I'm on the hunt for stories about nonprofits and social media for the WeAreMedia project. The story I'm looking for is about how a nonprofit organization considered a social media strategy and decided it wasn't the right fit. Do you know an organization that has that story to tell? Is it your organization?
Please leave a comment and let me know how I can contact you. I'd like to do an interview ....
I don't have a particular story, but I think a situation in which a non-profit should not pursue a social media strategy is if they cannot support it, either through a dedicated volunteer or staff member who can maintain it. Nothing's worse than having a blog and never posting on it. Unless you have someone who can regularly blog, post news, photos, events, etc., don't do it. Stick with your regular web site until you can make it work. People won't come checking back at your blog day after day to see if you've made a post...if they visit one or two times and you haven't got anything new, then you lose them.
That is my opinion.
Posted by: Emily Waugh | August 15, 2008 at 02:53 PM
I totally agree with Emily, and I learned that the hard way. I had what I thought was a great blog and a great blogger. But getting this person to sit down and write was like forcing a child to eat their vegetables. It was so diffcult and became such a chore for me (hunting them down, asking when the next post would be, if they needed any help, etc.) that I finally had to pull the plug on the whole thing.
The other thing I learned? If you're getting someone to write a blog for your organziation, make sure they're a good writer. It seems almost silly to say but it's certainly of utmost importance. It's shocking how many educated people don't know basic grammar and sentence structure.
Posted by: Taylor | August 19, 2008 at 08:21 AM