Nonprofit Performance 360 Magazine Vol 5 No 1

Why is it important for the top leader of a nonprofit organization to understand effective use of social media? Ballou —

Magee — Social media is merely another channel or distribution system that can be used to get your message to the marketplace. If effectively utilized, it is a resource to elevate your brand, serving as an awareness vehicle in communicating to followers and prospects you want to reach. It is a practically free distribution channel for use, and can be used for immediate contact and to build energy and excitement behind an organization overall or for its individual events. Magee — Nothing will replace the face-to-face interaction and bonding of interpersonal relationships. With that said, social media allows you to reach people who are mobile and maxed out. It allows you to forge new relationships and ways to communicate and network. You can leverage your associations and contacts faster through social media than practically any other communication stream or tool today. And when strategically aligned with others, you can multiply your network by massive factors by tapping instantly into others’ networks.There are service bureaus that can be accessed and utilized for campaigns that can push your social media presence out to the masses in a nanosecond! Magee — The mere strategic incorporation of social media platforms into your existing communication, advertising, promotional, awareness, and networking endeavors cannot hurt you. It is the misuse or emotional utilization that can derail an individual and organization. Always remember that once you post to the social media world, it is out there and cannot be totally removed or taken down. You may remove something from your stream, but if it has been re-posted or screen-shot, once up, it is always up. Magee — Final go-live actions can always be approved by you or an internal colleague, but you can always vet for second- and third-party providers that already have a history in your industry. One safety net is to start with an inventory of what social media platforms your present members, consumers, and donors use. Then add that answer to what social media platforms your targeted demographics consume, wherever they are.

Social media is a platform for creating and maintaining effective relationships. Leaders influence others because of their vision and purpose. It’s crucial for leaders to have someone to influence, so expanding their reach through social media is a worthy and effective strategy. Announcing events,making donor presentations, and other calls-to-action are only effective when there’s a trusted relationship in place first, and a clear understanding of what value the nonprofit organization brings to the world.

Is social media a waste of time for leaders or a valuable resource for building relationships? Ballou —

Social media is, in fact, a waste of time for most leaders as presently used. A proper understanding of social media best practices and having a strategy for the posting is required for effective use. Random postings only confuse the reader, while strategic messaging builds synergies around topics that matter. It’s best for nonprofit leaders to stick to facts and principles-based posting, and steer clear of taking political or religious positions as an official representative of the nonprofit.This doesn’t apply if the nonprofit is a religious or political organization. It’s best to be clear in strategic messaging, with a clear idea of who you are talking to and what results you want to produce. Good and bad messages can go viral quickly, which will then require wasteful damage control, costing time and effort.

Are there ways that leaders can damage an organization’s brand on social media? Ballou —

Yes. The leader and anyone connected to the organization (staff, board, volunteers, etc.) can damage the brand and ultimately damage the organization’s good image. Branding should be clear. Guiding principles should guide the writing of all postings by all team members.The challenge is ensuring that everyone understands and abides by the guiding principles.

How can leaders delegate social media activities without losing control? Ballou —

Learning to delegate and empowering people to achieve a specific result are important leadership competencies that are not often mastered. Delegation means defining the desired result in specific measurable terms, and then defining the process to achieve those goals. It’s the leader’s duty and delight to also define the protocol for social media engagement and define off-limits language, topics, and actions that will do more harm than good. Typically, a social media expert has unique qualifications to do a better job more consistently than the leader can. It’s imperative to set standards for engagement and to define the purpose and scope of the work performed with specific guidelines and on-target accomplishments. The metrics of engagement and activity don’t necessarily dictate tangible results. Develop a work plan and scope of work with target accomplishments. Review monthly and revise as needed.

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