Friends With Benefits

Building and engaging relationships is crucial to any organization; social media can provide the right tools to accomplish this. Perhaps the first spot an organization would want to look at is their website. For instance, Safe Harbor shares information about their organization, explains issues they advocate and provides resources for people in need. Can you guess the next hot spot on the list? You're probably right; social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. Organizations need to engage with their audience through open conversations on these sites, allowing a build up of trust and development of relationships. Also, these are great tools to use when trying to connect with a younger audience. In my class group, we are working with REP to ignite their social media efforts, seeing how they want to relate to teenagers and young adults. There are many outcomes that can come from building these connections on social media.

Listening is an important step to building these trusting relationships and an easy way to become comfortable within the new social scene. Seeing how REP will be new to social media, it will be easier for them to focus on their listening skills first to ease their way in. Listening should include identifying key influencers and finding key leverage points for spreading messages. Many organizations will use social media listening tools, like RSS readers, tags and Google alerts, to name a few. After listening is accomplished, organizations need to be smart about how they engage with the public. Smart ideas for engaging with the public could include online polls, thanking people for their efforts or simply initiate a conversation. Engagement also means dealing with criticism, whether it be a destructive attack or a honest disagreement. You can think of this as a way to let the public know you are actually hearing what they have to say and continuing the relationship building process. Yes, building relationships is great, but building strong relationships is even better. Building relationships that are powerful can be achieved by practicing the following:

• Be willing to lose control, people want to contribute in their own way
• Be authentic with your audience, do not have ulterior motives
• Send good into world without expectation of immediate return
• Believe in people and the good they bring to the table
• Follow and support the social media rhythm, do not create or dictate it (but you can use the model below to help predict!)

The ladder of engagement shows how to strategically increase supporter engagement and better understand their efforts towards this. Take a look at a similar engagement ladder showing additional information, from Bloomberg Businessweek.

• Level 1: Happy bystander-listen to content
• Level 2: Spreaders- share information about a cause
• Level 3: Donors- contribute financially
• Level 4: Evangelists- reach out to personal social networks and influence them towards the cause
• Level 5: Instigators- create their own content on behalf of the cause

People can start anywhere on this ladder, working their way up or down. By understanding these levels of engagement, organizations will better treasure their relationships and discover the value they offer.

Social Culture:The New Culture

Let's face it-in order to have a social media strategy developed for your organization, you need to have a social culture. The American Red Cross is a great example showing how an organization can become a social culture. Wendy Harman, a social media integrator, was hired at the American Red Cross to increase organizational transparency. From their goals, they increased internal adoption of social media and created a shift in the organization's relationships with their publics. Starting right there-they earn a gold star! There social media tactics allowed both positive and negative comments because you actually do need both! Negative comments provided them an opportunity to respond back to their audience and improve on what they were doing. Also, by developing a social media policy, they were allowing their social media to expand way past their expectations. It advised employees on how they could and couldn't use social media, meaning now they could actually use social media. Here is how you can write your own social media guide for your organization, provided by Inc.com.

Organizations with social cultures follow these strategies:

• Use social media to have two-way conversations
• Embrace mistakes and take risks
• Reward learning and reflection
• "Try it and fix it as you go" approach
• Have open discussions to avoid organization inertia
• Understand that individuality and informality do not indicate a lack of caring or quality
• Trust staff to make decisions and respond

By having a variety of open social media channels allowing you to spend a lot of time talking to people outside the organization, creates real conversations. You get to know what people truly think and believe, whether it be positive or negative. Like we said before, they are both good responses! Of course, fears of a social culture expand way beyond the point of negative comments. Organizations have always had the mindset that they need to control everything that happens inside and outside their territory for fear of making a public mistake. Organizations need to teach their leaders and staff that by living without these fears and learning to talk about these issues will produce a much more effective outcome in their social media world. Here is an example of how Kodak uses the power of social media to increase their PR efforts:

Kodak uses social media in all four areas of engagement, measures, content creation and distribution. Learn from them!

When considering a social strategy, organizations must consider the following questions:

• What are the appropriate boundaries between public and private information?
• How do we balance our interest in being open with the technical needs to safeguard against cyber attacks?
• How much do we have to be "on" with social media?
• Who should operate the channels?

Weaving the Web of Social Networking

Understanding social networks can be tricky for many organizations that don't embrace social media, but by utilizing them, they can expand and vocalize the organization's message in many ways. In the past, organizations have had a "organization-centric lens," which basically meant they thought they were the center of the universe. Other people and organizations provided them with funds and volunteers. Times have changed though with more organization's allowing individual's to help the organization based on their own needs, interests and time. Nonprofits are recognizing the influencers within their own social networks, which allow them to grow quickly and inexpensively. Social networks can be anything from personal to professional, and self-organized to specifically created for that nonprofit.

Here is some helpful social networking lingo:

• Nodes: people and organizations, part of the social network
• Ties: connections between people and organization
• Hubs: larger nodes within networks, have many connections, they are influencers, they make things go "viral," most efficient way to spread news and ideas, and raise awareness
• Cores: inner cluster of people who do most of the work
• Power law of distribution: imbalance of influence a person or organization has over another
• Clusters: groups who connect to one another, few connections to rest of network

There are two additional characteristics of networks that make them effective:

• Edge of periphery: people located here do not have much power or influence, yet they are likely to be participants, help network grow, bring energy and new ideas
• Combo of strong and loose ties: need both, move information through network quickly and effectively

By mapping an organization's social network, you can discover interesting data and insights about your connections. You might be able to find out the largest hub or which people make up the periphery. A nonprofit should create a map of their networks to recognize their strong ties from their weak ties. Another important aspect to networks is capital. We all love some capital ($), don't we? But sorry--not that kind of capital. We are talking about social capital. Social capital allows relationships to become meaningful and strong. By trusting one another, people are more likely to complete favors in the future. Social networks build these ties between people and organizations so when it comes time for a favor to be done, there will be no hesitation.

Building social capital is easy to build through social media because...

• You can easily find people online
• Having conversations online is inexpensive
• You can search for people without the need for a formal introduction
• Reciprocity is extremely easy online

These factors can also be related to network weaving, which is a set of skills that help strengthen and build social networks. By using these tactics through social media, you are building sufficient social capital. Network weaving can also include sharing resources and information, treating all network members equally, and inviting people with different views into the conversation.

Golden Rule: Embrace Social Media

Ok, 3 questions for ya'll...

1. Do you like connecting with people, and staying connected?
2. Do you like to be organized and in-sync with the world?
3. Do you love to express yourself in a variety of ways?

If you answered "yes" to any of these, then social media can become your best friend!

Nonprofit organizations need to embrace the wonderful elements of social media and the spotlight they can shine on their cause. Most people love showing what they care about through following specific organizations and causes, whether it's "liking" the organization on Facebook or following a blog. For example, I am a huge animal lover, so from time to time I will read up on World Wildlife Foundation (WWF.) Also, I follow the organization on Twitter and Facebook. As you notice on the very first page of their website, they boldly list all of the mediums you can use to follow the organization.

As nonprofit organizations are rising in number, so should the social media use involved with those organizations.Unfortunately, in the past, many organizations pulled away from their key publics for the following reasons:

• Rise of the hired professional staff
• Growing number of private foundations that preferred these professional staff members
• They began to measure success based on staff and budget growth
• More direct mail initiatives to raise money without having interaction 

The result? Organizations didn't think they had to share how it worked or what they choose to do, which equals a big huge fail. People need to know the working's behind the organization, so they know what they are helping with and, most importantly, how they can help! Our generation, also known as Millennials, are refusing to take these overwhelming positions at organizations. Since growing up in technology, Millennials support the move to social media and volunteerism. In order for an organization to survive and adapt, they will have to become more educated and responsive to social media initiatives.

A friend of mine from Clemson, Michael Fitzgerald, created the nonprofit organization called MyCauseWater. Basically, every time you purchase a bottle of MyCauseWater, you will be able to donate a portion of the proceeds to the organization of your choice. Some of the most popular organizations that MyCauseWater donated to include American Red Cross, Teach for America and St. Jude Children's Hospital. With the huge variety of organizations listed on their website, you have the ability to support any one that is especially important to you. Being a milennial, Michael embraces social media by creating a blog, Facebook and Twitter for his organization, which builds a larger audience and support group. He has become an influencer who can attract large numbers of new people to support various causes.

Just remember these golden rules when working with free agents, in order to be successful:

• Say "Hi" and get to know them
• Break out of the cliques, not reinforce them
• Give them time to explore and learn about the organization's issues
• Don't ignore the newcomer-that would be a lost opportunity
• Always welcome them, since they will come and go
• Let them participate how they want and when they want
• Don't be afraid to follow their ideas, even if you the "professional"

Social Media, Social Networks, Social Change, Oh My!

 Get to Know Them


We all know that simplicity and transparency is important in many industries, but this can be especially important for a nonprofit organization. An organization that shares everything from it's strategic plan to financial statements is often called an inside-out organization in the PR world. Sharing this information with the public allows people to feel more connected and trusting of the organization. People need to have the opportunity to participate anyway they can without constant supervision, whether it be at superior level or even entry level. Everyone has their own way of making things happen and helping out, so why ruin their efforts when they really can make an impact in society?

For example, in the case of Safe Harbor, as a class we were independent in deciding ultimately what we could collaborate to help out the organization. So far, with our homecoming efforts of setting up a informational booth, distributing purple ribbons and promoting through social media, we have done a great job of raising domestic violence awareness! Congrats to us-we can now be called free agents (yay!)- for spreading the organization's message throughout numerous networks. Hint Hint: Free agents are individuals who "...combine their media savvy with their passion for social causes to accomplish amazing things."

Our class was even recognized on a recent Safe Harbor's blog post!

Embrace Social Media

The power and use of social media has increased rapidly in the past few years, providing marketing tools such as instant messaging, texts, blogs, videos and social networking sites. These tools allow people to share their own views or personal stories about a topic that is hot off the press. Nonprofits need to utilize these usually free tools to promote their causes since many nonprofits do not have a lot of extra cash to spend. Hello! Not using these tools, is like throwing away dollar bills! Many nonprofits will argue that they don't have the skills or knowledge to use these tools correctly, but overtime, anyone can become social media savvy. As it states in the book, "Social media use is a contact sport, not a spectator sport." The more time people spend creating, discovering, and planning with these tools, eventually  it will become second nature to them. As you can see, Safe Harbor has embraced numerous social media tools, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Social Media, Social Networks, Social Change

Human beings love connecting with other people, period! How do most people create these meaningful connections? Usually, through social networks. These social networks are then able to form the power to make social change within society. When organizations utilize social media, they are unwrapping conversations that are the key to successful change in society. "Conversations are the lifeblood of social change efforts." With these conversations, people have the ability to share information online, whether it be a picture or a news story. People have the opportunity to explore social issues, take a stand and map out their plan of how they would like to help these issues. Organizations need to be right there when people figure out what kind of help they want to distribute.

A Closer Look

Certainly we see social media influencing social change everywhere we look in today's technological world. For example, Occupy Wall Street has used Facebook and Twitter to win the support of thousands of people. What was once talk of an Egypt revolution has turned into Occupy Wall Street, with more than 450,000 Facebook followers.

Occupy Wall Street-Utilizing Social Media for Social Change

Since Occupy Wall Street has taken over numerous channels of social media by protesters, the idea for social change here has blown up! More and more people are joining together through social media to protest and share their idea's and view's on the situation. This example just goes to show you that social networks have a great ability to get attention from mainstream media, with an extreme potential to create social change.

 Occupy Wall Street information from Huffington Post

Power Through Partnerships

Organizations have a strong media tool by capitalizing on the power of partnerships. Partnerships can strengthen organization's work and provide a vast array of opportunities that would usually not be available. When considering partnerships, know that there are two kinds.

• Collaborations: for short-term efforts
• Coalitions: for ongoing or long-term efforts

Finding a partnership where you both have shared goals will allow for a more powerful way of coordinating a range of efforts and developing a highly influential message to your audience. Many nonprofits have found that by working with educational or media outreach strategies, they can improve their chances of receiving funding. Safe Harbor could form partnerships with groups focusing on issues, such as nonviolence, domestic violence, teen and women help, health, and education. For example, the Allstate Foundation and National Network to End Domestic Violence worked together to promote awareness for domestic violence. In the article from Yahoo Finance, they state, "The results of the Allstate-NNEDV partnership are not only impressive, but they also meet an incredible social need while increasing financial literacy and independence for women." They were able to partner together to inform survivors of domestic violence that there are resources available to them to rebuild their lives.

Since my team is working with the REP program that will be installed in numerous high schools in the state, if we needed funding, we could possibly find organizations dealing with educational and teen issues. When choosing a partner in a communications program though, we need to consider the following:

• Does the organization have a past or continuing collaboration in some area?
• Do they have a positive reputation among targeted audiences?
• Do they have the ability to commit a fair share of resources?
• Do they have a track record of working with others successfully?

When communicating with partners and building solidarity, you need to make sure everyone has current information about your issues so they stay "in the loop." This can be done by sending out message memos, emails, letters and reports. It it beneficial to communicate within your own nonprofit organization, as well. All employees should have a mutual understanding and a full briefing on the process-they are a marketing force who knows your vision, values, and mission better than anyone!

Media partnerships are also something nonprofits, like Safe Harbor, could benefit highly from. One of the best partners to associate with is broadcast stations. Recently, many broadcasts operate public affairs programs to help build audiences and bridges to organizations that can help make them a success. For example, Lifetime Television Network became "Television for Women," in 1995. They built strong partnerships with nonprofit organizations around issues like, child care, breast cancer awareness, women sports, and women in politics. This is great news for Safe Harbor! Since Lifetime is dedicated to women issues, maybe in the near future, Safe Harbor could recruit them for a partnership. Lifetime has also produced a movie, Reviving Ophelia, addressing teen domestic violence. This movie makes a powerful impact with young girls and the threat of domestic violence. Together, Safe Harbor and Lifetime, would have the power to strengthen the voices of women and their families. They would create a powerful voice for all women who have suffered and are still suffering from domestic violence.

Who You Gonna Call? Spokespeople!

We all know that by adding a face and name to a message, it raises the trust and credibility people associate with that message. But you can't just randomly choose a spokesperson to speak for your organization, you must recruit someone who matches the demographics of the targeted audience. "It is critically important to choose the right spokespeople , as the messenger may be even more important than the message in establishing trust and credibility...," as stated in Strategic Communications for Nonprofits. For example, why would Safe Harbor recruit a 65-year old married woman to talk to a room full of 16-25 year old girls, being the largest age group for domestic violence issues? Uh, random-I know. For Safe Harbor, I would suggest finding a past victim of domestic violence and having them share their personal story, as long as ground rules are established. For example, the following video from Avon tells personal stories in order to gain awareness for domestic violence:

Asking people to tell their stories of domestic violence is a touchy and sensitive subject, but they can "put a face" on the issue that many women try to ignore and hide. Since I am working on the REP program for Safe Harbor, I would love to implement personal stories within the video that they show high school students. The ground rules that we would need to follow in order to actually make this a reality are the following:

• Make sure individuals and families are prepared to talk to the media and understand the possible implications of going public
• Tell them the purpose of the interview and give some information about the reporter
• Give some sense of the questions that will be asked
• Make sure they understand that made-up names can be provided, and pictures can be covered up
• Make sure they know their rights, even after they agreed to do the interview

These ground rules will ensure that the individual speaking will feel comfortable and in control of what they are saying. Personal stories will help build support, reach those who need help, and can help policymakers and the public understand people who are working to improve their lives.

Interviews can be a tough situation for anyone, especially when you do not have professional media training. Professional media training can be quite expensive, but Safe Harbor and other non-profit organizations have options! We all love options! By pooling the costs with other local nonprofits dealing with domestic violence or other women issues, media professionals might be willing to offer small sessions for cheap. Also,Safe Harbor can try approaching a college communications department or try to receive pro bono coaching.

Lastly, I wanted to repeat a few interview tips for spokespeople that I found most helpful. Safe Harbor might be able to have a meeting with current clients, sharing all the tips covered in the book-just in case personal stories are up for grabs.

• State your message more than once
• Be memorable, do not fake anything
• State organization's full name
• Do not say more than you planned to say, be sure to stay comfortable
• Use the interview to say what you want to get across, revise as you go
• Be animated, but do not play or fidget