Today, I am moderating a panel at SXSW about Social Media Nonprofit ROI in the format of a poetry slam. The panel will be in room 18BCD at 5: 00 PM. The description:
This post includes all the links and additional ROI resources that will be mentioned or discussed during the session. I'm writing this post for the benefit of our "Twitter Backchannel Moderators" who will be live tweeting the panel and posting these URLs to Twitter. To follow the Twitter stream or ask questions or make comments, use the #ROI hashtag.
Who knew that there were poets on Twitter? One of them @peoppenheimer was kind enough to critic and help my own poem's meter and rhyme! Thanks!
Session Content
1. Introduction by Beth Kanter
Poem
Welcome! At the SXSW Nonprofit Poetry Slam
Four brave panelists will cram
Their ROI stories into five minutes time
And present their Powerpoint slides in rhyme
Expert judges will listen and let it rip
and share many a metrics and measurement tip
Our expert judges will impress
sharing their wisdom in five minutes or less
Dear audience you will also have a turn
Don't just sit back and passively learn
Ask questions, make comments, share your expertise
Use this twitter hashtag as your mouthpiece
Should you want to stand up in Q/A and recite
a Social Media Nonprofit ROI poem, we'll hand you the mic
So, listen geeks and you will hear
How these four nonprofits persevere
to apply David Armano's listen, learn, and adapt
KD Paine's measure, calculate, and map
to their twitter, blog, youtube, or facebook app
Best of all, their managers don't think social media's crap
They made their directors understand
How social media improves their brand
extends their programs and services too
They will share this in poetic form like haiku
or limericks, rap or spoken word
giving you insights you never heard
So now you know the format of the panel
and how to participate in the backchannel
It's time to introduce our judges, moderators, and presenters
For the next hour, they be our mentors
Our backchannel moderators will scan and flag
any questions or comments that use the hashtag
they'll toss urls into the twitter stream
so extra meaning the audience can glean
Moderators in the front row
please stand up and wave hello
Our judges are experts in what they do
Now, I'm going to introduce them to you
First we have the queen of measurement, KD Paine
Who knows more about the topic than anyone can claim
All hail to the measurement queen
Put her blog url in the twitter stream
Our next judge is Holly Ross
She's the nonprofit technology boss
Oh my god, take a look
She just published this new book
Geoff Livingston is judge number three
He is an expert in social media strategy
And now I'll introduce our presenters one by one
First up is Danielle Brigida, NWF's Social Media Maven
She will tell her story spoofing Poe's, The Raven
Carie Lewis from the Humane Society is next up
Her poem is about a photo contest featuring cute pups
Our third presenter is Wendy Harman, from the American Red Cross
Inspired by Dr. Seuss she gets her points across
David Neff who speaks to the beat of a drum
shares how social media leads to some income
And, now it's time to get started with our great fun
Let's hear poem number one
2. The Return by Danielle Brigida, NWF
NWF Description of Case Study
While strategy plays an important role within the National Wildlife
Federation, initially it was very hard to determine one for our social
media presences. Social media brought instant returns but many of them
fell within categories that aren't quantifiable. However, what we
discovered was that social media (once internally accepted and
acknowledged) could truly compliment and improve engagement with our
programs. The example I talk about in the poem covers the initial use
of NWF's twitter accounts and then continues to how we actually
starting using it to improve and grow one of our programs- "wildlife
watch". http://www.nwf.org/
Not only that, but it shows how we took our return from this experiment and placed it within the programs website to show more dynamic content and interaction possibilities.
NWF's Twitter presence has grown because while I want NWF to
still serve as the roll-up account for all of the programs, I wanted to
give a chance to some of the program managers to create friendships
with Twitter users from their specific audience. http://www.twitter.com/
Poem: The Return by Danielle Brigida, NWF
Once upon a non-profit theory, measurement was weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious meetings with little to account for,
While I nodded, nearly napping, an idea for a strategy came a tapping,
What if measurement could include social interactions and what they stand for?
I shall investigate - I muttered - to know what ROI could account for
Instantly I knew, this was something I must explore
Ah, distinctly I remember, I wanted the opinion of a member,
Because it is each separate inspiring member, That I do wildlife justice for
So I tweeted, questions and links, to see what each member thinks
But from my stats surcease of sorrow, I realized - some things you can’t keep score
Aside from rare and radiant traffic spikes, there was nothing traditional to record
I thought this it is, and nothing more.
It was our executive VP who had unfounded belief in me,
Thrilled me filled me with fantastic insight I’d never known before;
So that now, to still the ADD of my moving mind, she stood repeating
"Remember at NWF it's revenue, reach and engagement that we push for
Keep this is mind for what you measure - for this is all I will implore
Only this and nothing more.
Suddenly, my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
You sure? said I, for Madam, truly it's a return hard to account for
But the fact was I kept tracking, never loafing, never slacking
And so slightly traffic came tapping, tapping on my website door,
I used listening to confirm I saw it - then I recorded to be sure
Not just linkbacks here but something more.
Deep into the analytics peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing
Listening, and dreaming dreams no marketer ever dared to dream before
Instead of traditional ROI abounding, I saw something even more astounding
And the only thing I could think was How can I measure engagement more?
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word "explore"
Merely this and nothing more.
Back into my cubicle turning, all the questions within me burning,
Soon again I started tweeting more strategically than before.
'Surely,' said I, 'surely there's a chance for program assistance;
Let me see then, a potential instance, and this mystery explore -
Let my mind be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
'Tis a test and nothing more!'
Wildlife watch - an idea release, it holds the key engagement piece,
For people who spot all from crickets to geese, can use twitter to tweet
With NWF as the hash tag; Wildlife sightings perhaps would not lag; (for all to brag?)
Updates made by phones to twitter, are searched more easily than before -
Searched using Twitter Search with no URL to look for -
Perhaps with this we will engage more.
With the wildlife we're compiling, We could keep the scientists smiling,
And lose the grave and stern decorum that was our storytelling before,
'Though tweets are short and fitted,' I said, we'll increase the total submitted
Ghastly grim and empty forums we'll be faced with nevermore!
Tell me what thy wildlife name is on the twitter feed-but be sure!
Share the findings, 'forever more.'
Then, methought, the air grew denser, social media had no censor
There were still those unbelieving, even worse were those misperceiving
That Twitter was the answer to all their programs' problems evermore.
`At last,' they cried, `thy God hath lent thee -- social media -- the angel -- sent thee
Traffic, comments, tweets and other means of engagement to record.
Yet it is important to remember, that goals determine the ROI accounted for
Forget this, `Nevermore.'
So there I was, sitting lonely needing support, but thinking only,
For Social media change we needed to move past communication days of yore
A little birdy told the web team "We should use a twitter stream"
And the idea, instead of dying was kept alive and continued flying
Till I found myself crying `Wow this is much easier than before -
With Twitter, Facebook, Digg and Stumbleupon gone are the days forgotten lore.
Doubting social media, `Nevermore.'
Though I feel the time spent disputing could be better spent recruiting
On the social sites that are intuitively fantastic for good rapport
It is my job to continue thinking how to keep goals and return from sinking
But trying to pinpoint every intangible value is simply uncalled for
Though I love data, traditional numbers are so far from social media at it's core
It's the relationships I adore
As for complete measurement, we're still waiting, we're still waiting
And anxiously anticipating metrics that assign value even more;
And my hopes have all the seeming of a marketer still dreaming,
That my efforts not in vain, will yield intangibles and metrics all the same
And that all the hours invested carefully will open future media doors
This I hope and so much more.
Links
Wildlife Watch: http://www.nwf.org/wildlifewatch/
Wildlife Watch Twitter:http://www.nwf.org/wildlifewatch/Twitter.aspx
My twitter feed: http://www.twitter.com/starfocus
NWF's Twitter feed: http://www.twitter.com/nwf
NWF's Staff on Twitter: http://blogs.nwf.org/arctic_promise/2009/01/nwfs-staff-on-twitter.html
Hashtags: http://www.hashtags.org "search #nwf"
3. Carie Lewis, Humane Society of the US
Carie's poem is about the Humane Society's experiments with photo contests and how to use metrics to improve your social media strategy.
How Do You Measure Success: Dollars or Doggie Treats?
Spay Day Photo Contest Page
LOL Seals
4. Wendy Harman, Red Cross
Wendy will share a story about how they used metrics to refine their social media strategy for their Online Disaster News Room
Presentation Key Points
-
set goals:
- decrease number of incoming media calls
- increase transparency about disaster response
- disclose “process” of responding to disasters
- offer real-time valuable information for people affected and their families
- offer reliable situational awareness
-
set audience
- media: local and national
- affected people
- affected people’s families and friends in other areas
- general disaster-interested public
-
picked tools
- wordpress bc of ease of publishing. Can teach field to use. Has rss capability. Has tagging and category capability so media can subscribe to only what they’re interested in receiving.
- Flickr bc have established presence there and can cross post for bigger influence. Everyone likes photos.
- Utterli bc often our volunteers only have a phone and no computer or internet access. Utterli lets them use phone to tell us stories about their process.
-
launched pilot program in 2007 to see if it worked
- looked at site views and hits. Yes we did
- looked at incoming links and rate of growth. Analyzed which types of content generated most activity
- asked media partners if it was useful and what we should add or take away. We made adjustments
- asked our chapters if it was valuable to them in telling their story and getting info out, made adjustments based on their feedback
-
analyzed overall progress against original goals
- saw increased press for each disaster based on newsroom
- saw exponentially increased hits and links for each disaster
- saw increased field engagement
- saw that we were recreating the wheel each time and needed to adjust to one URL
- saw decrease in time spent handling media calls (and those that did keep coming could be easily solved with a “have you checked our disaster online newsroom?”
- saw increase in understanding the process of responding to a massive disaster, which means fewer negative stories about how we’re not there quick enough or not handing out enough money.
- Collected hundreds of “thanks” from people affected via Twitter and regular channels saying the info we provided on newsroom helped them navigate their situation better.
- Gained lots of social media fans. Can invite them to engage with us on our other platforms and by subscribing to our email program.
-
Looking forward
- Trained 100 disaster response volunteers in submitting their info, improving content
- Brought in experts like Andy Carvin to advise us
- Brought in experts from mainstream media to advise us
- Moved to single URL
-
Goals 2.0
- Move disaster online newsroom to prominent redcross.org position
- Change design to mimic look and feel of official site
- Move from huge disasters only to documenting daily disasters such as home fires
-
Teach
chapters to document their own disasters on their own newsrooms so we
can aggregate a national picture of data of how much the org does in a
day when you won’t hear a word about it. Goal to lead to increased
sustained donations rather than episodic giving, increased
understanding.
Wendy's Poem is a spoof on Dr. Seuss's One Fish, Two Fish.
INTRO
One ROI, two ROI, red ROI, blue ROI
Black ROI green ROI, old ROI, new ROI
This project might take its toll, but then again it might
have soul…
Say …. It’s hard to prove social media’s
role.
Yes!
Some goals are talking and some are listening.
Some are energizing and some are embracing.
Sometimes you have numbers and sometimes you fudge.
Why?
I do not know, go ask the judges!
SET GOALS
We hoped to show the underbelly
Of what it’s like to respond to disasters smelly
So everyone can understand
The stuff that comes as a surprise and the stuff
that’s planned.
We wanted less calls and to show our vols
Because the vols are juggling lots of disaster balls.
We wanted to share what we’re doing much quicker
And as a kicker to have a spot for aggregated info.
It’s slicker.
WHY USE SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS
From there to here and here to there,
The Red Cross wanted one place to update response info from
everywhere.
Social media tools made it easy
To do just this when the wind gets breezy.
DEFINE THE AUDIENCE
We thought media would like to see. And people affected and
their families.
Oh me oh my. What a lot of audiences came by.
Some have influence, some need sustenance, some are curious
and some need assurance.
Where do they come from? I can’t say but I bet
they’ve come a long long way.
We see them come and see them go. Some are fast and some are
slow.
Some are high and some are low. Not one of them is like
another.
Don’t ask me why. Go ask your brother.
DEFINE the METRICS
Say, let’s define our metrics. 1, 2, 3. Where do we want our newsroom to be?
1, 2, 3, 4 ….. 5, 6, 7, ……. 8, 9, 10,
Our benchmarks are 11.
11? Social media is something new. Hits and page views just won’t do.
Try, try, try. Did you ever try before you buy?
We tried a guide with just one disaster at a time.
We looked at growing views and hits, from one to the next.
We looked at incoming links and popular subjects.
We asked media partners about their use and what we should add or take away.
We changed to suit them along the way.
We asked social media experts what we could do better
And we altered how we arranged our letters.
We asked our chapters if it helped them get info out
They say the newsroom increased their clout and helped them understand what social media is all about.
CHOOSE the TOOLS
What are my tools? We chose the following jewels
Wordpress is the main platform and fuel.
Flickr helps us to show the story. We cross post from our presence there and illustrate our response in all its glory.
Utterli is for the ears. Makes it easy for you to hear real time updates from our volunteers.
We’d be nowhere without the volunteers. They’re full of info, blood, sweat, and tears.
ANALYZE PROGRESS
Where to go from here? We look at what we’ve accomplished and cheer.
We analyze what went right and whether we fulfilled our original goals almost or quite.
We like our newsroom and this is why. It does all the work when the piles get high.
Hello there success, how do you do?
Tell me, tell, me, what is new?
Well, we got thousands of mentions by press
And many hundreds linked to us I must confess.
Our own chapters learned the newsroom address
We asked everyone is this valuable and useful?
Their answer was yes! Yes! Yes!
It isn’t perfect. We have room to grow.
By watching the pilot program flow.
We moved from multiple to a single URL
So we can begin to document not just big disasters but also small.
We had enough positive feedback from our tryout
That we’ve decided to go all out.
We’ve trained volunteers by the hundreds
So we’re increasing the quality of the content from our embeds.
CONCLUSION
So we tried a little experiment
To see if we had an accident or accomplishment
We collected qualitative and quantitative evidences
Evaluated them against our expected consequences.
We found our challenges and successes
We continue to change and grow and press
All the while measuring and analyzing and treasuring.
1 ROI, 2 ROI Red ROI Blue ROI
Full of actual numbers and intangibles
Now I look forward to your reply.
Disaster Online Newsroom
http://newsroom.redcross.org
Blog
http://blog.redcross.org
Twitter
http://twitter.com/redcross
Facebook Page
http://www.facebook.com/redcross
Flickr Group
http://www.flickr.com/groups/americanredcross/
YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/AmRedCross
5. David Neff, American Cancer Society
David will be perform a spoken word and video poem about using Twitter to recruit blood donors and the Austin Twestival.
Poem
When I am in a cinematography state of mind,
my words can open the eyes of the blind
Im going to use verbs that ya'll might never have heard but don't be scared
let my words flow over you like a wave. Social Media is not old Media
foot in the grave.
It's just another channel, another avenue, another street.
Social Media helps your campaign bounce to a different beat
Makes your campaign quite l33t
You see Communities Listen, Communities respond, To them
your word is bond.
Austin is no different. Motivated volunteers have an event. Doesn't
cost your non profit a mint. Twitter crowd rolls through. Donating
and bringing there whole crew.
Social Media for Social Good
Communities Listen, Communities Respond. To them your volunteer
word is bond.
DJ BETH DO YOUR THING <VIDEO ROLLS>
Now Communities Listen, Communities Respond. To them your non profit
word is bond
DJ BETH DO YOUR THING <VIDEO ROLLS>
Social Media for Social Good
This is the last big mistake your non profit could make
if you don't try you won't succeed. Between the Social
Media lines you must read.
I'm about to bail. I don't have time for the fail whale.
My time is already a mess. I hope I have explained this
all in 140 characters or less.
Links
http://austin.socialmediaclub.
http://www.wearemedia.org/
http://austin.socialmediaclub.
http://www.fispace.org/2009/
If you were in the room or not, and have some great examples or resources about nonprofit social media and roi - drop them in the comments!
BETH! Wow amazing post and thanks for publishing all the poems. You did really great work on ogranizing us and then summing it all up. I'm down for any panel you need me on in the future.
Posted by: David J. Neff | March 18, 2009 at 12:37 PM