You need a better reason

@Peggy - Thanks for the link! I especially like "...have you figured out how you are going to turn fans into customers (or donors if you are a non-profit)?" For non-profits, it's really about turning fans into raving fans by talking about what's important to them. GirlEffect.Org does an excellent job of this. In their flash video they talk about the unlimited potential that a single girl has instead of "look at all the cool things GirlEffect.Org is doing!"

Non-profits have little enough resources as it is to go running after a Facebook account just because some board member thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread. Asking 5 strategic questions (http://sn.im/f1evr) can help slow a board member down and refocus the conversation on what's important -- clients and donors.

@Jon - Thanks for the insight. It is a lot of work! Have you ignited any fans yet?

John,
Thanks for the post. Recently our non-profit got a Facebook profile and Cause (BibleFan.org).
I tinkered around and then finally got serious. In a matter of a month, we quadrupled our number of people in the cause, doubled our friends and raised $500. Those all sound great, but I've put in hours to help this thing move along with the intent of helping 32 poor villages around the world.
Our why is very important - to identify and communicate with the next generation of organizational supporters.
It's been fun, but this small bit of success has taken a lot of time and effort. It's worth counting the cost before jumping in.

<abbr>Jon D. Wilke’s last blog post..Audio Bible Ministry Releases The Easter Story Podcast</abbr>

Short but poignant post from @johnhaydon -- You Need A Better Reason: http://www.corporatedollar.org/2009/03/reason/

@Jason - Thanks for stopping by. What impact on these tools does the depth and quality of the conversation have? Is there a different result from these two questions:

<ol>
<li>What can you do to support our non-profit?</li>
<li>What can we do to create a kick ass world?</li> </ol>

Some really great comments here. I have found that Facebook is a very useful resource for schools in creating and working with alumni groups. Outside of this I am looking forward to see what they do with "pages" to increase their useablility. Causes is another tool that can be used by your supporters to raising money and awareness for your organization. I think that Causes is best used in conjunction with some kind of competition to encouarge supporters to give.

<abbr>Jason Dick’s last blog post..Free Advertising for Your Nonprofit</abbr>

Common

... we all know the "why" is "they heard it's cool and there is someone at the organization that wants to play with a new tool all day" :)

It is true that a lot of organizations get an idea and want to be on Facebook and for good reason beinga that Facebook is growing by eight hundred trillion users a day. I think it makes a lot of sense for org's to get on Facebook. That doesnt mean they shouldnt plan, strategize, etc... Sometimes you just have to jump in, but that doest mean you jump in and leave it alone after that. If you want to make impact you have to work at it no matter what the platform.

http://twitter.com/franswaa

<abbr>frank’s last blog post..franswaa: Check out "Balancing the PR Bubble" http://www.waxingunlyrical.com/?p=264 by @shonali ... i for sure go off the grid at times</abbr>

@GrantGriffiths Thanks, bud. http://tinyurl.com/dnykt4

Once again @JohnHaydon knows how to get us to think about social medai - Read "You need a better reason" http://tinyurl.com/dnykt4

Reason number one has to be "because that is where the people we need to reach are." Otherwise there is no point in devoting energy to a medium that your audience does not use (it's easy to forget that not everybody even knows what Facebook is). Identifying who your key target audience(s) are and what media they use is a critical piece of the strategy. Only once you've established that enough of them are active on Facebook to make it worth your while, should you then figure out how to reach out to them there and what you're going to ask them to do.

<abbr>Nedra Weinreich’s last blog post..In the meantime...</abbr>

@Ria - Great point about setting up systems to measure. Once you are more clear on "Why", then expected results will become clear, and then what to measure will become clear.

@Amy - Thanks for stopping by! I love: "Half the folks who call me are ones who at some point got a blog started just because someone mentioned they should have one, and then they realize they don’t know what to do with it or don’t have the time (etc)."

The first question I'd be asking myself or any client is WHY... more specifically, what are your goals? Is that my "J" coming through? I would want to set up a system with which to measure future performance.

I think other people have already weighed in with the opinion that Facebook is a medium/tool and depending on your communication goal, it can be a powerful one to reach a certain type of audience with a certain message. So if your goals point in that direction and be prepared to go the distance. Simply setting up a page in Facebook won't do much... you have to engage. It's social media.

<abbr>Ria’s last blog post..How to Forgive</abbr>

Tools are only useful if you a) could benefit from the tool, and b) know the best way to use it. I could go to the hardware store and buy the hot new cordless drill everyone is raving about, but it would be useless for me if I don't need a drill and wouldn't know how to use it even if I needed one. Doesn't make the drill any less cool; just makes me a fool who wastes time/money.

Answering the question of "Why?" should always be the starting point. Half the folks who call me are ones who at some point got a blog started just because someone mentioned they should have one, and then they realize they don't know what to do with it or don't have the time (etc). Turns out, many of these folks shouldn't be blogging in the first place. Over the past year I've been watching the same be true for sites like Twitter and Facebook.

I don't think it's a social media problem so much as it is a people problem. People who don't stop to ask "Why?" about social media tools are the same ones buying the drills they don't need just because some guy at the hardware store told them to.

<abbr>Amy Derby’s last blog post..Ads on Law Blogs? Are We Really That Desperate?</abbr>

@Amanda - Great point. In the early 90's email was the new technology.

I think instead of worrying about what the IN site is right now people need to learn about the methodology of social networking sites. Discover why participating in social networking sites like facebook work for your business or don't. Then find where their target market is participating and come up with a strategy on how to capitalize on that audience. It is facebook this time, then it will be Twitter and then it will be something else we haven't heard of us yet.

<abbr>Amanda O'Brien’s last blog post..Make your blog go the extra mile… or two.. or 13.1</abbr>

@Graham - Great examples, and great advice about focus and losing control. I guess my bigger question is what Hildy was getting at:

As organizations get less relevant and important to people, how can these organization start conversations (as Jamie suggests) about the greater cause and the future of the community (instead of talking about the latest news or why you should get involved with their latest cool fundraiser)?

In the end, people donate to non-profits because they believe in a greater cause (hunger, poverty). Yet, not profits continue to keep these conversations focused on their teeny tiny organization.

John

Exactly John. I guess this is true for any of the social media applications accessible to charities. "It seems like a good idea" is not the reason we should be making use of them. It's not about charities being seen to be trendy and jumping on the bandwagon. What it is about is charities saying, "What advantages could these free applications offer us, that will build on what we already do and take us above and beyond that?"

In the UK the Dogs Trust has used Twitter and Facebook to communicate their work, their needs and the rescued dogs that need new homes. They have thought through what they need from social media and built a strategy to achieve it, just like a charity might write a fundraising strategy or PR strategy.

What is interesting is that thing can also work the other way round. Pendleside Hospice in Lancashire launched a group page on Facebook in November. They didn't publicise it, but suddenly noticed it was growing rapidly. In the past four weeks it has grown by over 400 to well over 1,100. This is down to purely viral activity by supporters of the hospice, not the hospice itself. They have also discovered that the public are beginning to post tributes on their FB wall to loved ones who have died at the hospice.

Another hospice, Farleigh in Chelmsford, Essex, has a Facebook page, but it wasn't set up by them. The relative of a patient set it up. It does contain a few facts that are not quite right about the hospice, but still is very supportive of their work.

So I guess not only do charities need to think through carefully what they want, they also have to be prepared to give up some control too, if they really want to go with the spirit of social media!

<abbr>Graham Richards’s last blog post..Legacy income for charities could fall by £200 million</abbr>

@Joe - Great point. It's not about the tools, it's about the conversation!

This is a little like thinking the dropping of a pebble at one end of the ocean will lead to a tsunami on the distant shore. Yeah, maybe it will in some chaos theory simulation, but in the real word it hardly sends out a ripple.

What most people fail to grasp is that all of these tools are platforms for building connections not broadcast pulpits from which to send out your message. This is why so many organizations get started with blogs or Facebook and then fall flat on their face. They only see the first moment, the instant excitement of "getting it out there." They fail to see the hours of hard work and dedication required to build deep and lasting relationships.

In my experience, most existing organizations are a little out of touch when it comes to relationships. They want communication to be a one-way street. They talk. We listen (and give). They talk some more.

The first step is getting an organization to listen and have a conversation. If they can do that, the next step in social media-networking-yadda-yadda will present itself naturally.

<abbr>Jamie Grove’s last blog post..Why King Moonracer is My Hero</abbr>

Getting on Facebook is a great idea! But remember these two things.

<ol>
<li>First, it needs to be managed and nurtured like any other communication medium to be successful.</li>
<li>Second, it's not a standalone strategy. It doesn't exclude doing other things, it's ANOTHER thing for you to do.</li></ol>

I love the "So What" question, John.

You're on Facebook - or any social media for that matter. What are you hoping those tools will accomplish?

To raise money? "Get the word out"? Then my next "so what" question in your list would be: What are you hoping THOSE things will accomplish?

Why are you raising money / getting the word out? Is it to keep your program going? To keep your organization alive?

And "so what?" again: What are you hoping THOSE things will accomplish? Why keep your program going? Why keep your organization alive?

And "so what?" AGAIN: What are you hoping your program / organization will accomplish? For whom? What difference are you hoping to make? For whom?

Ah, finally a "so what" that someone cares about besides your organization!

You've struck the chord, John. Best question EVER - "So What?" The most important part of that question, though, is to keep asking it until you get to something we all care about - making a difference in our communities.

Only from the answer to that ultimate "so what" question, can we begin rationally asking "how" questions. "How can we best engage with others who want to make the same difference we do?"

And finally, that will lead us to all those engagement and communications tools - like Facebook.

Hildy Gottlieb
Author - FriendRaising: Community Engagement Strategies for Boards Who Hate Fundraising but Love Making Friends

@Gurukarm - Thanks for the tip!

Question: What do you do with that audience? And how do you know if they want to be "targeted"?

Why to get on Facebook is a good question. For the organization I am with, Physicians for Human Rights, having an intern who is an active Facebook member and a committed human rights activist, who runs specific pages regarding specific issues, which are especially targeted to our student members (public health and medical students, primarily), has been very useful as an adjunct to our main sites. She's helped get news and information out (ex: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20650248385), and organized attendance at events (ex: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=55934618246).

So, bottom line? Yes, get on Facebook if someone is ready to keep it fresh and target to the audiences you want.

<abbr>Gurukarm’s last blog post..Twictionary …somebody totally beat me to it!</abbr>