The Power of Social Networks for Nonprofits
The little boy jumped up and down with excitement.
“Thank you! I’ve never had a juice box before. Are they good?”
It’s one of my earliest memories of volunteering. I was in fifth grade passing out peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and juice boxes at a local food bank. The boy was about my age and his excitement over something so small – a juice box – opened my eyes. He showed me just how blessed I was (I got juice boxes in my school lunch everyday) and made me want to help those who weren’t as lucky.
Flash forward about ten years. Here I am working at an inbound marketing and PR firm where everyday I’m amazed at the Internet’s capabilities, the opportunities it provides and the potential technology has to change the world. I’m reminded of the juice box and I wonder… how can we use today’s technology to help those in need?
The answer lies in exercising social networks for good. Because social networks connect people and make information sharing easier, they are the ideal place for individuals and nonprofit organizations to gather support for their causes. With a little bit of creativity and a whole lot of passion, anyone can make a difference. Here are some suggestions for doing so:
Leverage existing online relationships.
Organize offline meetings with people you’ve connected with online. For example, tweet-ups are offline meetings organized via Twitter that enable people to transform online relationships into face-to-face networking. In February 2009, charity: water played into this existing social networking trend by encouraging Twitter users to host local tweet-up style fundraisers called Twestivals. More than 200 cities participated and with the help of approximately 10,000 people, Twestival raised more than a quarter of a million dollars for charity: water. For more information, follow @twestival on Twitter.
Dare to be bold, humorous and memorable.
To emphasize the importance of checking oneself for testicular cancer, the Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation created a humorous YouTube video, titled “Check Your Balls,” featuring an ice-skating testicle getting “checked” by a hockey player. The video landed on the YouTube homepage and was viewed more than one million times in three days.
Connect with your audience where they are already comfortable.
By embracing the popularity of Facebook, The Humane Society of the United States recruited a total of 3,847,176 supporters and raised $59,275 for their top five Causes (“Stop Animal Cruelty,” “Stop Puppy Mills,” “Contribute to the Humane Society,” “No More Animal Cruelty,” and “Help Stop Dog Fighting”), as of July 7, 2009. Their Causes pages feature interactive elements such as a petition to stop puppy mills (signed by 590,011 people) as well as the option to send friends a virtual puppy for $50 (equivalent to the cost of rescuing one dog from animal cruelty or natural disaster). They also house numerous discussions about animal rights and ending animal cruelty.
Empower people to share their personal stories.
To raise awareness for premature babies, the March of Dimes started its Share Your Story blog, encouraging parents of premature babies to ask questions and share their daily joys, worries and frustrations. The blog has become a support resource for parents, allowing them to connect with other parents who have similar experiences. In addition, it is a moving platform that better explains the organization’s mission.
Show the organization’s reach and impact.
The One Campaign is a global advocacy and campaigning organization dedicated to fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Their Flickr group asks members of the campaign to share photos of their faces as a way of showing support. So far, 1,097 people have posted their picture to the group, providing a powerful symbol of the organization’s reach and impact.
These are just a few suggestions on how nonprofits can harness social networking to advance their causes. What are some other ways the social Web has been used for good? Share your success stories and ideas in the comment section below.
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Photo Credit: Rakka
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Laura Novak
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