Technology for Community

DevelopmentJulianna Shults and Tonei Glavinic

Introductions and Questions

• What social media and online presence do you currently have set-up? What do you actually use?

• What do you feel you are doing right when it comes to technology use?

• What do you wish you could do better with technology?

Getting Started

• Know Your Audience and Your Purpose• Who are you hoping to connect with? Students? Pet lovers? History

lovers?

• What do you want the communication to do?

• Create community?

• Inform?

• Allow interaction with staff?

• When you have solid answer to these questions you can move forward with choosing a medium. Do not just use a medium because everyone else does!

• Social media does not replace your website and other communications.

Websites

• Often a person’s first point of contact for information about your organization – make it count!

• Take advantage of free/inexpensive services with attractive built-in themes (Wordpress.com is a good place to start)• If you have the capacity and technical expertise, a custom Wordpress setup or other

content management systems like Drupal can offer more flexibility

• Think hard about how much time you want to spend on upkeep – you need to commit to a basic level of creation and maintenance over the long haul.

• Consistency is key- maintain the same design, formatting, and tone throughout.

E-Newsletters and Email Communication

• Effective Mass Emails…• Have an interesting subject line

• Are short and to the point

• Contain links to further connections

• Are only sent when there is important information

• Come from the same official email (eg info@nonprofit.org not joe@yahoo.com)

• Are consistent in design with other web materials

• Must always include a link to unsubscribe

• Easily managed with online services like MailChimp, Constant Contact, VerticalResponse

  Types of Posting Positive Connections Potential Drawbacks

FacebookStatus Updates, Photos,

Videos, Events, etc.

Millions of potential viewers of all kinds,

connections to other non-profits, versatile,

plat form to promote other media

Short lifespan to posts (less than 5 hours),

lots of social media noise makes it difficult

to connect, many young people are less

active than before

Twitter140 Character messages,

links to photos and video

Users are very active, quick and easy to

update, plat form to promote other media

Short lifespan to posts (less than 3 hours),

smaller, typically older user base

Blog/TumblrLonger written pieces,

photos

Allows for community building in

comments, able to create longer, more in

depth communications

Time consuming, must commit to

maintaining comment section

Instagram/

FlickrPhotos with short captions

Connects visually with those who are less

likely to read long pieces

Instagrams have a short lifespan, and Flickr

photos may be hard to locate

YouTube Videos

Allows for community building in

comments, creates a visual connection to

your work

Videos require equipment and software,

must commit to maintaining comment

section

Social Media Platforms

Social Media Tips

• Some simple things can help you tremendously• Use the exact same user name for every social media platform and

connect them to each other.

• Create a square version of your logo and add it as your profile picture on each site.

• Have a way to track your metrics and check them frequently. This will help you focus your work when it has the most impact.

• If you cannot post regularly, use tools to let you schedule posts so that new material gets posted frequently. (e.g. Hootsuite, Buffer)

Growing Your Audience

• Start with your existing connections• Links on your website and newsletter, have staff and close supporters

like and share your page

• Connect and share content from other non-profits

• If you are on Facebook, some well targeted ads can be helpful

• Pictures and video are always draws; choose stories that connect to people personally

• Don’t be afraid to have fun

Find Your Voice

• Ideally, social media is written by one or two people within your organization who are empowered to share information about what is going on.

• Your voice must be unique and something which shows your personality. There are many ways to do this well, but it often takes time.

• Tap into your experiences, perspectives, passions, and share it in a way that brings through more conversation with others.

Build Your Community

• In order for social media to work effectively, you must have interactive conversations with people and build up a group around you who listen to your message.

• We are creating healthy relationships with and between people. This means being clear about how people can talk to each other using your medium. It I a garden you have to tend.

• You must walk the fine line between allowing helpful discussion and deleting or blocking people who cause problems.

• Living room policy

Online Campaigns

• Have a clear focus and goal.• Annual giving campaign, important bill up for vote, etc. must be achievable and

meaningful.

• Grab their Attention• Stand out from the constant din of information with something surprising, visual,

visceral that grabs new people and those in your community.

• Engage the Community• Create a conversation back and forth as people engage in what you want them to

achieve. Get people fired up to work through stories and conversation.

• Empower and Enable Action• Give them action items and equip them to do it. Giving them an interactive tool

box in order to let them make it their own.

Example: Project For Awesome

• Goal: To raise money and awareness for non-profits for 24 hours using YouTube

• Attention Grabber: Take over YouTube for something positive

• Engage Community: People who watch YouTube care about important issues and we have a way to bring some light to those issues, all money is directed by community vote, creation of their own videos with important stories

• Enable Action: Make a video, comment on a video, follow the livestream, Indiegogo purchases, and voting

Social Media Pitfalls

• There are lots and lots of ways of using social media well, but there are a few things that will take your effort down.• Do not be overly rigid and structured. You want to be seen as a

person, not as a automation.

• Do not recreate the wheel. Follow and watch people who have been using social media well for a long time.

• Don’t be afraid to try. Those who use any medium the longest tend to use it best. Commit to working through the learning curve.

Evaluation

• Facebook “Insights” provide detailed information on reach & demographics

• Twitter ReTweets and Favorites can help you measure impact

• Google Analytics for your website/blog can tell you how many people are visiting, and how many are going there from social networks

• Keep track of growth on other metrics, e.g. newsletter signups, donations

Adapted from Social Media for Social Good: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media Marketing Tools to Accomplish Their Missions by Julia Campbell, http://www.slideshare.net/juliagulia77

Other Technology Opportunities

• Cloud storage and file sharing: Dropbox, Box, SkyDrive, Google Drive

• Collaboration and productivity: Google Apps, Microsoft Office 365

• Constituent Management and Fundraising: CiviCRM, Salsa Labs

• Crowdfunding: Kickstarter, Indiegogo, StartSomeGood

• Bookkeeping: Wave Apps, Quickbooks Online

What to look for next?

• No one really knows! • Ask good questions and stay engaged with your audience.

• What we do know is that mobile use of social media is exploding and apps are allowing new and innovative ways for technology to be used for social change.

• What do you see around the corner?

• Questions?