Organizing Better with the Social Web

My Charity Connects 2012 Boyd Neil National Practice Leader Social Media + Digital Communications

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2012  eNonprofit  Benchmark  Study  h7p://www.e-­‐benchmarksstudy.com/    

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2012  eNonprofit  Benchmark  Study  h7p://www.e-­‐benchmarksstudy.com/    

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2012  eNonprofit  Benchmark  Study  h7p://www.e-­‐benchmarksstudy.com/    

!   Social web now integral to non-profit and social organizing !   Twitter has taken over as a conversation and connection tool

especially internationally !   But . . . a tendency to think in terms of traditional success measures

(additions to email lists etc.) !   Moving from connection to engagement and action is the challenge

. . . Organizing online is a core competency for non-

profits and advocacy groups

. . . And what of it? 5

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How we do it: 1.  Understand social dynamics 2.  Draw from historic and

current organizing principles

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Dr.  Giorgos  ChelioEs  (gchelioEs@nus.edu.sg)  CommunicaEons  and  New  Media,  NaEonal  University  of  Singapore  

Online organizing doesn’t change how people make decisions to participate – or not 1.  Personal approach best for

recruitment 2.  Knowing that “someone like me” is

on social platform (trust) 3.  Personal invitations/direct support

help people get started 4.  Understand needs, then help meet

those needs encourages participation and ongoing involvement

Neighbourhood  Forums:  (from  an  evaluaEon  of  E-­‐Democracy.org  Inclusive  Social  Media  project)    

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Social  parEcipaEon  conEnuum  

Connec&on   Engagement   Influence   Ac&on  

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What  social  web  acEvism  can  do  

Educate   Organize  Create  

Courage  to  Act  

Act  

Organizing Principles

1.  Contain anger | find ideological balance 2.  Make action choices straightforward, obvious and easy 3.  Connect everywhere 4.  Use social tools to organize groups (We used to call them ‘cells’) 5.  Give people offline connection and action opportunities 6.  Identify local network leaders . . . And empower to self-organize 7.  Personalize the relationship 8.  Facilitate peer-to-peer opportunities 9.  Provide incentives for offline action 10.  Create content that rocks 11.  Celebrate successes 12.  Manage organizing like a political campaign

Organizing principles

Organizing Principles

1.  Contain anger | find ideological balance

Organizing principles

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Two  reasons  this  doesn’t  work:    1.  Moves  away  from  core  

organizing  message  2.  SubsEtutes  anger  for  argument  

Organizing Principles

2.  Make action choices straightforward, obvious and easy

Organizing principles

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Four  reasons  this  works    1.  Offers  calls  to  acEon  +  peEEons  2.  Educates  on  what  it  means  to  

engage  3.  Urges  you  to  imagine  

something  different  4.  Makes  it  easy  

And  this  works  too  .  .  .  For  the  same  reasons  

Organizing Principles

3.  Connect everywhere

Organizing principles

Three  reasons  this  works:  1.  Displays  and  repeats  evidence  

of  mulEple  pla]orms  2.  Uses  visual  pla]orms  3.  Has  mulEple  points  of  access  

for  connecEon  

Organizing Principles

4.  Use social tools to organize groups (We used to call them ‘cells’)

Organizing principles

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Organizing Principles

5.  Give people offline connection and action opportunities

Organizing principles

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‘App’ It

Organizing Principles

6.  Identify local network leaders . . . And empower to self-organize

Organizing principles

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Three  reasons  this  doesn’t  work:    1.  No  place  to  idenEfy  yourself  as  

willing  to  lead  an  acEon  2.  No  infrastructure  for  self-­‐

organizaEon  of  groups  3.  Doesn’t  educate  within  the  

context  of  organizing  

But  this  does  .  .  .    

Organizing Principles

7.  Personalize the relationship

Organizing principles

Organizing Principles

8.  Facilitate peer-to-peer opportunities

Organizing principles

Three  reasons  this  works:    1.  Begins  from  your  own  story  2.  Makes  starEng  your  own  peer-­‐

peer  campaign  straigh]orward  3.  Defines  progress    

Organizing Principles

9.  Provide incentives for offline action

Organizing principles

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Site offers: 1.  Game-style ranking 2.  Personal invitations to

events 3.  Special training/

education opportunities

Organizing Principles

10.  Create content that rocks

Organizing principles

32 We can learn a lot about creating great content from internet memes . . . They operate in affinity spaces and are characterized by

Dr.  Giorgos  ChelioEs  (gchelioEs@nus.edu.sg)  CommunicaEons  and  New  Media,  NaEonal  University  of  Singapore  

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TACTICAL  TOOLKITS  AND  GUIDES  Drawing  by  Numbers  

10  TacEcs  Message  in-­‐a-­‐box  Mobiles  in-­‐a-­‐box  Security  in-­‐a-­‐box  Info-­‐design  guide  Maps  for  advocacy  

Online  advocacy  guide  ONO  films  

Digital  Survival  Guide  

Numbers  with  ‘narraEves’  

!   Have a storytelling disposition in data assembly

!   Less data, more story (but collect it all)

!   Focus on opportunity not data pimping

!   Context is critical –  Give us the ‘so what’

!   Create the story from the data . . .don’t jam the data into a story

!   Highlight actionable data

Good Data Visualization 35

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Organizing  Principles  

12.  Manage  organizing  like  a  poliEcal  campaign  

Organizing principles

Features  

+    Dynamic  CRM  

+    Mass  Mailer  

+    Event  Management  

+    Fundraising  

+    Advocacy  &  Petitions  

+    Share  /  Tell-­‐a-­‐friend  

+    Legislative  Outreach  

+    Social  Networking  

+    Canvassing  

+    File  Uploader  

+    API  

THE  H+K  ADVOCACY  PANEL  

39 Boyd Neil | @boydneil | 416.413.4626 | www.boydneil.com