Ken Goldstein on why web2.o is important for small nonprofits

There was an excellent over of web2.0 for nonprofits from a global perspective over at Rising Voices. The article connected or reconnected me with a post by Ken Goldstein.  I've been following Nonprofit consultant Ken Goldstein's YouTube Channel for some time now. He has an impressive following - over 2500 subscribers.   I love his sense of humor, but he's also an extraordinary online community builder. I  hope he'll share some nitty gritty tips on how to build a community in YouTube in future blog posts or on his YouTube channel.

A recent blog post,  Why Web2.0 is Important for Small Nonprofits shares some important learnings about how and why a social media presence can be valuable to a small nonprofit.    There is good thought provoking question in the comments from Jonathan Trenn.

I completely agree with you but I have one word of caution. How do you prevent certain stakeholders from seeing all this newfangled stuff...the videos, the blogging, etc. and not think that they're spending too much money on all this stuff. In other words, how does an organization get buy-in from key people it needs? Prior to establishing these strategies?

Ken gives offers a good response in the comments.  What do you think?

Read what Audrey and Beth Dunn wrote.

 

Comments

[Aurelius Tjin]

Web 2.0 is really the most pressing trend in internet marketing today.

This is obviously one great post. The information are very insightful and helpful. Thanks for sharing all of these.

[Casey]

The key to getting buy-in is showing your executive board the potential benefits, starting with young eyeballs. One of the struggles many non-profits face is an aging donor base, and social media is a great way to engage a younger demographic. There are a lot of articles out there from ComScore, Compete, and the Center for Media Research on the estimated numbers of people involved with these new fangled web 2.0 initiatives.

In addition, these social media efforts can be very low budget. Facebook and MySpace are free for non-profits. Videos can be posted on YouTube for free, and can be informal productions. They do require people time, which can be an expensive resource in staff-strapped non-profits. However, this kind of thing is perfect project for an intern or two. The key is updating the content frequently, and making sure it has information relevant to your audience.

Once you have a fan base, you'll have the actual numbers (not just projections) to bring back to the board, and use for further investment in these types of technology.

We use blogging, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, and Yelp at the non-profit I co-direct. I would say we've had the most engagement at our blog (both among executive board members and with our base) and on Yelp.

Good luck!

[echoDonations]

Beth,

Jason Dick writes for a blog called A Small Change (www.asmallchange.net),and recently conducted a small survey of several online fundraising organizations regarding the future of online fundraising. He is posting a series of questions and answers throughout this week, and I thought you might be interested.

Also, as part of a team working to attract younger donors, I agree very much with Casey in that social media is a great way to engage a younger demographic. In addition - in most cases there is little cost involved. However, the time commitment can be overwhelming.

~Michelle

[Gavin Heaton]

Excellent post, Beth ... and thanks for those other links. I will follow through and read them.

The stakeholder issues/barriers are the same in almost every organisation. Most small companies have the same perception -- and are used to the high cost structures associated with broadcast video/website development. The best approach is to measure cost and results -- and to start with a small project. Do something small, but invest in the upfront planning and strategy. Get your messaging right. And then measure the results -- track the responses, the plays, visitation etc. Tweak your work based on feedback and then report on the outcomes.

As Casey says, this information can be used to build your business case to present to the board.