Marketing for Nonprofits with Beth Kanter

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This PR podcast interview with Beth Kanter on marketing strategies for nonprofits covers how 501.c.3. organizations are using social media effectively, new market research from PR firm Weber Shandwick and Philanthropy Now about the ROI of social media at nonprofits, and much more.  

Fast Company Magazine named Beth Kanter one of the most influential women in technology and one of Business Week’s Voices of Innovation for Social Media.

Nonprofit Marketing Insights

01:05 – An explanation of the visiting scholar program at the Packard Foundation and her upcoming book with Allison Fine, tentatively titled The Networked Nonprofit, to be published by Wiley.  

03:05 – The threats and opportunities that self organization via social media presents to nonprofit organizations.  

04:28 – Leaving social media ant trails online so people interested in your cause can find you and start leaving their ant trails online to create a network effect.  

06:24 – The work of self-organizing, online collaborative activity specialist Eric Eugene Kim and the idea of leaving digital ant trials over time.  

07:59 – How the social media marketing strategies of nonprofits differ from those of commercial organizations and government agencies and a discussion of how Dr. Richard Leakey, chairman at Wildlife Direct, is using a blog to organize a grassroots community of conservationists and leave what she calls ant trails to consolidate relationships among passionate wildlife conservation and raise money through microdonations online.  

09:45 – Delivering value to the community before asking for money and a discussion of how the March of Dimes Share Your Story online community for parents of babies born prematurely or who have spent time in a neonatal intensive care unit rallied around the family of a child that died, covering the family’s funeral expenses and sending proceeds for the March of Dimes.  

11:54 – A discussion of Chris Brogan and Julien Smith’s give-to-take ratio, as prescribed in their book Trust Agents editorial.  

14:40 – A discussion of how to effectively promote the new Facebook page launched by the US Dept. of State to extend the reach of the delegation’s participation at the COP15 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.  

16:29 – Partnering and connecting with like-minded online influencers to proliferate a key messaged through peers via social networks and use print collateral and signage to drive traffic online.  

18:58 – Cross-promoting your Facebook badge on your blog and using conventional promotions to encourage social media engagement.  

19:54 –PR firm Weber Shandwick’s Social Impact Survey is somewhat misleading because it asks the wrong questions, which is also quite helpful because it suggests that social media is less about building visibility and more about engaging communities.  

22:37 – Beth Kanter’s reaction to the results of Philanthropy Action’s report on Social Networking and Mid-Size Nonprofits.  

23:33 – Beth Kanter responds to Alison Noonan, who asks, “I’m currently working for a children’s charity.  Any suggestions on compensating for lost funding with social media?”   

26:07 – Translating the donor pyramid into a practical social media strategy for nonprofits, a study by Pew Internet found that large charitable donations are more likely to occur online.  

27:03 – Beth Kanter responds to Kevin Skarrit, director of new media at EduGuide.org, who asks via Twitter, “If resources are available, should NGOs create their social networks or only participate in other big ones like Facebook?”  

27:50 – How websites are becoming more social, and content is getting a social life through outposts like Facebook and Twitter and your home base, such as your website or blog.  

28:51 – Planned Parenthood has reorganized its internal structure to form a content department, which manages content on its website and repurposes that content through social media channels.  

29:42 – A discussion of the Social Media Game created by David Wilcox and Beth Kanter, designed to take people through a simulated process of mapping a social media strategy to specific organizational objectives.  

38:51 – End   

Photo by Cambodia4kids.org