nfptweetup

In the last of our series of guest posts, Felicity McLean tells us why NFPtweetup makes her happy and shares five key points to take away from last week’s event.

I love a good collaboration, be it a strategic partnership, a skill sharing session or just a group of girls on a Sunday afternoon, there’s something about coming together that makes my heart tingle.

This is exactly the feeling I get at the NFPtweetup – a sense of real camaraderie, skill sharing in a time of restricted resources and an excitement surrounding a burgeoning communications strategy.  Social media has taken off, but it’s gaining speed and recognition from the 100+ sector leaders driving change at the NFPtweetups.

After presentations from keynote speakers, discussion on recent trends in social media (applicable on varying levels to those of varying expertise – again a great aspect of the NFPtweetup collaboration) conversation kept boomeranging back to one point: brand integrity, and the risk or resource that social media brings to this.

I took away 5 brilliant bits of advice from Rachel Beer’s breakout session:

Risk it with user generated content: Should we be giving free reign of our charity website to our service users? This comes down to the question of who we regard to be the ‘expert’, how much we try to protect our brand: Voice, messaging and level of support.  Fiona McLaren’s campaign work surrounding recent activity in Egypt is a fantastic example of value adding UGC: create a Twitter hash-tag surrounding the event and either feed in user content directly from this or compile a shortlist of brilliant, clever and interesting content from your hash-tag as a blog post.  The latter allows you to pick and choose the best bits of input and information and allows editorial control over platform decorated with user generated content.  Brilliant value adding stuff, for free!

Personalise your Twitter avatars: Should we be using the charity logo or a personal photo? A logo encourages credential and standing, but photos offer a personal voice.  It’s a question of restriction on your brand and voice, and many charities opt to use a personal photo with a charity branded Twibbon.

Use Co-Tweet: This is a tool working specifically for charities (or other organizations) with multiple tweeters at one account.  Co-Tweet enables users to attach initials after each tweet, adding a personal touch (or someone to blame!) and dispelling anonymity.

Create a caricature for your social media voice: Archie the Goat for Oxfam is a social media phenomenon – funny, value adding for the reader and seemingly unrelated to Oxfam.  Yes, it appeals to a wider audience but is it a wasted opportunity for direct marketing and fundraising?

Tweet people like people: I have always been a firm believer in communication from a personal level, not a professional level.  Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook do not warrant formal sign offs or corporate jargon, it will only alienate the reader and others reading your stream.  This is why I say Tweet people like people.  Listen, advise, engage.

I come away from each and every NFPtweetup inspired and bursting with ideas, and I don’t doubt the next one will be any different.

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Despite being in full NFPtweetup mode for at least two weeks,  I’m still slightly in shock that the next event is just two days away… and tweeted as much just for good measure.

This Wednesday will be NFPtweetup’s tenth event (!) and will focus on integrated campaigning and fundraising.

Agenda for the night is as follows:

• 17:30 – 18:15  Arriving/registering/networking, drinks and nibbles
• 18:15 – 18:20  Introduction
• 18:20 – 18:45  Adrian Cockle, Head of Online, WWF UK: Tweeting and roaring: joined up campaigning
• 18:45 – 19:10  Fiona McLaren, Online Communities Editor, Amnesty International UK: Examining online activity and social media during the recent protests in Egypt
• 19:10 – 19:50  Break out groups
• 19:50 – 20:20  Panel debate: integrated campaigning and fundraising, including Adrian Cockle, Fiona McLaren, Kate Turner, Head of Communications and Campaigns at Merlin, Jonathan Waddingham, Product Manager at JustGiving and Rachel Beer, founding partner at beautiful world
• 20:20 – 20:30 Wrap up (and off to Bar Music Hall for those who would like to join)

We’ll also have a few NFPtweetup goodies, courtesy of Pixel Philosophy who are co-sponsoring this event. To all those people who were too polite to take mugs last time – these are for you!

Almost counting down the hours now…

See you Wednesday,

Teri

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So charity tickets have all gone! I think the first 50 tickets went in under 40 minutes… surely that’s got to another NFPtweetup record?

The NFPtweetup team is now doing everything we can to make the next event just as fun and as memorable as the last, but in the mean time I thought we’d share a little sneak preview. Big thanks in advance to Amnesty International UK for allowing us to use its venue for the evening.

To all those who suggested NFPtweetup needed a bigger boat, it looks like we’ve got one…

If anyone missed break out groups at our birthday event, fear not. You might even get your own seat!

Discussing all important seating plans… and where to put refreshments, of course.

If you didn’t manage to get a ticket do let us know and we can add you to the waiting list. If you can no longer make it, please let us know so we can allocate your ticket to someone else – thanks! Just email NFPtweetup at hellobeautifulworld dot com, or tweet @NFPtweetup.

Can’t wait to see you there,

Teri

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I wanted to share this post by Ben Akin-Smith – originally written for and hosted by Because it’s Good – because it’s good (see what I did there… ahem… sorry). What I mean is it’s full of common-sense advice, just like your mum would give you. And it’s entertaining, too:

‘I’ve done my research, I’ve read the books, I’ve engaged in the blogosphere, I’ve tweeted with the great and good but when it comes to social media my Mum is a guru.

My Mum is a normal Mum, she uses ridiculous phrases like “I Googled it on the internet”, she does not use Twitter, Facebook or MySpace. She has never uploaded a picture to Flickr or watched a YouTube video. She does not own an iPod, 3G Phone or a Wii. To my Mum, Spotify is a medicated skin cream, Internet Explorer is the internet and 600×800 makes things “easier to see”– but I assure you she is a ‘Social Media Marketing Guru’.

How can I back up this claim? Well, first off what is social media marketing? In essence I believe social media marketing occurs when companies take a human approach to marketing by participating in conversations with their audiences. It’s about engaging people in an authentic way to provide helpful information, solve problems and build relationships to achieve business goals, or as my Mum calls it “chatting to people and being useful”.

Maybe it sounds a little simplistic, but she is definitely on to something here. As Confucius said, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated”. I often talk to people that want to get involved with communities such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, but are put off by ‘digital experts’ who bamboozle them with overly omplicated rules, best practice guidelines and communication strategies. While there are certain things you should be aware of when it comes to social media I think my Mum is right, it’s just about “chatting to people and being useful”.

“You’ve got to two ears, and one mouth”

Chatting is a two way conversation and the best conversationalists are also the best listeners. Or as my Mum says; “You’ve got two ears, and one mouth”. She’s right, if you want to get to know someone you can’t go far wrong if you listen twice as much as you talk. There is more to it than that, ask questions, be interested in the other person and know when the conversation is over – but listening is the most important. If you want to know how to have a conversation – just “Google it on the internet”.

“If you’ve got nothing useful to say, then say nothing”

My Mum said this a lot to me when I was growing up, mainly because I was always trying to get my sister in trouble. I’m not proud of it, but I was a snitch. My input to conversations was solely focused on getting my sister in trouble, I was not concerned with truth or understanding both sides of an argument, therefore I was of no use to my Mum. I provided no value to the conversation so at best she chose to ignore me and at worst she would send me to my room. You don’t want to be ignored (or indeed sent to your room!) so please, when using social media don’t just try to prove a point, or ram home a marketing message, if you’re going to get involved in a social media conversation, be useful, ask questions, reply, provide information and no matter what you bring to the conversation make sure it is useful.

Of course if you listen to the social media experts, they’ll tell you there’s so much more to it than this such as; be honest, be flexible, share stories, inspire people and in a way they’re right, I even have a pretty presentation that talks about the importance of these things. But I think Mum was right, the essence of social media is about chatting and being useful.’

If you haven’t already visited Because it’s Good, do pop over there and have a look – it’s a community blog for people that use digital communications and channels within the charity sector it’s full of useful content and great articles. If you like NFPtweetup, I’m sure you’ll appreciate, and enjoy contributing to, Because it’s Good.

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I wanted to produce a blog post after this event because I don’t normally manage it and because this event was really special – in that it marked two years to the day that the very first NFPtweetup was held.

It was also special because there was such a positive buzz about the evening – more than ever before, people seemed to really be enjoying themselves; having fun, even. And it wasn’t just because of the booze.

I was absolutely delighted when I read this blog post from Paul de Gregorio on Thursday, partly because it is it so lovely, but mostly because it articulates so clearly what I set out to achieve with NFPtweetup and, in doing so, proves that actually comes across in the experience:

The deal is that if you go with a friendly, co-operative and sharing attitude you can leave with lots of new ideas, a lot of inspiration and some new friends … It has to be the most important get together of non-profit sector people in the UK… The star of the show is the work, the ideas and the community. So it’s a format and ethos that really challenges the traditional fundraising conferences and seminars that we go to. This is an exciting step forward and for me mirrors the impact of social media in society by giving everyone in the room a voice, no sit down, turn off your mobile and listen to the person on stage go through 60 slides in 90 minutes at NFPtweetup!

Thanks again for the lovely post, Paul – it hits the nail on the head, I think.

NFPtweetups are fun because of the people that come to them – people that opt to come after their working day has finished. They do it, not because their line manager has sent them, or to get out of the office for the day, but because they are passionate about their work and always striving to be better. They’re the ones that aren’t watching the clock, waiting to leave the office at 5pm so they can go and do something more interesting. They are the people that want to drive forward the new ideas that make the world a better place and will do whatever it takes to make them happen. They are excited – not scared – about the possibilities emerging media have to further the missions of the organisations they work for. And they come together at this event to discover how other people like them have managed to push this agenda in their roles; to find out what worked, what didn’t, what persuaded the board, what produced the best ROI, and what’s next?

It’s peer-to-peer support at its very best. No one is showing off here – just offering mutual support and encouragement. In fact, one of the things that’s so rare about NFPtweetup is that the charities that present are happy to say, ‘we tried this and it didn’t work’, in the hope that others can learn from their experiments and avoid the same pitfalls. It’s a bit different from most other conferences, where you only hear about the successful campaigns – which is a total misrepresentation of reality, really, isn’t it?

Of course, best practice case studies and success stories are really useful, and NFPtweetup has a more than equal share of those, but they are interrogated both by the people presenting them, and the people listening to them, who are all asking questions like, ‘how could this be made better?’, ‘why did it work?’, ‘would it work for all charities or does it rely on a high brand awareness?’, ‘how sustainable is this approach?’… and so on.

NFPtweetup has always been about so much more than a meet up about social media. It set out to make it easier for charities to share with each other, to learn about new trends and developments in media – even to create new trends in the way they are used by charities. But, most of all, it set out to encourage new ways of thinking and working that are apace with incredible rate of change in technology ‘these days’, to give people the confidence to challenge convention and innovate from an informed perspective, and to feel how much of a powerful role they can all have in this amazing sector, if they choose to.

I want to thank all of the people who have come along to the events and helped to make NFPtweetup what it is today. Particular thanks goes to those who have presented, sponsored, provided a venue, blogged, tweeted, reported, volunteered, acted as a sounding board, facilitated workshops and discussion groups, many of them having been supportive from the beginning:

JustGiving, Jonathan Waddingham, Steve Bridger, Paul Henderson, Howard Lake, Amy Sample Ward, Jacqui O’Beirne, Alex Goldstein, Leah Williams, Paul Webster, Bertie Bosredon, Christina McGill, Steven Buckley.

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In our second guest post before our 2nd birthday event next Wednesday, we hear from Damien Clarkson, Marketing and Communications Manager at KnowHow NonProfit:

At KnowHow NonProfit we are delighted to be taking part in the second birthday of NFPtweetup next week. Since its launch, it has championed the sharing of user generated content within the charity sector. So it seems fitting that at the ninth tweetup that I am going to speak briefly about part of KnowHow’s UGC journey.

In August this year we were on the cusp on launching our user generated platform, allowing anyone in the KnowHow community to create wikiable ‘how to guides’ on any subject related to working in a non profit organisation. We wanted to make it really easy for people to share their experience to help others. To get the ball rolling we created guides on writing a content strategy, using Twitter effectively and putting on fundraising event.  We thought we were ready to go with the product but we were wrong. We had made basic mistake – we hadn’t consulted our users. We thought the testing we had planned would rubber stamp what we had created and we’d launch the next day.

The usability testing exercise involved 15 people from different backgrounds attempting to use the platform. None of them totally understood the proposition or how to use the platform. I sprouted a few extra grey hairs but we learned a lot.

Three months later and we’re about to release version two. At next week’s NFPtweetup I’ll briefly show what we are hoping to achieve, some of the lessons learned from usability testing and ask for further feedback. Over the coming months we’re keen for NFPtweetup attendees to give feedback and create their own ‘how to guides’ to help us create a user-friendly, usability tested user generated space for the nonprofit community ready for launch in the new year.

I will look forward to seeing you all on the 24^th.

@damienclarkson

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With less than a week to go to NFPtweetup’s 2nd Birthday event, on 24 November, we will be previewing what we’ll be hearing about from the people who will be presenting and sharing insights on the night, by publishing a range of guest blog posts.

Today, Matt Collins at Chance UK gives an introduction to what he’ll be sharing with everyone next week:

Social media is a powerful leveller. It brings the little charities who have just one member of staff with a passing interest in Twitter up to the top table to sit with the big boys; those with dedicated digital departments, whole teams tasked with utilising this powerful social force.

Then how come the digital world so often reflects the offline world? Often, it’s still the household charity names who attract the most followers, gain the biggest number of retweets, and the command the biggest influence. As in real life, so online.

So how do the little boys, the small organisations that make the vast majority of registered charities, run a social media campaign with next to no resources? How do you use what is undoubtedly a cost-effective medium when used properly to attract supporters? How do you make an impact with just goodwill and a bit of time?

We at Chance UK wondered the same thing a few months, and decided to try and find out for ourselves. We knew our main objective (to recruit volunteers to a very specific child focused role), we worked out a way we thought might get them interested in what it was we had to offer (tug at their heart strings and link their own personal, positive experiences to our cause) and via which of the plethora of social websites we wanted to do it (Twitter, Facebook and YouTube).

Our Big influence campaign started in October and was an attempt to get a place at that top table. We engaged our supporters, our followers and even a few celebrities. It didn’t quite work out as we’d hoped, but it taught us things we would otherwise never have learned.

Thanks to Matt for this little teaser.  We’ll look forward to hearing about how the campaign went, and what the team at Chance UK learned, next Thursday.

Look out for tomorrow’s post from Damien Clarke at KnowHow NonProfit.

Rachel

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I’m very conscious that there are no hard and fast rules for social media, and often what’s considered good and bad varies depending on whose opinion you ask.  Sometimes, what might be right in one situation, isn’t in another.  Life’s just like that – hardly anything is black or white, but mostly the shades of grey in between.

The best answer is always to think before you do.  It’s just another one of those things that sounds so obvious that I wonder why I’m saying it, and you might be wondering that too, but there’s a surprising amount of evidence around, across all industries and sectors, that proves thinking is more rare than most people would care to admit.

One place I regularly see lack of quality thought is in the use of hashtags on Twitter (for anyone who’s not come across them, they’re the live linked words in tweets with the ‘#’ symbol at the front).  ‘They’re just a small detail’, you might say, but I know that small details add up to big wins, so they’re worth getting right.  They’re also worth getting right because, with social media, when things go wrong, it can be a bit embarrassing or, at worst, even turn into a PR nightmare.

I see examples of ‘when hashtags go wrong’ all the time.  They’re mostly people using them ineffectually, but fairly innocuously – hashtagging your own charity’s name in a tweet was one example I saw recently, which isn’t going to upset anyone, but is pretty pointless (your charity name is usually your profile name, so will appear in your tweets automatically).

So, when should you use a hashtag?

Well, like I say, there are no hard and fast rules, but in my view, the point of creating and/or using a hashtag is:

• To draw attention to something that you want to create a buzz about – like a new campaign
• To encourage people to retweet your original message
• To aggregate content around that thing – so people can access the stream of others using that hashtag and so you can pull the stream into a widget, another Twitter profile, your blog, a website etc.
• To add a message to an existing hashtag stream, or widely discussed topic, where it’s relevant and the people using the other hashtag/discussing that topic might genuinely be interested in the message

It’s on that last point that the Conservatives dropped a bit of a clanger on Remembrance Sunday.  I didn’t spot it but came across via this post entitled, ‘As we Remember; one charity sticks up for its independence’:

Linking your idea as a hashtag – in this case #BigSociety – into an existing, popular subject, so it’s seen by more people, probably seems, on the face of it, to be quite clever.  But if it’s not relevant, it just looks a bit cheeky and, if the subject is something as sensitive and emotionally loaded as Remembrance Sunday, you can see how it could be perceived badly.  Rob’s post shows the reaction from @PoppySupport, as well linking to another Twitter user who took umbrage at @Conservatives’ opportunism:

I call this ‘jumping the stream’ – insinuating yourself into a hashtagged stream that doesn’t really have much to do with you, when it’s clear to others that you’re doing it to promote yourself or your own message.  It’s a bit like charging into a party and trying to get everyone there to leave and come to your party instead – not a great way to win friends or respect.

Rachel

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Rachel Beer invited me to share a post prior to the 8th NFPtweetup on September 15th, so here goes…

Many scoff at those of us who love Twitter, and frankly I couldn’t care less. It works for me (at least for the moment). But I recognise that others – particularly decision makers – need to hear more than that. Twelve months ago I wrote a post, which asked, Do you tweet out on a limb? – with some suggestions on how to convince colleagues of the value of Twitter. That particular battle is on-going – although for me, Cory Doctorow nailed it earlier in the year.

The real value of Twitter… is to keep the invisible lines of connection between us alive

These days – above all else it seems – I am asked whether you can be personal (as opposed to private) and professional in social media? While Dawn Foster has written eloquently around this subject on her blog, there is generally a good deal of uncertainty about how to represent the charity brand personally – so yesterday I asked my Twitter friends about their experiences (see the bullet points a bit further down).It must be said that on the whole, charities are gradually giving their staff more visibility online – none more so than the always refreshing charity:water – who positively celebrate their employees with a blog ‘category’ all of their own. Other organisations prefer to maintain a Twitter ‘list’ of tweeting employees – although even this is by no means a straightforward ask, and more than one person told me (privately) that they had to stop their charity employer from adding them to a staff list, citing their tweets as “too political”, and potentially compromising.

Of the 200+ people I ‘follow’ on Twitter who work for UK charities, I’d say a minority actually name their employer – with a handful carrying the stamp of approval of a Twitter ‘handle’ that is ‘on brand’ – e.g. Colin Butfield (@Colin_WWF), Head of Campaigns at the conservation and sustainable development charity. Also in that category include @onekindMK, @redspesh_oxfam, and Carolyn Miller @MerlinChiefExec.

What I do know is that I much prefer to follow real people than a corporate charity brand. Over time, everyone who wishes to, can participate. These voices may evolve into a charity’s social ‘tone of voice’ – the aggregate of all their staff – and become a vital aspect to their brand.

Back to the question. Steven Buckley (@stevenbuckley), Head of Communications and Brand at Christian Aid, shared the following with me…

[It's] Difficult to say anything that could be perceived as contrary to org policy and hard to let off steam about internal challenges. On balance I think a personal / corporate public profile is a good thing (credibility / opinion etc) but will admit that there are times when I’d like to say something about an issue – ‘chugging’ is just one thing that comes to mind – but I end up staying schtum.

A few people told me they give quite a bit of thought about what they do and don’t tweet about. Some admit to composing a tweet and, then thinking better of it. I’ve consolidated the feedback I received* into this brief list:

• Include a disclaimer in your profile;
• Common sense should always prevail;
• Don’t tweet what you wouldn’t want to see in print – or your mother to read;
• Keep it clean (a few people advised against swearing);
• Try to stay clear of controversial topics – or at the very least refrain from using inflammatory language.
• While your views are your own, bear in mind what you say could reflect negatively on the charity’s reputation
• Take care not to announce a new initiative before the ‘official’ word is out, and if in doubt leave it out, or seek advice (even though embargoes are so last century);
• Do not say anything that may damage relationships with corporate partners, suppliers, and other charities
• Be transparent – if responding to any work-related social media activities always make a disclosure.

I’d say that is a pretty good list. What do you think?

There are a few things I would also recommend charity leaders consider seriously…

• Begin from a position of trust;
• Don’t outsource your charity’s ‘voice’;
• Don’t make social media another silo;
• This is more than just a question of adoption – which is not enough on its own. You want those who ‘get it’ to collaborate with others;
• Build up the digital capability of your organisation – this should be endorsed as an HR objective;
• The digital capability that comes on-stream needs to be rolled into the brand
• Allow staff the freedom to be themselves – at least those who are already comfortable in their own skin;
• Avoid jumping in with both feet; many staff will already be fearful of getting involved. Rather consider carefully how you can signal a gentle suggestion of permission – “We’re cool about you tweeting” sort of thing;
• Recognise that much of the value in Twitter stems from its immediacy and the ability of staff to report and share what they are experiencing right in front of them;
• As a general rule, social media is best done by those closest to the frontline, already talking about your work – i.e. contextual conversations that might lead to an action, rather than something staged;
• Capture good examples of Twitter use that catch your eye, and share. This will help create a humanising effect that will invite staff to be part of an internal community.

That list is longer than what I had first intended. I guess it’s not that simple. But it is imperative; imperative that charities seek to build on the passionate community they (hopefully) have right under their noses: their People. For in the end, it’s all about the people.

Above all, charity leaders should recognise and encourage the ‘currency’ of connection that cements relationships and sparks new collaborations. Indeed, the best way to protect and embed the brand is the distribution of trust and the transfer of skills to the wider organisation. And as the internet for many has become a tool for everyday life, so charities should work to make sure every member of staff feels comfortable using it as part of their role – not least to allow for the free flow of ideas and to encourage innovation that often thrives in the grey spaces between ‘silos’.

@stevebridger

* Special thanks to @kanter, @AnnieGoss, @seidld, @medavep, @missnpatel, @lucycaldicott, @abougu, @benrmatthews, @jacquiobeirne, @RobmDyson, @suefidler and others who asked to remain anonymous.

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