http://www.nyyforum.org.uk

1. The North Yorkshire & York Forum Social Media
Communications Guide
1 - www.despair.com

2. Headline Recommendations for North Yorkshire & York
Forum
Thinking time -
Map target audience(s)
Bend multiple staff time & responsibilities
Consider volunteers leading this
Consider the changes it will mean to existing ways of working
Define 6 month measurement of success
Low costs/ no costs start -
Set up Google alerts for NYYF.
Setup facebook causes „fan‟ account and add some basic pictures and
information.
Rename and link the @NYFVO new twitter feed to a staff smartphone.
Follow some obvious information sources @NCVO or @CooperativesYH or
@involveyh or @York CVS.
Set up a Chief Execs Blog at wordpress or blogger.
Add facebook, blog and twitter buttons to the NYYF website.
Automate feeds from Third Sector magazine or NCVO etc directly onto the
NYYF website.
Automate feeds from website to facebook.
Add social media tags to NYYF email signatures to publicise.
Monitor increased traffic to NYYF website via social media tools after 6
months.
Start using it, things will become clearer.
Medium term -
Review all communications across NY and map overlaps.
Work with LSDOs to gauge interest in collaboratively implementing some of
these recommendations.
Use LinkedIn for a professional network group.
Work with volunteers to increase case studies, video-podcasts and
photographs of NYYFs work.
Target specific client groups as pilots for increased interaction.
Work with frontline groups to help them raise their own voices and use NYYF
tools to help.
Long term strategic aims -
Work with other LSDOs and build on what works.
Target new audiences and address accessibility issues.
Start using eventbrite to do the admin for booking events.
Investigate using „groups‟ and blogs independent of NYYF that are less
owned by NYYF and more collaborative.
Use skype for communicating between LSDOs.
Use Youtube as a training tool and to show outsiders into the work of NYYF.
Investigate cloud computing and IT solutions to save money.

3. Contents
Headline Recommendations for North Yorkshire & York Forum ................................. 2
What is this guide? ..................................................................................................... 3
What is social media? ................................................................................................ 3
Why this is a culture rather than a technological change? ......................................... 3
What does this change look like? ............................................................................... 4
So technology is ubiquitous? ...................................................................................... 4
The effectiveness of existing communications? ......................................................... 4
How are VCOs currently using social media? ............................................................ 5
How long will it take? .................................................................................................. 5
Specific goals using social media? ............................................................................. 6
How to use specific tools ........................................................................................ 7
Potential problems.................................................................................................... 10
Further reading and links.......................................................................................... 11
What is this guide?
This is a practical guide written for the North Yorkshire & York Forum of why it might
want to increase the use of social media in its communication work - and how to do
this. It does not replicate other social media strategies available and is designed to
facilitate ongoing communications work in York & North Yorkshire.
What is social media?
Social media it is not about a new marketing tool, is a culture change and is the
future of networks. It is also about what you want to get out of it. If you don‟t see the
point in it, it probably won‟t help you, but try it and you might see what all the fuss is
about. Increasingly networks are being built through technology that bypass existing
structures and hierarchies, are informal and will rise and fall on particular issues
often in real time.
Why this is a culture rather than a technological change?
A network is about information, and information works best when it is on the users
terms. These are not tools to add to our workload, they are tools to change the way
we work. Why change? Simply because many people are changing the way they
communicate and it‟s the role of an LSDO to try give people the information they
what when and how they want it.

4. What does this change look like?
From: To:
Centralised Decentralised
Firmly controlled Loosely controlled
Planned Emergent
Proprietor Open, shared
Transactional Relational
Feed information down Two way conversations
Be the experts tells people what Ask for help creates ownership of
to do solutions
Tell people to „go away and do x‟. Invite people in shared space
Start with a definite plan Start with what people want to do
Tell people when something is Start with idle conversations
launched Share works in progress
Plan Start and assume it will change
Modified from Strategic Planning for Networks by Wikimedia www.slideshare.net/eekim/strategic-
planning-for-networks
So technology is ubiquitous?
40% of Britons now have a facebook account.
Social Networks/Blogs now account for one in every four and a half minutes
online
Government services will be increasingly moving online under the Race
Online 2012 initiative
80% of under 25 year olds interact online while watching TV or when they
learn
Social networks now surpass search engines as the most visited group of
websites. 1
35 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute
The effectiveness of existing communications?
Information flow has increased dramatically in the last 15 years. People generally
want more information, in smaller pieces, and at the time when they want it.
How can you give people exactly what they want, without wasting their time?
What level of detail do you need at each stage in the communication.
Instead of asking people, do what you think and judge the results.
How long does it take you?
Are you duplicating efforts?
1
www.experian.com/marketing-services/register-2011-digital-marketer.html

5. How are VCOs currently using social media?
Very variedly. The majority of local organisations were not using any of the main
social media tools at all. According to ICT Champions 2006 survey 2
27% use Facebook at least monthly.
15.7% use Twitter regularly.
11.2% have a Blog
8.8% use YouTube
43.2% using Survey Monkey
How long will it take?
CEO - Blog once a week - around 45 minutes.
Development team – website updates - daily - around 30 minutes per day
Volunteer centre – 30 mins a week adding thoughts to facebook and
Information worker - Twitter - around 30 minutes per day (throughout the day)
Anyone else – 5 mins a day reading
You can organise it so that there is cross posting between communication
methods (eg between facebook and twitter and website and Youtube) so
you‟re not that duplicating efforts.
2
www.ictchampions.org.uk/wp-content/YH-Vol-Sec-Social-Media-Report-and-Appendix.pdf

6. Specific goals using social media?
Social media is increasingly being seen as a „necessary‟ means of communication
for organisations, but specifically how is it useful?
NYYF work area How social media can help
Professional At its heart social networks are about sharing. So instead of
networking forwarding a link on an email, build a following of people
who have a vested interest in what you do. Raise the profile
of NYYF as a service provider. As an information provider,
as a leader in social change in north Yorkshire.
Open data – sharing with colleges nationally what open
data is available and how best t use it.
Branding NYYF Who are NYYF? What do people expect from them? What is
their USP in communications? Why would people go to
www.nyfvo.org.uk ?
What is the personality?
What is your communication niche?
Information services to inform?
to advise?
to enthuse?
to invite?
social media is a way of telling stories.
Campaigning Crowdsourcing – the best example
www.voluntarysectorcuts.org.uk but also Google docs
example on local cuts.
Examples from national charities around fundraising and
facebook campaigns may become more relevant to how
local VCOs interact with place.
It‟s very easy to build campaigns through facebook that
can quickly gain large numbers of followers.
Policy updates Instead of digesting and rewriting responses to policy you
can quickly retweet what others have (probably more
eloquently) said – have it appear on your website via twitter
and do something else.
Consultation with It‟s cheap and quick in responding to the following issues:
users Declining participation in formal representative
politics
Increasing engagement of the public in decision-
making
Use of online tools to facilitate debate
Local government will involve the VCS in policy
development but will also bypass direct to citizens.
LSDOs act as an intermediary so need to be in the
middle of communication channels.
Private companies are increasingly moving into
consultation: www.yougov.com
Representation Bypassing existing gatekeeper organisations.
Human stories straight to policy makers.
Can be more open – people can instantly see what they
have contributed.

7. Easier to feedback information.
24 hrs a day in a location of their choice.
Often easier for currently underrepresented groups: young
people, or time poor people.
Participation The line between producer and user is changing.
People will „riff‟ off each others‟ blogs and ideas and things
will spiral very quickly (called crowd accelerated innovation)
like may happen with open source data.
Influence Retweeting other people‟s tweets builds a coalition.
They are more likely to retweet yours.
Share other people‟s links and resources is recommending
them.
People like people – not faceless corporations (hence the
rise of branding).
Ask for a call to action – the ladder of action means people
will often start with something small (like micro-
volunteering) that can lead to more action and maybe a
lifetime in the voluntary sector.
How to use specific tools
Tool Use for NYYF
The NYYF website Your website is still the greatest communication tool you have.
Look after it. Have a good look at www.nyfvo.org.uk and use it
like a first time visitor. Make it easy for users to find what they are
looking for, and make it well designed. (Thanks for our
Communication Worker York CVS now receive 2,500 unique hits
a month - a 30% increase on 2009).
Have existing links set up on your blog or webpage, so that
people automatically get the most up to date information.
You‟ll have to check your links once a year anyway.
By linking to other people‟s information, or by localising national
data you can quickly make things relevant to your target
audience.
Google tools Google Alerts will tell you whenever NYYF is mentioned
anywhere on the internet and will send you email alerts.
www.google.com/alerts
Google URL shortener will make your links shorter (necessary for
twitter) but will also allow you to track how often they are clicked.
http://goo.gl
Google Docs – share documents online with anyone and work on
them together https://docs.google.com
Blogs Start a Chief Exec's Blog – or an advice workers blog or
whoever is willing and interesting. Why do you do what you
do? What do you love about it? What can others learn from
it? What is your niche? What do other CVSs blog about?
Admit mistakes. Ask questions. Write good headlines. What
is your voice. Blogging requires passion and authority.
Engage with people who comment. Keep your personal
integrity. Accept it‟s also an organisational press release.

8. Blogger: www.blogger.com/start
TypePad: www.typepad.com
WordPress: www.wordpress.org
See http://stellamedia.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/a-blog-about-
blogging-shine-a-light or http://yorkcvs.wordpress.com
Surveymonkey Cheap and quick survey tool. Register, send an email and
collect your results. Data can be shared instantly with users
to act as a reward for filling it in. www.surveymonkey.com
Twitter Twitter it‟s not about what you had for breakfast or whether
you‟re stopping for a latte, it‟s about listening, connecting
and sharing about very specific topics.
140 characters gives you titles of blogs, or a single
idea.
A newspaper tailored to your interests.
An executive summary of thoughts by the leading VCS
thinkers.
A „heads up‟ abut issues before decisions are taken
A way of involving hundreds of people as microvolunteers
to help with your problems
Ask for help
A quick way of loading time relevant content onto your
website, often from a mobile phone.
Tweet things other might be able to use, quotes, or
statistics are popular.
What is the USP of your tweets?
Larger orgs have multiple accounts to have multiple
messages or themes (eg @YorkCVS, @Priorytweet &
@VolCentreYork).
Through using #hashtag you can send your message into the
inbox of people who are interested in that topic. A recent
example is around funding cuts (using the hashtag #cuts) means
York Press articles on funding cuts in north Yorkshire were
picked up by the national press and gained a lot of support
quickly.
Listen in on conversations by people who know more than you!
overhearing idle chats between heads of voluntary organisations
can help with setting strategic direction, broadening options,
learning about new research or just about anything else! 90% of
social media users just listen and don‟t contribute. You can follow
an entire national conference, save yourself having to leave the
building and get the highlight quotes from senior ministers and
thinkers.
Facebook Facebook is not a social network, it is positioning itself as a portal
for viewing the internet through recommendations and „likes‟. In
this way it is more of an ecosystem or operating system of the
internet as a rival to Google. Set up a „fan‟ page and see who is
interested, that will tell you something about the audience for
your organisation! www.facebook.com/YorkCVS
Youtube Film can bring an issue alive capture the attention of your
audience and inspire and motivate people to action. It can
also be a cost effective way of opening your organisation to

9. outsiders and sharing training you have previously given.
People are much more likely to buy something they can
see. It doesn‟t take much time and they can be uploaded
straight from a mobile in many cases. Great for 2-3 minute
interviews with important people. By watching each other‟s
videos will help development officers learn their skills better
and what other VCOs have tried by demonstration rather
than telling. www.youtube.com/user/NCVOonline
They Work For You www.theyworkforyou.com register and find out what MPs in
email alerts North Yorkshire are doing.
LinkedIn LinkedIn in is the social networking site for professionals.
You can set up groups that automatically send out an
ebulletin from whatever anyone has posted there. It‟s great
for professional networks and for not being controlled by
anyone, nor being difficult to maintain. Over 75 million
professionals use it to exchange information
www.linkedin.com
Hyperlocal newsletters Your Square Mile will be producing hyperlocal websites for
communities to self organise http://thebigsociety.co.uk/big-
society-in-action/ysm.
Mysociety have a pledgebank where local people pledge to do
something if others will to:
www.mysociety.org/projects/pledgebank
Smartphone Is the NYFVO webpage optimised for a smartphone browser?
optimisation Could you use text messages to help with information in real
time? A recent survey showed: 3
79% will buy smartphones in the next 2 year
72% open emails more often on their phones, or equally
on their phones and computers
67% prefer a (native) mobile application over a mobile
website when it comes to utility functions.
59% want to receive real time notifications on important
updates from nonprofit mobile apps
15 million tablet computers were sold in 2010.
Group sections on the This is a bit more difficult to arrange and can be arduous and not
NYFVO website? very beneficial in a time of open data, but how people to interact
with your website is worth thinking about. York CVS has created
3 pilot groups and link to a blog with open comments.
Eventbrite A quick way of booking events online. You set the date and
people register automatically receiving notifications,
delegate lists and processing payments.
www.eventbrite.com
Doodle A quick way of planning potential dates for meetings
between large numbers of people. www.doodle.com
Skype/ Video Why not have every other NYYF Consortia meeting on
conferencing skype? It will make the meetings considerably shorter, will
save on meeting rooms and travel expenses.
www.skype.com
Other things you could Audacity - audio editor and recorder :
3
http://kanter.posterous.com/a-mobile-world-how-your-supporters-are-using

10. try and develop www.audacity.sourceforge.net
Audioboo: a mobile and web tool to record and upload
audio: www.audioboo.fm
Flickr – A way of storing & linking to your photos online:
www.flickr.com
Prezi: A tool for creating presentations live and on the web.
www.prezi.com
SlideShare: Upload and share PowerPoint presentations,
Word docs and Adobe PDF Portfolios. www.slideshare.net
Windows Movie Maker Helps you to create digital movies &
should be on your computer.
Dropbox – Dropbox is a good way to store, sync, and,
share files online. www.dropbox.com
Screenr: record your computer screen and share it.
www.screenr.com
Potential problems
Potential blockage Potential response
We don’t have enough This is about changing the way you work, not adding work.
time.
We don’t like Fair enough. Look for volunteers to help you– why not put
technology out the call on social media!
Who is it actually for? ANYone! Social media is a self selecting group. But in particular
it will help communication between Staff & volunteers
VCOs in NY, NY LSDOs, Statutory partners
Private sector partners, Community of interest or geography, and
individuals of all kinds.
We don’t have any Find your niche. What do people want to hear from you that they
followers on twitter can‟t get from other people. Are you part of the community
discussing your problems and helping others solve theirs? Are
you retweeting other people? Is what you‟re saying interesting?
What about in many cases technology can be the solution to communication
accessibility issues? problems through adaptions for deaf people or partially sighted.
For those who do not currently access the internet a paper
version will always be available and there will always be people
to talk to. http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/
I don’t understand all Jargon buster guide - www.socialbysocial.com/book/
the terms jargonbuster-0
What if people don’t You still have the options of a range of communication methods
want to receive this choice based on what people want to receive:
face to face
email
newsletter
text, voice, diagrams and pictures
social media?
This is just a fad Some parts might be a fad, but the way we work is
changing and will use the principles that are leading this
technology. We have a new generation who are used to
real time information, specific to their wishes, time based

11. and with the ability to comment. Creative collaboration will
change the nature of beneficiary and ideas like “organising
without organisations” will fundamentally change the VCS.
Opting out is not a long term option.
What if it all goes What can go wrong? Some negative press? Some
wrong discussion leads to conflict? These are part of our daily
work and making the discussion more open fits with
increasingly justifying what we do to members of the public.
Further reading and links:
NCVOs social media guide - www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/campaigning-
socialmedia#socialmediaguide
Capacity builders funded SM strategy:
http://www.wmictchampion.org.uk/sites/www.wmictchampion.org.uk/files/8CF9
C457d01.pdf
The personality of social media -
http://johnpopham.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/social-media-identity-and-
personality/
NCVO integrating social media; http://www.ncvo-
vol.org.uk/sites/default/files/In_focus_social_media.pdf
Electroville technology toolkit (for IT not just social media)
http://www.electroville.org.uk/content/technology-toolkit
Twitter explanations: http://www.501videos.com/tt/2011/04/twitter.html
A video of celebrities explaining why they like twitter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AN4_N5N52U
Download the free pdf Integrating social media (288 KB) http://www.ncvo-
vol.org.uk/sites/default/files/In_focus_social_media.pdf
ICT Foresight: Campaigning and consultation in the age of participatory media
free report (PDF 580KB). This report explores how new technologies are
changing the way organisations consult and represent their stakeholders.
http://www.ncvo-
vol.org.uk/uploadedFiles/NCVO/What_we_do/Campaigning_Effectiveness/NE
W_Projects/PDF_ICT_Foresight_campaigning_and_consultation.pdf
Yortime social media publications for new groups: www.yorkcvs.org.uk/ycvs-
publications
This guide was written by Casey Morrison, Information & Development Manager at York
CVS. He is not a techie, he is just someone who started playing with social media and
finds it saves him time and money in doing his job. York CVS is on the same journey:
Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/yorkcvs for updates about York CVS work,
voluntary sector policy and practice or
www.twitter.com/priorytweet for updates about the Priory Street Centre events and
social enterprise.
www.facebook.com/pages/York-CVS/103327646408530
www.yorkcvs.org.uk

12. Figure 2 Wordle of the NYYF Social Media Communication Strategy

13. Figure 3 www.rossdawsonblog.com/SocialMediaStrategyFrameworkv1.pdf