If you are reading this blog, you are part of a new effort we are taking part in here at the HCHD Foundation – social media. Many of the staff, including myself, use social media regularly in our personal lives. Most of us use Facebook, all of us have watched a video on YouTube, some of us use music-streaming sites like Pandora, and and a few of us have used photo-sharing sites.
Personally, I have been using WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, Gowalla (location-based social media), YouTube, Pandora, Skype, Yelp, and other sites that have evolved to contain elements of social networking. The challenge comes when using these tools on behalf of my organization, rather than myself. There are definitely different motivations, strategies, and techniques when using social media to promote a non-profit, particularly one in the healthcare area, with its unique privacy issues.
Looking around the internet, there seem to be resources available for people like me who know a little about the technology, but not how to utilize it effectively for an organization. One of the best resources I’ve found is Beth Kanter, a social media for non-profit guru who shares her wisdom through her blog, and coming this summer – a new book!
Here’s an example of why non-profit marketing professionals all read Beth’s blog:
Offline to Online: Window Clings and Sandwich Boards
I was in Oakland, CA and discovered Fenton’s Creamery, famous for its ice cream. The line was out the door.
Lines are good because you can contemplate that important decision: What flavor? While I was debating between chocolate chocolate chip and coconut pineapple 95% fat free flavors, I noticed a small sandwich board sign promoting Fenton’s Facebook Page. I “liked it” from my iPhone.
I posted the above photo on my Facebook page, primarily to test how different content sparks interaction on my own Facebook page. But as a bonus, I learned from Facebook expert Mari Smith, that sandwich boards and window clings with Facebook and Twitter IDS are an effective technique to close the loop between offline and social media.
So interesting – especially for someone like me, who is worrying about getting our supporters to find us online. Everywhere I turn to find ideas and inspiration, people direct me to Beth!
Another great resource I have found is Chris Wilder, the Executive Director of the Valley Medical Center Foundation. His is the only other public health system non-profit with a blog, as far as I have found (correct me if I’m wrong)! The first time I found his blog, the top post was titled, “Social Media…what are we doing here, anyway?” Here’s an excerpt:
San Diego, CA – This year’s conference of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (thankfully known as NACHRI) included a workshop on how medical centers can and should be using social media…
• Hospitals are behind in using social media, and most that do are large institutions. Out of 6,000 hospitals in the USA, only 557 have social media accounts.
• Almost all block employee access to social media, yet the rules about privacy or “wasting time at work” are the same as with email…and nobody blocks that!
• Best quote of the conference: “The control issue of social media is very important to people who care about being in control”.
• …which is why we all should do social media: We are NOT in control of our own message anymore. Time to face that reality.
• Social media can help win campaigns (2008’s Measure A), can help keep donors connected, and spread the word faster than ever before.
• Therefore, don’t worry about the ROI just yet…focus on ROC: Return on connections. Besides, these tools are free and don’t take up too much time.
• 5 years from now, a conference like this will sound as silly as one advertising “the strategic uses of the fax machine.” This is increasingly how people communicate, and there’s no going back.
He really struck a chord with us regarding the “long-term” retrospective – we definitely don’t want to be missing out on something that could make or break a non-profit in the near future. It reminds me of a story one of my coworkers told me about working for a (private) hospital in the 1990s, and the reluctance across the entire health care industry to implement email. There was real controversy at the time that it could be done while still protecting privacy; and yet today (just 15 or so years later) any industry that attempted to conduct business without using email would be considered very foolish. I am confident that similar concerns will be addressed in the areas of social media, and in the meantime, I want to make sure the HCHD Foundation is in a position to take full advantage of all technological advances.
Please Join Scrubs Young Supporters for an exciting happy hour with CultureMap’s Mixers on the Map.
