I didn't actively take notes during this session, since I was one of the two presenters. I did, however, promise to share the social media strategy that I developed for the David Suzuki Foundation last month, since one of the challenges that non-profits and charitable organizations may have with using the technology tools available to them (for free!) is knowing what the point of using them is.
Please add to this page what you gained from our great discussion.
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A Social Media Strategy for the David Suzuki Foundation
Why?
- We want to create a movement towards social change.
- We want to attract the activists.
- We want to reach the curious and engage them.
- We want to grow our subscribers by funneling them through social media networks and communities – grow our community of long term DSF supporters, volunteers & donors
- Further the goals of the Long Term Direction Project and the 5 year strategic plan by building a dialogue with communities, and engaging catalysts and youth
- Meet huge demands from our public for learning what they can do
- Social media is a cost-effective way to be everywhere for the Foundation – since we can’t be everywhere physically
Approach
How will we look at social media as a catalyst tool?
- research social media tools to determine what we can use effectively
- learn from others who are further along than we are
- try out tools to see if they are viable, and be willing to fail with some of them
- apply a social media strategy to small projects rather than the entire organization
- increase dialogue and opportunities for collaboration with our supporters and activist groups
Goals
The goal of our social media strategy is to support the work of our programs in their projects. We want to increase engagement with our current networks and expand our reach to attract and engage new members within each project, while also building our list of supporters.
Objectives
Acquisition: Working with Public Engagement team increase supporters by 25%
Engagement: Reach ~10,000 currently curious fans of David Suzuki / the Foundation – convert to supporters via social media channels
Strategy
For better control of our brand online, we must be part of the conversations already going on, and create new ones.
- Community Managers - within each program or project
- LISTEN:
- monitoring systems - tracking mentions, statistics, hits, blogs, traditional news & media, etc. outside of our own sphere of influence as well as internally
- watch what people are talking about to find out what they are really looking for, and provide them with the tools to get those things
- Interactivity:
- respond to positive and negative comments without censoring, as long as the discussion is on topic
- stay involved in the communities we start, or they will slowly die off
- Develop an honest and viral state of mind - be open, do not be afraid, be honest, and share as much as you can.
- Use multiple tools, and combine them to leverage the effect of social networking
Risks
- Fear of loss of control of our brand
- Lack of knowledge on how to deal with negative online press, and poor handling of negative online press, which reduces credibility of the organization
- Trying a new tool and having it not work (this will happen. Some things will work, some won't.)
Current & potential tools & tactics
Our website / User-generated Content
Facebook
Twitter
Myspace
Blogs (ours, others)
YouTube
LinkedIn
Slideshare
StumbleUpon
digg
Technorati
flickr
RSS
Create a toolbox and process for the Creative Services team to present to the programs for use with their projects.
Meet with project's communications specialist to outline and decide which tools to use.
Build internal capacity for using social media tools appropriately within Foundation Guidelines (to be determined) – training guides and hands-on sessions, giving ownership to staff at DSF
Evaluation
How to become more effective at using social media to achieve our organizational and policy goals.
Results will be tracked quarterly by measurable outcomes.
Resources
Time, tools (most social media tools are free), support staff training, 1 staff member with social media focus
Example of implementation: Social media specialist meets with the Project team or communications specialist when a new project is being planned or developed. The Comms Specialist explains what the project is and what goals they want to meet out of a social media strategy for that project. (This can be a brainstorm if they don't really know what they hope to achieve.) The Social Media person lays down a set of applicable tools (perhaps not EVERYTHING available, just what works to fit that goal) and explains how they will work towards that goal. Together the comms specialist and the Social Media Specialist choose which tools will work best, set timelines, responsibilities, and deadlines around the project, decide who will be responsible for what aspects of the strategy, and write up a brief implementation plan or outline.
