Conference Roundup: Understand Social Networks and Make Them Work for You

June 2008 By Melissa Busch

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“Figure out who you want to go after, what you’re trying to achieve, what you want it to look like when you’re done and what tools you are going to use,” MacLaughlin said.

The most important thing to remember is to embrace Web 2.0. In doing so, nonprofits should personalize their missions.

“The organizations that will succeed will be those that transform their mission into personalized experiences for constituents,” he said.

Organizations should also integrate channels, and create a balance between old and new ways of communicating and fundraising. Because, if you’re not integrating, “you’re creating islands.”

“The organizations that leverage both online and offline channels together will have the agility to communicate in more successful ways,” he said.

Finally, MacLaughlin said, organizations should always measure their progress.

“The organizations that understand that both qualitative and quantitative measures help guide decision making will be best able to confirm success.”

As intriguing and promising as it all may seem, social networking isn’t for everyone.

MacLaughlin referred to “Should Your Organization Use Social Networking Sites?” a whitepaper put out by Idealware, a group that provides reviews and articles about software of interest to nonprofits. According to the whitepaper, the six signs that social networking isn’t for you are:

1. You’re still trying to get a handle on your basic software infrastructure.

2. Your target audiences aren’t using social-networking tools. “If your constituents aren’t there, there isn’t a good reason to be there,” MacLaughlin said. “But, it is something to experiment with.”

3. You don’t have time to experiment with something that might not work.

4. You’re not willing to deal with technologies that don’t work as well as they could.

5. You’re not ready to invest in gaining a real understanding of the medium.

6. You want clear editorial control over your brand and message.

Still have questions? MacLaughlin suggested reading these books: “People to People Fundraising: Social Networking and Web 2.0 for Charities” by Ted Hart, James Greenfield and Sheeraz Haji; “Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations” by Clay Shirky; and “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies” by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff.