Nonprofit Organizations and Online Social Networking:
Advice and Commentary

 
Your reaction to reading the words "online social networking" (OSN) for the first time is probably, "isn't that just another description of the Internet?" Yes, actually -- the Internet has always been touted as a place to exchange ideas and to create networks and communities that can defy traditional community structures and hierarchies. This techie buzz phrase "online social networking" or "Web 2.0" is meant to describe new web-based online communities meant to encourage members to socialize with each other online. These platforms are sometimes referred to as FOAF (Friend-of-a-Friend), because when you join, you note who else on the network is your "friend" or associate, and others are able to see these associations -- that's the main focus of the platforms. These platforms are also set up for members to talk frequently online and to provide updates to each other automatically. Many users find OSN sites easy-to-use as "one stop" shops, since so many tools are all in one place: to chat live with other members, to share photos, to share music and photos, to know which friends have updated information, etc. OSN platforms also feel exclusive and special, something young people find particularly appealing.

Some of the most popular OSN sites worldwide are MySpace (yes, people are still using MySpace), FaceBook, Bebo, Xanga and Friendster. There are also professional online networks that use online social networking tools, such as LinkedIn and Plaxo, and issues-focused online networks, such as Change.org. Wikipedia hosts a relatively comprehensive list of online networking platforms; however, note that they don't distinguish between social networking sites and professional networking sites, as I do.

For someone who remembers the criticisms of America Online, which had exactly the same appeal for many people in its early days, these social networking platforms can seem exclusionary and limited. By contrast, you don't have to be a "member" to view someone's information, or to search for such, on the World Wide Web -- the web is open to everyone. These relatively new networking sites can also generate a lot more work for users: you have to re-type information probably already available on your web site over and over again each time you join a network, to reach a smaller audience than is available on the entire World Wide Web.

But before we explore the downsides of OSN, let's first look at the advantages of using online social and professional networking platforms:

• OSN platforms can be great for target-marketing to recruit volunteers and other supporters from specific demographic groups. If an organization is trying to reach people under 35, particularly teens and 20-somethings in North America, or trying to reach musicians in particular, an OSN platform such as MySpace can be a good tool for such. If you are trying to reach university students and young professionals, FaceBook might be a better option. If you want to reach people primarily in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, Bebo is the tool for you. If you want to reach young people and young professionals in Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Philippines and Singapore, Friendster is the way to go.

• If you are trying to build credibility among professionals (as potential donors, volunteers, future staff, or media contacts), a professional networking site (in contrast to a social networking site) such as LinkedIn or Plaxo is a good option for such outreach.

• Flickr is not only a photo-sharing site, and YouTube is not only a video-sharing site; both of these sites, as well as others like them, are networking platforms. People use the sites to look for photos or videos regarding a specific geographic location or subject matter, and users can link to each other based on associations or common interests, to keep track of updates to particular users' photo or video libraries. Flickr also allows users to create and join groups devoted to highlighting particular types of photos, or a group just for friends, colleagues or family members.

• An organization can create its own profile on MySpace or a fan page on FaceBook and ask volunteers, donors and other supporters to make the organization a "friend." Other users will see this association and may be prompted to click on your organization's profile to learn more about your organization.

• An organization can ask volunteers to put information about their volunteer service into their profiles on whatever networking platforms they use. This is probably best done under the section to list employment: under "title," they should list "volunteer" and under "company," the name of your organization; they can describe their volunteering activities in any other fields provided. If enough people start noting volunteer service in their networking profiles, these networking platforms may start creating fields specifically for such. Having volunteers highlight their service in these profiles benefits your organization by giving your work exposure to potential new volunteers and donors, and perhaps even media contacts, who will see the listing as they use the platforms to network with others.

• Staff members, acting as representatives of the organization, can post questions and respond to such in the various discussion areas within different platforms (as appropriate). This creates more opportunities for other network members to see the organization's name and associate it with a particular topic or issue.

• Nonprofits can ask current volunteers what OSN sites they use, and encourage them to:
  • occasionally post new information about their own service or new activities to the organization on their OSN blog or announcement area

  • post public events hosted by your organization under "Events I'm Attending" on MySpace and similar areas on other platforms

  • be on the lookout in any OSN platform they use for someone commenting about your organization, positive or negative, and to let you know /what's being said

• A volunteer may engage in or promote activities via his or her web site, blog or online profile on a social networking platform that your organization does not wish to be associated with. Perhaps there are pictures of the volunteer on the site, or links to videos, that make you uncomfortable. Ofcourse, the reality is that your volunteers may be engaging in offline activities your nonprofit wouldn't necessarily want to be associated with either (think about the t-shirts organizations hand out to volunteers -- did you give your volunteers a list of where they should and shouldn't wear such?). You may want to consider creating a policy regarding why your organization might refuse to link to a person's profile on a social networking site, and share this policy with your volunteers. You could even ask for their help in drafting such; by involving them in the discussion, you create a sense of ownership among your volunteers regarding the policy.

• Your organization's volunteers AND staff may want to keep their online social networking activities separate from their professional and volunteering activities. Most staff and volunteers will be happy to note their service to your organization on a professional networking site such as LinkedIn or an issues-focused network such as Change.org, but don't require any volunteer or staff member to link to your organization via a social networking site, such as MySpace, FaceBook or Flickr. Note in your invitation to be a "friend" online that you won't be offended if the invitation is declined.

• Staff members and volunteers may be asked to link to other staff and volunteers as "friends" on social networking sites, but they may not want to do so with everyone. We don't all define "friend" the same way. It's easier for an individual to turn down a link request on a professional networking site such as LinkedIn with criteria that doesn't sound personal, such as, "I'm sorry, but I only link to people I've worked with directly for at least six months," than it is to tell someone requesting a friends link on an OSN platform that he or she isn't really a "friend." Staff members that decline friend invitations from volunteers or even other staff members via OSN platforms may end up hurting the feelings of those they work with. Encourage staff and volunteers to respect that some people may want to keep their OSN activities separate from their work or volunteering relationships.

• Many OSN platforms are blocked from being used by employees at various businesses and government organizations. Many of these platforms are also not accessible for people using assistive technologies, for people with certain disabilities, or for those using older software and hardware. This means an organization should not switch any of its outreach activities, such as blogging, instant messaging or photo sharing, entirely over to OSN platforms, as many people are prevented from accessing such. In other words, your OSN outreach activities should not replace your other online outreach activities, as they will exclude many people.

• As mentioned earlier, an organization has to re-type information probably already available on its web site over and over again each time it creates a profile on an online networking platform. There is no way an organization can be on every social or professional networking site. As well, the popularity of networking sites waxes and wanes - a site that was the site even just two years ago may not be now, and the site today may be bankrupt in a few years. Don't try to join every network; ask your current volunteers and staff what they use, read news articles about which OSN sites appeal to which demographics, and think strategically about what you really want out of your organization's OSN activities (see Evaluating Online Activities: Online Action Should Create & Support Offline Action for tips on creating such a strategy).

 
Where to get started?

If you are totally in the dark about how online networking platforms work and you are too daunted to experiment with them on your own, ask your volunteers or even your clients if any among them would feel comfortable coming onsite and showing you how social networking platforms work, and how various nonprofit organizations are using them. You probably already have volunteers or members who would love to share this information with you.

Wikipedia hosts a relatively comprehensive list of online networking platforms; however, note that they don't distinguish between social networking sites and professional networking sites.

 
Why am I not any more of an advocate for OSN?

Because the returns on the significant time investment required for using are not at all substantial for most nonprofit organizations -- huge numbers of new volunteers and donors are not being reached as a result of using OSN by the majority of nonprofit organizations and NGOs. Hundreds or thousands of "friends" is not translating into significant numbers of new volunteers or financial donations. Most nonprofits are struggling to keep just their simple web sites up-to-date and answering the many, many inquiries they already receive via email. These organizations don't have the time nor the staff to figure out on their own how to use every OSN platforms, nor which ones to use (there seems to be new ones announced every week), and also don't have the staff or resources to keep their information up-to-date on these various locations as well their web sites. In addition, "traditional" online communities, whether on YahooGroups or GoogleGroups or another web-based platform, or even via email, are already connecting nonprofit professionals with many more people and organizations than a nonprofit can keep up with. If a nonprofit has a web site, has an email newsletter, staff members who occasionally use online discussion groups, and volunteer recruitment posts to something like VolunteerMatch, I consider that nonprofit very tech savvy -- to be using OSN as well takes an enormous amount of time and resources that the vast majority of nonprofits just don't have (and that's without even considering podcasts, blogging and videos as well.

Most funders are never going to fund staff at a nonprofit to engage in all of these online activities (most funders still balk at paying for things like copy machines or chairs). Therefore, the only way most nonprofits are going to be able to use OSN platforms outside of asking volunteers to include information in their profiles is to find very dedicated, very knowledgeable and very trustworthy volunteers, including online volunteers working from home, school or their own work place, to engage in these activities on the organization's behalf. But, as with any activity, the nonprofit needs to think strategically about engaging in OSN: what's the goal of participation? what will success as a result of participation look like? how will the success of this activity be measured?

As regular readers of my web site know, I am a member of many online communities, each focused on a different aspect of my work, and have been a huge fan of, and advocate for, networking with others online since the mid 1990s. Clearly, I'm not telling nonprofits to not engage in OSN. I am, rather, trying to help nonprofits to have a realistic expectation about such platforms, and to think strategically and deliberately about how they will use such, before making the significant time investment to engage in these online activities.

TechSoup has a good article about nonprofits and OSN that includes some concrete examples of nonprofits using OSN platforms to connect with supporters. It actually reads like articles about the early days of initial nonprofit use of the web, when the novelty of making information and needs available resulted in immediate floods of new supporters and resources. However, those times wore off quickly. Also, what's still needed are examples that include details on how such organizations can manage all these massive amounts of information, who actually inputs all of the information again and again in all these closed communities and regularly checks the email inboxes of such, how nonprofits choose which community for what activity, how OSN has not worked in certain instances, etc.

Do I use any networking platforms? I've got a professional profile at LinkedIn, and have joined a few groups on the site and frequently answer nonprofit-related questions on its questions forum. I've got a profile at Change.org, but haven't become a regular user. I have a fan page on Facebook and an account on Twitter, both of which I use to post links to my most-recent blog posts and to micro-blog. I've started, and abandoned, participation on at least three other online networks. For me, simple theme-based online communities via YahooGroups or an email platform remain the easiest to use, the easiest to integrate already-published information on the web, and the best way to reach both colleagues, new resources and potential clients. I'm already on overload when it comes to email and online profiles -- unless more hours get added to the day and I also become agoraphobic, I'm at my online membership limit.

 
Also see:

• Evaluating Online Activities: Online Action Should Create & Support Offline Action
  Hundreds of "friends" on an online social networking site. Thousands of subscribers to an email newsletter. Dozens of attendees to a virtual event. Those are impressive numbers on the surface, but if they don't translate into more volunteers, repeat volunteers, new donors, repeat donors, more clients, repeat clients, legislation, or public pressure, they are just that: numbers. For online activities to translate into something tangible, online action must create and support offline action. What could this look like? This resource can help organizations plan strategically about online activities so that they lead to something tangible - not just numbers.

• Online culture and online community
  It's becoming the norm for mission-based organizations (NGOs, NPOs and others) to use Internet tools to work with volunteers (including board members), staff, donors and others. This section of my site has been greatly updated, providing even more ideas and resources on how to work with others online, in language that's easy to understand for those considering or just getting started in using online technologies with volunteers, donors and other supporters.

• For Nonprofits Considering Their Own Podcasts: Why It's Worth Exploring, and Content Considerations (includes my own podcast)

• For Nonprofit Organizations: How to Handle Online Criticism

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