It is a big step for any organization to make that first dive into social media, but your friends are doing it (and even more so, your competitors are doing it), so how do you begin?
We have compiled a 10 step guide specifically geared towards not-for-profits, but a lot of these could be applied to any standard organization (with a few tweaks). Feedback welcome!
1. Look at what other similar charities are doing
The best way to be on top of social media is to have an eagle eye for the newest ways that people are leveraging it. Check out the Facebook pages and Twitter accounts of a variety of organizations (not only similar causes to your own, but also groups of a comparable size to your own so you can see what they are doing on what is likely a comparable budget to your own). What does it look like their priorities are with their campaigns? If they have a Facebook application, definitely read the reviews that users have posted. A great example of bad PR coming from application reviews is the Chase Community Giving voting application. I realize Chase isn’t a not-for-profit but the campaign is a large-scale charity push that has received many reactions, both positive and negative, on over 1500 reviews.
2. Evaluate charity goals and objectives
At this point, you want to look at your key goals and objectives in a general sense. By clarifying the big picture you put yourself in a better position to leverage social media and reach those goals and objectives faster. Keep these in mind as you move forward… at least 1 goal or objective should be directly supported by the campaign that you’re planning.
3. Decide which current areas of focus need the most aid
Now you get a bit more specific. Zero in on some of the goals and objectives that came out of step 2. If you could educate the public, what would you address specifically? What do most people not realize about your cause until you bring it up and explain it?
4. Plan to utilize current campaigns or promotions being run through other mediums
Social media is great for supporting campaigns and promotions that you’re already running, such as donation drives or upcoming fundraisers. Why not expose people who will be attracted to your social media campaign to the other great things you’re doing? Tying current campaigns and promotions into your social media campaign will help with their exposure as well as help you provide a more well-rounded image of the cause you’re trying to raise awareness for. You don’t always need to create all-new operations specifically for social mediums; instead, you can tailor your promotions and campaigns that are already rolling to be more “social media friendly.”
5. Have an informal brainstorm with your staff
Now that you’ve laid the foundation, it’s time to bring in more minds. Discuss what you’ve already found with your staff and get their opinions… you’ll see that staff members of all generations will provide unique angles to the conversation. Keep the lines of communication open after the session as well; the ideas will keep rolling in as the staff gets up to speed.
6. Ask your key donors how they would benefit from social mediums
Key donors are obviously important to any NPO, so it’s important to keep them in the loop. Lay out for them your basic plan, including your goals and the potential benefits for the cause that you see coming out of the effort. Like your staff, they will provide angles you hadn’t previously explored, and you should tweak the campaign to reflect their unique input.
7. Send out questionnaires/polls with donor cards
After speaking to your key donors, why not open up the forum to your normal donors? You might be surprised both by how many people will answer these, and the quality of their responses. If someone is donating to your cause they are more likely to take an interest in what you’re doing, and the variety of input you can get from a more widespread group is of high value.
8. Consult with an agency, discuss findings and build a proposed strategy
Using everything you’ve collected, a professional agency specializing in social media will help you cut through the noise and emphasize the things that will really resonate with a social media audience and therefore engage them. The agency should provide a series of projects meant to work together, which you should take back to your team for further dissection.
9. Internal/more formal brainstorm to build upon ideas and strategy
Now it’s time to take what you learned from the agency and decide with your core group what fits into your budget and scope. If your budget is tight, start with what’s most necessary to the success of the campaign and add later. Your agency should help you prioritize projects in the case of a smaller budget, but there is a limit. You don’t want to flat-out under budget because at that point you are setting up to cut corners and likely leave your users with something still to be desired. Social media campaigns still cost significantly less than comparable traditional marketing methods and are exponentially more effective in the long run.
10. Set up focus groups to run through campaign scenarios and fine tune ideas
This last step is a bit more in-depth than the donor card questionnaires, you are now down to the very fine details of the campaign (including making sure you haven’t omitted or forgotten anything). At this point, any issues that would cause major concern should have already addressed at this point.
