Promoting Causes on Online Social Networks

Tuesday, June 2, at 12 noon, U.S. Eastern time

Danielle Brigida is the social-media-outreach coordinator at the National Wildlife Federation, in Washington, where she manages the organization's voice on online networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Care2, Change.org, Digg, and StumbleUpon.

Nancy E. Schwartz is president of a New Jersey marketing-and-communications consulting firm that bears her name. Ms. Schwartz writes Getting Attention, a bimonthly e-newsletter designed to help nonprofit groups succeed through effective marketing, and the Getting Attention blog (http://www.gettingattention.org).

Felicia Carr is director of online communications for the National Parks Conservation Association, in Washington, where she focuses on online advocacy, fund raising, and Internet communications for nonprofit groups.

A transcript of the chat follows.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    Thank you for joining us for today's live discussion on using social media to promote your cause. Whenever I meet with nonprofit leaders these days, this topic seems to dominate the conversation. As sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIN have grown in popularity, many nonprofit leaders have started to recognize that the networks created by these sites can be valuable tools for helping them to connect with supporters, volunteers, and donors. The problem, though, is that they are so busy running their organizations that they don't have the time to learn how to use these tools effectively and efficiently.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    Hopefully, by the end of this discussion, you'll have some tips and strategies to help your organization make the most of these networks. We also hope you'll have a better understanding of how social networks should fit into your overall marketing plans.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    To help, we've assembled a top-notch group of experts to take your questions. They are:

Danielle Brigida, social-media-outreach coordinator at the National Wildlife Federation, in Washington, where she manages the organization's voice on online networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Care2, Change.org, Digg, and StumbleUpon.

Nancy E. Schwartz, president of a New Jersey marketing-and-communications consulting firm that bears her name.

Felicia Carr, director of online communications for the National Parks Conservation Association, in Washington, where she focuses on online advocacy, fund raising, and Internet communications for nonprofit groups.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    You are encouraged to submit your questions to our guests at any time by clicking on the "ask a question" link on this page. I'll direct your question to the appropriate guest and will post it live to this page once the answer is ready. This is a text-based discussion, so there is no audio. This page will refresh every minute with the latest information.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    You are also encouraged to offer your own examples and comments throughout the discussion by using the same "ask a question" tool.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    Finally, before we begin, I want to note that the Chronicle offers a ton of information about these online tools through our groups on LinkedIN and Facebook and through our Twitter feed. If you are a member of LinkedIN or Facebook, you are invited to join the "Chronicle of Philanthropy" groups we've created on each of these networks. You can follow us on Twitter at the following handle: @philanthropy.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    Ok, let's begin.

Question from Angie, large non-profit:
    My organization is concerned about putting our name out there to possibly be "manipulated" in a negative way on the pages and links so often found on these social networking sites. Are there any safeguards in place to help deter this?

Felicia Carr:
    Hi Angie-—I understand your concern, but the reality is that folks are going to talk about your organization whether you put your name out there yourself or if others do it for you. Your best safeguard is getting actively involved online before your issues are manipulated or a crisis develops.

I suggest getting out there and joining the conversion. Determine which networks are most relevant for your work. Monitor what is being said. Identify your lightening rod issues. Know how folks have manipulated your messages or work in the past, and prepare your responses ahead of time. That way you are ready if negative chatter comes up. Take a proactive stance and share your point of view beforehand too, so you, and not your detractors, set the tone of the conversion.

Question from Michael Panda, Save the Bay:
    Is it bad if members within the organization don't always speak with a unified voice? Do you risk sounding like everybody if the end result is reading off a cue card instead of taking a more individual approach to messaging? Doesn't that lend itself to better relationship building?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    A unified voice is important, but that doesn't mean that everyone reads from the same script and sounds like a bunch of robots. What it does mean is that an organization's network speaks to the same key points, no matter whom is doing the speaking. It's a genuine, but focused, conversation. Think of it as advocacy, communications-wise.

Question from Emily Rushing, Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham:
    One presenter compared LinkedIn to attending a civic club (he was talking about its use by lawyers). In that sense, are different types of social media shown to be used most of often by people of particular types/ages/socio-economic-levels? In putting energy to this new media, like any media, I'd like to be able to turn to statistics showing which media are being used by our key audiences. If such sources don't exist now, do you anticipate they will develop and how can we be strategic in our use in the meantime.

Felicia Carr:
    First Emily, kudos to you for taking the strategic approach to finding the right tools to reach the right audience.

Second, as for LinkedIn, that is a good comparison. Professionally I have found LinkedIn to be the best place to invest my time and energy and I find it very useful. But we know personal experiences aren't always a good way to decide where to spend organizational resources.

There are sources out there to help tell you who is doing what where online. Two well-known sources are Pew's Internet and American Life Project. [ http://www.pewinternet.org/ ] and Harris Polls which polls on online trends. Here is an example of a Harris poll on Facebook and MySpace conducted in April 2009 that shows younger users are the most likely to have profiles but that older users are increasingly using social networks too. http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/pubs/Harris_Poll_2009_04_16.pdf So you can find the facts out there, online of course, to help guide your decisions about where to invest your time and resources.

Question from Mary Ann Isaac, Interfaith Caregivers Trenton:
    Thanks for sharing information about online networks. We have a young board member who helped us set up a page on Facebook, however, we haven't had time to really work on it. I am thinking of asking a high school student who comes into the office once a week as a volunteer to help us with it. Is this a good idea?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Before you step onto Facebook, or any communications channel, make sure to define your goals, the target audience you need to engage to reach them. Then see if that group is mostly on Facebook. If so, it may be a good channel to use. But think hard about what your presence should be. Remember, to just get a page up on Facebook -- then to do nothing with it -- will leave you worse off than not having one at all. If you don't have time to research options, ask your volunteer to put together a list of options and examples for you to review. Here's a great resource: http://www.netwitsthinktank.com/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=ifINKZOzFmG&b=4487123&content_id={EA4438F2-2529-4379-8A32-16EBD5D5BF90}¬oc=1

Danielle Brigida:
    Looking forward to answering so many great questions! Feel free to contact me through twitter (@starfocus) after the chat as well!

Question from Craig Weinrich, Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York:
    For organizations with Twitter accounts how do we balance reading all of the tweets from hundreds (thousands!) of followers with all our other responsibilities? Who's got the time to read/sort through all of them? Should we be picky with who we allow to be followers or following?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Hi Craig, That is the million dollar question. Many organizations of all types are still refining their Twitter strategies -- do you follow everyone who follows you (early Twitter etiquette but waning due to its sheer impossibility) or be more selective. There's no reason to limit those who are following you...those folks are natural messengers and the Twitter channel makes it incredibly easy for them to spread the word on your org's activities. But I do recommend limiting those you follow to key partners, those you learn or get inspired from, model orgs, etc.

Question from Avery, BBYO, Inc.:
    How do you grow your Twitter following beyond just your industry? It's not hard to find your industry's niche, but how do you grow past that?

Felicia Carr:
    I have our Twitter expert here with me, Perry Wheeler, and here is what he has to say on that subject—you are right—it is easy to find that first most interested group. We also want to grow beyond that however. Here is what we do to expand our Twitter network--first, we perform searches on Twitter to find out what people are talking about. We look for subjects we want to grow on. For example, we are conducting a national public lands serve campaign so we looked to see if folks are already talking about public service. Once we find those then we start following those people which we found encourages a return follow. Our second approach is looking at related organizations' followers to see if we can find people who are interested in our updates. Third, there are outside websites that have individual sorted by category, such as members of congress on Twitter or reporters on Twitter. Good luck growing!

Question from Victoria, medium-size nonprofit:
    What can organizations with little engineering resources do to create engaging social media campaigns? Ideas are cheap, but time is costly.

Danielle Brigida:
    In most circumstances creating a social media campaign isn't ideal even if you have a large team. I think that it is much more efficient to find ways to integrate social media into your preexisting campaigns as a new way to engage people. You probably already have great programs in place, think about social media sites that can help you engage your audience in a new way or supplement your current program.

Question from Bridget Ward, Consultant to NPO's in South Africa:
    Venturing into this "new media world" can be daunting for a small organization with no specialist media resources. How should a relatively small organization go about incorporating on-line networks into their media tools / communication strategy? Simply put, how can an organization that has no experience with these media options "get started?"

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Bridget, your question is so important to so many organizations. Thanks for asking! I'm a big advocate of sticking a toe (ONE toe!) in the water. So study all the options and pick the one that is most likely to generate return on investment most quickly AND is doable to experiment with. Figure out what you can invest time wise and temper your expectations. The initial ROI you'll get is learning, which is invaluable.

Question from Caitlin, small housing nonprofit:
    I would like to get my organization started in social networking, but my boss is skeptical. How can I show her it's not a waste of my time? And how can I streamline the process and make it efficient so it doesn't eat up all of my time? (I'm the only marketing staff person.)

Felicia Carr:
    I understand your boss's skepticism ….online social networking is time consuming. I would suggest pitching your boss to get support for a pilot project. Find one online arena to start, set clear goals, and run your program. You can assess the results and determine how to proceed. Perhaps expanding the pilot or trying something else. That way you are showing your boss that you are both innovative and accountable for results.

Question from Erica Jacobs, Newborns Groote Schuur Trust:
    we are a small start up organization. It has taken us time to market our brand to key role players and finally after 16 months they are on board. Our key focus is saving premature babies' lives at the famous Groote Schuur Hospital - Chris Barnard first heart transplant. How do we interact with other hospitals in the USA and UK, as well as raise funds in the USA? Erica

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Hi Erica, Great question, but one that reaches beyond what's we're tackling here today. Specifically, it is challenging for overseas organizations, especially those without a U.S. base, to raise money here. Facebook is a natural place to start. In terms of making relationships with hospitals in the U.S. and U.K., I suggest you work through the hospital trade associations.

Question from Robin Mohr, middle aged nonprofit:
    Our executive director is aware (and supportive) that our organization should be doing more online, but she doesn't really want to participate personally. At the same time, she doesn't want to be in the dark if or when something negative happens and we (department heads) need her to know what we're talking about if something really good happens. Any suggestions for how staff can best keep executives informed without them actually participating in online networks?

Felicia Carr:
    Robin, you are fortunate to have support from the top for your online efforts. Obviously key leadership can't be involved in day-to-day activities. But you are right that is key to keep them in the loop.

To keep execs in the loop here at NPCA we have adapted our standard media updates process to include online news and activities. We have also adapted our crisis communications plan to include how to respond in the event of a crisis unfolding online. This way key folks get as much info as they want and are comfortable knowing you can respond when negative developments occur online.

Also, you mention highlighting the good stuff. You are right that internal PR for your program is important too. Our web team gives routine updates at all-staff briefings. We also give two to three presentations to our board and executive teams yearly, so they fully understand and appreciate our online efforts.

Question from Angie, large non-profit:
    I've heard alot about the "Twestival" that took place on Twitter last year to raise funds to build wells in underdeveloped countries. Is there a similar event taking place this year? How does on go about starting up something like this for their organization's cause?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Yep, Angie, Twestival (http://twestival.com/) was a roaring success. It raised money for wells in developing countries during April of this year. There's no next global Twestival planned yet, but there are regional versions going on on an ongoing basis. The best way to stay up to date, and to learn about how to set up a version for your org here http://twitter.com/Twestival.

Remember, there has to be a groundbase of supporters who know you already on twitter. Otherwise, there are no twitter messengers to get the conversation started.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    For those who are not familiar, here is some more info on Twestival: http://philanthropy.com/giveandtake/article/918/twitter-followers-raise
-thousands-of-dollars-for-charity

Question from Angie, large non-profit:
    I know many of these sites have have "social causes" pages that can help an organization get their message out. What's the best way to begin the process and get your agency out there and spreading the word about the good work we do? Also, once we are out there, how do you build momentum?

Danielle Brigida:
    Before you can share your message it's probably a good idea to establish a presence on the sites that you find most intriguing. Sites like Facebook, Care2, and Change.org have very welcoming spaces-- but it's definitely best to serve as a reliable resource before you try marketing to people. Make friends, ask questions and don't be afraid to be passionate or real with people.

Building momentum is done through a number of ways, I recommend finding fun ways to engage people.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    We've received a number of questions about audio for this event. This format does not include audio. This is a text-based discussion. The most recent questions and answers appear at the top of this page every minute. Thanks.

Question from Heath Gordon, Child and Family Network Centers:
    I bet you get this a lot, but I was wondering if you could discuss the delicate balance between getting enough of the word out, and not swamping your network with too much information. I know this was a problem with e-mail lists, but do you see this as a problem with social networks. I guess a corollary to this is what the relationship between earlier networking tools (e-mail, letters, telephones, and face-to-face time) and social networking.

Felicia Carr:
    Like you we struggling to find the right amount of info to share. We set goals for different arenas based on what we know about the audiences. For example, to help with email, we have created a set of guidelines that help us determine how often to message to different segments of our list. For example, super-activists receive more email that non-activists. Let me give you an example of our approach with Twitter. Per Perry, our Twitter expert here at NPCA, our goal for Twitter is three NPCA tweets per day with additional re-tweets and responses bringing our total up to five or six tweets a day. His goal is to say enough each day so that NPCA doesn't get lost out there, while striving not to say too much and turning our followers off. (You can use “Quitter” to see who quits following you. )

Comment from Amanda M. Jones, Out The Boat Ministries, Inc.:
    @Caitlin: I'm working on a start-up npo and have started tweeting to find partners and to try to build awareness that we're coming. So far, I've found that it's been more of a learning experience about our area of focus (youth homelessness) and others that impact it than anything else! Let your boss know that it's free R&D!

Question from Susan, large nonprofit:
    In terms of interfacing with social networks: what regular initiatives/monitoring do you suggest, and how much time should be regularly allocated for this?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Ah, Susan, if only there was a formula I could share with you. But alas, there's none. The only standard is "it depends."

The key tools to consider using at this point are Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogging and Twitter. But first step back and review your communications goals, key audiences and then ID the tools that fill or supplement the gaps. That's where you start!

But first, ensure you are monitoring the Web 2.0 world via Google alerts, your blog reader and other free tools (I'm monitor organizational and program names, leadership names, key colleague and competitive orgs and issue/field terms) to know the conversations that are taking place about and around your work. This is the first step in an effective social media strategy.

Monitoring, of course, implies response when productive and appropriate. You'll need to figure out your response approach and make sure someone's on it.

Question from Stacy Whittle, SID-Washington:
    We are a three person shop. We are on all the major social networking sites. However, it's difficult to update with some pithy remark or compelling statement on a daily basis. What's the best way to raise awareness of what we're doing without getting bogged down with continuous upkeep of networking sites?

Danielle Brigida:
    Unfortunately networking sites require upkeep-- but it sounds to me like you are looking for some streamlining tactics. If you find yourself on Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and other tools there are plenty of ways to streamline your updates and save you time. A great example is ping.fm where you can update it and it will update all your connected networks simultaneously. If you are using Firefox you can download a very simple add-on called "shareaholic" which allows you to push sites out with a simple click.

Streamlining tactics change all the time so always be on the look out for them.

If you are managing multiple Twitter presences I recommend using Hootsuite or Cotweet to jump in and update. You can also pre-schedule tweets so you aren't constantly jumping in and out.

I believe that it IS better to do 30 minutes a day on social media every day than 5 hours one day a month (too much silence). But there are definitely ways to do this so it doesn't disturb your work.

Question from Rachel, READ Global:
    The small nonprofit I work for has both Twitter and a Facebook, but less than 100 fans for each. How do you recommend we increase our fan base on these sites?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    A couple of recommendations: - Focus on one tool or the other right now, until you get a critical mass of participation. Focus your energies on the one that has the greatest potential for meeting your organization's communications goals (criteria include percent of your base on one vs. the other)

- Make sure your Twitter feed is published on your Facebook page automatically (there's a Facebook app for this) -- double fun

- Ensure that there are clear links to your Facebook page and Twitter feed on your organization's home page, e-updates, etc. This is SO often overlooked!

Best of luck,

Nancy

Comment from Kelly, TCM:
    For newbies to the social networking world (we are one of them), Facebook has been an interesting start for us. I was pleasantly surprised when one of our members on Facebook decided to raise funds for us in lieu of receiving birthday gifts. We gained a few new donors and she surpassed her fund raising goal.

Also, we work in over 20 countries, so we are now experiencing our students in some of these countries becoming members, which means when we send messages out to current donors/members, the recipients of our donors' gifts are seeing the message. A few students have actually given back as well. It has been a pleasant surprise using Facebook. We are now wanting to learn more on its features and how to communicate effectively through them.

Question from Emily Rushing, Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham:
    Social media may be "free" but it's not without cost in terms of time. Do you have statistics on what amount of time you need to be able to devote (by volunteers or staff) in order to be more than just a placeholder with social media?

Danielle Brigida:
    There is a great article by Museum 2.0 that talks about time allotments. They say that:

1-5 hours a week makes you a participant in social media,

5-10 hour makes you a content provider, and

10-20 hours makes you a community director.

Keeping those statistics in mind, I believe it really depends on the site you are on and your community. If you can only afford a small amount, I think it's best to spread it out and do a little each day-- so that you are a constant presence. That way if in the future you are able to ramp up your efforts you have a community base to build on.

Question from Jan, WWF:
    We've recently launched a Facebook group targeted to a specific issue. We have nearly 3,000 fans already and are wondering about how to keep the momentum going -- how often to post news, etc. Thanks!

Danielle Brigida:
    I would say that to keep momentum going you should find new ways to inspire your group members. Ask them questions, get them talking to each other and forming relationships around their common interest. If the issue is getting resolved because of the effort of your community it's good to reward them in some way while encouraging them to stay involved.

Also make them laugh. Never underestimate the power of humor and how it brings people together.

Question from claudia:
    I work with nonprofits whose executive management teams are resistant to the idea of social networking as none them are willing to invest staff time in the effort. Also, none envision value-added results. I think they are missing the boat. What suggestions can you offer to help me help them see that this is truly the wave of the future.

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Oh Claudia, I hear about this same challenge so often! Rest assured, you're not alone. That being said, here's some advice -- show, don't tell. And here's what to show your leadership: -- What others are saying about these organizations via social media (on blogs, facebook, etc.). Monitor, summarize and share. Remind the leaders that if their orgs aren't out there, others will be defining their work and impact for them.

-- What colleague and competitive organizations are doing social media wise, and the impact it's making (you'll need to do some casual phone or email interviewing for this).

-- A brief plan for sticking one toe into social media -- what channel, why, what it'll take, ROI.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    We're about halfway through our scheduled time for today's discussion and we have received a surge of questions. Obviously, this is a topic that is generating a lot of interest. If you've asked a question and are waiting for an answer, please stick around. We'll try to get as many of them answered as possible. Thanks.

Comment from Carrie Rheingans, graduate student :
    Will all these posts be available after this time? I have to leave in a few minutes and I would like to see the info later.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    We'll offer a full transcript of this discussion at http://philanthropy.com/live. In fact, you can find transcripts of more than 100 other similar discussions at that address -- and info about our upcoming free chats. Thanks.

Question from Priscilla Smith, Life Works:
    How are people using Twitter? Any fund raising ideas? Is it a good investment?

Felicia Carr:
    At the National Parks Conservation Association we use Twitter to call supporters to action, to cultivate relationships with key audiences, such as reporters, members of congress, and national park supporters, and to engage in two-way communication. We also monitor and respond to conversations around our issue, which is protecting our national parks. We also use Twitter to increase our brand awareness and help differentiate NPCA from groups we are often confused with. Twitters also gives us a chance to find new supporters. So far we have not used Twitter to fundraise but we are looking into it. We think it is a good investment but do limit the amount of time we spend until we have more data about our ROI.

Question from Steve Grimes, St John's University:
    As a higher ed institution what can an Advancement Office do with social networks other than just making a profile page with updates on events and so on? Essentially how would an higher ed institution aggressively use social networks as a donating vehicle, feddback device, etc?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Hi Steve, Well, as you know higher ed is a world of its own and I'm not an expert there.

What I can share with you are some relevant key principles:

-- When you have a loyal community (and alumnae are perfect for that), you have great potential for vibrant social media work.

-- Some higher ed institutions have encouraged various groups (displines, alumnae from specific years, etc.) to form their own Facebook pages (no need for groups unless privacy is a must. That works extremely well, and distributes the responsibility broadly

-- Monitoring is key -- you want to be aware of all conversations out there in the web 2.0 world about the university, its leaders, faculty and key staff, competitors, other models in higher ed and otherwise. This provides an incredibly thorough, easy-to-access environmental scan on an ongoing basis.

Remember though, responding appropriately is a must. Figure out your social media policy, share it and act on it.

http://www.gettingattention.org/my_weblog/2009/04/whats-your-organizations-social-media-policy.html

Comment from Shirley Leschinsky, Event Coordinator & Grant Manager:
    This is great, except I will have to work on my speed reading!! Also, somewhere I read this was a 25 minute format. Oops! Thanks!!

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    No worries. You can catch up by reading the full transcript. We're busy trying to keep up ourselves!

Comment from Mary Harrington, Embolden (web developer specializing in community foundations and nonprofits):
    I love the question about how to use social networking with limited time. We often advise clients to look at their marketing efforts and messages and determine their top few objectives. Then you can tweak your social networking posts to addresses those few objectives (through a variety of topics) on Twitter, Facebook or in a blog, etc. Thinking of the message, rather than the medium, makes the task seem less daunting and it helps you decide what you should be posting...and what you can leave out.

Question from Sarah Swanson, Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center:
    We have set-up a Cause page and a Fan page on Facebook, but I'd like to know what else we can do to utilize Facebook.

Danielle Brigida:
    I would say try to build out your fan page and Facebook Cause as much as possible. Fan pages can be really neat if you take the time to invest in them. Facebook has a Nonprofits on Facebook fan page that has a great set of ideas on how to engage people with your fan page by making use of built in features.

After you have those built up, I think that it is a good idea to create motivation for people to invite their friends to your page/cause. I'm also a fan of putting a link to your Facebook page on your Web site or in an email.

Question from Natasha:
    Are there some social media tools that are "secrets to the trade"? I have just started using Digsby & Ping.fm. Are there others? It is overwhelming to update so many accounts.

Felicia Carr:
    I don't know any "secrets to the trade!" You are right…it is tough to manage all the networks. We haven't started with Ping yet, but we are looking into it and hoping it might help manage the flow of information, but the 140 character limit on Twitter makes it hard to create posts that are interchangeable between networks. Our approach has been to identify a few key online social networks and to devote our time and energy there. You can't possibly do them all, so I recommend focusing and monitoring your results to see if your time and resources are well spent.

Question from Bridget Ward, Conusultant to NPO's in South Africa:
    Is it correct to say that on-line network marketing is most effective if kept to raise awareness and / or action around a specific project. If so, how does one honor / promote the organisation behind the project? In promoting a specific project with the view to drumming up interest and even action how does one manage the risk of losing the association / linkage to the mother organisation?

Danielle Brigida:
    It can be successful -- though I think if it's a temporary campaign it may not be worth investing tons of time creating a separate page or twitter account. Instead there are ways to engage people on a temporary basis like with a #hashtag in twitter or a group in facebook. If it is a evergreen program I think it's fine to create a separate presence so long as someone can maintain it. We have @NWF on twitter as well as five or so other programs and while they all have their own presence and personality they always tie back to NWF. Luckily things aren't so top-down these days and communication can happen specifically while not removing any awareness of the larger organization.

Comment from Jessica Derrick, Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation:
    Does anyone have an organizational policy around using social media that they can share with me?

Question from Linda, education nonprofit:
    You've suggested checking out different arenas. Do you know of sources that give summaries of the strengths/requirements/best uses for the various options?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Here are a couple of comprehensive and succinct resources, Linda: 1) We are Media - social media starter kit for nonprofits http://www.wearemedia.org/

2) Two bloggers who don't give a one post summary but provide that info, and update it, in their posts:

-- Chris Brogan, http://www.chrisbrogan.com/

-- Beth Kanter, http://beth.typepad.com/

3) Podcast -- Interview w/Dave Evans, Author of Social Media Marketing in an Hour a Day http://www.gettingattention.org/my_weblog/2009/04/social-media-nonprofits.html

Question from Vanessa, Medical Center:
    Hi! Twitter: Is there a way to have 10-20 tweets in a cue that will automatically post one tweet daily and if breaking news happens to interrupt and post the news? Thanks, V

Danielle Brigida:
    Yes! There are several tools to do exactly that! Cotweet and Hootsuite are good examples that allow you to schedule tweets in advance. I'm not sure the number that they let you do it-- but I'm pretty positive that you can do just what you are looking for! It's also a good idea to Google other options such as "Scheduling Tweets" and see the ideas you like best.

Comment from Dorene, STAR Center:
    Hi Okay. I figured out several pieces of this site. One of the points of discussions like this is to put people in touch with each other. Caitlin from the small housing nonprofit is someone I might be able to share some resources with and help her decide what options might help her.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    I can put the two of you in touch if you email me at peter.panepento@philanthropy.com. I'd also invite you both to join our LinkedIN group. There, you'll have the opportunity to meet and connect with more than 2,500 people in the nonprofit world, many of whom are very interested in discussing this topic.

Question from Julie Wall, UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center:
    Have you run across any recent ethical/legal issues when using this technology? Anything we should be aware of?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Privacy policies are vital, Julie. In addition, organization-wide social media policies are a good idea to ensure there's a common understanding of protocol across your organization. More on that here: http://www.gettingattention.org/my_weblog/2009/04/whats-your-organizations-social-media-policy.html

Comment from Carole Roberts:
    Mary Harrington's suggestion about using a strategic approach to how to best use organizational time – really all applicable organizational resources – is important. We've found that by focusing on our organization's main objectives, supporting staff to use social networking tools effectively, enables us to get into the stream more quickly and produce what we've been trying to accomplish. Understanding how the basic tools work is crucial, then applying them to our objectives, produces the best results!

Question from Kelly, TCM International Institute:
    I need to address policy guidelines for social media so that our organization has something in place (we sort of skipped this part when we jumped into Facebook). Where can I find examples to share with my institute's president and vice president?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Kelly, social media guru Beth Kanter has compiled some useful examples here: http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2009/04/social-media-in-the-
nonprofit-workplace-does-your-organization-need-a-policy.html

Comment from Stephanie Smith, Lighthouse of Pinellas:
    Are you familiar with Ping.fm? I am at a small nonprofit, wearing many hats in Development. Ping.fm allows me to monitor our presence on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook by putting the info on Ping.fm and then it updates each of our social network accounts. Very cool tool - just wanted to pass on.

Question from Lori, independent school:
    Our school has a Facebook page with over 350 members. However, we cannot see the profiles of the members and gather their information without asking to be "friends". How are organizations gathering the individual information they need to update data?

Danielle Brigida:
    What information are you looking to gather? It may be worth it to see if you can transfer your group page to a fan page in Facebook. The differences come in the "insights" a fan page allows you to have (in other words statistics about the people you are fans with), plus you can get on people's home feeds. You can export your insights and search on a number of different terms. It is also relatively easy to switch from a group to a fan page without losing people. What would I do? Survey your group members and ask them questions if you don't want to switch to a fan page. If you do-- do just that and switch!

Question from Christi, small nonprofit:
    What is the critical mass that is necessary for an organization that is currently serving one major metropolitan area to reach before the benefits of social networking are realized?

Felicia Carr:
    That is a very interesting question! I don't think there is a one size fits all answer for this. It really depends on what your needs are and what your goals are. Critical mass for one group might be one hundred dedicated followers, but might be 100,000 for another group. Here at NPCA we are concerned with both the overall size of our audiences and also the quality of the audience. We set goals we strive to achieve such as how many followers we want on Twitter, but we also focus on the quality of those followers. Having a huge following won't do us any good if they don't stay engaged and help continue spread the word about national parks. That said, Facebook is a bit different. Our Facebook Causes expert did tell us the critical mass for your Facebook fan page is 2,000. Once you reach 2,000 you can expect much more rapid and extensive growth.

Question from Kim, small nonprofit:
    We set up our Facebook page, have attracted more than 100 friends, and I find myself asking, now what? How can we keep these Facebook friends, which include donors, members, and "live" friends of these two groups, engaged and hopefully increase involvement? I have used it for a legislative alert, but we don't really have many of those.

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    The place to start in answering your question, Kim, and keeping your strategy focused in the right direction as time goes on is ... what are you trying to achieve?

More than 100 friends isn't a goal; it may be some kind of objective. What are you putting Facebook to work for? To build awareness, nurture community, increase level of engagement?

Once you've defined your goal, the related strategies are where you must put your energies.

Question from Jill, medium nonprofit:
    My organization is new to social networking and "being online." I want to make sure that systems are put in place before we launch this endeavor. In reading Nancy's suggestion to monitor the web I'm wondering how to do that?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    The single place to start is to set up Google Alerts (google it) to follow (it will "push" online content to you) on all of the following:

your organization's name, its key leaders' names, colleague and competitive organizations, and keywords and phrases in the fields or issue arenas in which you work.

If that overwhelms your team in time, consider the more automated Radian 6, a monitoring service with a nonprofit rate of $500/month.

Question from Tom Ayres, PCA Great Performances:
    If we were to focus most of our attention on just one social media tool as our primary one, which should it be? Most "experts" seem to tout Facebook and many dismiss Twitter as frivolous. Agreed?

Danielle Brigida:
    Facebook and Twitter actually complement each other nicely and so it may be worth your time to invest in just those two. I think of Twitter as the initial conversation where, if you want it longer than 140 characters, it ultimately has to go elsewhere. Conversations from Twitter may evolve into e-mail, a phone call or...to a Facebook page! I think focusing efforts is definitely a good idea, but sometimes you need multiple sections in your social media orchestra. Try investing in both and see if you can push conversations from Twitter into Facebook.

Question from Rebecca Harris, Contoocook Valley Transportation:
    How does a busy neophyte get started?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Jump in! Figure out which social media channel makes most sense for you to learn and set up a presence. Make sure you have a plan though. Decide what you're trying to achieve and whom you have to engage to make that happen. That will guide you to the right tool.

Two other to-dos:

make sure you're using these tools on a personal basis --that's an easy way to stay on top of the game -- and talk to all the nonprofit folks you know who are using these tools, and those who aren't, to get their experiences and perspectives.

Question from Erin Will, The Highland Center:
    Why is it benefical to put your organziation on social networking sites like Facebook?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Erin, you've asked a great question and there are a million different answers.

The return on investment on Facebook is still up in the air. Personally, I believe that Facebook (or, in time, another social network) offers organizations the opportunity to have their bases grow the base to their own friends and family. It's also a great way to reach folks where they already are (which, increasingly, is on Facebook).

Question from Laura, Start-Up Non-Profit:
    Do you have any tips on where to start for a new nonprofit? How to attract people already on these sites and how to drive others there to participate and expand the social networks?

Danielle Brigida:
    My first tip is always to listen. Conversations happen all the time and figuring out how you fit into them or how people are already talking about the issues you care about is really important. Listening is still the best way you can learn. Use Google Alerts, and pull search terms into your RSS reader. I think listening really helps you choose your next step and find the way to best serve the online community.

Find a way to solve a problem that people care about and you'll definitely get your participation! Even though sometimes you have to do a little resource sharing to convince them to care.

Comment from Mary Harrington, Embolden (web developer specializing in community foundations and nonprofits):
    I love the question about how to use social networking with limited time. We often advise clients to look at their marketing efforts and messages and determine their top few objectives. Then you can tweak your social networking posts to addresses those few objectives (through a variety of topics) on Twitter, Facebook or in a blog, etc. Thinking of the message, rather than the medium, makes the task seem less daunting and it helps you decide what you should be posting...and what you can leave out.

Question from Nora G, Queens Museum of Art:
    This year we are foregoing the traditional sit down dinner for our annual gala, in wake of the recession. We instead are hosting a "non-gala" online at- http://qmanongala.org. We are trying to use Twitter and Facebook to reach a broader audience than we normally would with the traditional gala. What are some ways we can entice people to 1)visit the site, and 2) actually donate? We have had great feedback and people seem to like the idea, but how can we then turn "great responses" into donations?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Nora, I love your strategy. Please update me on the outcome.

Frankly, I haven't heard of many virtual fund raisers but yes, your participants have the potential to be a much larger group although they won't be a captive audience!

What I do know of is a recent online conference for fund raisers which is summarized here. Read this post for some guidelines for your gala.

http://www.theagitator.net/communications/ifc-online-is-huge-success/

Question from Emily Rushing, Community Foundation:
    Nancy, don't some things easily fit together, however? I found when I was making myself blog, then I had something to Twitter about as well. Does that make sense?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Yes, Emily, there are natural synergies among various pairs and trios of social media tools. Although some experts feel strongly that one must write to the specific channel (e.g. a blog post should not be automatically flowed into Twitter as an alert post). I don't agree there, and am big into "re-purposing."

So yes, it makes sense that you have Tweet content when you blog because both initiatives require you to be scanning the environment in which your org works and your organization's work and reflecting on it 24/7!

Question from Jean Falvey, Rainmakers LLC:
    OK, so we put together a varied, robust social networking plan and venues. Now, how do we drive people to our Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn page for action?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    A few suggestions: -Include links to all (if relevant) channels in all other communiciations. I can't tell you how many advocacy emails I get w/out a link to the orgs/campaign's Facebook page where I could become a fan and receive ongoing updates and get more involved. -Be very specific in your call to action, and use your channels appropriately.

Question from Callie Robinson, small non-profit:
    Hello to all. If Perry Wheeler is still available, do you foresee a spam blocker on Twitter? What developments if any? Thank you.

Danielle Brigida:
    Hi, Perry is still here! He notes that spam is a growing problem on Twitter--particularly when you choose to follow someone who starts spamming you. Spammers become your followers and send you direct messages encouraging you to follow them or click through to their Web site. He is not aware of a spam blocker on Twitter, but you do have control over who follows you. You can block specific individuals. The problem is of course that it is time consuming to figure out who to block. Also, a problem is that when we attempt to block certain users, they create new user names and continue sending unwelcome tweets.

Question from Susan Koppa McClurg, Aurora Psychiatric Hospital:
    What are the most essential must have's and must do's one needs to get started using social networking sites and how much staff time need be committed on a daily basis to the sites? Any pitfalls we need to be aware of?

Danielle Brigida:
    It's important to have a goal when you first sign up. Whether it is a measurable goal or not, it's important to know why you are there and what you want to accomplish. That will help you figure out where to go next.

My next steps would be: pick a network or two to invest in, listen (regardless if you have joined a network, you should be listening to your mentions!) and set up Google Alerts with key terms, spend a little time each day (better than 5 hours all at once and then silence), be reliable to people, don't be afraid to ask for help, find ways to streamline and save time (there are a TON of ways to do this-- just google the tool and streamline), and be real -- don't have extremely high expectations. Kknow that you are giving your message the best shot of being heard and that is all you can do. You can't force a movement and you shouldn't forget the social side of these sites! Social media is just a new way to do old business.

Question from Kathy, small nonprofit:
    The value of social media as a way to promote messages that are already being distributed through more traditional channels is really clear.

I'm curious whether your panelists think it's also important to use social media to allow people to discuss a nonprofit and its issues as a group. Are these group conversations useful, and if so, how?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Kathy, I do believe these peer-to-peer conversations are a vital tool in building community and strengthening passions and relationships.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    We're going to hold the discussion open for a bit longer to try to accommodate as many questions as possible. We've received hundreds of questions today, and we're trying to get to as many of them as we can. Thank you to everyone for contributing to such a lively discussion.

Comment from Carole Roberts, Public Interest Consultant:
    So many great resources, Nancy (Schwartz)! Is there a list of these and others that we can reference after this session?

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    Great question. I'll pull together a list of useful sites and resources that were generated during today's discussion and write a post for our Give and Take blog that spotlights the best resources. I'll post it tomorrow at http://philanthropy.com/giveandtake. Thanks.

Question from Svava, small nonprofit:
    How realistic is it to aim to use Facebook to create some source of donations? What is the best way to use your group members to support you with donations?

Felicia Carr:
    Absolutely it is realistic to use Facebook for donations. Just set realistic goals until you have enough data to create really solid goals. It is important to try and to manage expectations internally as you do it! Get your supporters excited about what you do and don't be afraid to ask them to give. Most folks give because they are asked! And of course don't overdo it. One benefit to giving through Facebook is that it allows users to give anonymously—that will appeal to some. Also Causes allows your supporters to fund raise for you by creating and promoting a cause on your behalf. That helps empower your supporters. All worth trying and testing!

Comment from Carole Roberts, Public Interest Consultant:
    Thanks, Peter!

Question from Tina, human services nonprofit:
    Our main concern with social networking are the liability issues that may arise. As an organization that works with at-risk youth, how can we utilize a social medium like Facebook, without having to worry about any of our service recipients leaving comments that are crisis issues. We do not have the money or staff to monitor the Web page 24/7.

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Tina, I certainly think your concern is a valid one. In reality, most organizations find themselves desperate to generate comments, rather than overwhelmed by the volume to moderate.

But your organization may have an issue even if there's just one comment and it's the wrong one (i.e. a crisis). I'd disable the comments feature on a blog. Facebook probably isn't the channel for your organization if you don't have the capacity to monitor comments 24/7, unless you disable that feature.

Question from Michael Panda:
    This is for Danielle - in building a Twitter following, is it worth the effort to join networks or purchase tools that just add followers? Or should more traditional methods be used? And can you talk about what those traditional methods are?

Danielle Brigida:
    No! Haha, there are definitely techniques to finding like-minded people interested in what you are talking about-- but paying for this isn't necessary. Connecting on Twitter is too loose a connection unless you spend time getting to know the people you follow and who follow you. If you are buying a Twitter follower you may be missing the point of it.

That being said, search sites like Twellow.com and Wefollow.com to help you find people with your interests. It also helps to search for key terms and follow people off of their conversations.

Organic growth is definitely preferred with Twitter because you want people who actually want to follow you. Having a few good friends is better than a million strangers. So if you are trying to build community or link people with similar interests, I would say be real and don't focus too much on followers but rather on the conversations you are having!

Question from Diane, WWF:
    A follow-up to the question about limiting those you follow on Twitter. We follow everyone who follows us, but that makes it impossible to truly follow everyone with the quantity of posts. Is there any harm in un-following people on Twitter?

Danielle Brigida:
    I think as a not-for profit you want to keep the conversations as open as possible. I get vexed when I can't direct message someone. I know that having a lot of followers can be frustrating because you want to give everyone the attention they deserve, but following them back is the best way to say "Hey, I'm here for you and I want this to be a reciprocal relationship." I certainly don't want to limit people in terms of communicating with me or my organization.

If you are worried you are falling behind on keeping up contacts there are ways you can organize your chat streams through tools like Seesmic, Tweetdeck and Twhirl. By creating groups you can organize your friends so that you can weave through the chaos.

Question from Susan, large nonprofit:
    What social network participation do you consider essential for a medium/large international nonprofit?

Felicia Carr:
    At NPCA we are nationally focused, so I can't speak to the international community's needs, but we do fit into the medium to large category, so I can say we do focus our efforts. We consider Facebook, Twitter, Causes, and the blogosphere to be essential!

Question from Angie, large non-profit:
    Many groups want to use online social networks to get their messages out, but don't know how to build their brands and get attention on these networks.

How do we effectively promote our organizations, programs and fund-raising campaigns on these sites?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Angie, what's vital is that you have a clear and consistently-used brand before you try to take it onto the social networks. here's some guidance on that:

-- http://www.nancyschwartz.com/articles.html#brand

Once you do, and you step into social media, remember that you have no control. The social media world is all about a group conversation; you're no longer in charge. What you can do is to be consistent in the way you present yourselves via social media -- in narrative and look and feel -- so your first line network recognizes your organization everywhere you are, at a glance. Secondly, you can make it easy for your base to spread that same word (which they'll definitely adapt somewhat) by telling them how important it is and giving them what they need (emails, letters, tweets) to send to their friends.

Comment from Karen:
    If you "un follow" someone on Twitter, do they get a message about that?

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    Hi Karen: If you go under your list of followers, there's a button next to each one called "remove". That will allow you to un-follow that person. No message is sent to that person. You just no longer appear on their list of followers.

Question from Jessica Derrick, Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation:
    We work with minors and have concerns about building online networks where we may have some liability with the connections our youth constituents may make with adults. How do you get around that liability issue while protecting constituents?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Jessica, your concern is a valid one. There's absolutely no way that you can screen online network users to ensure that those who say they are youth really are.

That being said, if you're willing to accept the limitations of a private network and you know all the email addresses of the youth you work with, you can invite them to participate in a private/closed channel like a by-invitation-only Facebook group page.

Question from Kelly McNeely, TCM International Institute:
    What are some tips on getting members to continuously check an organization's cause page in Facebook? We we wondering about blogging. Also, how often? Every other week, once a month? We want to get our message out, but we don't want to inundate our members. Thanks!

Danielle Brigida:
    Being creative with you Facebook page is definitely a plus in getting people to come back. If you are talking about a Facebook Cause specifically-- it's a bit tricky because they tend to be more like a badge on a profile. But I would think about the things you visit regularly and find ways to incorporate that with your online presences.

As for blogging, I would blog no less than once a week if you are going to have your own blog. I would be careful with messaging simply because a blog is meant to start conversation and not be just another channel for you to talk about your message. It needs to be more than that. If possible, give staff the freedom to blog about experiences. Those are the organizational blogs I find interesting. What blogs do you admire? (emulate them but with your own twist!)

Question from Libby, small nonprofit:
    Our AFP chapter just had a meeting on this topic. One question was about trust - how does a development director or volunteer get management to trust (give up control)?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Millions of therapists make their living from this very issue, Libby. More seriously though, the control has already been lost. It's just a question about whether that is accepted or not. If not, your organization is losing out big time. Try presenting the situation that way and see what happens.

Comment from Nora G, Queens Museum of Art:
    Thanks, Nancy! We are pretty excited to see how our "NON-GALA" turns out. What is the easiest way to keep you updated? You can follow our non-gala updates on Facebook and Twitter.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    You can find information about how to contact Nancy through her blog, Getting Attention. Here's the link: http://www.gettingattention.org/

Comment from Kris Bruneau, Rochester Rehabilitation:
     I'm always looking for good information on ROI. Hoping you can share some specific best practices and lessons learned with regard to ROI and social media. For example, I came across one the other day on twitterinnovations group (LinkedIn) where someone shared a story about a smart strategy employed by a pizza parlor with results - http://www.blog.nakedpizza.biz/twitter.htm

Question from Dorene, STAR Center:
    The idea of discussing organizational issues in social media poses complicated problems for me. Sometimes I need to protest the privacy of someone in a given situation. Sometimes I want to discuss a problem but do not want the issue linked forever with the organization in terms of web indexing and internet feeds. Any thoughts about approaches to do that?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Dorene, if you're talking about your own participation in social media (as I assume you are), the answer goes back to your organization's social media policy. You should have one! Your instinct is right though. It may make sense to maintain personal accounts on social media when you need to participate as an individual or anonymously.

Question from Nancy, tiny nonprofit:
    We're a local nonprofit - no national affiliation. Do you select the city you are interested in monitoring or engaging in conversations with or is it all national?

Felicia Carr:
    We do monitor national issues online, but our approach should work to help you focus on your local community as many of our issues crop up on the local level first. You need an online monitoring process that includes search terms specific to your area. Take time to explore. Look at how other organizers do it. Use Google to figure out what search terms your audiences use. Then you can set up Google alerts by issue with the right words, so if you know your local issues that should help you hone in on your area. Also, find the influential people and organizations in your area and see what they are saying online. Identifying key folks in your community who are online could help too. Facebook also allows you to see some area information if the user includes it in their profile. We can select areas to reach out to but it only works if the information is included in the profile.

Question from National Relief Charities:
    We have a lot of stories we send out through our eMarketing stewardship campaigns. Could these be used in social media, such as MySpace, as well?

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Stories are powerful, as long as they are richly detailed, include photos or video and quotes, and presented in a fairly short form. So use those you have everywhere. MySpace wise, unless you're hoping to engage those 15 and under, I don't suggest you focus there. Instead -- focus on blogging, Twitter, Facebook and social media listening via your blog reader and Google Alerts.

Question from Leslie Cahill, The Graduate Institute :
    I recently began exploring ways to establish a presence for my not-for-profit institution through Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites. My question pertains to how I can get users on these sites to "join" the groups I've created for my organization. Because the Facebook technology requires that I be "friends" with an individual before inviting him or her to my organization, I am finding it difficult to recruit. Do you have any suggestions about how to reach the general public via Facebook and other social networking sites? Many thanks for hosting this discussion!

Danielle Brigida:
    Sometimes it takes the desperate plea to a friend to ask them to invite their friends that gets the movement going. The other option is to promote your group on other groups you are a part of that pertain to what you are focusing on. Organic recruitment is ideal, but I totally understand the need for a push. Still, once you've created a loyal community you probably won't have to start from scratch every time. It also helps to "friend" a few really active people that would benefit from your group so that you can get people that believe in what you are doing.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    We're going to have to wrap up the chat in about 10 minutes. We'll get to as many questions as possible. Based on the popularity of this topic, we'll schedule another one soon that will focus on social media. We're also exploring some other tools to help the nonprofit world make the best of social media.

Question from Fraser Bresnahan, Phoenix House:
    We are in the midst of a major push into Web 2.0 communication and one of the things we have been finding is that the bottlenecks tend to happen in the older technology -- the Web site, NetCommunity, the email server, etc. -- and that it is much easier to get content on our Facebook and twitter pages. Are there any good tools that help bridge those gaps?

Danielle Brigida:
    First off, do you have any content that can feed into an RSS widget? There are several ways to promote content on Facebook and finding ways to streamline them is ideal. I've also seen organizations successfully incorporate the social site tool Ning.com into their main web pages with relatively simple code. By creating a Ning site you are creating quite a bit of work, but the community could give your Web site a rich place to exist. I don't really have experience with NetCommunity, but I know that integrating your Facebook and Twitter presence wherever possible is a great way to save you time and resources.

Nancy E. Schwartz:
    Unfortunately, I have to jump off to get on a conference call.

It's been a treat to "talk" with you today. Great questions and a pleasure, as always, to work with such experts in the field. Tx to Peter, Felicia and Danielle!

All the best, Nancy

Question from Emily, medium non-profit:
    From these various online social medias, from your experiences, what has been an average increase in dollars raised to the nonprofit? And which has proven most successful?

Felicia Carr:
    If we are talking online social networks only, and not e-mail, for NPCA, Facebook's Causes has been the most successful for us. Some groups such as Save Darfur have been particularly successful with nearly $90,000 raised by that cause. I would suggest looking at M+R's 2009 Online Benchmark study for more info on online giving results here: http://www.e-benchmarksstudy.com/ . You can also search causes to see how related non-profits are doing: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2318966938

Comment from Suzanne Hall, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts:
    Out of which departments is social media managed? At VMFA, we have a cross divisional team of "volunteers" who engage in our Facebook, Twitter and blog but the efforts are driven by Communications and Marketing. We have no dedicated staff for these functions which at times can be very time-consuming. Has anyone elminated something to make room for social media in daily operations?

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    Most of the organizations that we've reported on regarding social media have housed these functions under communications or marketing. Some groups have made social media a part of their fund raising operations. In most cases, they are either making it part of an existing person's job function -- or creating a new position.

Danielle Brigida:
    This has been great, but Perry and I too have to jump off now. Thank you for these engaging questions. We really enjoyed this discussion and we too are looking forward to reading the transcript. We always learn so much when we have the chance to share our experiences with others. Thanks again. Felicia & Perry at NPCA

Comment from Dorene, STAR Center:
    Just a thank you to everyone who participated. I am really eager to work with some of the resources mentioned, and I am also gratified to know other organizations have some of the same concerns I do. THANKS to everyone.

Question from Jeanne Bertolina, Thrive Alliance:
    I would like to hear some examples of how using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the like actually helped nonprofits in some way. I get the impression that nonprofits are getting into these things for fear of looking out of it if they don't. But I would love to hear about some concrete results that came out of all this additional work.

Danielle Brigida:
    I could really be here all day, but I'll just give you an example with Twitter.

Example: NWF's Wildlife Watch program- Has been an online citizen monitoring program where people can share wildlife findings.

Where did Twitter come in? - I realized that it was unlikely for people to be in a field and then run back to their computer to share with us that they saw a fox or a wren-- but they did have their phones, and with their phones they can Twitter! So we encourage wildlife watchers to tag their "tweets" with #nwf and now when people see wildlife they tweet their findings and those go on our wildlife watch site!

So we not only are getting people engaged helping wildlife, but we are increasing awareness and it's fun! This is a small example, but I think if you look at social media as a new way to do old business-- and a way to make your life easier either by engagement, content creation etc.-- you can really problem solve with it.

Start by getting a good grasp of the tool functionality and then expand to making your life easier!

Question from Karen, Committee for Children:
    I'd like to see a more specific response to Bridgit's question - the answer was so generic that it's not helpful. What options does one study? What are some specific first steps to take, resources to study, etc?

Danielle Brigida:
    Unfortunately it would take a weekend workshop to answer the question fully. Here are some helpful links:
http://Wearemedia.org
http://beth.typepad.com/
http://www.gettingattention.org/
http://johnhaydon.com/

Investigate these resources and I promise they will lead you to a plethora of others.

Question from Christi, small nonprofit:
    What are your suggestions regarding how frequently a page, be it Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., should be updated? Is once a day frequent enough?

Danielle Brigida:
    I think once or twice a day is really good! I think it's important to be consistent with your time. You can always ramp up but people do notice the silence if you disappear for days. I would recommend finding ways to link them all using ping.fm

Comment from Fraser Bresnahan, Phoenix House:
    We have regular content updates that are going out on Facebook and twitter pretty much daily, and an eNewsletter that is going out to our email list monthly, so all of that content is available. It is the process of getting that onto our website that has been problematic in that there is only one staff member who can change the website and coordinating updates with her as often as the Communications Department is posting on Facebook or tweeting would be disruptive to all the other demands on her time. So the net result is that our social media updates are much more frequent.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    It's time to wrap things up. Thank you, again, to all of those who participated in today's very lively live discussion on social media. A special thanks to our three guests -- Danielle Brigida, Felicia Carr, and Nancy E. Schwartz. They provided some excellent insight into this important topic.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    A reminder that we play host to these discussions every Tuesday at noon Eastern time. You can find a full archive of transcripts and information about upcoming discussions at http://philanthropy.com/live.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    Next week, we'll be moving our weekly discussion to Wednesday at noon Eastern time to accommodate the release of the forthcoming Giving USA report. We'll have experts from Giving USA here to take your questions live about the state of U.S. fund raising. You can find that discussion here: http://philanthropy.com/free/articles/v21/i16/recession.htm

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
    Thanks again, everyone.