We received a lot of feedback from smaller nonprofits and schools during and after our 9/30 webinar about how smaller organizations should approach social networking. Smaller nonprofits and schools should absolutely have a social media strategy! Leveraging social media is a great and inexpensive way to promote your cause and build a giving community far beyond your local donor base. Even if your mission is locally or regionally focused, at minimum nonprofits can reach out to former donors that have moved out of the area, and schools can reach out to alumni and students’ out-of-town relatives.
The key to social networking success for small organizations is to focus your efforts, pick your targets carefully, and be consistent. Listen to what people are saying on blogs and social networking sites first and look for the Influencers talking about you or your mission. Google Alerts, Technorati, and Twitter are easy ways to start. Set up accounts in each and review results daily for a few weeks. The social networking sites and blogs most engaged with your organization or your cause will come into focus pretty quickly. Pick only the most active to start, and start small. Maybe your results suggest that you should subscribe to one blog, become a Fan on one Facebook page, and follow two or three people on Twitter. It’s better to be consistent and thorough with a few efforts than be aggressive without follow-through.
Beth Kanter has a great suggestion to avoid spending too much time with social networking tasks. Allot a limited, finite amount of time to accomplish one or two tasks. Set a timer if you need to (Beth uses her children’s Time Out timer). This will not only keep you focused, it’ll also teach you how long it takes to complete certain tasks. Once you incorporate a very few social networking activities into your routine, you’ll know if you can take on more. Again, consistency, not volume, is the key.
Remember that it does take extra time to learn how to navigate all the available social networking tools and sites, so be realistic, don’t get frustrated, and stay focused.
At some point, in addition to following others, you will probably want to establish a presence for your organization in the social media space with a blog or space on a social media site (like Facebook). This decision may come sooner for organizations that aren’t being covered by social media. A blog or Facebook page is only as good as its content, though, so if you start, work regular updates into your work schedule.
Good luck with your social networking efforts!