Rock Star Fundraisers - Engaging the Diamonds in the Rough

Rock star individual fundraisers are the equivalent of stumbling upon a $20 bill while walking down the street (or even a $100).  They are the ones who organize their schools, run across states, or do similarly unusual activities to raise money for the cause of their choice.  Nonprofit development teams love them, but can't rely on them because they don't know when or where they'll pop up and very rarely are their activities scalable. 

To a certain degree, development teams have identified some trends and scaled where possible.  Robust fundraising programs on and offline have popped up to support people taking on physical challenges such as 5Ks, marathons, triathlons, and so forth.  Others create special short lived fundraising events where people raise money to be named man or woman of the year.  Other nonprofits create basic personal fundraising pages in the case that someone decides to raise money on their behalf.  Few actually have any sort of active program to challenge people who want to creatively raise money in a way that is truly unique to the fundraiser his/herself - the reason again, most likely, is that is simply too difficult to scale.   

I want to draw a few examples to your attention though, because after some (very) preliminary research, I believe that some best practices are emerging that may increase the likelihood of capturing more of these rock star individual fundraisers in a way that is scalable. 

Kiss a Pig, Create a Smile (Total Raised:  $712)
In Spring of 2009 a teacher in Pierce City Missouri, gave her elementary school students a challenge - raise $240 for Operation Smile* and she'd kiss a pig.  ($240 is the cost of a cleft pallet surgery.) The kids went gangbusters and raised $712 - the teacher had to kiss the pig 3 times.  Everyone wins!  The experience was so positive that the school district set up a club and planned on turning it into an annual event.

10 Challenges in 10 Weeks to Stop Cancer (Total Raised:  $19,000 and counting)
A recent cancer survivor Josh Orenstein** wanted to give back.  Although he ran Division 1 track in college, medical issues dictated that he not participate in traditional event fundraising activities like running a 5K or marathon, doing an intense hike, or riding a bike for a long distance.  He needed a hook - something unique that could help him raise the type of money he wanted to raise.  After a bit of research, he honed in on Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Man/Woman of the Year program and decided to participate.  The fundraiser has a defined 10 week window where participants compete to be man/woman of the year.  For Orenstein, the stated purpose of the fundraising program was just a means to an end.  Although he used his official Man/Woman of the Year fundraising page online to collect donations, he dropped the official name in his communications and created his own campaign - "The 10 to End Cancer Challenge."  He then created 10 challenges that he would complete in 10 weeks to earn the support of his friends and family on behalf of LLS.  He communicated and organized primary through Facebook and email.  As promised, he revealed a new challenge each week through email and Facebook - some serious (bone marrow test), some funny (tap dancing lessons, trapeze lessons), and others taxing (reading War in Peace in 10 weeks).  After he finished each challenge he posted videos and photos on the dedicated Facebook page, while regularly asking for donations.  To date he has raised $19,000 and expects to reach his $20,000 goal from 250-300 donors, many of whom he has never met.  Several thousand dollars have come through friends organizing fundraisers on his behalf as well. 

Or Run from San Diego to Phoenix to Beat Cancer (Total Raised:  $26,000)
Then there is Ultramarathoner Mike Sheehy.***  After a friend was diagnosed with cancer he wanted to do something.  So he did what any normal person would do, he decided to run from San Diego to Phoenix (over 500 miles) in 17 days.  Along the way he'd stop by hospitals, talk to patients, and blog about the experience.  However, this effort didn't fall neatly into any of LLS' event fundraising programs.  Ultimately the effort was run out of the Cures Rock! effort with all dollars going to LLS through a fundraising page that LLS set up for them.  They also developed a simple site, wrote a blog, and did significant organizing on and offline.  When he crossed the finish line at the 17th day, he had raised over $26,000 for LLS.


TAKEAWAYS
So what is a nonprofit to take away from these fundraising rock stars?  Especially with the fact that none of these activities is scalable on their own.   The answer is to look at the concepts that are present in each of these examples:

1.  Create a Challenge or Let Them Create a Challenge:  A challenge gets the event fundraisers more involved, makes it easier for people around them to donate, and attracts a different type of donor.  The grade school kids wanted to see their teacher kiss a pig.   Orenstein's challenges attracted far more attention and support than he would have generated simply by asking for donations.  Sheehy ran 500+ miles.

2.  Fundraising Page:  Make sure you give them a fundraising page that they can customize for their unique fundraising efforts.  Duh.

3.  Have a Defined Timeline:   This is fundraising 101 - always create a sense of urgency when raising funds.  By giving your participants a defined timeline, it allows them to better organize their own challenges.

4.  Encourage & Reward Creativity:  Kiss a Pig?  Trapeze lessons?  Run to 500+ miles in 17 days?  All of these challenges are unique to the fundraiser - doing what they believe will help them raise the most money.  You may not be able to scale any of these, but you can reward creativity and create a platform that encourages it.  Your nonprofit will undoubtedly reach all sorts of new people.  For example, one donor in the UK gave to Orenstein's effort simply because the donor was a huge fan of War and Peace. They did not know each other previously.  So in true Web 2.0 fashion, give your event fundraisers greater control over their fundraising page and how they market their effort on your org's behalf. 

5.  Identify and support the major fundraisers that emerge:  You may not be able to support everyone who participates in an online event, but if major or unique fundraisers emerge, they should be identified and supported.  So make sure someone is keeping track of what is going on.

6.  Encourage activities that support varied messages:  Cultivation is important and in event fundraising it's not in your control.  But the fact remains that you not only need your event fundraisers talking about their challenge (and your nonprofit), but, in the world of Facebook and Twitter, you also need them to have some variation in their messaging as well.  In this regard, Orenstein's weekly challenge stands out as a best practice - each week he provides several updates spread out between email and Facebook.  He tells his supporters about the upcoming challenge, which is always new, and makes an ask. He posts photos from each challenge. He promotes other events designed to help him fundraise and regularly communicates his fundraising progress.

7.  Social networking matters big time:   These types of challenges are unique and are perfect for viral distribution.  Provide a robust set tools and recommendations on how people can use social networks to get the word out.  If a blog would help them (see item 6), give them a blog on their fundraising page.  

_________________
*  Operation Smile is a Common Knowledge client
** Josh Orenstein is a close friend of mine.  Watching him develop and carry out his effort has been of significant interest to me personally as well as professionally.
*** I have been involved with the LLS' Team in Training program personally (not professionally) for the last year.  Mike Sheehy has been a teammate of mine during that time.  His latest endeavor is breaking the Guinness Book of World Records for the most miles run in a week in an effort to raise money for LLS.  More on it here.

Facebook Pages, Community Pages and Your Nonprofit

Facebook likes to keep you guessing.  Just when you figure out your Facbook News Feed, they completely change it.  Just when you thought you were a "Fan", suddenly you just "like" something.  It's the price we pay for a free service working like mad to stay profitable, provide more value to users, and encourage brands, businesses and orgs to further embrace the platform.  In the last week they have announced a raft of changes that will impact how your non-profit uses Facebook today and in the future.

COMMUNITY PAGES
In case you missed it, Facebook recently announced "Community Pages".  Here's what you need to know

1. Pages = Official brands, businesses, orgs; Community Pages = everything else
   Examples:
   
   •   Pages:  Operation Smile, Equality California, Sierra Club, PETA's Skinned Alive Campaign
   •   Community Pages:  Summer, environment, beating cancer, cooking, My Sister Said If I Get 1 Million Fans She'll Name Her Baby Megatron (poor girl)
     
     
2. Functional differences:  Community pages won't generate stories in your News Feed.  Owners of the page have less control.  Anyone can post on the wall, the info may end up being populated by wikipedia, and, if it becomes popular enough, it may get converted so that it is fully owned/controlled by the community (or at least that's what will happen according to Mashable).

What this means for your nonprofit:  Focus on your official Facebook Page - it's the most important thing your org owns in Facebook and allows you to better communicate with your fans...er, people who "like" you.  However, Facebook is clearly betting that community pages are likely to become a place where people discuss topics of mutual interest.  Nonprofits will want to find, tune in, and contribute to these community streams where appropriate.  In some cases, nonprofits may want to start their own community pages to help kick start the conversation or encourage it's development in a certain way.  For example, an environmental non-profit may want to begin updating "Fight Global Warming" or "Coal".


PROFILE

Facebook is also rolling out some changes to individual profiles connecting them more tightly to Pages and Community Pages.  Soon users will be asked to "opt-in to new connections".  Essentially, Facebook is going to look at your stated interests and "affiliations" and suggest Pages (of both types) that you can link to your profile.  Your likes and interests will then be linked to these pages.  (For more information on how it will look, check out Mashable's coverage.)

What this means for your nonprofit:  This is still a very new feature and adoption by Facebook users on a massive scale is unclear.  What is clear, however, is that Facebook is attempting to make the profile more dynamic and using as a platform to help expose Pages and Community pages to new users.  This could be good for your organization if your supporters have identified themselves with your organization - making it easier for your supporters' friends to find you and see which of their other friends are fans (or, err, likers).  It also means, unfortunately, that you will need to spend more time finding and monitoring Community Pages that relate to what you do.   

Time to Stop Dabbling in Social Media

Is your non-profit a "dabbler" in social media?  If you work for one of the 70+%* of non-profits out there, the chances are very good that your non-profit is a dabbler.  Well, I'm here to report that it's time to stop dabbling.  In case Facebook's 400 million members who spend an average of 55 minutes a day on the site still suggests nothing but a passing fad, a recent survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project drives home the message big time that the social web has arrived with a big fat bow around his (or her) neck.   Here are some recent statistics from the report:

•    73% of online** 12-17 year-olds use social networking websites, up from 55% in November 2008
•    72% of online young adults (18-29) use social networking websites (yup, that's 72%)
•    39% of online adults (30+) use social networking sites
•    Of those adults who have profiles, 52% have two or more of them and 73% are on Facebook
•    Online 12 - 17 year-olds also think Twitter is lame with only 8% of them using it (sorry Twitter)

And the nature of their social networking is changing too.  Whereas online adults 30 and up are blogging more now than two years ago, young adults and teens are blogging significantly less.  For the whipper snappers out there, it's more about sharing photos, links, and short updates.

Oh, and everyone is buying stuff too.  48% of online teens have bought things online - up from 31% in 2000 (that was a lot more than I expected, by the way).  Meanwhile, adults are all about buying things online with 75% of online adults having bought a product online.  Unlike their younger counterparts, adults are less likely to buy totally off the recommendation of a friend.

So what do we take from all of this?  It's time for organizations to dive in and start developing relationships with advocates, donors, and service recipients where they are already talking.

(Check out the report to see even more striking data on usage across various demographics and mediums.)

* Common Knowledge, NTEN, and The Port did a benchmark of study late 2008/early 2009 to better understand how non-profits are using social media.  The results are here.  (Sorry that you have to register...but you know how it is.)

** Yeah, but how many people are actually online?  A lot.  93% of 12-17 year olds; 93% of 18-29 year olds; 81% of 30-49 year olds; 70% of 50-64 year olds; and 38% of 65+ year olds.  You can check out the data here.

Everything I Know About Social Media, I Learned From Mafia Wars

Summary: Social games provide extraordinary insight into how to be successful in social media. People use social media for a variety of reasons, but can generally be grouped according to a few broad needs. Nonprofits should work to fulfill needs of its members while advancing their own mission.

Last month I decided it was time to take the plunge into social gaming after receiving an invite from my brother-in-law to join "his mafia" on the 9th most popular Facebook application, Mafia Wars. Personally, I'm not much of an online gamer.  In fact, this was my first multiplayer online gaming experience - an experiment to see what makes these games tick.  An experiment, yeah, that's it.  I'm joking somewhat, but these types of games are the real deal.  Three of the top ten most popular Facebook applications are multi-player games each with well over 10 million monthly users (people actually playing the game; not just signing up and leaving).  Many of you may roll your eyes (and so did I, by the way) but these games can truly teach nonprofits a thing or two about establishing vibrant online communities.  On to the experiment...

Within a week of adding the application, I was hooked.  Clearly my character wasn't going to move through the ranks and improve himself.  And, as it turns out, I was the guy to help my character reach its mafioso potential.  In less than three weeks, "Don Bush" owned numerous "properties," had reached "Hitman" status, grown his mafia to 16 friends (my friends), could fend off most attacks and opened up the ability to expand his mafia to Cuba.  That's right, don't act like you aren't impressed.  By the end of week four, I finally arrived at a point of obsession that I determined made me a wee bit uncomfortable (Is it possible that I complained to the application developers when my properties kept getting robbed despite me "paying" for property protection?  Um, yes.).  At the beginning of week five, I removed the application.  Ironically, this experience taught me a few interesting things about social media success.

What Makes You Tick?
Everyone has that thing that makes them tick.  That's what makes us each unique, right?  Yeah, well, some things makes us tick more than others...especially within the context of a game.  In my opinion, these games succeed by tapping into a few specific common human needs very very well (There are more needs, of course, and if you are interested you can read more here; registration is required though).

Social: The more friends you have playing, the more the game allows you to do.  Together with your friends, you can take on rival mafias, earn special rewards, and generally advance through the game faster.  In addition, other players can easily see how many "properties" you own, how many fights you've lost, your rank, and on and on.  The social aspect is so important, that the game actually limits "mafias" to 501 people.  How many of you have 501 friends on Facebook period?

Accomplishment:  Whether you've robbed the Fed, "bought" a beach front property, roughed up a boss, earned a badge for "earning" your first million, or advanced from Street Thug to Associate, Mafia Wars is replete with little and big ways to make you feel like you've accomplished something.

Power:   The number of properties you own, the rank you attain, the "attack" strength you develop, and the loot you collect all come together to establish a person's relative power in the game.  For each person, their reason for acquiring power may be quite different, whether they just want to "beat up" other players or be a major force to be reckoned with in the eyes of the community.

Rank:  Wouldn't you agree that being a "Boss" is better than being a "Street Thug?"  Who wouldn't, right?  

Altruism:  What?  In Mafia Wars?  That's right.  The user forums are a great place for mafia do-gooders.  Filled with Mafia Wars expert players, they are eager to help people understand the game and give developers suggestions on how to improve it.  And then they'll rob you.

I am not a psychologist, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that each player has a slightly different mix of these needs.  For me, I clearly had some sort of need for accomplishment and increasing my rank.  Beating up random players and inviting in my friends were less important.  For the guy who is grumpy that his mafia can only get as big as 501 people, the social and power needs are probably more important...or maybe he just likes beating up strangers.  In any case, the frightening beauty of these types of games is that whatever your personal cocktail of needs are, the game provides a way to meet them in a way that keeps you coming back for more.

Making Money
Gaming applications also have a somewhat less muddled revenue path than most social media revenue generating efforts.  Zynga, the company that created Mafia Wars along with many other Facebook applications, has generated over $1 million in revenue and operates in the black.  In the context of Mafia Wars, players can upgrade their characters more quickly if they literally pay to do so (not just using the game's fake money).  And, guess what, some players will open up their wallets, because it helps them meet their needs more quickly.  In addition, they can do it in small chunks as low as $1 to $5 if they want.  This get transfered into a virtual currency (i.e., $1 = 10 credits).  So a player may upgrade his player for 2 credits (not dollars) one day, but 17 credits the next week.  Hey, it's not really money, it's credits!!

Key Take-aways:  Mafia Wars and Your Nonprofit
The obvious next step is for each nonprofit to create their own Mafia Wars spin off.  Wait, no, that's not the right next step.  The correct takeaway is to examine how your Facebook (or MySpace) application or house social network (a social network that your nonprofit runs) taps into these human needs.  Obviously not all these needs are applicable to non-profits in the same way, but nonprofits will be well served by spending the time to strategize about how to address as many of these needs as possible.  Here are a few questions that you may want to ask:

• What activities would be better if done with friends or others?
• What are the small/simple and big ways we can give people a sense of accomplishment?  Taking an advocacy action is a big ask, what smaller things can they do in the meantime?  (And inviting friends to join doesn't cut it, sorry.)
• What sort of reputation system can be established to truly encourage people to attain the next rank in the community?

For non-profits wondering about what this means for raising money, it's important to keep in mind that there are, in fact, other ways to make money using Facebook.  What nonprofits should focus on in this particular example is the organic way of making money through regular activity by game participants.  Obviously all nonprofits would prefer people to make a straight forward donation, but creative organizations may begin to find ways to raise money by helping people meet their personal needs.

If you are interested in checking out a Facebook game for yourself, but are scared of Mafia Wars and/or are philosophically opposed to the premise, I recommend checking out Farm Town.  I have not tried it personally, but the way "my good friend" describes it, all the same addictive elements apply. Good luck!

A Whole New Set of Webinars

We just announced a new batch of webinars covering social media as part of our ongoing webinar series.  This latest set is a mixture of the old & the new—and the basics & the advanced.  As usual, they are all totally FREE!

We are revisiting favorite webinar topics like Social Networking Strategy for Nonprofits and Twitter for Nonprofits.  These sessions will be great opportunities for newcomers to our webinars to get up to speed on the basics of social networking.  We'll tell you what kind of resources your organization will need to take advantage of social media and what you can expect.

We’ve also got two sessions on fundraising that delve into specific case studies.

Fundraising on Twitter: 140 Smiles Case Study is going to go into the challenges of raising money on the world's fastest growing social networking platform and detail one approach adopted by Operation Smile's 140 Smiles (#140smiles) campaign.

Event Fundraising on Facebook: Alliance for Lupus Research Case Study will cover Facebook applications and how building your own might help your organization's supporters raise money from their online networks on your behalf.

Finally, we've got two upcoming sessions that get down with the nitty-gritty of advanced social media.

Fish Where the Fish Are or Not: Facebook vs. House Networks is going to compare successful nonprofit Facebook communities to successful communities that nonprofits have created themselves, and it will lay out what you should consider when deciding between the two.

And Social Networking: What is Community Management & Moderation and Why Should I Care About It? will try to convince you that your organization really does need to be an active voice in your online community long after you've laid all the technical bricks down. Luckily, we'll also tell you a thing or two about how to go about doing that!

Check out the schedule here. 

New YouTube Feature May Be Missing Link For Non-Profits Using Video

Summary: YouTube.com "Call-to-Action Overlay" allows non-profits to link videos to their own websites. This feature is free for nonprofits. YouTube "Annotations" allow organizations to create video "hotspots" - linking viewers to other videos or providing them with additional information.

YouTube released a new feature widely last week that should make a huge difference for nonprofits big and small: "Call-to-Action Overlay."  This handy new feature allows nonprofits to add a semi-transparent box with call-to-action copy that links viewers off YouTube and lands them on your petition or donation page. The nonprofit Charity:Water has already used this medium effectively - notably raising over $10K in a single day.  As TechCrunch's Jason Kincaid points out, the video was placed on YouTube's home page, which undoubtedly played a role in its success.  To be honest, I'm actually a little surprised that it didn't raise more money given the exposure that it had, but I digress.

Okay, so your nonprofit may not make millions right off the bat, but for nonprofits with effective, viral videos, this could be the missing link that gets people to your site to donate or take action.  You should be aware of another footnote before you get too excited.  This feature is only available for members of YouTube's nonprofit partner program and people/organizations running pay campaigns to promote their videoes.   If your nonprofit hasn't already signed up for YouTube's nonprofit program and it posts videos on YouTube, now is the time!

In the meantime, there are other similar tools that you can use to increase the effectiveness of your videos.  YouTube supports "annotations," which allow you to highlight sections of the video or add in "notes."  You can then link the note or video section to other videos (on YouTube) for free. 

Happy videoing!

Are you ready for your next campaign?

Summary: Big campaigns that touch social media are transforming into ongoing programs. Every organization needs a post-campaign supporter engagement plan. Future campaigns will require coordination amongst more parts of your non-profit.

Last week I attended a special Facebook marketing breakfast sponsored by Inside Facebook.  The caliber of speakers was excellent and I learned a great deal, but the discussion that stuck with me more than the rest was on the evolving role of the marketing "campaign."  The panel concluded that the traditional media campaign as we know it is over...especially if it touches social media in any meaningful way.

That's a fairly bold statement to make.  To understand how they got there first we need to travel in our time machine back (which luckily I have) to a time without online social networks, newsfeeds, and 24x7x364 stimulation.  Yes, we're going back to the dark ages, so put on your chain mail and get your sword, it's time to visit 2002.  Here we can observe the marketing campaign in its natural environment.

Campaigns were fairly simple creatures back then (scale and scope aside).  They had straight forward goals.  Marketers would come up with a clever and interesting way to attract people to 1. increase brand awareness, 2. drive sales of a product.  For non-profits, the end goals were obviously a bit different but similarly simple, focusing on advocacy, fundraising, or both.  Campaigns were also predictable events.  The campaign had a specific beginning and end.  Once the campaign was over, it was over.  No more promotional t-shirts, videos, or micro-sites.  It was time to analyze the results (i.e., dollars raised, policy influenced, etc.) and prepare for the next campaign.  All-in-all, campaigns were clean, finite, predictable, and measurable. 

Oh the good old days.

Now let's jump back into our time machine and return to today.  I know, everything looks totally different, doesn't it.  Crazy.  The first thing you may notice is that today's campaigns are starting to look a bit more like programs than campaigns.  Wait, what?  But programs don't usually "end," you're probably thinking.  And you would be correct.  For any organization looking to establish a campaign-oriented Facebook page, application, Twitter account, MySpace page, or micro-site with special social features like discussion forums, the campaign will no longer end on the date of your choosing.  The reason is that your non-profit has now developed a community around your campaign.  If everything went as planned, the campaign has attracted thousands of supporters, who are now regularly taking action on your organization's behalf, responding to things you post, sharing your posts with their friends, and discussing your posts with other supporters.  This is something that your organization can't just "turn off."  If you did, the best you could hope for is that these great, active supporters just feel abandoned by you.  The worst case is really bad - grumpy supporters or spammers hijack your brand on ignored Facebook campaign pages and applications, turning supporters into detractors, and completely wasting an asset your organization spent an enormous amount of money to create.  Eek!

The truth is that this is a high class problem.  In other words, "woe-is-me-what-do-I-do-with-all-these-brand-evangelists?"  Cry me a river, right?  True, but sorting out what to do with this community is not a task that should be taken lightly.  Generally, an active user base is something every organization should want...if you are prepared to manage it.  Right now, most organizations are comfortable with regular email communications.  In fact, one of a campaigns goals is getting people on the email list so you can continue to cultivate the list.  What's different now is that your organization must continue to engage people where you acquired them (i.e., Campaign page on Facebook).  You shouldn't assume that they are all on your email house list and, if they are, assume that email is their preferred method of communication.  In fact, research has consistently shown that donors typically donate through the same medium.  So if you came in through direct mail, chances are that you'll donate again via direct mail rather than email or phone.  Non-profits should expect that social media donors will act in the same way and should not expect that they can simply turn all these social media donors into email donors. 

In addition, once you embrace the community, engagement means regular daily conversations...not email weekly or biweekly email communications about unrelated (or semi-related) programs or information.  However, with the right ongoing engagement, chances are that your organization will spend a lot less time trying to ramp up your next major fundraising, advocacy, or marketing campaign. 

So what's a non-profit to do?  Here are a few tips to get you started...

1.  Have a transition plan:  When the campaign ends, make sure there is a plan to keep the conversation going and the community alive.  Who's going to manage it? What will the goals of the community be?  What will the messaging be? How will the plan differ from community to community (i.e., Facebook vs. MySpace), etc.

2.  Break down those silos:  The rise of social media means an organization's online presence has about a zero percent chance of being limited to one organizational silo, whether it's fundraising, communications, or programs.  Set structures up to ensure that the right people are involved and feel comfortable in an environment with competing objectives.

3. Get comfortable on the social web:  If you don't already have a Facebook page, MySpace profile, applications, and Twitter account, now is the time.  Obviously you shouldn't set them up without concrete objectives and a plan, but as Jeremiah Owyang likes to say, "fish where the fish are."

What kind of wine is your non-profit bringing to the picnic?

Summary: Social media requires rethinking communication with supporters. When approaching online communities, make sure your organization brings something to the table. "LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY NON-PROFIT!!" Photo Courtesy theparadignshifter via Flickr

A couple days ago I chatted with a good friend of mine who has worked in politics for years.  As a political communications guy, he lives and operates in a world of spin and command and control messaging.  He had a new client and asked me about how to do "the social networking thing" (aka, setting up a Facebook page and Twitter account).  My first three questions were - who is your audience, why will they care, and what is it exactly you want to accomplish?  As per the usual, the first two questions didn't get answered, but the third was obvious - to spread the message about what his client was doing.  Ahh!  Of course.  The old "social-media-as-just-another-one-way-communications-vehicle" model.

My friend isn't alone in his old-media approach to social media.  Creating conversations and empowering supporters is difficult and requires most organizations to rethink their communication strategies.   Unfortunately, it's the social equivalent of being "that guy" at a dinner party who won't shut up about how great he is (thanks to Chris Brogan for the example).  When you step into a social medium, organizations must never forget the social aspect of what they are doing.  People who connect to your organization on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or your house social network aren't joining to get a repackaged newsletter.  They want to interact with your organization and with other supporters of your organization.

Chris Brogan also suggests approaching social media according to Yahoo's Conn Fishburn's principle:  "Bring Wine to the Picnic."

If you show up and try to market [at a picnic], people will be frustrated and will shut you out. Instead, if you bring something of value to people, they’ll be more likely to accept you.

So what kind of wine will you be bringing to the picnic?  Personally, I'm bringing baked beans because after talking to my friends, I realized that's what they need. ; )

09NTC Recap: Keynote Address by Clay Shirky

Clay Shirky (Here Comes Everybody) was the Monday keynote at the NTC conference.

Shirky started off with the concept from his book that "Group action just got easier." Many nonprofits are organizers of group action, and we've been thinking through the impacts of this shift as a sector.

As he continued, I asked myself now that the value of creating knowledge is changing, how is it impacting each nonprofit? What does it mean for the sector that we're all global publishers? He explained that the "absolute value of expertise has not changed, [but the] relative value has." It's still useful to have and to build expertise, but the roles of experts are shifting.

Then, telling the story of the museum whose worst fear was loss of control of it's content, Shirky laid out this zinger: "The loss of control you fear is already in the past." Wild applause erupted from NTC attendees, and the statement was widely repeated on Twitter. Apparently the sentiment resonated. I think NTC attendees were feeling frustration with organizational cultures slow to adapt to the shift we're experiencing.

Shirky walked us gently though a lesson in how to fail informatively. I liked his idea about trying multiple solutions simultaneously, but not too many at a time: "Don't let 100 flowers bloom. Let, like, 7 flowers bloom."

Holly Ross, the Executive Director of NTEN, did a wonderful job of grounding the conversation with questions. She asked why nonprofits are important at all, when group action is easier now. Shirky responded that our convening power is important, as is our staying power. Tools on the Internet are now good at short, sharp shots, but will these platforms exist next year? Will they be around for the next action the group needs to take together?

He advised that nonprofits strive to listen to the conversation about them by doing an Internet search for their organization. Disregard the content your organization created, and you will get to listen in on the real conversation and sentiment about your group.

Finally, Ross asked Shirky "Is Facebook forever?" His surprising response: "My guess is that the high water mark of Facebook's universality has passed." I see the beginnings of fractures to Facebook's dominance forming with Twitter and house social networks, so maybe Shirky is correct.

NTEN chose a great keynote speaker, and Ross made sure that Shirky shared useful and implementable knowledge with nonprofits, which made for a great NTC this year.

You Don't Know "Chuck"

Summary: Your most vocal online supporters may not be representative of your supporter base Always have a online community plan when it's time to make changes Focus attention on desired community actions and providing the tools to empower your supporters

I know what you're thinking.  Will the NBC series Chuck make it another year?  Perhaps that wasn't on the top of your mind, but now you're probably wondering what Chuck has to do with non profits.  Hold that thought - I'll get to it in just a minute.

Back to Chuck's survival.  Thousands of twittering fans are clamoring for its return next season.  Unfortunately for these avid fans, they don't run NBC.  That hasn't stopped them from organizing online in support of the show and its sponsors - Subway in particular.  Yup, thousands of die hard fans are demonstrating their support by buying up six inch turkey and meatball Subway sandwiches.  Despite their efforts, the show still appears to be in jeopardy.  So what does it take to keep a show on the air?  Eyeballs.

NBC isn't approaching this decision without precedent.  Competing network CBS went through something similar when it canceled the show Jericho.  Fans rallied and sent over 40,000 lbs of nuts to CBS since they were, err, nuts for the show.  CBS agreed to put the show back on the air and sent a letter to its fans to thank them and, among other things, to let them know what to do to ensure the show stayed on the air.  This excerpt was taken from that letter (which the nut distributor Nuts Online posted on its website):

A loyal and passionate community has clearly formed around the show. But that community needs to grow. It needs to grow on the CBS Television Network, as well as on the many digital platforms where we make the show available.

We will count on you to rally around the show, to recruit new viewers with the same grass-roots energy, intensity and volume you have displayed in recent weeks.

Guess what didn't happen?  Growth.  Fans were able to organize for the show, but were not able to grow the fan base, which is what CBS needed to make the business case to keep the show.  Definitely a shame for the show's fans, but you can hardly blame CBS.  Moving forward to Chuck's current situation, it's hard to believe that NBC isn't making a similar calculation.

According to Josh Bernoff on AdAge and Groundswell there is an important lesson here:

Thousands of visible, loyal viewers does not equal millions of actual viewers. Objects in the groundswell may be smaller than they appear. People who congregate online are not a representative sample.

So what does this have to do with non-profits?  Here are a few lessons that I took from these experiences:

First, keep it in perspective.  Your most vocal supporters are extremely important and influential whether they are on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, a blog, or your own internal website, but they are only a small fraction of your overall base of supporters and/or service recipients.  Don't avoid making hard decisions or changes better for the community at large out of fear of alienating this group.

That said, have a plan.  Undoubtedly there will come a time when you may need to go against your most vocal online supporters.  If you don't have a community manager, get one!  They will keep you tapped into your online community and will know best how to navigate change.  Make sure s/he develops a solid plan for acknowledging, empowering, preparing, and communicating with your online supporters about the upcoming changes.  Your plan should be comprehensive and should encompass those channels (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc.) where discussions are happening about your organization, whether or not you are in control of it.  You've heard the pitfalls of not doing so (think Tropicana), but the benefits of a well thought out plan can lead to a stronger, more committed supporter base.

Lastly, online ruckus-making does not necessarily result in desired offline action.  Jericho fans were not able to recruit a sufficient number of new viewers.  For your non-profit, your metric may be petition signatures, community growth, or even service delivery.  Make sure your supporters have the tools they need to do what you want - simply asking them to take action may not be enough.