Social media are wonderful communication tools for nonprofit organizations. They are useless unless your organization has a clear message and mission. No matter how new and jazzy the tools have become, the basics are as important now as ever – or perhaps even more important.
Oh, No! We are still right back at strategic planning, mission statements and goal setting??? Ugh! Yep – that’s what I’m saying. If you don’t know what you are doing and where you are going, how do you think you will use any method of communication to get anyone to follow you?
So here are some pointers about messages and missions in the context of a social media environment.
Short and Sweet
Please don’t spend days developing a mission statement that takes three web pages to communicate. If your mission statement can’t stay “above the fold” on your website, it’s too long.
Multi-channel message
Get clear enough about your mission and message that you can develop copy for every single channel available. Can you tweet your mission?
Stay on Message
This is a favorite phrase of politicians (which we are all tired of at the moment), but don’t throw the idea out. Every single member of your staff should be able to repeat your mission and your basic message with no prompting. So when someone asks them on their facebook page or tweets back to them about something you are doing – they know exactly what to do and say.
The personal is NOT organizational
In this case, we will through out the political message. Social media for nonprofit organizations is exactly that – about the organization. You MUST help your staff understand the difference between what they choose to do as individuals on their various social media sites and what you are trying to accomplish for the organization.
This is most difficult on Facebook, mainly because the structure of the site is totally individual pages. Even though you can build fan pages and “like” things, you do everything on Facebook through the individual page. Set up best practices with your staff and hold them to it.
Don’t feed the trolls
Every organization has had some experience with negative, and sometimes hateful, communication on one of their social media channels. You will have to learn the difference between the individual who has a legitimate questions or concern that you should address, and those who are simply looking for attention that you must not give them.
See – social media mission and message isn’t as bad as the old strategic planning days. Unless your organization has lost it’s way. Then you are back to the two day retreat and a consultant.
