Social Media for Accountability Part 1: Board Governance

This is the first of a two-part article that addresses the internal application of social media to improve efficacy and accountability in nonprofit industry. This installment demonstrates how social media can improve board and executive governance, while the next will look at the broader issue of charities, foundations and philanthropists.

Last August, Pablo Eisenberg wrote in the Chronicle of Philanthropy that the “nonprofit world is intellectually moribund.” He added that charities and foundations “are in flux, besieged by rising expectations, an uncertain financial future, and a lack of clarity about their priorities and future direction.” Among his prescriptions: a “type of New York Review of Books for nonprofit groups” that grants the industry greater accountability and opportunity in the news media.

I agree with Mr. Eisenberg, and not just because I like the New York Review of Books. But the industry is advancing too quickly for this solution to have a timely effect. The number of nonprofits has increased threefold in the last 25 years. Between 1998 and 2008, international private giving by U.S.-based corporate and independent foundations and individuals doubled – surpassing the World Bank's commitments by $13 billion in 2007 alone.

The long term remedy would certainly benefit from a different kind of news media, but the near term begs for social media solutions.

When nonprofits think social media, they usually apply it to all things external: branding, marketing, advocacy, fundraising and community building. One seldom hears discussion on how social media applies internally in the service of integrity, efficacy and accountability.

Consider two hypothetical scenarios at the level of board and executive governance: A 35-year-old walks into her first meeting as the youngest and newest member of a nonprofit board of directors. She observes a collective silence among her fellow board as the chief executive reports on matters that she feels deserve scrutiny. She demurs, thinking either that silence is the norm, or that someone else is already on top of this.

Scene 2: A celebrity tycoon checks emails on his iPhone en route to JFK International, and notices that the executive director of a nonprofit on which he is a board member has proposed a salary hike to $500,000. This is excessive, he thinks, but his taxi is pulling into the terminal and tomorrow he’ll be in Athens. The thought escapes him.

Every nonprofit board is its own culture and political system. Whether it’s composed of middle class professionals or prominent public figures, the politics of personality (e.g. the founder chairman) may create a culture of silence that renders the board powerless. Meanwhile, a board that’s all prominence and no substance could amount to an impressive rubber stamp.

The trick is to steer boards away from self-centeredness and toward the heart and soul of the nonprofit’s cause.

Of course, this seems like an impossible feat for the person who sits on six boards – ask her if she truly believes in democracy, access to water, press freedom, refugee rights, healthcare and public schools, and she answers yes. But ask if she has time to address all six, 24/7 and she’ll look at you funny.

Social media tools, if used strategically and selectively, make this closer to possible. They organize passions and commitments into manageable, messageable and accountable segments.

Take the scenario of the 35-year-old board member. Imagine now that when she joined the board, she was granted access to its exclusive, private discussion group on Yammer.com. This is where she learns the back story on existing elephant-in-the-room topics, and it’s where she can broach new ones – with the psychological distance of an electronic interface.

What’s more, imagine a social media strategy sophisticated enough to anticipate when that psychological distance was needed and when it was counterproductive. (A good social media professional can pinpoint exactly where that line is drawn.)

Turn back to the celebrity tycoon board member, now at his laptop in Athens. An alert reminds him that he is required to be active on Twitter for said nonprofit on this very day. So he tweets a thing or two about poverty in Africa, then remembers the ED’s extravagant salary proposal.

He cunningly digs up an online op-ed about excessive nonprofit salaries and tweets it to his 80,000-strong Twitter following. By the next board meeting, the ED has shelved his salary proposal.

In these new scenarios, social media was the means with which the board members connected with their passions and carried out their duties. And because social media was built into their board policies – with tools, strategies and quotas – it was their cue to remove themselves from the flock mentality and air of self-importance. In the end, it brought integrity to their nonprofits, and reinforced everything that made them join the board in the first place.

Of course, these are only hypothetical snapshots. But it’s becoming a trend. More social media experts and philanthropic leaders are asking where and how these tools can be used to help nonprofits, as Eisenberg puts it, “meet the challenges of the next 25 or 50 years.”

And like the nonprofits that jumped on the Twitter/Facebook marketing wagon early, those who do so for board accountability may, in the long run, stand apart in the eyes of donors.

Do You Flip?

This morning while walking up the subway stairs on my way to the office, I caught site of a great ad for Flip Video – it asks a simple question – "Do you Flip?".  It reminded me of the terrific Flip Video Spotlight programs available to charitable organizations – their Matching Purchase Program and Flip for Good – and I thought I would pose the question to all of you.

So, do you Flip? 

I hope so.  Great storytelling is an essential component to building meaningful relationships with your supporters and video is a powerful way to capture stories.  Don't have a huge technology budget?  Worried about not knowing how to use the camcorder?  Don't flip out. 

Through Flip's Matching Purchase Program, launched in 2007 at the Clinton Global Initiative, charitable organizations can partner and receive discounts on mini-camcorders.  Apply today and get Flip's on time to distribute to your volunteers or program staff before their next field visit. Empower them to capture the inspiring stories of your organization's mission in action. Then literally show supporters the impact of your work by sharing video stories on your organization's website, blog, Facebook page, and on video sharing sites like YouTube and DoGooder.

Quell your technology anxieties by checking out the simple tips Flip Video Spotlight offers to charitable partners and learn how to best use their simple, yet powerful, camcorder technologies.  Take some time to watch case studies on existing charitable partners like WITNESS and Kiva and get some creative ideas on how you can leverage the power of video to build stronger relationships with supporters. 

Saying Thank You in a Social World

A donor, one big or small, makes a gift to your organization. Your backend office generates and (e)mails a thank you letter and/or reciept. If the gift size says "major donor", you might even call to say thank you.

But is that enough? Are you missing out on opportunities to show your appreciation in a more public way, especially one that would encourage *other people* to make a gift?

It's easy to tweet a "thanks to all of our donors" message or rely on Facebook Causes to display a list of donors. But have you named specific donors in a Wall status update that would be displayed outside of the Cause or tracked down a donor's Twitter account and acknowledged them in a tweet?

There's a reason why Facebook and Twitter display the number of friends, fans, and followers you have. And a reason why #followfriday is popular. And why Digg, Twitter and now Facebook can display the number of times a page has been shared. People are, well, a little bit vain. That's not to say all of social media is a popularity contest, but don't ignore the opportunities to call out a donor by posting a more personalized thank that would show up on their Facebook news feed or list of tweets mentioning their @username. Your public appreciation could bring you closer to a repeat gift or a viral appeal and hopefully your next donation.

Three-O Bing-Oh: A 30-Day Bing Challenge

In recent technology news, Microsoft has been rolling out some pretty awesome things that are putting them in direct competition with long-standing brands. Consider:

• Microsoft released its own anti-virus and spyware program, Security Essentials.  Based on early reviews, McAfee and Symantec should worry.
• Sony and Nintendo have long been the most well-known names in gaming consoles; dominating the industry.  Microsoft however has been creeping up. They recently announced that the XBOX 360 passed the 30 million unit mark, making 2008 their biggest year – and that’s still not enough. They have a partnership with NetFlix, allowing movie rental on the console (oppose to purchasing/renting expensive blu-ray discs that play on the Sony PS3), and with Project Natal on its way in 2010, the Nintendo Wii will soon look as primitive as an Atari.
• Windows7, the OS follow up to Vista. Reviews have been very strong and almost as exciting as XP was when it was released and people were literally waiting in lines for it.  A stronger OS from Microsoft means less converts to Apple. Kylie 's too cute to be wrong.
• And there's the upcoming Microsoft Office 2010 which is said to have a strong online component to it. This move, I can’t help but imagine has to be a wink/nod/gotcha’ to Google’s Docs – a free online suite of Office-like tools.

Then there’s Bing, Microsoft’s new search, no - sorry, “decision” engine. I’m frequently coming across Bing-talk online.  Reviews thus far:

Bing Keeps Growing: Has Microsoft Finally Cracked Search?
The only thing that will make people switch from Google (or even Yahoo!) to Bing is noticeably better search results. We recently wrote about a site called BlindSearch that lets users blindly sample search results from Google, Yahoo!, and Bing and then choose the best results. The results of that test have been taken down to thwart users attempting to game the system, but at the time of our writing last week, Bing wasn’t doing so badly with people preferring its results about one third of the time. None of the top three search engines were preferred by users more than 45% of that time, which really indicates how close they are to one another in result quality.
http://mashable.com/2009/06/17/bing-keeps-growing/

Microsoft's Bing search engine in challenge to Google
Although it's important to note that the chances of Bing beating Google are slim, it's also important to note that through the help of several innovative features, Bing has been able to capture some market share away from the search giant. In fact, it now has about 10 percent market share. A few years ago, the thought of Microsoft achieving that kind of success online was unheard of. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article6837577.ece

Bing Growing Eight Times Faster Than Google
No doubt about it: More consumers are Googling with Bing. According to the latest stats from research firm Nielsen, Microsoft’s (MSFT) new search engine is growing faster than its archrival’s.
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20090917/bing-growing-8-times-faster-than-google/?mod=ATD_rss

It’s talk like this that cannot, and given our industry, should not be ignored. However, I’m a slave to my habits, and my habits have revolved around Google for years. So I had to think up a way to make this interesting and keep me motivated through any bumps while trying Bing out - than it hit me, I decided to put myself through a 30-Day Bing Challenge, I’m calling it, “Three-O, Bing-Oh” (I’ll consider other titles in the comments section).

Starting today, I’ve made Bing my IE7 homepage, and I’ve made it the default search engine on the engine toolbar.

In 30 days, I’ll put together my ideas, general impressions, unique offerings and “decision” helpfulness of the search results on this blog. Should be fun!

See you in three-oh-days.

Using the Social Media Snowball Formula

A staple read this week in the online nonprofit sphere was Brenna Holmes’ blog post on Community Organizer 2.0 about building the California State Parks Foundation’s (CSPF) Facebook Fan Page from 517 fans to 45,000 – a pretty big honking deal.

It’s especially remarkable given that CSPF’s four-day “Friend Get Friend” campaign nearly met its original goal of 5,000 fans, then surpassed it with 6,236 fans on the following day. The campaign brought CSPF considerable media attention and encouraged about 5,000 concerned Californians to visit state parks on a weekend in June and then post photos from their visits to CSPF’s Fan Page wall.

It’s the kind of online-to-offline-to-online success that would make any digital-savvy mother proud, and Brenna’s must be smiling.

Of course, any nonprofiteer who read this wants to know how to make this narrative her own. And absent a perfect villain like the anti-progressive, state park budget slashing Governator himself, and the fierce urgency of legislative deadlines, will CSPF’s Facebook formula of smart messaging be enough?

Before we go there, let’s assume that while your nonprofit addresses a noble and necessary social need, there are no foreseeable wars, hurricanes (though ‘tis the season), forest fires or sinister bands of ninjas out to undo your good work. 

The first question you should ask is whether you’ve taken full inventory of opportunities that do exist. For instance, are you aware of Twestival Local, and that your city and charity might qualify to benefit from it if you register by August 25th?

Moreover, are you on Twitter? Why not? (Don’t worry, CSPF didn’t get there until late last July.)

The next step is to realize that success isn’t all about fortunate externalities – although they do help. It begins instead with a combination of perspective, the right tools and a winning formula. And persistence, of course, but since you work for the cause that’s in your DNA.

To see what I mean about perspective, turn back to the CSPF example with a different mindset: State parks are always under the threat of budget cuts, that’s not unusual; compared to other Republicans, you could be facing much worse opponents than Governor Schwarzenegger.

If CSPF had this perspective, there would be no state parks east of the Rockies. The point is that there may be no impending ninja attack, but your job wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t a threat to your cause. It’s up to you to reframe it, and apply the right online tools to communicate and make it viral.

Let’s begin with the tools. If your organization hasn’t already invested in email campaigns, you undoubtedly intend to. Next consider the two strongest social media applications in online organizing, Twitter and Facebook. Regardless of where your nonprofit lies on the spectrum of novice to advanced, everyone shares a common interest with these tools: growth. That is, followers on Twitter and fans on Facebook.

(A quick aside: There’s been great debate over the benefits of Facebook’s Causes vs. Fan Pages applications. Your correspondent is of the opinion that Fan Pages win this one. Causes are great but have trouble sustaining over time – once dormant, they’re hard to resuscitate. Fan Pages are like the vintage Mustang you take out on weekends – they’re more timeless. And with a Static FBML box, you can embed donate or email subscribe functionalities on your Fan Page.)

Finally, the Fan Page-Twitter cocktail is ideal because both applications create communities of potential donors; have email blast-like capabilities (in fact, many practitioners have found greater returns on tweeting take-action or donate links than they get from conventional email campaigns); provide a forum for activity, media sharing and conversation; and the online audience you’re not reaching on Twitter is probably active on Facebook.

Now for the winning formula, which goes something like this:

Goals → Urgency → Communications → Giving

 
The Snowball Formula, as I just decided to call it, earns its namesake because each element rolls into the next, making your campaign bigger and more formidable as it goes. Besides, snowballs grow, which is precisely what you want you campaign to do, not just with followers, but with generating a buzz and raising money.

Here’s how it breaks down:

Establish Goals: There’s nothing like clarity. Tell your supporters exactly what you’re trying to do. You want a million dollars, 10,000 fans/followers on Facebook and Twitter, and you need it all by this deadline. Promote this on your website (or, dare I say, a microsite?) and in email campaigns, and don’t forget to be creative: Tie your goal to a mission match (e.g. 10,000 fans for 10,000 blankets for the homeless) or donor match (e.g. 10,000 fans matched with $10,000 from ACME Co.).

Introduce Urgency: This step is best accommodated with robust communications coupled with timing. That is, constant vigilance for opportunities to exploit, such as hurricanes and marauding ninjas. More importantly, you need to sound convincing. As stated earlier, CSPF had several externalities working to its advantage. In their initial Friend Get Friend appeal last May (broadcast via Fan Page email notification), they articulated Schwarzenegger’s plan to halve the General Fund budget by July, and eliminate it by 2010. But the real urgency was introduced several sentences later when they said, “This year’s cuts are 10 times as bad so we need 10 times the fans on Facebook – 5,000 – by Friday to fight this newest proposal back.”  That’s it. No meticulous breakdown of cause and effect, no online grassroots feasibility metrics, just a few words that said, basically, you should really, really do this. Because we said so.

Sustain Communication: Your average dictator, cynic or communications consultant will tell you that power lies not in facts, but in controlling the story. Communications should remain consistent throughout your campaign while you optimize all channels of social media and email. Content is largely informed by external events, but some can be planned in advance, such as reminding your supporters about goal status (i.e. urging people to recruit more), and finding new ways to express urgency. There is also the matter of not-so-public communications: Along the way it helps to identify and enlist individuals with large online followings (it could be a Twitterphile celebrity like Ashton Kirchner, but any person with a zillion followers will do) to help contribute to the buzz you’re creating on Facebook and Twitter, especially if you decide to end your campaign with a big ask…

Get’em Giving: There’s nothing wrong with asking for money. And it actually improves your chances of reaching your supporter-growth goals if you orchestrate the giving into a singular fundraising event, such as a 24-hour offline-to-online Tweet-up event. This is because the days leading up to your fundraising day will be all about growing your supporter base. Treat it the way you would a fundraiser house party. Your friends will be happy to help you promote it, and on the party day itself, you have a captive audience that’s ready to give $20 here and $100 there. Several examples are worth mentioning, such as Charity: Water’s Twestival, Epic Change’s Tweetsgiving and PlayPumps International’s Aquathon.

There is, of course, much more to be said for social media outside of Twitter and Facebook, and even more regarding the 3rd party applications that support them. But if a strong, social media sensibility comes first, the tools will follow.