1. Leveraging Social Media for
Fundraising Success
Michael Ames
Pursuant
Prepared for CaseIV Conference
April 5, 2009 - Oklahoma City, OK
2. Definition of Terms
Social Media – primarily Internet-based tools for
sharing and discussing information among
human beings. The term most often refers to
activities that integrate technology and social
interaction with the construction of words,
pictures, audio and video. The industry might
also refer to social media as “user generated
content” -wikipedia
3. Social
Media is…
BASED ON A PRESENTATION BY LEE WHITE
Remixed from introtosocilamedia by AnnFIOPartners
5. Well…
sort of.
BASED ON A PRESENTATION BY LEE WHITE
Remixed from introtosocilamedia by AnnFIOPartners
6. You Can’t Leverage Social Media!
• The session title is a misnomer
• If you are not actively involved in an online
community already, you have nothing to
leverage.
• Donor loyalty is about you being loyal to your
donors, until you can operate from that
premise – your organization will not use social
media effectively.
12. From the Cluetrain Manifesto
• Nonprofits must talk to the people with whom they
hope to create relationships.
• To speak with a human voice, nonprofits must share
the concerns of their communities.
• If you want us to talk to you, tell us something. Make
it something interesting for a change.
• We have better tools, more new ideas, no rules to
slow us down. We are waking up and linking to
each other.
13. People have now had a taste of two way
conversations around your brand.
They won’t wait for you to talk about you.
They don’t want to listen to this…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaalarchief
14. A few quick stats…
•
•
•
•
•
•
73% of active online users have read a blog
45% have started their own blog
39% subscribe to an RSS feed
57% have joined a social network
55% have uploaded photos
83% have watched video clips
The conversation is happening…with or without you.
Source: Universal McCann’s Comparative Study on Social Media Trends, April 2008,
BASED ON A PRESENTATION BY LEE WHITE
Remixed from introtosocilamedia by AnnFIOPartners
15. Some differences in
tactics
BROADCAST
SOCIAL MEDIA
Brand in control
Audience in control
One way / Delivering a message
Two way / Being a part of a conversation
Repeating the message
Adapting the message/ beta
Focused on the brand
Focused on the audience / Adding value
Educating
Influencing, involving
Organization Creates Content
User created content / Co-creation
Source: Slide 10 from "What's Next In Media?" by Neil Perkin
16. In social media, you might be the topic of
conversation without being the center of it
BROADCAST
MEDIA
SOCIAL
MEDIA
You will have to give up some control in order to
gain more influence and followers.
Giving up control is OK.
firstgiving presentation, Using social media to expand your fundraising horizons
17. Let’s Consider What is Happening to Email
• How many email address have you had?
• How many do you currently have?
(most people answer 3 or more)
• Why do you have multiple, how is each used?
• If your organization asked you for your email
address, which one would you give them?
Content used to “go viral” through email . Generally,
people don’t use the channel that way any more.
18. Quick Case in
Point
To the
Twitter
community,
Lance is…
•Active
•Engaging
•Authentic
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group
19. Quick Case in
Point
•I even got my
own twitter
“autograph”
from Lance
SCOREBOARD!!
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group
22. Quick Case in
Point
Lance
Armstrong
Foundation
uses twitter
for…
•Press releases
•Public relations
•“customer
service”
•NOT exactly
an audience
well cultivated
for solicitation
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group
23. Quick Case in Point – open letter
“advice” to the LIVESTRONG
foundation
•Shoot short video of Lance making specific impassioned
appeal to his twitter audience.
Lance has already
communicated with his
followers in this way.
Hundreds of comments
poured in within days.
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group
24. Quick Case in Point – open letter
“advice” to the LIVESTRONG
foundation
•Shoot short video of Lance making specific impassioned
appeal to his twitter audience.
•Video needs to state a goal, ask for a specific amount, and
automatically kick to a donation page with a specific, small
gift pre-filled on the form. No “Click to Donate” buttons!
•Ask Lance to tweet it out 6 times over 3 days varying the
time of day it’s tweeted and the subject line “update” that
goes with it…share progress, celebrate benchmarks,
express goal, give thanks, etc.
•Ask Lance to tweet as normal the rest of the day.
•LIVESTRONG twitter admin needs to follow progress and
thank individual donors publicly, using twitter.
•Headline the next day (prediction)…
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group
25. Quick Case in Point – open letter
“advice” to the LIVESTRONG
foundation
“LIVESTRONG Raises Hundreds
of Thousands in Three Days
Using Just Twitter”
What won’t be mentioned in the headline -- the months of
acquisition and cultivation work Lance Armstrong has done in
the preceding months to make this solicitation effective.
But…
Lance Armstrong isn’t doing acquisition and cultivation. Lance
Armstrong is simply in conversation with his followers.
(that’s the best kind of cultivation)
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group
26. So, Should I Get Me a Twitter?
• If your organization is slow to adopt this new
way of thinking, there are some personal
strategies you might employ
• Your successful implementation should be a
good case study for the administration in your
organization
• Start with careful planning
@mikeyames The Pursuant Group
29. Who are these people?
Source: Forrester, Groundswell
30.
31. Objective: What do you want to
accomplish?
• Increase Revenue from New Donors?
By how much?
• Engage New Clients for Programs?
Referrals from Website – how many?
• Build Awareness of your Cause? New
inquiries? Mentions of organization
across internet?
a specific measurable result expected
within a particular time period
PICK ONE OBJECTIVE TO START WITH…
MUST BE ABLE TO MEASURE
Source: Beth Kanter, from 10/08 Share Our Strength presentation
32. Strategy:
Plan for how relationships with
people will change
Listening
Participating
Sharing Your Story Social Media Style
Spreading Awareness, Generating
Buzz
• Social Networking For Action And
Fundraising
•
•
•
•
Source: Beth Kanter, from 10/08 Share Our Strength presentation
33. Technology:
Decide which social technologies
to use to support strategies
SEE LIST OF TOOLS for….
• Listening
• Participating
• Sharing Your Story Social Media Style
• Spreading Awareness, Generating
Buzz
• Social Networking For Action And
Fundraising
Source: Beth Kanter, from 10/08 Share Our Strength presentation
34. Tactics – Tools - Time
Listen
Participate
5hr
Less Time
Generate
Buzz
10hr
Share
Content
15hr
Community
Building &
Social
Networking
20hr
More Time
Used with Creative Commons permission from Beth Kanter
35. Online Listening
Questions in preparing your organization to listen
Who will do the listening and responding?
What is your response policy to
criticism/praise/questions?
How much time is allocated?
How will you analyze and share results?
What are the benchmarks to measure usefulness?
Beth Kanter, Listening Literacy
36. Online Listening
Keyword Search Suggestions
• Nonprofit Name
• Other NPO names in your space
• Other NPOs with similar sounding names
• Program/Services/Event Names
• CEO or well known associated personalities
• Other NPOs with similar sounding names
• Brand or tagline
• URLs of your online properties
• Industry terms or phrases related to your mission
• Your known strengths and weaknesses
Beth Kanter, Listening Literacy
40. Online Participation
•Ask questions
•Comment on others blogs posts
•Compliment others content
•Forward and link to others content
Generate Buzz
•Open profiles on Social bookmarking and crowd
sourcing sites like digg and stumbleupon
•Bookmark content you like and share your profile
•Promote others content through service like digg,
mixx and newsvine
41. Share Content
•Take time to create content that addresses any recurring
questions your donor base is asking . This content does not
necessarily need to relate directly to the mission of your
organization. You are preparing content that will be genuinely
helpful.
•Listen for where and when your content can be used to help a
conversation or answer a question.
•Answer the questions by directing people to the content you
have created.
42. Community Building
and Social Networking
•Establish credibility within your engaged following network of
people
•Once established, the group of people you are in conversation
with will begin knowing where your expertise lies.
•Inviting an engaged followship into a custom social network
becomes easy. Be sure to determine the kind of community or
social network you open is based on the people, objectives and
strategy you have established.
43. Giving Up Control
• The nature of social media is that not all content is
precisely right, but the majority is generally right.
• Not all of your interaction will be positive or
favorable.
• How you respond to criticism will say a lot about you
and your organization.
• Pick your battles and be willing to apologize when
necessary.
firstgiving presentation, Using social media to expand your fundraising horizons
44. Tactics – Tools - Time
Listen
Participate
5hr
Less Time
Generate
Buzz
10hr
Share
Content
15hr
Community
Building &
Social
Networking
20hr
More Time
Used with permission from Beth Kanter
Notas do Editor
17000 – globally, only requirement was to log onto internet 1x per day
Method to the madness.
In 2008, Twitter bought up the application summize which was a popular search tool for tweets.
Search.twitter.com is very simple and useful for searching messages for specific text and finding new people to follow.
Some tools to find others:
www.twellow.com
www.chrisfinke.com/twitslikeme
www.socialbrandindex.com
Twitterers of interest – those who are followed and tweeted with.