What's a Nonprofit To Do?

Post from Michele Salomon, Senior Research Director for Public Affairs and Architect of Donor Pulse research conducted by Harris Interactive:

Last week, we talked about support for nonprofits, why support is given, and how the economy and web 2.0 are altering the landscape.  Recently, we hosted a webinar on these topics and received, by far, the most questions about social media:

• How can I get started?
• What exactly should I do?
• How much effort should I invest?
• How can I make the most of those 175 million Facebookers?

As one of the co-leaders of non-profit research at Harris who also provides financial support (albeit modest) to the nonprofits I care deeply about, I have both a professional and personal investment in this topic.

Early in my career, I took a sales course founded on one key piece of advice…

• in every single interaction, always ask clients for a “commitment” step to further the sales process along – get the client to schedule another call, send an RFP, or introduce you to someone else on the senior team.  

A similar mindset would be useful here and is one of the reasons President Obama’s campaign worked so well. I am among the millions on his mailing list, and every email I received asked me to make a commitment. Okay, so they all asked for money, but they also all asked me to take an action (e.g., watch a video, make a phone call, attend an event, etc.) that kept me engaged, beyond financially. 

I think I would do more for the organizations I cared about if they would only ask – for something other than money.  And I’m not alone – nearly two-thirds of engaged adults (that is, volunteers, donors, or advocates) would like to become more involved with the nonprofit or charity they support the most. And, while the most common reason for not actually doing more, cited by 51%, is lack of time, roughly one in ten simply don’t know where to begin.  

Keeping people engaged is critical, especially those who care about your issue.  They’re already talking about you to friends and family:  61% of engaged adults have recommended a nonprofit they support.  And, they talk about your:

• mission (78%),
• achievements (53%),
• opportunities to donate (42%), and
• opportunities to volunteer (35%). 

Web 2.0 makes these conversations that are already taking place even easier to accomplish for both you and your supporters.  Note: I am newly aware of several causes because my Facebook friends care about them. 

So, if I were you, here are a few things I would do:

• Let supporters know how to find you by having an “official” organization group on Facebook and other social networking sites… and ask them to invite their friends.
• Encourage discourse by providing opportunities for supporters to talk about why your issue is their issue.
• Get the “front lines” (e.g., the social workers, educators, community organizers) engaged in the conversation.  And involve beneficiaries of your services to tell their story.
• Identify creative, straight-forward ways that supporters can help you (beyond the obvious financial investment) from disseminating information by email to volunteering time.
• Explain clearly how your issue impacts the larger political agenda of legislators, policy-makers and the public.

Comments

[ralph]

Michele, thanks for some simple and helpful tips. I am on a couple of non-profit Boards and I am going to explore what and/or how we are doing with social media.