Special OlympicsBe a fan

The Old. The New. Communicating for Advocacy.Prepared for the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation Leadership RetreatMarch 20, 2010

Welcome!

Topics of this Workshop

• Traditional organizational approaches to communications by advocacy organizations

• New approaches and technologies that are being used by the most progressive and successful organizations

• How to refit and update organizational capabilities that can impact awareness, participation and financial support

• Open discussion about applications to HCEF

Categories for today are…

Background: Who Special Olympics is and how did we get here?

Social media 101: A quick intro to the world and tools of social media.

Words to live by: Some tried and true methods of approach to social media.

Imitation is flattery: Who is the best and what are they doing?

Mirror, mirror on the wall: Just tell us what to do!

Background

We are always moving forward, but its important to know where we’ve been!

Special Olympics

The Mission:To provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

The Vision:The Special Olympics Movement can ultimately transform communities by inspiring people throughout the world to open their minds, to accept and include people with intellectual disabilities, and thereby celebrate differences among all people, in the context of the greater similarities we all share.

A Global Movement

North America 562,030

North America 562,030

Latin America 293,551

Latin America 293,551

Africa102,507

Africa102,507

Asia Pacific 566,653

Asia Pacific 566,653

Middle East

N. Africa 119,581

Middle East

N. Africa 119,581

Europe/Eurasia 457,375

Europe/Eurasia 457,375

East Asia 774,929

East Asia 774,929

Serving over 3.1 million people with intellectual disabilities

in more than 170 countries.

Serving over 3.1 million people with intellectual disabilities

in more than 170 countries.

• Fast Growing:• 1 million athletes in

2001• 3.1 Million today

• Important – Changing lives, attitudes and influencing policy

• Transformative – Challenging stigmas and destroying prejudices

• Unifying – Bridging chasms that divide us as a society.

“The sun never sets on the

Special Olympics movement”

Our Foundation: Sports

“Just like a flower, Special Olympics made me blossom. If I can train 15 weeks for a marathon, I can do just about anything.”

Special Olympics athlete Billy Quick

“Just like a flower, Special Olympics made me blossom. If I can train 15 weeks for a marathon, I can do just about anything.”

Special Olympics athlete Billy Quick

• 30 Olympic-type sports for athletes 8 years and older.

• More than 30,000 local, state/provincial, national, regional and international events year-round and worldwide.

• World Summer Games and World Winter Games alternate every two years, drawing thousands of athletes and supporters.

More than Sports

Special Olympics

Healthy Athletes & Research

Family Support Network

Youth & Schools

(So Get Into It)Sports

Athlete LeadershipPrograms

Games(World & Regional)

Our programs touch more than 10 million people globally

• We are a leader in programs that improve the health and fitness of our athletes, resulting in enhanced well-being, sports performance and quality of life.

• Family Support Networks and Young Athletes™ programs broaden the scope of our contribution to families and communities.

• Special Olympics Get Into It ™ helps educate children in more than 5,000 schools around the world.

• Nearly 120,000 people participate in Special Olympics Unified Sports®.

• Special Olympics named one of the “America’s Greatest Brands” in 2005 by the American Brand Council

• 70% of surveyed public feels more positively about companies that support Special Olympics

• 85% of the public would more likely buy to product from a company that supports Special Olympics

• 87% believe it is appropriate for Special Olympics to align with corporate partners

Special Olympics “One of America’s Greatest Brands

Special OlympicsOur image today

How familiar would you say you are with Special Olympics?

How favorable wouldyou say you are towardsSpecial Olympics?

15%

62%

3%

20%

Very familiar

Somewhat familiar

Not very familiar

Not at all familiar

55%

40%

Very favorable

Somewhat favorable

Not very favorable

Not at all favorable

77%

95%

3%

But positive image doesn’t always translate into action

How likely are you to volunteer for Special Olympics?

How likely are you to donate to Special Olympics?

How likely are you to buy a product or service from a company that supports Special Olympics?

28%

72%

57%

43%

85%

15%

14%

43%

33%

10%

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Not at all likely

5%

23%

50%

22%

28%

57%

13%

2%

Most commitment Least

commitment

Why does love of Special Olympics not lead to engagement?

Correlation of Likelihood to Donate with Association

% w

ho s

aid

this

attr

ibut

e ap

plie

d a

grea

t dea

l to

Spe

cial

Oly

mpi

cs

An Evolving Relevancy

FROM

• One country’s movement

• Pity

• “Nice” thing to do

• An occasional event

• A charity

• About “those special people”

TO

• A global movement

• Empowerment

• Important for society

• A part of everyday life

• A global marketing partner

• About all of ‘Us’

What We Stand For

Our Promise

Emotional Attributes

Functional Benefits

Empowerment of people with intellectual disabilities through sport and sports training

To create a better world by fostering acceptance and inclusion of all people

Dignity, empowerment

Tangible:> Sports training and competition Health and Education Family Support Community Development Advocacy

Tangible:> Sports training and competition Health and Education Family Support Community Development Advocacy

Intangible:> Transformative impact on those touched by us> Catalyst for change in society-attitude, laws etc.

Intangible:> Transformative impact on those touched by us> Catalyst for change in society-attitude, laws etc.

+

Joyful, inspirational

Transformative,unifying

Special Olympics Today

Brand Objectives

• Make Special Olympics more relevant to more people

• Increase Special Olympics awareness nationally and globally

• Attract new volunteers and Special Olympics participants, especially youth

• Motivate greater financial participation from individual donors and corporate sponsors

• Change attitudes about people with intellectual disabilities

• Engage the community to create commitments to the movement

Getting our Message Out There

So we figured out who we are, what we stand for and what our goals are. So its time to get our message out there!

But HOW?

Social Media 101: The Right Mindset

It’s a brave new world

The One Critical Thing to Remember

NOWTHEN

vs.

Then vs. Now

Traditional Media Social Media

Encyclopedia Britannica

New York Times

Print Newsletters

Wikipedia

Google Reader, Digg

eNewsletter, Facebook, Twitter

Media Consumption in 2003

Media Consumption Today

Business Communications Evolution

Where do I start?

Common Misperceptions

Social media is not…• Free• A silver bullet for fundraising• An opportunity to control your message• An opportunity to tell everyone what you think• Inherently appealing and cool to millennials• An alternative to clear messaging/mission

That said…

Social media is…• Pretty low cost• Growing by leaps and bounds• An opportunity for conversation• A great way to reach certain audiences• A complement to the messages you’re sharing through

other channels

Do tell me more please!

Source: http://www.idealware.org/sm_survey/download.php

But who’s really using this stuff?

More people than you think! Did you know the average age of a social network user is 37!

Source: http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/02/16/study-ages-of-social-network-users/

So where are people online?

Source: http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/improve-your-social-media-strategy-by-paying-attention-to-demographics-laura-aronsson-and-bianca

Dec 2009

Know your audience

Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/Adults-and-Social-Network-Websites.aspx

More demographics

Why do people participate?

How do people participate?

© http://blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/2010/01/conversationalists-get-onto-the-ladder.html

More on why Social Media Matters

So What’s Out There?

How do I focus?

Decisions, Decisions…

Teach me to fish…

And how do you know me?

Fish where the fish are…

Activate Your Fans

I See You…

• Video sharing service that allows uploading, subscribing, viewing and sharing of user videos

• The most popular form of video sharing with over 100 million videos watched daily

• Ability to rate, comment and even respond to videos via text or video

• Videos are useful for bloggers to embed them on their sites and blogs to share with readers

• YouTube Videos can be integrated into Facebook and used by bloggers to host videos on their sites

If no one sees it, its not happening!

Tell your story!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCeUnOl9Q4g

Words to Live by…

The Tried & True

The Best Advice I Can Give

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Strategize!

And now, the Late Show’s

…the top 5…

Pillars of Success

What does it look like in real life?

Goal: End the derogatory use of the word ‘retard(ed)’ and promote the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities.

Objectives: Eclipse 100,000 total online pledges at www.r-word.org. Raise awareness to the hurtful effects of the word ‘retard(ed).’ Expand online communities.

Strategy: Personalize the hurtfulness of the R-word, create conversations about inclusion and acceptance for people with ID.

Tools: Downloadable web resources for schools and communities to hold pledge drives, Facebook, You Tube, Twitter, blogs

Results: Over 100k total pledges, over 10k NEW Facebook fans, thousands of Facebook interactions, over 20k You Tube video views, thousands of re-tweets and two dozen blog posts.

The sincerest form of flattery

Chart the Waters

Simplicity Rules

Integration is Key

Where’s the Beef?!?

Prepare for Class

Mirror, Mirror on the wall…

The Organizational Commitment

The greatest misperception among most organizations is that engaging in social media is free. This couldn’t be more WRONG! An organization that works with under this assumption WILL NOT succeed in the social media space and will probably damage their own brand and lose supporters by having a misguided approach.

So what is free? Tools. Facebook, You Tube, Twitter, etc.

What is not free? The time for staff to implement the strategy you developed.

A generic starting timeline may resemble something like this:

• 5 hours/week to start listening• 10 hours/week to participate• 10-15 hours/week to generate buzz• 20+ hours/week to build community• (At least) 3-6 months until you see results

Tactics, Tools, Time

Source: Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Mediahttp://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2008/10/how-much-time-d.html

Just tell us what to do!

LISTEN

• Search for your keywords on Twitter, subscribe to search results RSS feed (http://search.twitter.com)

• Follow people who tweet about you or your cause

• Find and follow people/organizations (http://wefollow.com/tag/nonprofit)

• Search Facebook1. What other nonprofits like

you have a presence?2. What kind of support are

they seeing? # fans, wall posts, etc.

3. What is being discussed?• Ask your supporters and

volunteers1. Where are they active

online?2. What would they like to

see you do?

BUILD

Pick platforms:• where your supporters are• where you are comfortable• with features to match your goals

Create Audience Relevant Content• use the best free sources of Social

Media Audience Usage Researchhttp://www.netsquared.org/blog/kanter/nptech-summary-best-free-sources-get-social-media-audience-usage-research

Share useful info, don’t just broadcast• Include links to your site and others

as relevant• Re-tweet!• Ask questions – engage!

Establish a routine (here’s a helpful start: http://j.mp/acCuDd)

Streamline your Communications

Rinse, Wash, Repeat

Establish Regular Reviews

• What have we learned?• What has worked well?• What did not seem to have effect (so far)?• What should we change?• Are we moving toward our targets?• What activities or targets should we adjust?

Great, but WHO is going to do this?

The hardest thing to do

Take a deep breath because you are not in control anymore!

You don’t own your brand

The Diet Coke and Mentos experiment

Get Personal

Pick the right staff and let them be themselves

How do industry leaders handle it?

Authenticity rules the day

Social media is an immersive world, therefore, your leaders need to be immersed.

Collaboration rules the office

Define Success Together

• Increased awareness of your cause• Shift in your org’s reputation• New and repeat program participants, activists, donors • Increased requests for your programs• Pageviews/clicks/comments/fans/etc.• New email addresses/contact info• Signatures/actions taken• Dollars raised• Mentions online

Success may be more, or different, than “dollars and cents.”

Be Fearless!

And, we’re off!

Time to get started!

Ask and you shall receive…

QUESTIONS?

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel!

Some Recommended Resources

Ongoing Twitter Chat : #nptech - great way to meet people to learn from/share with on TwitterAllyson Kapin: Non-profits - Time to Get Mobile http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2010/1/15/nonprofits-time-to-get-mobile.html ***Beth Kanter/Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofit Organizations Can Use Social Media to Power Social Networks for Change:http://beth.typepad.com/ http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2009/02/how-do-you-measure-the-success-of-dog-to-person-fundraising-on-social-networks-dollars-or-doggietre.html Chris Brogan’s blog: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/grow-bigger-ears-in-10-minutes/ http://www.chrisbrogan.com/the-building-blocks-of-social-media-for-business/ Forrester Research Consumer Technographics Data: http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/profile_tool.html KDPaine’s PR Measurement Blog: http://kdpaine.blogs.com/ Mobile Active http://www.MobileActive.org Nonprofit Tech 2.0: A Social Media Guide for Non-Profits http://nonprofitorgs.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/10-nonprofit-text-alert-campaigns/ Non-Profit Social Media Benchmark Study: http://www.e-benchmarksstudy.com/socialmedia/key-findings/ ***We Are Media wiki http://www.wearemedia.org/ ***Wendy Harman, American Red Cross: http://wharman.posterous.com/social-media-handbook

***Top Three Recommendations

Contact Ryan

Ryan EadesManager, Online Brand CommunicationsSpecial Olympics International

Phone: 202-824-0292Email: reades@specialolympics.orgTwitter: @ryan2499Skype: ryan2499