MYCHARITYCONNECTS St. John’s, Newfoundland October 4, 2010

GETTING YOUR BOARD ON BOARD: THE VALUE OF BEING ONLINE

October 4, 2010

Today’s Presenter

Zenia Wadhwani

Director, Program Development

CanadaHelps.org

What is CanadaHelps?

A public charitable foundation that provides accessible and affordable online technology to both donors and charities.

For Charities

A cost-effective means of raising funds online.

For Donors

A one-stop-shop for giving.

CanadaHelps is a charity helping charities.

EXPLAINING SOCIAL MEDIA

What is Social Media?

TECHNOLOGY

SOCIAL

• Online

• Interactive

• Conversational

• Real Time

• User driven

• Transparent

• Engaging

• Inclusive

• Genuine

So-cial Me-d-ia [soh-shuhl mee-dee-uh]

Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques.

Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many).

It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.

Stolen from Wikipedia

So, why is that complicated?

WHAT YOUR BOARD MIGHT SAY

#1

“Our organization is based on people-to-people interactions.”

Connecting and communicating online is still people to people and is very much about building community.

Changes the “how you do”, not “what you do”.

Broader reach

Visible connections

Community building opportunities

More opportunities for peer-to-peer communications

More supporters More volunteers More donors =

GivingPages Examples

#2

“Online fundraising isn’t raising enough money.”

4% Proportion of overall online funds to charities in 2004

9% Proportion of overall online funds to charities in 2008

More Donors Online

Online Giving Outpacing Offline Giving

Charitable giving in 2008 - 5%

Online giving in 2008 + 30%

Online Giving Median (U.S.)

$57

$81

$104

2006

2007

2008

An online presence isn’t only about $$$.

It is a source of information for your donors.

Provides a different way to get information to your supporters in a timely way

Are you doing it right?

Successful results are cumulative and they take time and effort.

49% more likely to give than

one who was dissatisfied with the overall experience

A visitor who is satisfied with their experience

with a nonprofit website is

Do you have a Donate Now button?

#3

“It’s a fad.”

Internet Usage by Canadians

Canadian Population About 34.1 Million

Internet Users About 29 Million

85%

Government

Mayor Miller (Toronto) on Twitter

Prime Minister Harper on YouTube

Businesses

Media

CBC Globe and Mail

Prominent Canadians

Nonprofits and Charities

It’s Here to Stay

#4

“Our donors aren’t interested in donating online or using social media.”

Who’s Giving Online?

The most significant

characteristic associated with online giving is

higher education.

Silent Generation

15%

Baby Boomers 52%

Gen X 30%

Millennials 3%

16+ million users in Canada

29.4%

29.2%

18.4%

16.3%

5.2%

Percentage of Users by Age Group

Aged 18-24

Aged 25-34

Aged 35-44

Aged 45-59

Aged 60+

43%

57%

5,500,000 6,000,000 6,500,000 7,000,000 7,500,000

Male

Female

By Gender

11th most visited site in Canada Most active users age range 25-34 With 35-44 year-olds trailing right behind 45+ and <24 are under-represented

Do these people look like your donors?

#5

“Why change what works?”

Because the way we communicate is changing.

Look to the future …

Future donors will be expecting these tools and interactions.

Importance of Adaptability

• Use for different initiatives

• For experiments

• Flexible

Mobilization

• Calls to action reach supporters faster

• React to current events (e.g. Haiti earthquake)

#6

“Online donors are not really engaged.”

People are sharing and chatting more online than offline.

• More than 5 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each week on Facebook.

• There are over 40 million items shared on Twitter.

Engagement isn’t just what happens online, those conversations continue offline.

41% of online donors describe themselves as ‘loyal’ to the causes they support, compared to 26% of offline donors.

59% of online donors would urge others to support the same cause ... compared to 34% of offline donors.

Happy Bystanders

Listen

Spreaders

Share

Donors

Money

Evangelists

Solicit

Instigators

Create

Ladder of Engagement*

Involvement Supporter

*Adapted from Beth Kanter

#7

“It’s too risky. What if people say something negative?”

They’ll talk about you anyway, so start a dialogue with your critics.

Keep your message strong.

#8

“How will we know if we’re successful?”

Define success in the beginning.

Hard Stats

• # of followers or fans

• Amount of comments

• Click-throughs

• Amount donated

Balance quantity with quality.

Soft Facts

• Types of conversations

• Feedback from supporters

• Quality of comments

#9

“It takes too much time and costs too much!”

Online Communication is Fast

• Online tools let you reach supporters more quickly

• More convenient and simple than other ways of communicating

Many Tools Are Free

Time and personnel investment still required.

Not a cure-all; planning and integration is still important.

Can you afford to not be online?

DID YOU KNOW?

Credits Ladder of engagement: adapted from Beth Kanter

Internet Statistics: Internet World Stats

Facebook Statistics: Facebook Ads

Blackbaud Index of National Fundraising Performance, April 2009

ForeSee Results - Nonprofit Website Survey, Spring 2009

Chronicle of Philanthropy, May 2009

DonorTrends, 2005

2006 donorCentrics Internet Giving Benchmarking Analysis

Jakob Lodwick by Zach Klein (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachklein/4263395/)

Pedrosimoes7 - Exchanging life experience (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosimoes7/3717536433/)

Solitaire Miles - Torch and Jazz (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cunisdiabolis/476325171/)

dave_mcmt - CCDHS Classroom, Miles City (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_mcmt/187432802/)

AnyaLogic - coffee talk (http://www.flickr.com/photos/anyalogic/2315310261/)

The first few steps by Wildxplorer (http://www.flickr.com/photos/krayker/3089031277/)

Your Turn

SOCIAL MEDIA PLANNING

October 4, 2010

SOCIAL MEDIA: WHAT’S DIFFERENT?

Traditional Media

Social Media

Traditional Media (Web 1.0 ) vs. Social Media (Web 2.0)

• Traditional media was about publishing.

• Social media is about networks and community.

Many

Few Many

Many

Social media isn’t a strategy

• Social media is a tool for accomplishing your goals

• Start with the question “what are my goals?” NOT “I want to build a social media presence”

Social Media Tools

Digg

• Social news website

• People vote on news articles

Twitter

• Micro blogging service, • 140 character limit

Second Life

• Online virtual world

• Explore using avatar

YouTube

• Video sharing website

• Free to upload and share

Flickr

• Photo sharing website

• Can comment on photos

Facebook

• Social networking website

• Suite of features

Delicious

• Social bookmarking service

• Let’s you find similar websites

WordPress

• Free blogging service

• Expansion features with fee

IS YOUR ORGANIZATION READY?

Is Your Board on Board?

Has senior management and Board members come onside with investing in social media … not because of the hype, but because they understand the stats and the future of communications?

Social Media Policies

Help to:

• Set expectations

• Educate staff and volunteers

• Protect your brand

• Avoid legal liability

• Clarify the reasons you use social media

The Changing Nature of Communications

• Things happen much quicker, easier, faster

• You WANT people to talk about your organization

• There’s only so much control

Capacity Issues

• Do you have the internal skills, expertise and time internally to use social media effectively

• Poll your staff and volunteers: you might have an expert blogger in your midst!

Keep Expectations Realistic

• Success takes time and effort

• Not a magic bullet of new revenue

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING FUNDAMENTALS

Desired Outcomes

• What are your current marketing, fundraising or programming goals?

• What desired outcomes do you wish to achieve?

• Can social media tools be used to accomplish these?

Goals

• Marketing and publicity

• Fundraising, donor engagement and retention

• Connecting with others around your cause

• Building relationship and online community

• Collaboration and collective action

• Sharing expertise on our issues

• Movement building and social change

Examples

• Goal: Attract young professionals as volunteers and grow their engagement in our organization.

– Social media tools are likely to help with this goal

• Goal: Build stronger, personal relationships with our older annual donor base and talk to them about estate planning

– Social media will likely not be helpful

Target Audience

• Who do you want to reach and engage?

• Be as specific as possible:

– Where do they live?

– What do they do?

– How are they currently using social media?

Objectives

Specific

Measurable

Actionable

Realistic

Timed

*Term first used by George T. Doran

Integrate

• With your current marketing & communications plans

• Tie into other online and offline marketing, fundraising and social media initiatives

f t

Sample Plan GOAL: To broaden the base of supporters between the ages of 18-22 to the

organization.

OBJECTIVE: To increase the number of our Facebook fans by 10% by the end of the fiscal year.

STRATEGY: Leverage our connections to the local colleges and universities through our Board Member, Joe Stiles – President, Learning College.

Audience Tool(s) Tactic Message(s) Timeline Resources

College and university students in our town.

1. Facebook Initiate an incentive campaign to solicit “fans”.

We help 1 in 3 people in our town. Help us help more. Tell a friend.

Sept – April SWAG for incentives

SOCIAL MEDIA PLANNING

Types of Social Media Audiences

• Inactives. As suspected, these are the people who aren’t engaged in any of these social technologies.

• Spectators. These are people who read online information, list to podcasts, and watch videos but do not participate.

• Joiners. These are people who have a profile on different social networking sites and visit them with some regularity.

• Collectors. These are people who read lots of information and may vote or tag pages or photos.

• Critics. These are people who post reviews online, comment on blogs, or contribute in other ways to existing content.

• Creators. These are people who publish on the web (blog, website, video, podcasts).

Forrester Research

Become the Audience

Inactive

Spectators

Joiners

Collectors

Critics

Creators

STEP 1: RESEARCH

Be a Spectator

• Research the tools

• Observe, read and watch

• Learn the language, customs and etiquette

• Get ideas about what works and what doesn’t

Join & Use Your Ears

• Set up accounts

• Join groups

• Follow people

• Play in the sandbox

What are people saying about your organization? Organizations like yours?

Homework: Set up a Google Alert OR do a Twitter Search

Learn From Others

• See how other organizations started and see what they have done

• Ask others about their successes and disappointments

Flickr + Facebook

STEP 2: CHOOSE A TOOL

Which One?

• We recommend starting with one tool at a time

• Take a look at your goals, audience and message: what’s the best tool for the job?

What Does What? Tool Uses

Blogs • Blogger • WordPress

• News outlet – the “new” newsletter • Highlighting donors and partners

Media Sharing • YouTube • Flickr

• Enhance visual storytelling

News & Social Bookmarking • digg • delicious

• Sharing online resources • Finding like-minded people and organizations

Social Networking • Facebook • Twitter

• Expanding supporter base • Another channel for calls to action

Still not sure? Try Facebook to start …

A little bit of everything:

• Creation of a webpage on a commonly visited site

• Build a community / “fan” base

• Talk about stuff your organization is doing or involved with

• Post pictures and videos

• Connect from your website to this page

• Ability to test several things at one time

STEP 3: ESTABLISH A PRESENCE

Have a Great Website

• Good usability

• Easy to find information

• Relevant content

• Clear calls to action

Comment

Start participating in the conversations by sharing thoughts, comments, links, further insight, etc.

Collect

Gather information on your cause and begin to develop a base of knowledge from which to speak from.

Participate by tagging and voting.

STEP 4: BUILD CONTENT & TRUST

Be A Story Teller

• Adapt your story to an online platform:

– Keep it simple

– Easy to remember

– Easy to retell

• Adapt your story to your desired audience

A Compelling Fundraising Event Story

Example: Fundraising event

• Blog: interview an attendee and ask others to share their experience in comments

• YouTube: bring your video camera and ask people to tell you why they came

• Facebook: ask everyone who attended to share images/stories

A Compelling Fundraising Story

Example: Capital campaign

• Flickr: show people the direct impact they can have through images

• Twitter: Tweet regular updates on success and how much support is still needed

• Blog: weekly blog post during campaign about the impact of your organization (get various perspectives: Board, community, volunteer etc…)

Tips

• Don’t just write about your latest fundraising campaign

– ask your donors to tell their story

• Don’t just publish a news release about government cutbacks hurting your cause

– give your supporters the tools and platform to take action and share their passion with others

STEP 5: SHARE & ENGAGE

Build a Following

• Become the expert

• Link everything back to your website

• Offer opportunities to do something

• ASK!

Starting Conversations

• Remember: social media is about engaging and building community

• Don’t just talk at your supporters

• Think of the conversations you want to start

Provide Opportunities for Action

ALWAYS

Listen, Learn and Adapt

• Get feedback! Ask:

– What is working, what isn’t?

– What else would you like to see?

• Implement changes and keep trying

Use What You Get

• People’s stories are opportunities for you to talk about the work you do

• Complaints are an opportunity to improve what you’re doing

• Members of a page or a following is a group already interested in you … what else can they do for you?

Monitor & Measure

• Number of visits • Number of unique visitors • Search engine rank • Message inclusion • # of followers/likes • Article/post readership • Click-thrus and view-thrus • Repeat visitors • Duration of stay • Subscribe to feeds (RSS) • Comments/posts ratio • Change in awareness • Change in attitudes

• Association with your brand • Donations • Tell a friends / Referrals • Petition signatures • Surveys filled out • Visits to the organization • Reduced number of calls • Number of event attendees • Volunteers signing up • Downloads

• Get used to the tool and the conversations happening

• Be trustworthy & consistent

• Create distinctive content that fits with your organization’s identity and mission

Build Confidence

Make it Part of Your Day

Make it part of your work routine

– Creating content

– Responding & engaging

Keep the Brand Consistent

• Offline and online branding should be very similar in appearance

• But don’t copy the copy!

Promote to your Network

• Use other outlets to promote a new initiative

• Leverage your following and promote to whoever you can

Setup

Create

Confidence

Integrate

Promote

Assess

On To The Next!

Keep Your Ear To The Ground

• Subscribe to a blog, RSS feed or Google Alert

• Attend training opportunities

• What’s next on the horizon?

Have fun!

• Interact with different people

• Make it personal

• These are fun tools!

Your Turn

ABOUT MYCHARITYCONNECTS

MyCharityConnects.org

What is MyCharityConnects?

CanadaHelps' online resource centre for charities – a website dedicated to connecting charities and nonprofits to the technologies they need to succeed.

What can I find on MyCharityConnects?

• Free online resources for charities

• Information about technology , Web 1.0, Web 2.0 & social media

• Video demonstrations

• Webinars (online seminars)

• 2009 Conference materials

UPCOMING WEBINARS

October 13 – The Networked NonProfit: Using Social Media to Accomplish More With Less

October 27 – How Tweet It Is

November 10 – SEO, SEM and Analytics for NonProfits

November 24 – Everything Old is New Again: Getting Back to Fundraising

Fundamentals

December 8 – Technology - a Source of Frustration or Creativity for Your Organization?

www.mycharityconnects.org