Integrating Social Media Into
Your Nonprofit’s Communications Strategy and Beyond
Beth Kanter, Master Trainer
San Antonio, TX - August 18, 2015

Beth Kanter: Master Trainer, Author, Speaker and Blogger
@kanter

Topics OUTCOME
Interactive
Reflective
Fun
FRAME
Take 1 small step
to improve your
social media
practice
• Networked
Nonprofits: Best
Practices
• SMARTer Social
Media
• Social Content and
Engagement
• Measurement
• Being Efficient
Workshop Agenda
http://bethkanter.wikispaces.com/the-big-give-sa

What is your burning question?

Campfire Stories

Networked Nonprofits Defined
Simple, agile, and
transparent
nonprofits.
They are experts at
using networks and
social media tools to
make the world a
better place.

Broadband
Mobile
Social Networks
3 Digital Revolutions
Thomas Hawk

Institutions Need To Change From the Inside Out

Embrace Organizational and Individual Networks

If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t
walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep
moving forward.”

CRAWL WALK RUN FLY
Where is your organization?
Linking Social with
Results and
Networks
Pilot: Focus one
program or channel
with measurement
Incremental Capacity
Leader and
employees use
social but no
strategy
Ladder of
Engagement
Content Strategy
Informal Champions
Strategy, Socially
Engaged Leaders
Best Practices
Measurement and
learning in all above
Communications
Strategy
Development
Networked Mindset
and Map
Culture Change
Brand on Social,
Not Leader or
Employees, no
champions online
Network Building – both
organization and
professional
Formal Champions –
internal/external Strategy
Multi-Channel Engagement,
Content, and Measurement
Reflection and Continuous
Improvement

Share Pair: Where’s Your Organization Now?
• Is your organization at
crawl, walk, run, or fly?
• What do you need to do
to improve?

The Networked Nonprofit Mindset

Networked Nonprofit Mindset: A Leadership Style
• Leadership through active social participation
• Listening and cultivating organizational and
professional networks to achieve the impact
• Sharing control of decision-making
• Communicating through a network model,
rather than a broadcast model
• Openness, transparency, decentralized decision-
making, and collective action.
• Being Data Informed, learning from failure

Best Practice: Write Down the Rules – Social Media Policy
Resources:
http://bethkanter.wikispaces.com/the-big-give-sa/


Social Media Policy – All Staff Participate
http://www.bethkanter.org/staff-guidelines/

Benefit: Amplify and Extend Reach
Average overlap of audience on
Twitter between CEO and Brand
accounts: 14%
Goal: Advocacy
Audience:
ED - Influencers
Brand  Supporters

Different Styles of Engaging

Staff Champions Increase Capacity

SMARTer Social Media

Flickr Photo: graceinhim
People
Objectives
Strategies
Tools

PEOPLE: Artists and people in their neighborhood
OBJECTIVES:
Increase engagement by 2 comments per post by FY 2014
Content analysis of conversations: Does it make the
organization more accessible?
Increase enrollment in classes and attendance at events by
5% by FY 2014
10% students /attenders say they heard about us through
Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
STRATEGY
Show the human face of artists, remove the mystique, get
audience to share their favorites, connect with other
organizations.
TOOLS
Focused on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to use best
practices and align engagement/content with other channels
which includes flyers, emails, and web site.
POST APPLIED: SMALL NGO

• Donors
• Supporters
• End Users of Programs
PEOPLE
• Policy makers
• Journalists
• Business Leaders
INFLUENCERS
• Partners
• Local Organizations
• State and National
ORGANIZATIONS
POST: DEFINE/Know YOUR AUDIENCE
• What keeps them up at
night?
• What are they currently
seeking?
• What social media channels
do they use for
information?
• What influences their
decisions?
• What influences their
attitudes?
• What’s important to them?
• What makes them act?

PERSONAS
RESEARCH
• Analytics
• Audience
Data
• Survey
• Interviews
PERSONA
• Name
• Define
Needs
• Segment
• Create
Resources: http://bethkanter.wikispaces.com/the-big-give-sa/

PERSONAS APPLIED: SMALL NGO
Artist Persona:
Cathy, in her 20’s, uses
Instagram and Facebook
to share her art work.
Wants to participate in
programs and exhibits at
the gallery.
Neighborhood Persona:
Lee, lives and works in the
neighborhood. Is a cook. Uses
Facebook on his mobile phone. Has
not visited the gallery because he
thought it was a private club.

Focus on the Channels that Target Audience Uses

• Reach, Engagement, Action,
Dollars
Results
1. How many?
2. By when?
3. Measure with metrics
POST: SMART OBJECTIVES

Think and Write: Audience/Objectives

Monitor Engage
Content Champions
POST: SOCIAL STRATEGY

Key Words
Dashboard
Respond
Analysis
Repeat
The process of
tracking what
people are saying
on social media
channels about
your organization
Listening: Why, What, and How

California Shakespeare Theater
California Shakespeare Theatre
California Shakespeare Festival
Cal Shakes
Jonathan Moscone
Susie Falk
As the season approaches -- the names
of that season's directors and
productions.
Twitter lists
Facebook Pages

http://en.mention.net

Quick Brainstorm: Listening
• What keywords should
you monitor?
• List the channels where
you need to read and
respond to channels and
sketch out schedule

Adopt
Donate
Volunteer
Share Photos
Download App
Promote Campaign
Social Strategies: Engagement with a Purpose

Creators
Critics
Collectors
Joiners
• Think about objectives and audience
• What are different ways that your audience can
engage or take action with your organization or
campaign to reach that goal?
• What motivates a person to get to the next level?
• Who influences them or who do they influence?
Think and Write: Engagement Activities
Low Medium High
Comment on Facebook or
other social channel
Share content on Facebook or
other social channel
Like content on Facebook or
other social channel
Learn more about the issue
Take part in a physical event
Organize a fundraiser
Ask people in your network to
donate
Ask people to like, share, or
comment social media
Write an email
Talk to other people
Wear cause related clothing
Make a donation
Volunteer time
Donate blood
Adopt a Pet

PEOPLE: Individuals, Journalists, Donors, Policymakers
OBJECTIVES:
Increase awareness of plight and needs of Syrian Child
Increase engagement around need for humanitarian support
Raise $x for Syrian Children’s Relief Fund
SOCIAL STRATEGY
Share gritty truth in sobering way: children are victims of violence
and war through specific stories and overall statistics
Activate champions and influencers to spread content and stories
to their networks
CTA: Activate petition signatures and donations
CONTENT IDEAS
Infographic and photo stories distributed through social channels
Email for donations
NY Times AD During UNGA Week
Song/Video by Ellie Goulding telling real stories from real
children
Live donor call from Jordan and Reddit
CE0 Carolyn Miles Twitter
Linking Content To Objectives & Workflow

Save the Children – Staff and CEO
How Internal Champions Repurpose

Repurposing Content for Social Channels

Repurposing Content for Different Social Channels

Quick Brainstorm: Content
• Think about your
objectives and audience
• What content will be
most compelling to your
audience to take action?
• What content can you
repurpose for different
channels?

Champions

Research
Recruit
Resources
Unleash
Finding and Leveraging Champions

Quick Brainstorm: Champions
• Brainstorm a list of 20
people you could recruit
as champions

What Channels To Focus On?
All brands can benefit from a Facebook page. Simple to
update, had an ad platform, and largest user base.
Your audiences wants to talk to a real person. Twitter is great
for this. Also good for reaching influencer audiences: media,
journalists, policy makers, etc. Useful for Internal champions.
LinkedIn is great for professional networking for both
individuals AND organizations. If goal is to establish a more
professional looking brand. Useful for internal champions.
Blog platforms like Tumblr are great for shareable multimedia
because the content has a long lifecycle. Blogs are good base
to publish content that can be easily repurposed through other
social channels.
The Basic Platforms

What Channels to focus on?
Good for Brands with a lot of visual content. Easy way to curate content
from your programs or other related sources. Big user-base for food,
fashion, fitness, and DIY.
Great platform to connect with audience that appreciate visual content.
Leverage hashtags, geotagging and influencers on Instagram in your
topic area. Instagram has a large Gen Z and Y user base
Allows your audience to vide your brand’s video content on all
devices. People are consuming video content more and more.
Easily repurpose for other platforms (Facebook, Instagram)
Live video streaming mobile app that allows audiences to
interact with brand in real time
Easy and quick way to share content or “stories” which can be
photos or videos. Largest users are Millennials and GenZ.

Tips
• Focus on the channels that the target audience uses
• Master the basics first
• Experiment with adding channels, with small pilot first
to learn and incrementally investing based on results
• Don’t try to do all at once – too overwhelming
• How to repurpose content creatively across channels

SMARTER SOCIAL MEDIA: CREATE A POSTER
Create A Poster
PEOPLE
OBJECTIVES
STRATEGIES
TACTICS

Poster Gallery Walk

Report Out

Lunch

It’s A Team Monthly Process of Continuous Improvement!
CONTENT
STRATEGY
Ideas
Organize
Create
Curate
Measure
Improve

Highlights
Reviews
Stories
Case Studies
Breaking News
Policy News
Data
Reports
Tips
Tutorials
Lists
Resources
Features News How To
What is a content strategy?
Idea Pieces
Interviews
Opinion
Analysis
Ideas
• Real Time and Planned
• Ever Green and Timely
• Original and Curated
• Words and Pictures
• Long and Short Form
• Repurpose and Recycle for Different Channels

Organizing Your Content Strategy
Resources: http://bethkanter.wikispaces.com/the-big-give-sa/

Date Hook Web Email Facebook Twitter Blog
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1. Brainstorm an editorial
calendar for one week.
2. Use template, sticky notes,
and poster paper
Exercise: Content Strategy Brainstorm Storm

Social Content Optimization
• Focus on publishing high-
quality, engaging, relevant
content
• Timing and Frequency
• Write headlines 25x
• Use images/visuals, but
vary type of content
• Clear to call to action
• Test, Test, Test

Facebook Content Optimization

• Write 25 times, pick best ones
• Don’t give it all away in the headline
• Also, don’t give it all away in the excerpt,
share image, or share text
• Don’t form an opinion for the end user. Let
them do that
• Don’t depress people
• And don’t over-think it. Some of your
headlines will be terrible. Accept it and keep
writing
• Be clever
Resources:
http://bethkanter.wikispaces.com/the-big-give-sa
Writing Headlines: Tips

Tool:
http://www.portent.com/tools/title-maker
Writing Headlines: Exercise
• Select a post from your
Facebook page or another
organization where they
posted a link to an article
• Read the article
• Take 10 minutes to
brainstorm as many
different headlines, write
them down quickly.
• Use headline tool if you
need more ideas

Writing Headlines: Share and Debrief
• Share your headlines with another
person
• Reflection question: Was the best
headline the first one? It usually
never is. The point is that if you
brainstorm 25 headlines, you are
likely to come up with a much
better headline than if you only
brainstormed one headline.

Visual Content: Why Important?
Resources:
http://bethkanter.wikispaces.com/the-big-give-sa/

Tips and Tools
• Don’t just use an image
to use an image
• Don’t use boring or
irrelevant images
• Avoid over use of stock
images
• Keep size and color in
mind
Resource:
The Ultimate List of FREE Stock Image Collections
http://list.ly/list/703-free-stock-or-low-cost-image-sites

Stretch and Break

Result Metrics Analysis Question
Consumption Views
Reach
Followers
Does your audience care about the topics your
content covers? Are they consuming your
content?
Engagement Re-tweets
Shares
Comments
Does your content mean enough to your
audience for them to share it or engage with it?
Action Referrals
Sign Ups
Phone Calls
Does your content help you achieve your goals?
Revenue Dollars
Donors
Volunteers
Does your content help you raise money, recruit
volunteers or save time?
Measuring Your Content
Resources:
http://bethkanter.wikispaces.com/the-big-give-sa/

Measurement Tools Overview
Google Analytics
Understand Audience Demographics
Measure Traffic from Social Media Channels
Facebook Insights
Audience Demographics
Engagement, Views, and Clicks
Twitter Analytics Dashboard
Audience Demographics
Engagement, Views, and Clicks
Spreadsheets: Most Important Tool

Facebook Insights: Audience Demographics

Facebook Insights: When To Post

Facebook Insights: Content/Engagement

Exercise
• Work in pairs with someone from your
organization
• Visit the Facebook Insights page for your Fan
Page
• Review the audience demographics section.
What did you discover?
• Visit the POSTs section and sort it by reach.
Look at the 3 highest and 3 lowest scoring
posts for views. What did you discover?
• Sort POSTs by Engagement. Look at the 3
highest and 3 lowest. What did you discover?

Twitter Analytics: Overview

Twitter Analytics: Audience Demographics

Twitter Dashboard: Impressions and Engagement

Mindful
Social Media or
Mind Full?
Photo by pruzicka

6 Tips for Fitting In Social Media in a Packed
Schedule
1. Time box work flow
2. Go mobile
3. Do more content curation
4. Use social media scheduling tools
5. Recycle, Repurpose, Remix
6. Focus, Focus, Focus

Managing Your Attention Online: Why Is It An Important
Networking Skill?

1. When you open email or do social media tasks, does it make you feel anxious?
2. When you are seeking information to curate, have you ever forgotten what it was in
the first place you wanted to accomplish?
3. Do you ever wish electronic information would just go away?
4. Do you experience frustration at the amount of electronic information you need to
process daily?
5. Do you sit at your computer for longer than 30 minutes at a time without getting
up to take a break?
6. Do you constantly check (even in the bathroom on your mobile phone) your email,
Twitter or other online service?
7. Is the only time you're off line is when you are sleeping?
8. Do you feel that you often cannot concentrate?
9. Do you get anxious if you are offline for more than a few hours?
10.Do you find yourself easily distracted by online resources that allow you to avoid
other, pending work?
Self-Knowledge Is The First Step
A few quick assessment questions
Add up your score: # of YES answers

0…1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10
Source: Lulumonathletica
Mindful Online………………………………………………………..Need Help Now
What’s Your Attention Focusing Score?

• Understand your goals and priorities and
ask yourself at regular intervals whether
your current activity serves your higher
priority.
• Notice when your attention has
wandered, and then gently bringing it
back to focus on your highest priority
• Sometimes in order to learn or deepen
relationships -- exploring from link to link
is permissible – and important. Don’t
make attention training so rigid that it
destroys flow.
Source: Howard Rheingold
NetSmart
What does it mean to manage your attention while you do
social media tasks?

Reflection and Raffle
https://www.futureme.org/
• What is your big ah ha?
• What questions do you still have?
• What is one thing you can do next
week to improve your social media
strategy?

Thank you!
www.bethkanter.org
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@kanter on Twitter