Social Media in Practice: Spotlight on Minnesota’s Nonprofits

January 13th, 2010  

Non-profit Communicator Workshop, Minnesota Council for Non-profits

What does it take to implement the effective use of Web 2.0 technology in your organization? Over the past couple of years, more and more nonprofits have been adopting Web 2.0 strategies for marketing, communications, outreach and engagement. Hear from a panel of nonprofit social media experts using real-life case studies about how they got started using blogs, social networks, and Web innovations to enhance their marketing, communications, and customer service strategies and how these strategies have (or have not) succeeded.

Presenters:
Meg Canada, Senior Librarian, Hennepin County Library

Lindsi Gish, Communications Manager at Second Harvest Heartland

Meghan Seawell,  Print and electronic communications specialist at Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys

Social Media Bingo card (developed by Meg for this event), I will post a printable pdf version as well to use with your staff if you’d like.

B	I	N	G	O
(name) Knows what RT stands for (on twitter)	(name) Has blogged on behalf of their organization	(name) Has made microloans online	(name) Has reconnected with an old friend online	(name) Has used Social Networking to ask for help
(name) Is a fan of a non-profit org on Facebook	(name) Has never sent a text message before	(name) Knows what tumblr and posterous are	(name) Has donated money to an organization online	(name) Is concerned about privacy and social networks
(name) Has donated money using SMS on their phone (Text Messaging)	(name) Can define the word of the year “unfriend”	FREE	(name) Has gotten news about friends or family online first	(name) Stores photos online to share with family and friends
(name) Thinks social media is a fad	(name) Checks Facebook Daily	(name) Has attended Social Media Breakfast or NetSquared	(name) knows what personal branding means	(name) Has created a profile on MySpace
(name) has been in a video on YouTube	(name) knows what ning.com or a “ning” is	(name) Is part of an organization that is doing something unique with Social Media	(name) knows who Chris Brogan or Seth Godin are	(name) uses LinkedIn

Presenters will answer following:

1. Tell us about your organization and social media presence.
2. What effort has you organization made that has yielded the most impact?
3. Are you reaching the same audience online that you engage with in person? a new audience?
4. When your organization is part of a national org, do you maintain a local presence? Is it sanctioned? authorized? encouraged?

-Break-

1. Can social media be used effectively to enhance fundraising efforts?
2. Compared to a commercial brand what are the opportunities and challenges of having a presence in a social space?
3. There are several local non-profit orgs that support professional development and are very social (eg: NetSquared Net Tuesdays from TechSoup, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN), Minnesota Council for Nonprofits)  Can you share a bit about how these groups are learning and sharing social media skill sets?
4. Where do you draw the lines between using individual and org accounts in social media? Is this an easy task or is it challenging to separate your personal and professional brands online?

Any remaining time we’ll use for Q and A.