Wired Causes

You are browsing the archives of 2011 August.

Hi everyone, I Martyn, 27 years old, have been blogging 2 years on my experiences as a wheelchair user with 24.7 care and now self employed.

My blog www.martynsibley.com, online magazine www.disabilityhorizons.com, disability webinar series and planned e-courses will provide disabled people with the inspiration and information to grab life. It all also adds an educational tool for the world to see disabled people in an inclusive and achieving light.

Checkout the video from my online learning page…

I am cruising along ok with the technology for now. I am however keen to commission an app or 10 for disabled people, especially to use on i pad.

Beyond any offers for new creative assistance on technology, I am financially linking with charities and councils on mini webinar contracts -

If any companies would be interested in commissioning the e-courses using my personal and professional experiences, alongside worksheets and case studies of others, my projects could hit a new stratosphere over night.

Any thoughts and advice guys? Martyn

The NetSquared.org website may be unavailable for up to 1 hour on August 29th, beginning at 12 pm PST due to site maintenance. If you have any trouble, find the site unavailable for more than the expected timeframe, or anything else, please do not hesitate to let us know: net2 [at] techsoupglobal [.] org

This weekend, I’m sharing stories from Mary Holmes of the Cumberland Community Foundation.  She often sends me wonderful emails in response to my posts, recounting her experiences as a fundraiser.  Yesterday, I shared a story illustrating three key basics of fundraising; today I stories about diversity among donors.

Mary says…

“Many nonprofits report struggling to connect with their diverse communities or rural neighbors.  (Katya notes: Mary’s foundation has wonderful supporters from the African American community and rural communities.)  A favorite story was about a retired educator of modest means who was cultivated by our long time board member Mildred (also a retired educator and plays piano at the same church). She created a designated endowment to support music programs at her church in memory of her husband. She was worried about reaching fund minimum but took the leap. The next week her brother-in-law matched her gift.  The fund minimum was soon met…  Another story: Ten years ago the local farm bureau started talking about having a scholarship for children of farmers and fundraising started. One of the farmers and farm bureau board members sadly lost his youngest sister to a car accident about five years ago.  He was introduced to CCF when his sisters started a scholarship in memory of their sister. (The sisters were referred to the community foundation by a friend who had a fund.) He gave to that fund, experienced our stewardship, and saw it grow over the years. One of the sisters began to volunteer on our scholarship selection committee (selecting other scholarships) and most of the family attends our annual scholarship awards presentation. So his confidence in our scholarship system grew. He invited me to present to the farm bureau board about 18 months ago and again last week. I left with a $100,000 and two signed scholarship memorial endowment fund agreements (in memory of their founders).”

Mary’s work truly illustrates why it’s so important to reach out to the full community in your fundraising efforts.  That means having a diverse board, creating an environment where all people can have a hand in shaping programs, and celebrating and spreading stories of success.  I find her stories a great example of how this is done well.

It’s a huge loss not to do so.  I’m recalling some data I shared earlier this summer about ethnicity and who is most likely to spread the word about a cause. Diversity among donors truly matters!

This weekend, I’m sharing stories from Mary Holmes of the Cumberland Community Foundation.  She often sends me wonderful emails in response to my posts, recounting her experiences as a fundraiser.  She agreed I could share some of her tales in two posts, along with my commentary on what they mean for us.  Thanks, Mary!

Mary says…

“Several years ago, our board member Ellie brought a synagogue friend to our Summertime Kids luncheon. It’s a free event, funded by board member donations. The total event cost was around $500… no decorations, no handouts, no perks, just a good, simple lunch.  There was a board member seated at each table to provide community foundation information.  A few grantees presented their stories, shared how children’s lives were changed, and thanked those present for their support.  That friend donated to Summertime Kids the next year and has given every year since then.  The friend opened a donor advised fund and made another gift.  And then the friend told another friend about the community foundation.”

Here’s a simple story about how and why people come to give with great loyalty.  Note: there was no lavish event; no magic messaging, no glossy publication.  That’s not what drives dollars.  Instead:

1.) RELATIONSHIPS:  A board member introduced the friend to the foundation by bringing the person to an event.  Learning about a cause through a friend or family member is the most powerful way to be introduced to it.
2) EMOTIONAL, PERSONAL MESSAGING: At the event, the focus was on giving time for the foundation’s champions (its board members) and the people who had benefitted directly from the foundation to connect with the attendees.  This did something very important: It gave donors the feeling they were part of an important cause.
3.) GRATITUDE: The lunch focused on giving supporters the credit for positive change, and they were thanked for their accomplishments.  This creates a great feeling among donors and makes them want to keep supporting the foundation.  It’s critical for donors to feel their involvement is appreciated.  When they do, they are happy to spread the word because they know their friends will also have a great experience as a supporter.

Simple?  Yes.  Effective?  Very.

Don’t get so caught up in shiny tools and fabulous events that you lose sight of these basics!  Ask Mary: they work.

It is clear that the rise of social media provides many unique opportunities for nonprofit organizations to fundraise, engage supporters and reach target audiences. What has been much harder to discern is determining whether those social media efforts create positive, measurable results.

Participating in social media takes time and resources, things which lean-running nonprofits usually lack. How can these organizations measure whether social media is an effective use of scarce resources, a waste of time or something in between? 

A number of sites lay out high-level methods for measuring social media success. Some, like this entry from Social Media Examiner, are more focused towards business, but can be easily adapted to the not-for-profit world. This article’s three steps for measuring “social media marketing” -define metrics, target specific audiences, and create incentives for viral sharing- are also aimed at the business world, but are still relevant. 

Nonprofit communications advisers, like SocialBrite’s JD Lasica, have presented methods of measuring the return on social media engagement specifically for cause-driven organizations. Heather Shelby of the Environmental Defense Fund outlined, in an NTEN article filled with great examples and resources, how ROI could be measured on Facebook in particular.

In case you missed it when TechSoup Talks featured a webinar on social media ROI with Kami Griffiths, John Haydon and Chris Garrett, you can follow that link to find an archived audio recording, PowerPoint presentation and mindmap from the session.

We are using the term ROI, but there are those in the social good sector who question the value of applying that specific term to social media, nonprofits and the intersection of the two. Beth Kanter, co-founder of Zoetica and co-author of The Networked Nonprofit, has suggested “Four I’s” that make more sense for nonprofits trying to evaluate their social media outreach. She advises that not-for-profit organizations look for a return on: 

• Insight - what is being learned about the audience and the efficacy of messages
• Interaction - how is engagement being deepened and how are relationships being built
• Investment - a straightforward assessment of the financial costs and benefits of a strategy
• Impact - what part is social media playing in effecting social change

More recently, Beth has written that looking at a Return on Investment for nonprofits may be a distraction. They should instead be looking at a Return of Change; how social media leads to the ultimate goal of an organization.

Debra Askanase on Community Organizer 2.0 also stresses the value of a return on engagement. She warns that this is not the same as numbers of followers. It is, however, something that can be planned for and measured. Debra’s three points for measuring return on egagement are “community commitment, fan trust, and SMART goal achievement”

Beth Kanter has looked at exactly how to use the SMART framework for defining social media objectives. If you need to get started, but are feeling hesitant, you can try her baby steps for social media measurement.

Can we measure engagement, impact and efficacy when it comes to social media? Yes we can, says “Queen of Measurement” KD Paine. She published a “social media manifesto” white paper, that shows how people are and should be measuring public relations efforts over social media. You can watch this video of KD discussing the “Super Six Steps to Effective PR Measurement”, but here they are in brief.

1. Define your objective(s)
2. Define your audience(s)
3. Define the metrics you will use
4. Benchmark this against yourself or your competition
5. Pick your measurement tool
6. Analyze the results

That is what the experts are saying about measuring social media ROI. How does this get incorporated into the strategic program at your organization? Are you using any of these methods to justify social media participation to executive decision-makers? Or finding your own methods for evaluating the value, cost and benefit of social media outreach? Let the community know in the comments.

Today I feature a guest post by Filippo Trevisan of the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Glasgow.  I met Filippo after a recent panel discussion on social media.  After I spoke, he introduced himself and told me about his research on the impact of social media on disability-focused nonprofits.  It sounded fascinating so I asked him to post here about his early findings.  He obliged.  Enjoy!

A question that non-profits often ask me when I invite them to help out with my research on e-participation is: “What’s in it for us?” As time and resources are stretched for everyone in this sector, it seems just right that interviewees would also want to gain something from conversations with researchers. A great opportunity for me to give back some of what I have learned from conversations with practitioners came around when Katya asked me to write a guest post for her blog.

While my work concentrates specifically on digital media and disability non-profits in both the US and the UK, there is at least one major element that is arguably relevant for any nonprofit. That is that the people you are trying to serve, whether you call them supporters, donors, customers, beneficiaries, or something else, all want the same thing: to add their own voice to the common cause. Digital media, and in particular social media, have now made this easier than ever, and internet users have come not only to appreciate, but also to expect to be able to do this. People with disabilities in particular, when technology is accessible to them, crave opportunities to express their opinion and tell their story. They, and ultimately all users, represent an invaluable, untapped potential that can have a crucial impact way beyond fundraising.

There are substantial differences in how non-profits on either side of the pond handle their online operations. However, in London, as in Washington, those with an edge over the others, those with a greater following who are more likely to acquire visibility for their causes on “traditional” mass media, are also those who are taking the “risk” of letting their constituents speak directly for their cause.

Much has changed since I first ran a study on these issues just two years ago (here), and so much is likely to change in the near future. Yet, those “brave” organizations that have accepted the rules of this new game and relaxed their editorial filters on user-produced content seem to be showing the way to the others.

This is not to suggest that there should be online “anarchy,” or that we should reverse back to old, disrespectful strategies of using “sob” personal stories as a means to any end, whether that might be fundraising or a change in public policy. Rather, this process could have an empowering effect if set up and managed correctly.

From Katya: Bottom line?  Let others speak for you.  It will amplify your voice, inform your programs and deepen your impact.

With 3 billion people around the world living in extreme poverty, the need for a knowledge base that inspires and informs sustainable international development practitioners is clear. Enter WikiSCHAP, one of five winners in the FACT Social Justice Challenge in 2010. Since winning, the project’s creators have realized their vision of creating a wiki-based resource for “the collective wisdom and experience of community development practitioners all over the world.” SCHAP, the organization behind the wiki, has created a central repository for information on international poverty alleviation.

SCHAP’s CEO and founder Cory Glazier said in an interview with Net2 that the “the lack of a central hub of information, trainings and resources” is one of the biggest and most obvious obstacles to empowering individuals to engage in humanitarian development work. Naturally, having an easily accessible, digital library of knowledge on the correct principles, proper tools and best resources would be a tremendous asset. WikiSCHAP is coming together as just that. Pages of information are growing on each area in international development that SCHAP’s “aspiring philanthropists” work in. Perhaps more importantly they have outlined the guiding principles for community development that makes a lasting, positive impact.

SCHAP was founded to provide the most sustainable and comprehensive humanitarian assistance and planning possible. You can watch Cory explain his reasons for why SCHAP needed to exist and why they want to tackle community development differently. What sets the organization is their focus on rigorously training its volunteer philanthropists on how to provide development assistance directly to the communities that need it most, overcoming the drawbacks of conventional humanitarian aid.

To that end, SCHAP developed SCHAP University to provide a curriculum-based education for the volunteers and created the digital library of wikiSCHAP. The ultimate aim is to give the volunteers the knowledge and training necessary to unlock the capabilities of people living in disadvantaged communities to improve their own situations. It seems that this vision of community-driven development is working. After three years in one community in Kenya, SCHAP is handing over their projects to the community for implementation, management and evaluation.

As with any young organization, funding is a critical hurdle for SCHAP. Winning the FACT Social Justice Challenge provided the support needed to get wikiSCHAP off the ground. But more support is needed. In June of this year, Cory took part in a fundraising drive called Fasting for the Future which he described in this video blog post. He fasted and slept outside for four days until they successfully raised enough funds to support this summer’s community development program in Kenya. Donating is not the only way to support SCHAP, however. Those interested can also join their team, volunteer locally or become one of their community development workers. And, of course, wikiSCHAP could always use volunteer editors to help it expand and improve.

Share your thoughts on wikiSCHAP and the need for digital resources for sustainable development in the comments.

It’s early days for good causes on mobile, so there aren’t many examples of small causes doing big things with phones.

Here’s a promising program to watch: The Susie’s Law Movement.  The Susie’s Law Movement was instrumental in helping pass Susie’s Law in North Carolina last year to improve the welfare of animals in NC. They’ve created an app for the iTunes or Android stores:

Susie’s Law App from Smart Online on Vimeo.

I like the compelling storytelling, the clear calls to action and the ease of use.  So how’s the app doing?  I asked Anusha Sethuraman from the firm that developed the app (Smart Online).

Q: How does it work?

A: Supporters register themselves once they download the app. Their local representatives are located and stored inside the app, and accessed when the supporter takes action (sends an email to their representatives). ‘Action Alerts’ and ‘Push Messages’ are used to alert supporters of important animal welfare legislation. These Action Alerts quickly tell them what they need to take action on like ‘We need YOUR help in unchaining this county – email now’. Push Messages can be sent informing supporters that a new Action Alert is available. Push Messages are visible even if the supporter is outside of the app, they are similar to text messages, but do not require that the nonprofit collect mobile phone numbers in order to communicate directly with the supporter. When supporters view the Push Message they will be taken to the Action Alert screen of the app, and can take action in just 2 steps. The email is pre-populated and can be edited if the supporter so desires.

Q: Have you had any early wins with mobile? 

A: The app was launched only 10 days ago but we have seen a considerable amount of downloads (close to 700), are maintaining a high retention rate on both platforms (over 85%) and over 70% of the users are active. We are hoping that with time more people can be recruited for the cause and support the organization’s efforts. We are in the process of building a case study and once we have more results, will be publishing a report.

Q: What’s your advice to other organizations that might be interested in using tools like this for advocacy?

A: You have the ability to reach a large number of advocates through the mobile space. A simple app like this that will allow you to reach your supporters anytime, anywhere they are, can have a significant impact. Push messages make sure that no matter what, your supporters will see your call to action and take action in just a couple of steps. Leveraging social media is a great way to build adoption of an app, so organizations that have already invested in their social media channel are well prepared to launch a mobile advocacy app.

My take?  If you have large following eager to take action for your cause, mobile may be worth the investment.  If you don’t, the return on investment may not justify the thousands of dollars in costs.  It’s all about the size and engagement level of your audience.