"I had to unfollow because..." From time to time I've used this space to encourage nonprofit organizations to use social media to help get their message out, connect with supporters and community, and engage in conversation.
A good social media strategy can include all or any of blogging, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or any number of other platforms. Last year, to the question of "Should Your Nonprofit be on Twitter? " I answered an enthusiastic, "Yes! " But in that posting, I emphasized that "Twitter requires listening, as well as frequent posting," and that ignoring that warning could cause your social media strategy to backfire. Yesterday, it did backfire for an organization I was following. This organization had always had a habit of tweeting in spurts, posting five to ten links or comments at a time, then nothing for 24 hours. But what happened yesterday was a spurt of several hundred tweets within a three hour period before I had to click "Unfollow.
" So, how often should you tweet? Hidden Hazards for Your Nonprofit on Facebook. May 17, 2010; Source: Web Strategy | Facebook's privacy policies have raised concern from individuals and organizations alike, and, more than once, we've warned about the effect that these changes can have on your social media presence.
But social media is about more than who owns what data, it's also about control, and as an organization, no doubt you are interested in preserving what gets communicated about your mission and how word is spread. That's why it's important to connect with your constituents online, right? They know best how to tell your story, to each other, the public, and funders—all the more reason to be where they are, and engage them about your work.
Facebook's community pages address that concern by taking one step forward and two steps back. These are like the pages created by nonprofits and others where, in past days, you could become a fan of the organization. This is one step forward because the community pages increase visibility for your nonprofit.
Nonprofits Find Social Media Present New Challenges. Four Reasons Why NOT to Use Social Media . . . and Why to Use It Anyway. "CIA Social Media” © Manoocher Deghati //AP/Corbis These days, a nonprofit communicator must be quick.
Quick to learn new tools, new technologies—and how to appropriately apply them to his or her organization. But over the past eight years, we’ve seen the rise and fall of social media giants like MySpace, Google Buzz, and Delicious. Those that invested their own and their organization’s time and resources into these tools may have felt burned by the social media bandwagon. Social media can be confusing and overwhelming. To Use or Not to Use ...
Nonprofit communicators are often skeptical—and rightly so—of the new tools out there. 1. When the Causes application pulled out of MySpace, in 2009, it effectively removed any ability for nonprofits to fundraise using the tool. What’s to prevent that from happening to other tools, like Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube? That said, we can say with some certainty that social media is here to stay. 2. 3. 4. Really? How to Do It Right 1. 2. 3. Conclusion.