Laura Quinn's blog

Of late, I've been giving a lot of thought into how social media can and should fit into nonprofits' marketing and internet strategies. Like the research geek I am, part of my process has been to read a whole lot of the information that's already out there (and there's a *lot* of it).

There's a ton of information, but surprisingly little about how social media tools and tactics fit into any other marketing activity. In fact, many of the info out there seems to imply (or to assert outright) that social media is a revolution in communications that makes all other marketing obsolete. Certainly in nearly everything there's an implication that social media is a different type of thing, which requires a different mindset and priorities.

I have to say, I just don't find this idea that social media is a whole new thing to be helpful. First off, it just doesn't make much conceptual sense to me. The ideas of guerrilla marketing and savvy branding - which have been with us for decades now - focus on crafting a compelling story that supporters will pass on. Familiar, huh? And to me, a really useful base on which to build the case for social media.

And the idea that nonprofits need social media to save them from a broadcast-only marketing strategy, and that otherwise they don't listen to anyone... this is nonsense. Nonprofits have always been particularly good at engaging constituents and listening. Community meetings, pledge-a-thons, house parties, bake sales, volunteers canvassing door to door to spread your message.... all great tactics to engage and listen, all conceptually similar to social media techniques. You don't need online tools to listen to people or to engage them (though they can help, no question).

Not to mention that it's clear that nonprofits need to do more than simply listen. They do have messages that they do want to put out into the world. Social media doesn't replace the need for a very solid website and email strategy. I don't think any credible authority would say differently, but when there's so little focus on how social media fits into these established methods, and so much on how social media is a wholly different thing, we give nonprofits the impression that they should focus their time accordingly: lots on social media, little on websites and email.

And lastly, the social media "revolution" that folks identify links suspiciously to shiny and nifty new tools. Why is creating an online video and posting it on YouTube one of the hallmarks of social marketing, while creating a terrific report which is widely discussed and promoted an old school method? Why do we talk a ton about FaceBook groups as important online communities, and hardly at all about email discussion lists (which often reach a much wider audience)? I don't see any fundamental paradigm shift between these things - the tactics and strategies at work are very similar, it's only the tools that change.

Don't get me wrong. There's no question to me that social media - and the shiny new tools - can provide compelling benefits for many nonprofits. And they engage different audiences than more traditional techniques, which is useful in of itself.

Isn't it more useful, though, to help nonprofits understand how these new tools and tactics fit in, how they're similar, how they can build on what they're already doing, rather than to focus on how *different* social media is from everything else?

Nonprofits and Photosharing: A Cost-Effective Way to Spread Your Message Online (Michigan Nonprofit Association)
A great summary of what photosharing is, how to do it with a tool like Flikr, and what nonprofits are doing with it.

Simplify the search user experience (Step Two Designs)
Nice look at the key features necessary for a good search experience - particularly for intranets.

NTEN is Listening -- and Learning (NTEN)
Interesting post about how NTEN is following what people are saying about them on the web

Frontline SMS: Great tool for reaching your constituents via SMS (Non-Profit Tech Blog)
Thumbnail review of a product that will let you blast SMS messages to your supporters' cell phones

Contrarian thinking about online organizing (Jon Stahl's Journal)
In a short but sweet post - which got a lot of interesting comments- Jon Stahl postulates that it's too easy to confuse tapping into existing energy as *creating* that energy through online organizing

The Direct Mail Addiction (Nonprofit Online News)
Thoughtful (though perhaps a bit overstated) look at some of the issues involved with direct mail, and some of the reasons that nonprofits may overprioritize it compared to other communication methods

Online Social Networks in Politics: Promise and Frustration (e.politics)
Really insightful look into the opportunities and challenges for politics and advocacy presented by online social networks.

Data Protection and Web Based Applications (ICT Hub Knowledgebase)
I don't know if I agree with the exceedingly cautious tone of this article. But an interesting look at some of the issues with hosted applications - especially free ones.

Google Maps: Seek and Hide (Beaconfire Wire)
Great look at some of the important considerations and challenges when implementing a mashup with Google Maps

Lessons from Katrina Help Media, Volunteer Efforts in Gustav Coverage (MediaShift)
Interesting look at the website and social media efforts geared to help in the Hurricane Gustav efforts

I conduct an online seminar on online donations, and this time around we got several questions about donations through YouTube. I wasn't familiar with what they offered in this area, so I did a little quick research.

YouTube does support online donations, via Google Checkout. So you can create a YouTube channel that features your videos (or other people's videos), and add a Donate button. That Donate button is supported by Google Checkout - which means there's no transaction fee at all (it's completely free), but at least as of about two months ago the flow was really not friendly to donors - it was geared to people purchasing items (anyone know if this is still true?). See my post specifically on Google Checkout for donations for more...

If you're using YouTube, I don't see any harm in setting up the Donate button, but I don't think this is a substitute for a more general online donations capacity on your website, for those donors who aren't really interested in videos. You could always just put a Google Checkout Donate button on your website too... though there are likely to be better options.

We got a questions about Facebook Causes as well. This seems very similar to me, from an online donations strategy perspective. Certainly it doesn't hurt to setup a Cause for folks who use Facebook already, but it doesn't make sense to me to route all your online donors through it.

And with a number of easy and inexpensive options for online donation tools - for instance, Network for Good and Click and Pledge - if you're going to look for online donations, I don't see any reason not to have an online donation functionality on your website itself.

Colin Delaney of ePolitics and I did a workshop focusing on Online Communications on a Shoestring at the Craigslist Nonprofit Boot Camp last weekend. It was a good time, and it seemed to go well. I liked the structure we used, which divided up the world of online communications into three parts:

• Website (as a home base)
• Email Communication (to talk to your friends)
• Online Outreach (to reach new friends)

But how should a nonprofit balance those components? It will of course vary based on an organization's mission and goals, but is it possible to come up with a rule of thumb? Should a nonprofit focus a third of their energy and money per year on each component? While I have no specific evidence, a rule of thirds resonates with me.

A website tends to be a bit more of a front-loaded investment, but thinking about it as a yearly expense can help to prioritize. For instance, if you have $30,000 worth of time and money to spend on all your online communications, investing $10,000 in upgrading and maintaining your website makes sense to me.

And then another $10,000 in crafting a solid email communications strategy and putting out solid communications? That seems right, or even low - if there's one area that should get more focus than the rest, I'd say it's probably here.

And then lastly, online outreach - so everything from search engine optimization to viral movies or petitions to social networking. This gets the vast volume of the buzz from the nonprofit technology community, and there's no question it should be part of the mix, but I don't know whether it should get more than a third of your online communications energy. The size and mission of the organization might come into play here - a larger organization that's targeting internet-savvy audiences might find that it's worthwhile to invest much more energy in this area, while just maintaining a website and email communications status quo. But a smaller organization might get better return on focusing first on creating a strong website and email infrastructure, before investing in finding new online friends (after all, it's a good website and email strategy that will help keep your friends, after you find them).

What do you think?

Okay, I'm back from vacation and ready to.. blog some stuff! First off, we have a new article up: A Few Good Methods for Processing Credit Cards.

We've done a lot of articles in the world of payment processing, but this one is a broad look at all of the options, from lockboxes and swipe options through to online methods and point of sale systems. There's a huge amount to know in this realm... as I discovered as I struggled with how the heck to structure the article.