Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Social Networking and Non-Profits

At this year’s Annual Conference on National and Community Service held in June in Atlanta Georgia, I attended a number of excellent workshops on online marketing and the use of social networking to improve non-profit outreach efforts. While I believe it is in our best interest to tap into the multitude of on-line options to expand our non-profit outreach I also recognize that for our program staff and fellow agencies unfamiliar with these online tools this can be an overwhelming process to wade through. Often the question arises “Why would I care about this?” Here are a few thoughts:
Two Reasons to Care about Social Networking:
  • The internet is a way of life for Americans of all ages. According to a recent New York Times Article, “despite more distractions than ever, we’re finding even more time to plant ourselves in front of screens”. In May, the average American spent 26 hours on the Internet and Two-thirds of Internet users, 119 million people, watched on-line video. In any given month nearly 162 million use the Internet. According to a study by Pew Internet & American Life Project, over 70 percent of Americans aged 50 to 64 use the web.
  • Outreach to a broader range of people in less time. Social networking sites provide platforms to broadcast a cause or agency need quickly, and reach well beyond your email list. They also allow you to reach out to audiences that haven't traditionally been involved with your organization - like younger people, and people who are new to the area.
Get Started with Social Networking:
  • Start a blog or comment on blogs- Blogs provide easy ways to post your agency needs, share event photos, and upload video with the push of a button. All of our local news media sources have blogs and with a vast cross section of readership you can reach multiple markets in our community by choosing a few blogs to regularly comment on. In doing so you reach all of the clientele visiting their site. If you are keeping up with on-line local news take the extra five minutes in your day to share a comment and post a link to your website.
  • Join us on Facebook and Myspace. – Two sites we use are Facebook and Myspace to outreach to our younger volunteers. Since setting up our Myspace account we have received over 200 additional visitors a month to our 1-800 volunteer database referred through Myspace. Social networking websites are being used regularly by millions of people, 67% of those age 18-29, 21% of those 30-39, and 6% of those 40+ . A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Visit our pages to see an example of how to get started.
To learn more about social networking watch this short video" Social Networking in Plain English" by Common Craft: