Who should manage social media at your nonprofit?

4624601166 468c549fb2 Who should manage social media at your nonprofit?

Photo by arbyreed

It would be great if you I could give you “the answer” to this one, but I can’t. And if I ever do, please run me over.

Even the folks at Big Duck don’t have a simple answer. And they’re the smart ones!

Sarah Durham at Big Duck wrote an article last week called “Who should manage communications at your nonprofit?” that frames this topic from an organizational culture perspective.

She argues that the real question is “what type of culture does your organization have around communication?”

Nonprofits that values good communications have four qualities:

  1. A mature, transparent culture around sharing information internally and externally.
  2. A defined budget for communications.
  3. Real, live human beings who are responsible for communications.
  4. A long view attitude.

Head on over and read it for yourself. Bookmark it. print it and share it with staff.

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  • http://www.creativegiving.com Eric Andersen

    hey John, just wondering….do nonprofits typically have several people dedicated solely to social media work or is it just one part of an employee's things to do? i was just curious about how much work is dedicated to social media.

    • http://www.johnhaydon.com John Haydon

      Eric – I can only speak for small and medium sized orgs, which is who I work
      with, and generally that have social media as part of their jobs.

  • http://twitter.com/thinklynsen thinklynsen

    My boss looked at this issue recently in Indianapolis' ORG Magazine. He said this question isn't so much about what department should “own” social media, but about the qualities of the people in your organization.

    “The person or people who strategize and carry out your social media plan need three qualities:

    1. A passion and long term commitment to the organization and its mission
    2. A depth of understanding of the organization’s goals and direction
    3. A grasp of how social media specifically can help your organization meet those goals, which includes a grasp of how social media works.”

    Full article here: http://orgmag.com/businessofcommunity.html

    I'm curious to hear what you think! Is it about the person or the department?

    • http://www.johnhaydon.com John Haydon

      I think it's about the culture, which is a reflection of the people. It's also about the people, which are reflections of the culture. Based on my experience working with small nonprofits, these three qualities are right on target. I would also add that the folks who carry out the plan have to be recognized as an equal member of the community they're speaking with. In the book, “Trust Agents”, Chris and Julien refer to this as being “one of us”.

      A critical competency within the leadership therefore is having the wisdom to recognize the right combination of these three qualities.

  • Lclay

    It is part of the Development Office (party of one – me) here.

    • http://www.johnhaydon.com John Haydon

      Got it.