit companies with strong social responsibility programs that can help spread the word about their causes.
Document and promote how your nonprofit is using MySpace. There’s a lot of interest in MySpace among nonprofit staff members. Work it.

Read more here about how the Genocide Intervention Network is using social media to prevent genocide.

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Nancy Schwartz on December 14, 2006 in Case Studies, Nonprofit Communications, Social Networking, Web 2.0 | 1 comment
Tags:Jacob Colker Peter Franchot Beth Kanter myspace The Humane Society Defenders of the Wildlife Oxfam America Save the Internet Genocide Internvention Network Save 1800 Sucide

More on IDing the Right Social Networking Tools for Your Nonprofit

There’s so much hype about social networking, and I’ve been trying to guide you through this maze. After all, we nonprofit communicators, even more than colleagues in other fields, have to work with real resource limitations.

So I was relieved to see these very concrete guidelines for selecting the right social networking tools, from Think Personality’s Kevin Hendricks:

Your use of social networking has to be a cultural fit with your organization.

Be yourself. Audiences know immediately when you’re not being real.

If your nonprofit quivers at the mention of open dialogue, forget about social networking altogether. It’s not the right fit.
But

If your story comes across powerfully via video (think disaster relief, international development, personal stories or memoirs any focus that’s out there in the field) and you’re willing to give up some control, consider You Tube or DoGooder.tv:

If your story comes across more strongly via photo stills (think health-related or social service organizations), and you typically use volunteer photographers or have contest results or a series of other strong graphics (ideal generated from more than one producer), jump start a group on Flickr.

The Opportunity Agenda’s Photo Stream — capturing media studies student photos and graphics conveying one of the Agenda’s opportunity values.

If convening audiences is relevant and comfortable, bring folks together online, via a wiki or a natural outgrowth of what your organization does, consider getting people together online.

Be yourself and social networking will be that much easier. Find your organization’s personality and run with it.

For more insight on selecting the right social networking tools for your organization, read:

How to Pinpoint the Right Social Networking Tools for Your Nonprofit, and Get the Support and Budget to Put Them to Work — Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants Weighs In

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Nancy Schwartz on December 13, 2006 in Nonprofit Communications, Social Networking, Strategy | 0 comments
Tags:The Philadelphia Songwriter's Project Illinois Holocaust Memorial Museum and Education Center DoGooder.tv YouTube The Opportunity Agenda New School Media Studies opportunity values Flickr

How to Pinpoint the Right Social Networking Tools for Your Nonprofit, and Get the Support and Budget to Put Them to Work — Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants Weighs In

The traveling Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants brings you the best blog postings on nonprofit issues. For this week’s event, I asked bloggers to advise on how already over-taxed nonprofit communicators can handle the ever-expanding menu of communications channels, especially social networking tools, and what social media have the greatest potential for nonprofits.

I received so many useful responses that I have to break the rule to limit my Carnival to seven post references. I just can’t do it — you’d lose out on too much valuable information and insight. Here goes:

Marc Sirkin, VP of eMarketing at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) and blogger extraordinaire at npMarketing Blog, has more experience with social networking than most. He covers several key issues in It’s a Social Networking Carnival, , and emphasizes the importance of communicating as a human being — rather than a marketer — in these venues. The value of being genuine is something I hear a lot these days, Marc.

Kevin Hendricks of Think Personality concurs with Marc in Be Yourself to Make the Most of Social Networking. He takes it one step further to stress that the social media (social media and social networking used interchangeably here) venue you use must be a good fit. Blogging makes sense when the blogger posts in a genuine, opinion-laden voice; YouTube works great when your nonprofit has footage that really conveys your story, and is willing to give up some control.

Katya Andresen of Katya’s Non-Profit Marketing Blog adds the Five Minute Guide to Social Networking, with a host of tips derived from her travels in developing countries. Seems that there are several relevant analogies between finding one’s way in uncharted territories and with uncharted communications channels. Take 1 — get to know the culture before plunging in.

Emily Weinberg at Emily’s World shares her insights on How Nonprofits Can Use Facebook, including several mini-case studies.

Ken Goldstein at The Nonprofit Consultant Blog introduces us to Care2, an online community specifically for folks looking for volunteer or giving opportunities, in Care2 Join an Online Community?

Michelle Martin at The Bamboo Project Blog summarizes why The Bridge is such an effective MySpace campaign. The Bridge is The Glue Network’s project to build a virtual bridge around the world connecting 24,092 people (the number of miles around the world) who care about helping others (and donate to jump on the bridge).

Jeff Brooks at Donor Power Blog muses on How Blogging Changes Things, emphasizing the necessity of an authentic voice and looking forward to the day when that voice spills over into other communications channels.

Beth Kanter at Beth’s Blog emphasizes the importance of experimentation in understanding which social networking tools are right for your nonprofit, suggests four steps to getting started in Using Social Networking Tools – Advice, Brief Case Study, and Resources.

Nedra Weinreich of Spare Change reports in on The CDC’s Second Life. One of the reason’s behind the CDC’s success in Second Life if its immersion in Second Life culture before taking the plunge. Are you beginning to sense a theme here?

Michael Hoffman, one of the innovators behind DoGooderTV, posts his take on Social Networking — What’s Real at See What’s Out There. Michael’s caution to take a breath makes great sense. Don’t jump on the social networking bandwagon because you fear being left behind. Do jump on the social networking learning curve, so you find out what makes send for your nonprofit’s outreach.

David Wilcox, from across the pond at Designing Civil Society, wonders if social networking will, in time, eclipse interest in associations and other membership organizations in Why Bother with Membership?

And finally, my post on MacArthur Foundation Walks the Walk with Launch of Digital Media and Learning Initiative.

Next week’s Carnival, hosted at Donor Power Blog, is an open call. Don’t forget to submit your post. .

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Nancy Schwartz on November 13, 2006 in Blogging for Nonprofits, Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants, Case Studies, Fundraising: Innovations & Research, Nonprofit Communications, Social Networking, Strategy, Unique Approaches | 1 comment
Tags:Emily Weinberg Emily's World Katya Andresen Marc Sirkin Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants Beth Kanter Beth's Blog The Glue Network The Bridge DoGooderTV Michael Hoffman David Wilcox Marc S

MacArthur Foundation Walks the Walk with Launch of Digital Media and Learning Initiative

Kudos to the thought leaders at the MacArthur Foundation who recently launched the $50 million Digital Media and Learning Initiative, focused on understanding how digital technologies are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize and participate in civic life.

What’s most impressive is that the Foundation’s communications strategy for launching the Initiative was designed to show what the initiative is doing, in addition to talking about it.
The multi-channel launch included the standard, in-person press conference, held in New York, plus two simultaneous virtual casts — a Web videocast of the live event and a Second Life events in New Media Consortium virtual campus. (that’s the image here, the Second Life participants viewing the live event).

According to nonprofit-use-of-tech-innovations blogger Beth Kanter, there were over 65 educators on the Second Life virtual campus, each represented by an avatar. "While the speakers were talking, the avatars in Second Life were carrying on a lively debate in chat about the points raised, suggesting questions to be asked in the room in New York City, and sharing resources related to the discussion at hand," reports Beth (who participated herself).

Talk about convergence. As participants joined the launch via Webcast and Second Life, real-life bloggers were blogging the in-person event. In addition, the Second Life gathering was projected to the participants at the live event. That’s multiple channel, multiple audience, reach anybody who’s interested where they get their information. At the same time, Beth and other bloggers live-blogged the event on Second Life.

Most relevant to your nonprofit communications effort, is the way in which MacArthur demonstrated its commitment to social media/networking as learning and communications tools, and its fluency in those tools, in the launch itself. Core communications maxim: It’s far more effective to show, rather than to tell.

MacArthur’s Press Release
Launch Coverage from a Second Life Perspective

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Nancy Schwartz on November 9, 2006 in Blogging for Nonprofits, Case Studies, Nonprofit Communications, Social Networking | 0 comments
Tags:MacArthur Foundation Beth Kanter Digital Media and Learning Initiative Second Life avatar New Media Consortium