nptech.info

Find more photos like this on So You Think You Can Do Social Media

Note From Beth:  Since 2007,  I've been using, adapting, and remixing the Social Media Gamesocial media workshops for nonprofits.  In fact, just last month, I took it to India.  Last year, I facilitated a version of the Social Media Game for Packard Grantees as part of a convening on Network Effectiveness in Washington, DC.   Dave Witzel was a participant in the workshop and thought the game could be adapted as apart of training on social media at the staff retreat.  The big challenge with training is the challenge of transfer - after people go through a training - do they actually put the knowledge and skills into practice?  

Also, the game is licensed under creative commons - which means folks are welcomed to use as long as share and share like (with attribution).   EDF has embraced the spirit of this sharing - not only remixing a version of the game for their organization,but also sharing back the materials and what worked!  

That's why I invited Kira Marchenese, to write a guest post about has happened since the training last year.

Last fall, we marched all 350 or so Environmental Defense Fund staff through two days of a social media challenge.  Looking back, I’m happy to report that the experiment paid off.

Why did we do this?

We know that very soon, social media will no longer be optional. Already, some of our advocacy work is progressing in large part because of savvy use of social media (see our blog about chemicals and toxics).

We have a mix of staff who dived into social media long ago (see our business innovation blog and green business twitter feed), and others who have maybe sort of heard of Twitter. We wanted to give everyone a chance to get more familiar with the tools, and, more importantly, understand how social media is relevant to their goals.

What did we do?

We went all-out. EDF periodically brings our entire staff together for an in-person retreat. This year, the retreat theme was social media. We crafted a two-day challenge, mixing all-staff sessions with smaller group time. Here’s the overview:

EDF Staff Retreat - Intro to Social MediaView more presentations from Eric Schwartzman.

• Everyone attended a 90-minute presentation by Eric Schwartzman on what social media is and why we should pay attention. He’s energetic and knows his stuff, so it was a good start.

• A few EDF staffers joined Eric on stage to share what they’ve done with social media. This was really important – hearing colleagues talk about their posts being read by EPA officials or members of international negotiating teams made the point in a way no consultant could.

Then the hands-on part started:

• We broke into teams of 40 to 70 people, based on the type of work we do. For example, everyone who works on ocean issues was on the same team. Each team received a challenge in their field that they had to meet through social media.

• Each of the six large teams divided again into tables of 10. At the small tables, we played an EDF version of the social media game developed by Beth Kanter and David Wilcox.

• After each table developed a strategy, the large teams picked one strategy each to develop a pitch around. They spent the next 24 hours refining the pitch. And then the fun really started!

Each team pitched their idea to the full EDF staff. The pitches included costumes, music, video filmed on-site, mock-ups, and social media demos.

We all voted, and the winning team got budget money to fund their social media plan. How did it go?

People were extremely engaged. Every EDF staffer had to do this. Our biggest worry was that people would find it irrelevant to their work and would check out. Breaking up into small tables worked – I saw table after table of people leaning in, standing up, gathered around flip charts. I didn’t see anyone checking their Blackberry, which was pretty amazing. And people from assistants to VPs poured energy into crafting the pitches, you can see from the scene at t-minus 3 hours and t-minus 30 minutes.

And that made the presentations really good. Teams took ownership of their ideas and were revved up to show them off. They threw themselves into writing scripts and filming, gathering costume pieces, and otherwise doing much more in 24 hours than I would have thought possible. Even the teams that spent the least time preparing gave polished overviews.

The “game show” conceit made it all more fun. Our host, Rachel “Seacrest”, and the judges did a great job of moving things along and lacing the presentations with some clever silliness. The audio-visual crew did a top-notch job juggling all the video, countdown clocks, slides, props and miking, adding to the sense that this social media stuff is really big-time.

We could have refined the structure of the two days. Even with the tailored materials, and a dry run, there were many things I’d do differently next time. If you’re considering running this game yourself, definitely check out what we learned!

Lots of great ideas. EDF staff came up with some really interesting ideas. Not every table had a social media plan ready to execute (”handing out flyers” wasn’t one of the social media tools we encouraged!) but several of them are already being executed.

Did it make a difference?

Three months later, what do we have to show for it? Or, in other words, should other organizations consider doing this? Here’s what we’re seeing.

An explosion of EDF bloggers. We have a new transportation blog, Way2Go, and new participants in our international climate talks blog. The contributors to our blog about Texas energy re-tooled how they write and edit posts to make it more flexible and inclusive. And two more new blogs are on the way.

But I’m most pleased that EDF staff are evaluating how blogging will help achieve their goals, not just blogging for the sake of it. One of the best conversations we’ve had is with a department that decided to put off blogging for now, since it made sense to invest in other tactics first. I love seeing our staff make smart, well-informed choices.

Not just the usual suspects. We’ve always had a small but energetic group experimenting with social media. We’re now seeing both interest and confidence about social media from people who were never part of that experimental vanguard. Lauren Guite, our online team’s outreach coordinator, says that not only are these “unusual suspects” truly interested, but she’s impressed with their understanding of why the tools are important.

Plans to re-run the game. Three different groups have come to me asking for help re-running the game to generate ideas for specific projects. I can’t think of a better indicator that people found it useful.

(See more details on these results from EDF’s Social media challenge on my own blog.)

Biggest challenge now: How to find the time?

We had to cut staff last year, the economy remains rough, and the planet needs a lot of saving. When staff choose to engage in social media, they spend less time on something else. We’re seeing this play out in a cycle of enthusiasm and guilt. People get excited about something — tweeting, setting up Google Reader, signing up for Facebook. But other priorities get in the way, and it becomes just something else that’s still on their to-do list the next week. They feel bad when we check in with them and they haven’t gotten to it yet.

In the big picture, if people see results from social media, they’ll keep engaging, and if they don’t see results, they shouldn’t feel bad about stopping. But getting started requires a leap of faith that time spent trying social media is time well spent. And when there’s so much going on, it’s hard to make that leap.

The time we spent on this at the retreat definitely helped amp up the enthusiasm part of the cycle, pushing more people into making the leap of faith.

Kira Marchense is the Online communications director at Environmental Defense Fund.
 

Congrats to Megha Bhagat, Winner of HP Laptop/Printer Bundle Contest that I ran on my blog last month. To enter the contest, readers had to share their Theory of Change. Megha is a passionate human rights advocate in India and... Beth

Congrats to Megha Bhagat, Winner of HP Laptop/Printer Bundle Contest that I ran on my blog last month.  To enter the contest, readers had to share their "Theory of Change."   Megha is a passionate human rights advocate in India and also lawyer.  Her blog is here.  

Here's her theory of change and social media:

Social Media was at one point of time just about what we read or saw in news or heard over the radio. Then came in social media as an effective mechanism to be able to catalyse change.Maybe the attention its got is relatively new but no denying that its become today such a strong change maker.
I am a lawyer by profession and presently a student of human rights law in my masters at India. Going back to my under graduation days i can say social media helped me bring together people for a cause time and again. Today i use it effectively with maybe another handful of lawyers spread over the country who communicate via mails and help in their own small ways . My theory for a change has some linkages to my law specific profession:

1. How to get Communities like the litigating, practicing lawyers effectively engaging on social media: It is still a fact that in India the lawyers who are practicing,are working in firms have a very very closed view on usage of social media tools. It is important to get them initiated into usage of social media. This becomes important for pro bono services. Some lawyers are ready to help people in distress in pro bono cases and in India you need a strong network of such lawyers. Getting the practitioners all across connected via social media tools ensures that this network is able to deliver services for the masses who donot have enough means for access to justice. Today i am a part of a small group like this, but we are people who are in a younger age bracket and have been using social media for sometime. The change is needed in the whole fraternity where in the sensitivity and readiness of lawyers to take up pro bono cases is encouraged by teaching them how effective social media tools can be for conversing with other like minded professionals etc.

2. Breaking the Myths about Social media: For a community like the lawyers its important to introduce them to the new age social media and what it has come to mean. It is important to make this community to realize that their services can bring about a change in societal access to justice delivery system and more importantly that social media is now not a waste of time but an effective tool for sharing experiences and getting motivated by work that others in their community do. Even as social media experts/trainers engage with professionals from all walks of community it is important that this community is also engaged in breaking their myths, apprehensions etc.

3. Every individual is a change maker: My experience with social media tools has been that conversations, discussions, arguements shared on discussion boards, forums, groups has brought the unconventional professionals to come ahead with ideas that can bring change. A lot of times these discussions have brought ahead an individual who probably would not engage in a certain type of case but is inspired and motivated by following the discusisons and gives his input which becomes an important idea for people like us who are into human rights practicing. It is therefore pertinent to constantly realize that, to bring together an effective change maker group of lawyers who are ready to provide justice delivery services, every lawyer we train in social media tools or even get introduces to such tools becomes an individual who can have an amazing idea.

For me personally i can envisage a system where in we have trained lawyers from all walks of practice in India, in effective communication via social media and such engagement can bring about at least a start of coming together of ideas, brain storming of changes needed and more importantly networks of professionals who are readily available for getting justice to the under served masses.

Megha Bhagat
Advocate
LLM student, NLSIU, Bangalore(Human Rights), India
meghabhagat@nls.ac.in

I'm knee deep in creating some new workshop curriculum. I like to use videos as part of the instruction to trigger discussion or something at the end as a group bonding mechanism. Something that has eluded me is how to... Beth

The other day, Matt Sharp shared this link to a social media policy generator called the Social Media Policy Tool.  It asks you 12 questions mostly having to do with control and then spits out the biolerplate for your policy.  It reminded of the Postmodernism Thesis Generator could spit out a thesis for you in minutes.

Here's the social media policy I created for Beth's Blog.  Obviously, this is a just a beginning, not an end.  The language, of course, needs to be customized to your particular situation and the biolerplate included may not be relevant.   The process around policy - that is the discussion, buy-in, and education - is so critical for effective use of social media.  You could do your organization a disservice if you think that the written policy that results from this tool is your final product.   And, also it doesn't give you the best practices and tactial tips.

Creating a social media policy or any other organizational policy requires three steps:

1. Establish the policy: Determine the policy and what you want to accomplish
2. Educate: Important to train or make employees aware of the implications
3. Enforce: Less about the top down control, but the fact that you need to consistently use the policy – shouldn’t sit in a drawer

The social media policy tool helps you with part of the of step 1.  

I think it is also very useful to review other organization's policies.  Altimeter Group has a good collection (although mostly corporate) on its wiki.  I wrote a post almost a year ago with a summary of what should go in a nonprofit organization's policy as well as a roundup of nonprofit and government policies.    So, it is a good idea that if you use a short-cut like the policy tool, that you review other policies and think specifically what is needed in your organization's policy.   There is also an operational aspect of the policy - all the tips and best practices that should be incorporated.

Does your nonprofit have a social media policy?  How did you create an effective one?   How did you educate people?  How do you operationalise it?  Have some thoughts?  Netsquared is running a thinktank on this topic and you contribute your ideas here.

Resources from Beth's Blog:

Don't Moon People With Cameras or Atleast Hide Your Face While You Do It by Beth Kanter
Red Cross Social Media Policy and Handbook: A Case Study by Beth Kanter
The Pooch Porch Policy:  Does Your Nonprofit Need A Social Media Policy by Beth Kanter

See my other posts on social media policy

Social Media Policies

• ASHA (nonprofit) social media guidelines
• Intel Social Media Guidelines
• Blog Council Disclosure Best Practices Kit
• IBM Social Computing Policy
• Charlene Li's Wiki of social Media Policies
• MindMap of Social Networking Policy Discussion
• Laurel Papworth: Social Media and PR Crisis (had lots of policy links)
• Laural Papworth:  40 Social Media Policy Links 40 Guidelines for web 2.0
• Robin Broitman, Social Media Policy Super List

Mashable, Should Your Company Have A Social Media Policy
Dave Fleet,  External Policies
Dave Fleet,  Social Media Policy Series
Dana Theus, Air Force Blog Policy Case Study
Peter Campbell, The ROI of Flexibility
Steve Heye, I Believe in the ROI of Flexibility, Don't You?
Colin McKay, Secret Understand Guide to Social Media Adoption
Mashable, Facebook Can Get You Fired
Mashable, YouTube Can Get You Fired
Sachachua, Gen Y Social Media in the Workplace Guide
Drew McLellan, Who Really Owns Your Social Media Persona
Mashable, How To Manage Multiple Social Media Profiles
Phil Gerbyshak, Fired for Facebook and Twitter
Nonprofit Management Library, Internet Acceptable Use Policies
BeaconFire  Technology Policies that Make Sense in a Web 2.0 World

 

 

I'm knee deep in creating some new workshop curriculum. I like to use videos as part of the instruction to trigger discussion or something at the end as a group bonding mechanism.   Something that has eluded me is how to directly embed the YouTube Video.  I've always had an elegant solution - include a hyper link to the YouTube Page.

I just discovered a way to embed the video directly in a slide.  It isn't that hard to do and the above screencast will show you how.   You need Powerpoint 2007 and a live Internet connection in order to make it work.   This trick, along with being able to Tweet from Powerpoint   is definitely going into my Trainer's Bag of Social Media Tricks.

The other day, Matt Sharp shared this link to a social media policy generator called the Social Media Policy Tool. It asks you 12 questions mostly having to do with control and then spits out the biolerplate for your policy.... Beth

Collaborating Via Artifacts View more presentations from Eugene Kim. Yesterday was the second day for a meeting with a community of practice of people interested in network effectiveness convened by Monitor Institute. I learned so much and quickly wanted to... Beth

Collaborating Via Artifacts View more presentations from Eugene Kim.

Yesterday was the second day for a meeting with a community of practice of people interested in network effectiveness convened by Monitor Institute.  I learned so much and quickly wanted to share a few insights.

I heard first hand from Eugene Eric Kim about strategic planning at Wikipedia.  One of my favorite quotes: "At the end of the day, networks are piles of people.”  

As he shared the story, I had some questions about weaving offline/online collaboration within networks. 
We most typically think of the offline/online as a sequence somewhat like this:

• Small group meets face-to-face - builds trust
• Uses online space to continue work inbetween face-to-face meetings

I started thinking about how a lot of the online collaboration was taking place on the social web is between people who had never met each other and after they work together may meet each other.  In my own experience, I've connected and collaborated with people online who I had never met face-to-face and these have been pretty rich experiences.  I've also worked in the other direction - starting with a known group meeting face-to-face and then incorporating online tools to deepen or further our work. 

So, it raised some questions in my mind:

• What is unique about online collaboration that begins online before a face-to-face meeting?
• Can it be effective without ever meeting or do you need that face-to-face to build trust?  Does that have to happen first?
• How can you effectively weave offline/online work in a network?  Is it different depending on the intention or structure of the network?
• What are the nuances?

Eugene Eric Kim's answer: No difference between weaving networks face to face and weaving networks online. But space does matter, and affects how you interact with people. We can have the power to shape the space. You can build trusting relationships on line, not just face to face. What we need to catalyze networks is conversations.  

I tweeted some of his points using the #networkf and there was an interesting discussion with people not in the room.   Eugene Eric Kim pointed to the presentation above, plus this post further explaining online/offline collaboration differences.

He argues the point that trusting, meaningful relationships are possible online. Online collaboration can be just as effective as face-to-face.  I'm thinking it is another one of the contextual elements you have to look at - and perhaps a matter of sequencing.   Eugene's main points are:

• Artifacts are critical for effective collaboration. We use them all the time in face-to-face collaboration, and they usually work the same way face-to-face as they do online. For example, the best online brainstorming tools apply the same principles as the best face-to-face brainstorming processes using a whiteboard or Post-Its. Online collaboration is unique in that every interaction results in an artifact. That doesn’t make it inherently better, as the default artifact isn’t necessarily the best. But, this property leads to the second point, which is that…
• Online enables scale. Because you’re working in a medium that is inherently replicable and shareable and where geographical limitations do not apply, you can potentially reach a much larger audience. The key word is potential. Actually attaining scale online is a huge challenge, and how you frame that goal is critical. Size, for example, may not be as important as diversity.
• Face-to-face buys you attention. You cannot guarantee people’s presence (in the metaphysical sense) online, and that makes it hard to tackle certain types of problems. Getting that level of focused attention is possible, but the cost of doing it online is higher. This is the most important point, and understanding the nuances of it determines whether or not your collaborative strategy will be effective

What has been your experience?

On Saturday, I was delighted to have an opportunity to attend and speak at the SexTech 2010 Conference. If you are wondering what Sextech is, it explores research, policy, education, implementation, and evaluation of public health programs that use new technologies to enhance sexual health of young people.  The conference participants are a mix of people from nonprofits, schools, policy centers, researchers, universities, government, and young people.   I had heard about the conference last year and really wanted to attend.

justgoodtv on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

I participated in a morning keynote with Marc Blinder, Bobby Jones, and Ryan Wilson.  Geoff Livingston, my business partner at Zoetica,  moderated the session which was called "Social Media Rockstars: Widgets, Apps, Contests, and More.  Marc kicked off the presentations sharing some thoughts about best practices for social media infused campaigns,  I talked about effective social media for nonprofits,  Bobby Jones gave a fantastic presentation talking about generations and young people, and Ryan Wilson shared some thoughts about prize Philanthropy. 

Sex::Tech 2010 Presentation View more presentations from Skild.

I was really excited to finally meet Ryan Turner who I have known virtually since 1995, but had never met face-to-face.

I also had the opportunity to finally meet Andre Blackman who I met online while researching a talk on nonprofits, social media, and health care. Andre has a deep knowledge of this space and pointed me to many great examples.

Andrew Blackman was co-presenting with Leslie Ann Bradshaw, JESS3, in a session called "New Media Strategies for Engagement.  Their presentations rocked and I've included them below.

New Media Strategies for Public Health View more presentations from Andre Blackman.

How Social Media Might Be Able to Impact the Sex Education Policy Debate View more presentations from Leslie Bradshaw.

A couple of reflections. It is always fun to do a panel when the majority of the audience is Gen Y and Gen X - and they are using tools like live streaming and Twitter.   The back channel during the panel was fabulous.  And, I knew this audience pretty well from having worked with organizations and networks that focus on sexual and reproductive health. 

I've been trying to internalize some of the tips and techniques that I have been learning from reading Cliff Atkinson's book on the back channel and teaching trainers.  One technique is to plan what you're going to say as a series of Tweets.  In order to do this, I decided not to use slides and so I could engage more with people in the room.

The other thing I've been practicing lately is not scripting out word for word what I am going to say, but be a little bit more improvisatory.   I read about how Larry David, creator of the show Curb Your Enthusiasm, creates the show.   The scripts aren't scripts, but outlines.  The actors improvise their lines.   I think this is a more engaging way to speak, although to do it well it takes practice and you have to really listen to the audience and adjust.   Having a lively back channel helps you do that.

Enter your nonprofit's video created in 2009 in the 4th Annual DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards. Awards will go to organizations of all sizes, including a special award for Best Innovation in Video. And if you win? Your nonprofit video will... Beth

Enter your nonprofit's video created in 2009 in the 4th Annual DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards. Awards will go to organizations of all sizes, including a special award for Best Innovation in Video. 

And if you win?  Your nonprofit video will be featured on the YouTube homepage, receive a grant from the Case Foundation, get great prizes from Flip Video and the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), and have your work showcased at a screening in Washington DC.

March 19 is the deadline. A panel of judgets (including me) will select finalists to compete in a public vote. Winners will be announced on April 10 at the Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) in Atlanta.

Last night, one of my colleagues at Packard Foundation, Jeff Jackson, left this post on my wall.  I did a little Twitter coaching and connected him with others who might help.    This morning, while we were on the phone, Jeff had some good news about Carlos and Erika, but his godson is still missing.

Located the family I lived with in Chile. They were on a bus to Stgo during the night when the quake hit. Located best friends Carlos/Erika in Talca near the epicenter. They lost their Cultural Center. Still missing godson's family who were on vacation in the south near epicenter.

So, if you could take a minute to retweet this message for him.

RT @JeffVallarta #Chile, help me find godson Amaro $ family: Eric Rojas e Ingrid Sepulveda, Melepilla, 601-5063, 8-568-5570, 9-423-1180

I can't imagine how helpless Jeff must feel, but he has been using social media and social network tools, along with phone calls to search.  Here's what he has tried a combination of networking with NGOs, disaster organizations, friends, and strangers participating in different Facebook groups or Twitter hashtags.

(1) Watching the social stream from a TV station in Chile live streaming
(2) Contacting the family's friends on Facebook through their accounts
(3) Keyword searches on Twitter using the various hashtags including #chile, #buscapersonas (lost persons)
(4) The Google People Finder

 

(5) Networking with NGOs working on the ground in Chile
(6) Relying information back and forth to people who are calling numbers in Chile and as far as way as Canada or Spain
(7) Networking with social media bloggers, twitter users in Chile who have been helping him spread the message.
(8) Using information from Crisis Commons and Ushahidi
(9) Networking with professional colleagues online by leaving messages on their FB or Twitter.

Jeff says the narrowcasting strategies have worked best, "Best luck so far is to blast your most active networks via their FB sites and strangers offer to use their phones to find loved ones. Human Rights Museum and Villa Gramaldi have been my best networks as they've been well-organized for about 30 years. Also, I've been calling people removed a bit geographically (including Spain and Canada), keeping multiple windows open at a time and checking regularly all (found news is coming in via calls, FB and email)

Not just related NGOs, I targetted mature networks I've been part of for 25+ years (mostly human rights) and tapped their fan pages and strangers took on the cause with their phones (land lines working better than cell phones still).

I'm sure there's more he's doing and when this crisis is resolved, I'm sure Jeff will have some great advice for families that find themselves in the position of searching for loved ones when disaster strikes.

If you have any additional advice, or if you want to help beyond retweeting his message, please leave a comment.

Update:  Jeff located his godson!  Here's the message he left for me on my Facebook profile:

Just FOUND Amaro and family! Thanks Beth. I stalked their four FB accounts, commented "Help me find Amaro" on all of their friends/family comments of the past two weeks, and within a couple hours had three confirmations from strangers in their networks that they are all OK, just totally disconnected on their rural farm without internet, electricity, water, roads, cells, phones, etc. But SAFE! Thanks so much.

Lessons learned when searching for loved ones, even in outback Chile:

1) Tap in to friends in common, friends in their social network, and the willingness of nearby or distant strangers.
2) Post "Lost" messages everywhere and frequently.
3) Avoid wasting time on fast-paced Twitter feeds, unless you know how to narrow searches with hashtags (#) quickly.
4) Quickly go to their FB page and comment on the comments of all their friends from the past couple weeks asking if they've made contact.
5) Be brief and use key words.
6) Keep multiple windows open on the computer including local news feeds, emergency sites, Google People Search, etc.
7) Stay focused on the good chances all is all right, just disconnected.
8) Thank those who helped and inform folks the LOST is FOUND.

Lessons learned to prepare to be found:

1) Make sure a few people know where you are at all times.
2) Have a primary contact that family and close friends know - not a local contact.
3) Have a contact list that your primary contact can access and contact.
4) Post own name on Google People Search as FOUND.
5) Have someone at home to answer the phone and/or leave a message on the door.
6) Before all of the above, escape to safe place and help others; put shoes on first (avoid glass, wires and water).

Notes About Networks and TechnologyView more presentations from Beth Kanter.

One of the most enjoyable activities as visiting scholar at the Packard Foundation is being able to participate in think tanks on a topic.    Most of the ones that I have attended have been convened by Monitor Institute as part of their network practice. 

Both today and tomorrow, I've been participating in a convening with funders and others to discuss networks.  If you want to follow along, we're using the #networkf tag on Twitter.  What's nice to see is that everyone is much more comfortable with live tweeting, being more transparent.  The guidelines are no live tweeting of confidential information!  

In fact, one of the presenters mentioned how she had discovered the tag from the last meeting and was able to follow along.   I find this useful to be able to connect with subject matter experts outside the room to ask questions or bounce ideas.  And even though the responses are 140 characters, it can stimulate your thinking.

The focus of the day was on the life cycles of networks and Theory of Change Archetypes for Networks.  As I was taking notes,  I was thinking about the whole question of how and where selection of social media and online collaboration and communications fits - and the bigger picture.   Much higher than the balcony, up about 10,000 feet where you can put messy social media tools and network behavior into neat boxes.

Sanjeev Khagram, iScale, took us through a draft white paper on Network Life Cycle.  The paper will be published later next month, but it stimulated an incredible conversation.  For me, it helped me think more clearly about relating network life cycle to the network's selection of online collaboration and communications - both those for private conversations and those for more open conversations.

It made me think of Nancy White, Etienne Wenger, and John Smith's work with online communities of practice. As Sanjeev was presenting, I wondered if the communities of practice orientation might work for a network? I asked Nancy White on Twitter and her answer got me doodling on Powerpoint (see above).

We also had a presentation and discussion on catalyzing networks from Claire Reineit The big aha moment for me was the use of social networking analysis as an evaluation tool to look at relationships and collaboration over time.

Steve Downs from Robert Wood Johnson shared some reflections on a foundation-wide effort to become a web 2.0 Philanthropy and working in a network mindset. It generated an insightful discussion about crowdsourcing for innovation and social change, organizational culture issues, and more.

Notes About Networks and Technology View more presentations from Beth Kanter. One of the most enjoyable activities as visiting scholar at the Packard Foundation is being able to participate in think tanks on a topic. Most of the ones that... Beth

On Saturday, I was delighted to have an opportunity to attend and speak at the SexTech 2010 Conference. If you are wondering what Sextech is, it explores research, policy, education, implementation, and evaluation of public health programs that use new... Beth

Last night, one of my colleagues at Packard Foundation, Jeff Jackson, left this post on my wall. I did a little Twitter coaching and connected him with others who might help. This morning, while we were on the phone, Jeff... Beth

I'm giving away a copy of "Inbound Marketing" by Brian Halligan (Author), Dharmesh Shah (Author), David Meerman Scott (Foreword). I discovered it because of a charity challenge they're running on Twitter to raise awareness of their book, plus raise some money to help Room To Read.  I'm a fan of Room To Read, so I asked Dharmesh for a copy of the book to give away to nonprofits, and he agreed - so if you want a chance to win, leave a comment on how your nonprofit could benefit from in-bound marketing.  And of course, if you want to help out Room to Read, send this tweet.

The definition of Inbound Marketing is marketing focused on getting found by customers.  You can read a more detailed definition here.  I heard about the challenge because Laura Fitton posted this tweet.  I guess you could say it is an example of in-bound marketing.

Now, a few critical thoughts about their charity challenge.  Here's how it is described:

The Inbound Marketing Challenge

The Challenge:  Get as many people as possible to tweet a link to this article, especially the people in the list below by midnight (ET) on Sunday, February 21 2010.

The Cause:  Room To Read a not-for-profit organization that transforms the lives of millions of children by focusing on literacy.

How It Works:  We will donate $Z to Room To Read (up to a whopping $10,000) based on the following formula:

Z = (Number of people on list below that retweet) x $0.01 x (Total Retweets)

Example:  Lets say 20 people on the list below retweet the article (more on how to make this happen a little later).  Then, each retweet is worth $0.20 ($0.01 x 20).  If the article gets 10,000 retweets, that’s $2,000.  If all 50 people below retweet and we get 20,000 retweets, that’s 50 cents per tweet and 10,000 smackeroos for Room To Read.  Cool, right?

Here’s the diabolical part.  My guess is many of you know a few people on the list below.  Enough to where you can tweet them, and they’ll listen/respond.  I even made it easy for you, just use the convenient link next to each of their names.  (Yes, I’m just a helpful guy).

Do Your Part:  Retweet this article and try to get as many people on the list below to retweet it too.  It takes just a minute for you and them. The more that tweet, the more that hear about and the donation amount goes up.

Before I launch into some of my criticism, I want to applaud Hubspot for experimenting with different ways to promote their book and help a charity.  My criticism below is intended to help such efforts have more impact on the charities. 

I've been reflecting on the importance of authenticity in CSR programs that my business partner at Zoetica Geoff Livingston wrote about the other day.  I think cause-related marketing efforts could use a little bit more authenticity too or at least balance profit motives and altruism.

This charity challenge is more focused on getting the word out on the book than helping the charity.  Why?  I think they've set the bar too high for the number of re-tweets and influencer tweets and bar too low for what they'll donate to the charity.   The should have donated something like $1 per retweet and put a ceiling on it.

There is also no psychological or emotional motivation to re-tweet.  Plus, the influencer list is a not necessarily a list of Room To Read's influencers (and in fact, as of this writing, RoomToRead had not even tweeted about this challenge.)  The influencer list is a list of influencers with reach who may be not the attention stream to look at all the replies where as RoomToRead influencers may have less reach, but more affinity with the charity.

The formula to trigger a donation is complicated.   The amount donated per retweet is based on the number of influencers who retweet the message and the total amount donated is multiplied by the number of retweets.  So, if 20 influencers tweet and there are 1000 re-tweets, they will donate $.20 cents per re-tweet or $200.

As of this writing they had 298 tweets and 11 people on the influencer list retweeted. (According to the TweetMeme Widget on the post - which could be underestimated)  So, let's see - that's 298 x .11 cents = $32.78 donated to the charity.    I guess if they sold one or two books, they're even. 

What can we learn about the right formula from previous efforts?

Tweetsgiving which asked people to retweet a message of gratitude in a 48 hour period over Thanksgiving generated over 21,000 tweets.  I know it is a different animal - a campaign implemented by a charity without a for-profit marketing motive lurking beneath.

But if we look at for-profit companies using the sponsored tweet model (e.g. retweet this message and our company will donate $x to charity), there is a better a benchmark. Take for example the Haagen-Daz  campaign to raise money on TwitCause for honeybee research. 

The fundraising campaign added some extra buzz, a sponsor, Ice cream maker Häagen-Dazs,  willing to pay for any Twitter user who tweets out the support for the cause.  The sponsorship worked liked this: Häagen-Dazs was offering to donate $1 per tweet for the first 500 people that tweet everyday with the hashtag #HelpHoneyBees. The money was donated to UC Davis research project to further look into Colony Collapse Disorder, as well as help fund the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, which aims to teach people about how to create their own honeybee farms.  

I got some of the back story form Julio Vasconcellos, VP for Business Development, for the Experience Project which operates TwitCause.  "I think the #HelpHoneyBees hashtag campaign was very effective and helped
raise $7k for the honey bee research as well as get Häagen-Dazs some great exposure around the contributions they've been making to the cause (and of course, to their brand)."

For those that want the numbers:

• 6,818 tweets sent out during the official week (several more before) by 3,294 unique Twitterers
• Total followers reached was slightly over 5MM (these are non-unique followers, basically a sum of all the followers of each of those 3kTwitterers)
• Total Twitter impressions generated 12.4MM (here an "Twitter impression" is anytime a follower is presented with a tweet - if I have 100 followers and tweet twice, that's 200 "Twitter impressions")
• Häagen-Dazs donated $7,000 to UC Davis for research into colony collapse disorder which is afflicting honey bee populations
• Participation from some celebrities and notables

I know from my 53rd Birthday Campaign  that it is possible to using the Twitter API, to measure impressions. (Julio Vasconcellio  and Kumar  Garapaty were kind enough to do the heavy lifting using the Twitter API to crunch impression numbers.)  So, one could have set up a donation formula based on impressions. 

Here's a few tips that might be useful to companies that want to help nonprofits by small cause-marketing campaigns:

1. Don't set the bar too high in terms of what you'll donate per tweet.  That's not being authentically generous.   Rather, be generous and set a ceiling on the total amount to be donated.
2. Work with the charity/cause so you can leverage their most passionate supporters. It's not just people who are interested in your product, book, or service.
3. Incorporate some emotional or psychological message in your message spread.

Update: Wow, Dharmesh Shah knows how to listen and redesigned the challenge.

Photo:  Jim Harrison

Note from Beth:  This post was written before the New York Times article describing a misstep with the Pepsi Charity Contest.   Here's my analysis.

Pepsi decided to give away their Super Bowl ad budget and instead give away $1.3 million a month for 12 months to good causes. The Pepsi Refresh Project launched on February 1st. For context, please see this guest post by Bonin Bough, The Global Director of Social Media for Pepsi, published earlier this month.

The nonprofit Generations of Hope is competing in the top category, for the $250,000 prize, approximately 1/3 its operating budget in 2009.  At this point, they are at number 80 on the leaderboard, not bad for an organization that had social media on its to do list for 2010.  If they don't a dollar, at least the contest has helped inspire them to dip their toes in the social media waters.

Generations of Hope  is one of 189 organizations going for February’s two top prizes of $250,000. GOH developed Hope Meadows, an intergenerational neighborhood that supports families adopting children out of foster care. Seniors live in the neighborhood, too, receiving below-market rents in exchange for six volunteer hours per week. These honorary grandparents have been integral in the lives of more than 100 vulnerable and often abused children who have found a safe and loving home at Hope Meadows over the past 15 years. Some of the seniors are getting too frail to live on their own, so GOH is building Hope House, an assisted living facility that will allow the seniors to remain close to the children they love.

We didn’t have much time to respond to the Pepsi Refresh challenge. We basically pulled our entry together in three weeks – editing down an existing video to the required 90 seconds, drafting the content, selecting the photos, and submitting the entry. The Hope House Project  was accepted into the competition in late January, and then we had to address the publicity necessary to get the votes we needed. Since building our social networking tactics was still on the “to do” list for 2010, we had to pull together a social marketing campaign on the fly.

GOH founder Brenda Eheart marshaled the troops (our team of six staff and two consultants) to pull out all the stops. We sent e-mails to our personal contacts and the GOH database. Those who use Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In solicited the support of friends and followers. Our development consultant, Erin Michelson, posted a link on her blog GoErinGo: Adventure Philanthropy. My colleague, Kami Huyse *, tweeted a request to her 6,200 followers. And, of course, we all got into the habit of voting daily, since each registered user can vote for up to ten projects per day.

Another small nonprofit that has created a social media campaign specifically for the Pepsi challenge is EngAGE: The Art of Active Aging, which promotes successful aging for those living in affordable senior apartment communities in southern California. Like Brenda, EngAGE founder Tim Carpenter first learned of the project from GOOD magazine. He employed similar tactics to promote his Pepsi Refresh entry, which would pair creative seniors with at-risk youth to create fine art and dramatic storytelling.

One thing that is a little frustrating about the Pepsi Refresh site is that you cannot search for a specific organization, but have to scroll through 729 projects grouped into the four categories of grants ($5K, 10K, $25K and $250K). It’s imperative when publicizing a project and asking for votes to distribute only the specific URL for that project.

Kyla Fullenwider is the Neighborhoods Ambassador for the Pepsi Refresh Project (“Neighborhoods” is one of the six categories).  She recommends that smaller groups participating in the challenge activate their networks and be very consistent in their messaging. “Finding the right balance of using Twitter, e-mail, and newsletters is important,” she notes. “I’ve also seen several Facebook events set up, which is really smart because it stays on each person’s home page until voting ends, so there’s a constant reminder.  People are busy and forget to vote, so they need to be reminded as much as possible.”

Kyla thinks everyone has a chance at a prize. “An individual or small group who is very active and persistent has as good a chance as any at winning. It’s really about having a great idea and being a good community organizer.” But she also has advice for those who don’t win. “I hope the Refresh Project helps people move their idea from a ‘what if’ to an ‘OK, what do we need to actually make this thing happen?’ That’s really powerful.”

It’s hard to track the effectiveness of each communications channel because Pepsi Refresh does not reveal tracking data to participants. But we can postulate based on anecdotal evidence (friends and colleagues telling us “I voted!”) and measurement of our tweets. E-mail to personal and professional contacts seems to be the most effective channel. Twitter appears to be a good avenue, as well. Unfortunately, we can’t measure click-throughs on Linked-In or Facebook.

Rank is the best way to measure overall effectiveness. On February 1st, Generations of Hope was ranked at 187 out of 189 in the top category. By day four of our social marketing campaign, we got as high as 64. We’ve bounced around in the 60s, 70s, and 80s since – about two thirds of the way there – but we are competing against larger and more well-known groups, including some with massive e-mail lists. Time will tell, but the contest has given us a jump start on our social media strategy.

Please vote for us!

Katherine Hutt is an award-winning public relations and communications consultant who works with non-profit organizations and social entrepreneurs.

Disclosure:  Kami Huyse, is my business partner at Zoetica.

From my son's kindergarten class The Pepsi Refresh Contest is the boldest experiment so far of the number of social good contests over the past three years that have used crowdsourcing and social media to encourage innovative social change ideas... Beth