Brand Central Station

Web 2.0 marketing appeals on a number of levels to charities and non-profits.  It can be inexpensive.  It’s trendy.  It can appear to be very democratic – allowing all with an opinion to chime in on issues they feel are important.

The truth is, however, that what makes the social web such an intriguing tool for charities and non-profits faces many of the same obstacles those charities and non-profits faced in their pre-technology days.  Enthusiasm for a new medium can overcome some of those barriers initially; but in the long run, it’s the institutional thinking and long-established traditions and taboos that can doom a non-profit’s attempt to join the social web.

Let’s take a step back for a second and recognize some of the institutional barriers to effective organizational communication inside your local charity/non-profit.  From my experience, there seem to be three or four problems existing simultaneously in almost every non-profit organization:

1. A conflict of “mission” over “survival” that often results in moral dilemas turning on doing the right thing for those being served or doing the right thing to keep the enterprise functioning.
2. A tendancy for “mission creep” in good years and a reluctance to cut back on programs or initiatives when the money dries up or – heaven forbid – the problem is solved.
3. A failure to plan for leadership succession within the organization which – eventually – leads to insulation of a key group of volunteers who “do all the work” while everyone else attracted to the charity are alienated and/or driven away.
4. A reluctance to try anything new or to try a different approach to an existing program because of a perceived lack of funds, personnel or knowledge when it comes to implementation. 

Any one of these obstacles can present an almost impossible to overcome scenario for a Web 2.0 program – but that’s where the savvy marketer needs to explain the ultimate benefit of a social marketing solution to the problems faced by the charity:

Social marketing is all about engaging people and getting them to become rabid fans of your cause.  And with a group of people rallied around us (and what we stand for), there isn’t anything we can’t do.

It seems a key ingredient for success of a charity or non-profit organization is the engagement (and encouragement) of its members and the public at-large. 

Does that sound at all familar?  It should.

A vast majority of the tools available to people, businesses and brands using the social web to reach out, rally and remind fans and friends are intended to engage the public on one level or another.

It appears (to me, anyway) the key to social engagement is to draw them in, listen to what they have to say, respect divergent points of view and bravely state your thoughts and opinions.  It’s really all about good social ettiquite, after all.

Here are a few things to remember about creating social engagement among the members of your charity/non-profit:

1. Remember that social media is a conversation between people.  If you want to be a brilliant conversationalist and truly capture peoples’ hearts and minds on behalf of your cause, you need to ask people what they think and actually listen to what they have to say.
2. Involve your followers in the decision-making process for your charity/non-profit.
3. Work on establishing a personal connection between the values of your charity/non-profit and the people you meet online.  If people see a natural fit between how they see themselves (self-values) and how they percieve the mission of a specific charity, they’re more likely to become die-hard fans (or possibly even brand evangelists).
4. Keep the conversation going with your followers by being active.  Keep your information up-to-date, your status updates fresh and if you’re on Twitter, send out a handful of tweets every day.
5. A part of the keeping the conversation going is responding to contact in a timely manner.  If your cause has a Facebook page, a Twitter account or a blog, you need to make sure all of that content is refreshed and current.
6. Limit your channels of communication to keep all of the conversations and updates to a managable level.
7. Make sure your social marketing effort is a reponsibility shared by everyone.  It should become part of the daily routine for paid staff and key volunteers should be able to access those same resources and support the brand on their own.

So is your charity or non-profit considering adopting a more agressive social media marketing program?  If so, you may want to make sure you have taken the time to think through how that program should look and the resource demands that will result.

Want to learn more, please feel free to contact me directly for a no-obligation telephone consultation.