Four Lessons Learned: Social Media and Nonprofits Meme

In the past two weeks, I have been mulling around what type of New Year's post to write.  Should I do best of, predictions, resolutions, or something else.   I'm not as creative as Chris Brogan who wrote about 2008 needs or CogDog Blog's Top Zero List.  The day after Christmas, I stumbled upon Chris Penn's list of reflection tips and it gave some ideas.

During the holidays, one tradition in this house is to try to get things organized.  So, I've spent the last couple of days in the home office and throughout out house - organizing, prioritizing, and deciding what items should be given away to charity or free cycled.  Putting things back in their or cleaning or clearing. My desk, pictured above, has never been this clear and uncluttered.

It made me think about the question, "What if I could start all my social media and nonprofits work over from scratch?  What would I do differently?  What lessons have I learned that will stick with me for 2008?"

Here are my lessons:

1.   Don't Join New Social Networks Without Thinking.   This is especially important if you got an email invitation from a friend.  If I learned anything from the Shelfari and the Spock, it is to use your critical thinking skills before joining a social network that a trusted friend has invited you to join.   Ask your friend why they invited you.  Refrain from joining as a knee jerk response until you know that your friend has really checked out the service and has not been duped.  (Thanks Nancy White)

2. Size doesn't matter:   It isn't how many people are in your network, it is how you well you know them and your relationship.  It isn't about quantity or friend collecting.  It isn't about broadcasting your message or lecturing.  Grow your network slowly and get to know your friends and be helpful.  And, if you find yourself in the position I was in - with lots of people requesting to be friends, find out why first.  Don't just accept them. Seek out tools that will help you manage your relationships efficiently, not gather or collect more friends.    Connie Benson's advice on networking will continue to stick with me.

3.  Deep engagement in one community is better than being spread too thin across many communities.  I can't be on every social network.   Yes, I check many out because I might be writing about it or interviewing some nonprofit who has done something interesting.  But, through trial and error I've found the communities that really are important to my goals and where "my people are."   I hope to find ways to efficiently and effectively engage.  Beth Dunn has some great reflections on how to do this and why it is important.  (Thanks Beth)

4.  Translation skills are really, really, really important.   Beth Dunn and I got into a conversation about this right before the holiday.  The social media mavens move fast -- and if you follow them - you learn a lot.  I can't begin to say how much I've learned from reading people like Chris Brogan or Jeremiah Owyang.  Or following the twitter streams and blogs posts of people like Pistachio and Connie Reece.   But the social media crowd moves faster than the speed of light and nonprofits move a little slower.  So, we often find ourselves in the role of translator and often seeking small interventions that really matter.  The better you can keep one foot running fast with the social media conversation and the other in the real world of the nonprofit work place, the more effective you'll be as a translator. 

I'm going to tag a few folks to share their lessons learned about social media and nonprofits and tag others.

Marnie Webb
Holly Ross
Katya Andresen
Ian Wilker
Nancy Schwartz
Deborah Finn
Alan Benamer
Tactical Philanthropy Blog
Sue Waters
Laura Whitehead
Nick Booth
Lux Mean
Britt Bravo
Rich Reader

What are your four lessons learned about nonprofits and social media? 

Comments

[Connie Reece]

Great post, Beth. And it's not just nonprofits that don't move fast - it's most businesses. Those of us who work in social media HAVE to recognize this and work with it. We can't slap social media Band-aids on a communications effort and expect it to work. Each client has different needs and a different culture. Our job is to work within those parameters and suggest solutions that help them successfully integrate social networking into their organization. Theory is one thing -- putting those theories into practice takes a different skill set. And one of those skills is patience. :)

[Chris Brogan...]

Curse Spock and Quetchup, and also, thank you Spock and Quetchup. It's returned us to thinking about such tools. Im' looking forward to the meme going forward.

[Jeane Goforth]

I disagree about building the network slowly and that size doesn't matter. The book 'Nexus' by Mark Buchanan explains that the most important connections in a 'small world' network are the weak ones because they tie together groups that otherwise would not be connected. In trying to get our community music school off the ground, we've been 'friending' everyone we can, focusing on locals but not rejecting anyone. As a result, we have found some amazing people who we otherwise would not have: someone whose doctoral thesis relates and thus wants to get involved, someone at a local radio station, a craft collective that wants to do some 'cause-related marketing'.
And the numbers give us weight with local politicians as well. In a moment we can send a message to our group on Facebook or a bulletin to our friends on MySpace and contact thousands. Powerful.

[Nils Geylen]

Even if you don't spread yourself too thinly, sometimes services disappoint. 8apps is shutting down, for instance. But it's sound advice nonetheless.

[Katya]

Thanks for starting this meme, it really made me reflect. That's a good start to the New Year!

[Peter Gulka]

If I could start over

1) I would have picked a specific goal for my community (www.blackbus.org) to achieve in 2007 and focused on how that goal could be achieved.

2) In addition to a yearly fgoal I would have picked the 2008 goal in July or August so that when the 2007 goal was completed I could jump onto the next one.

Going forward:

1) Keep it simple - my community can;t be all things to all people, and it cannot compete with the "official" forums Blackbuad provides. It has to fill a need that is not being filled and I need to spend more time finding out what that need is.

2) more calls to action - to really engage my people I need to increase their sense of ownership in the community.

3) Help others - yes my group has a specific purpose, but everyone without exception is involved with non-profits and social change. I want to leverage that mentality into focused efforts for one or two specific organizations over the year. That may be direct financial donations, or donated help to get their data system running ata level it doesn't now.

[Leyla Farah]

Has anyone else seen today's NPT newsletter announcing that social networking for nonprofits is already dead?

There's so much short-sightedness surrounding this topic that it just breaks my heart. The benefits of a comprehensive web presence (that includes a great main site, as well as extensions into social networks) can't be overstated. As existing donor bases age out, organizations have to find ways to communicate with younger, and more widely distributed, audiences.

How can we address the perception that this is all a "silly Web 2.0 trend"? It's irresponsible, and does so much more harm than good!

-------
Leyla Farah
Cause+Effect - Public Relations with a Purpose