A friend had just returned from Dell Social Media Boot Camp and was sharing some ideas. She’s smart, stays current with the latest marketing trends, and sits on some high-profile nonprofit boards. When My Friend speaks, I listen. We talked about how nonprofits want to engage in social media, but are largely behind the curve in their ability to “drive the discussion,” and unsure of who is their market, message, or how to use the tools to connect with donors.
Not so with one organization My Friend serves as a board member. This well-run performing arts organization that hosts national productions “under the stars” is blogging and twittering to patrons about everything from upcoming performances, to special ticket opportunities, to pre-show dining opportunities weather, parking and road closures. They have a “Behind the Curtain” show on YouTube with an engaging 3-minute piece that tells the theater’s history and takes you onstage to learn about how shows are produced.
How do they do it, you ask? For the ??-something’s for whom Tweet-Tweet, Blog-Blog conjures up more of a familiar Donna Summer tune than a way to connect with friends and associates, that is the challenge.
This group smartly invited a couple of local philanthropists to invest in an internship program where two 20-somethings tweet and blog ’round the clock. They bought a couple of mini web cams to produce the material that populates their YouTube channel page. They invite patrons and donors to “Connect with Us” on their website (right above “Support Us”), have their mission posted on YouTube and Tweet Twitpics of concerts so absent fans can catch a glimpse of the action: Jacks Manniequin just stepped onstage. Not too late to catch the show. .. Next up, The Fray.
OK, so you’re not a performing arts organization with a mission and programs that relate easily to Twittering. We all have missions that we care about deeply and a whole host of issues surrounding those missions. You have something to say. And if you have a laptop and the Internet, you have the tools to engage in the conversation. How are you doing that?
Comment and let us know how you are (or aren’t) using social media to further your mission and connect with donors.
Tags: generations, Kansas City, online fundraising, Technology, trends, Twitter