Social media is a hot trend with the major sites, with Foursquare geolocation growing 3400% last year (over 300 million check-ins)[i], Twitter with nearly 200 million registered accounts, Facebook with 500 million users[ii], LinkedIn with 101 million users[iii], and the viral possibilities of YouTube. For brands this new trends means the ability to engage and connect users to your brand in a more personal and lasting way – if done correctly. Not only does it provide a lasting and captive audience but can be much more affordable than traditional media. A social media campaign / presence, deployed correctly can have a major impact for minimal cost; this is why it can be so beneficial to non-profit organizations who don’t typically have the deep pockets of larger companies.

There are four ways social media has changed the non-profit world according to mashable:

1. Deepening relationships and Engagement – letting NFP’s empower their existing supporters to help the cause.
2. Individuals & small groups are self-organizing around non-profit causes – NFP’s are able to leverage the efforts of others and user generated content to decrease the internal resources to support various campaigns and fundraising activities.
3. Facilitating collaboration and crowdsourcing – allowing NFP’s to connect and collaborate informally across institutional boundaries quickly and inexpensively, as well as, get ideas and tips from much larger groups of people.
4. Social change behind the firewall – NFP’s adopting social media are able to help change the culture, flatten hierarchical structures, speed decision-making, and improve programs and services for their cause.

Here are some great examples of NFP’s social media campaigns: Giving Birthdays, Wiki Project: We Are Media, Facebook Causes, March of Dimes, Red Cross (also),  Twestival, Epic Thanks, Tweet-a-thon, Well Wishes, The Daniela Project,  Green Bloggers, Oxfam America (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube), The Humane Society (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Flickr), LIVESTRONG (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr), WWF (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr), Change.org, Care2, Help in Disasters, Do something, Better the World, Social Actions, Tweet Congress, Target: Bullseye Gives…

As you can see it is a new way to connect, leverage the crowd, and promote your cause. There are many resources out there to help NFP’s find their way in social media. The best policies to keep in mind are the following:

1. Listen – hear what others are saying and doing about you organization and your cause, you can get a lot of insight just from standing back and listening.
2. Leverage the masses – chance is you have supporters out there. Don’t try to control them because they are not official, instead leverage their passion and volunteer man power. Guide them to follow best practices and leverage the exposure and user generated content they help you receive.
3. Evolve – change the way you think and work. Social has made all people more engaged, it’s about collaboration and community, use that to you advantage – be open to new ideas.
4. Develop your properties – great places to start are Facebook pages, events, and causes to tap into the 500 million + users, Twitter for the viral nature with which information can spread, and blogging to provide more detailed and insightful material.
5. Cross Promote – promote all properties every where possible, each property should have a call to action to drive awareness and increase users ability to donate and fund raise.
6. Use Widgets – make it easy for people to embed your cause within their own pages.
7. Have fun with it – the nest part of social media is that you get to meet an interact with people from all over, so enjoy it.

I know these are the basics, but that’s why it’s the place to start! Once you have the basics down, look into other campaigns like the ones above and leverage the ideas and success of others before you to enhance your own fund raising and campaign reach and effectiveness.

Know any other great campaigns? Reply with the examples!

Cheers… and Happy Family Day to those of you lucky enough to get to enjoy the holiday like us here in Ontario!

[i] http://blog.foursquare.com/2011/01/24/2010infographic/

[ii] http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

[iii] http://www.slideshare.net/amover/linked-in-demographics-and-statistics-2011