The recent tragedy in Haiti has shown how social media can unite support for causes and non profit groups. Join Iron Girl triathlete Kelli Robinson as she walks through her journey in using social media and the Internet to raise money and awareness for Chapel Hill House, a central Ohio retreat for children battling cancer and their families. Kelli will explain how using Facebook, Twitter, a blog, YouTube and online media relations can help nonprofit groups reach more donors and generate broader awareness for causes.
18. Monitor the Conversation RSS feeds allow you to collect updates from multiple blogs and send them to a single location
19. Monitor the Conversation This allows organizations to see what other nonprofits as and the general public are saying about important issues
20. Monitor the Conversation Jane [email_address] www.nonprofit.c These are some really good points… Then, representatives from nonprofit groups can join the conversation!
21. Niche Groups There are even groups within social media circles existing to help promote nonprofits to users and other organizations:
Kelli, here rather than just reading off the slide, you might want to tell a little about your relationship with Larry and why you are doing this.
A Fan Page is great as a collaborative communication tool, a place for anyone interested in or affiliated with Chapel Hill House to communicate. A Causes page is more focused on the fund raising aspect of Chapel Hill House. Donations can be taken online securely and easily. Both pages allow for a viral marketing outlet. Facebook users can set a “Favorite Cause” that all their fans see, and that links to the donation page. In addition, when someone becomes a fan of the Chapel Hill House page, that is posted to their Wall and to their friends “feeds.” This allows for word about Chapel Hill House to spread quickly on Facebook. Reserve your vanity URL! For example, we reserved www.facebook.com/chapelhillhouse. Ask someone here from Webbed Marketing how to do this.
Your blog should live in your marketing or communications department, not in IT. Use simple, standard technology to set up the blog and then focus on content. Use the blog to promote other aspects of your social media campaign. Link to your donation page, embed your training videos. Don’t forget to frequently and publicly thank your supporters.
Highlight each point in the slide, then recommend that each video is concluded with a screen that has the URL of the main web site listed and that in each video the speaker closes with something like “to follow me along my journey, visit my blog at blog.chapelhillhouse.org
Using sites like Twellow, WeFollow or Search.Twitter.com we can identify who we want to follow. Maybe it’s other families battling cancer or members of the media. Twitter also allows our followers to be connected with Chapel Hill House in real time. For example, I may be Tweeting before and after a workout so that supporters continue to feel that connection with Chapel Hill. And, long after my race is over the hope is that these followers will remain connected with Chapel Hill House. This real time relationship with supporters is something that couldn’t exist without social media.
Don’t let any one aspect of your social media campaign be an island, and don’t let any be redundant. Make the most of the best mix and leverage the strength of each channel. Some non profit groups may elect to use one or two channels, others may be able to justify 10. In any case, use the the right tool for the right job.