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Using social media to enhance your next big conference

April 12 2011 | wsewell | Blog, Nonprofits | Comment

Hello from Washington D.C.! Well, technically Maryland, but hello nevertheless!

I’ve spent the last few days at the Gaylord National or on Capitol Hill with a nonprofit client who is hosting one of their national conferences this week. While here, we successfully launched the nonprofit’s new website (shameless plug: If you need a new website based on the WordPress platform, give us a call or fill out the handy contact form on our website!) and posted live from the conference events. This is third conference we’ve done for this client, and it got me thinking about how many organizations and events miss a big opportunity to use social media to complement their conference. Here are a few basic tips for your next event:

Ramp up excitement before the event. Let attendees and non-attendees know where they can find live updates.
If using Twitter, establish a hashtag to correspond with your event.
Incorporate your social sites and hashtag into your print media.
Appoint at least one person to officially represent your organization’s social media during the conference (shameless plug #2: or just use us!). Use the organization’s social media accounts to communicate with those who are attending or interested in your conference. Retweet and share content from others who are posting from your event.
Consider hosting a tweetup before, during, or after the event. Let your audience know where they can gather & continue networking when they aren’t in sessions or breakout groups – a local restaurant, bar, a specific spot in the hotel, etc.
Consider hosting in-event contests using social media. For example, at random, you could tweet, “The first person to post a picture of their breakout session using [insert your hashtag here] will win a special prize!”
If you have the resources, consider pulling up a livestream of the hashtag in the conference area – perhaps by the registration table.
Keep following up after the event. The excitement of your attendees can linger on long after the event if you continue to communicate via social media.

These are just the basics, but even the basics can enhance your event, generate buzz, and create brand enthusiasts online. Do you currently use social media to enhance your event? Any rockstar ideas you’d like to share?

Tagged conference, events, hashtag, live posting, livestreaming, nonprofits, Social Media, twitter

Girl Scout Cookies and Social Media? Nom, nom, nom

January 6 2011 | wsewell | Blog, Nonprofits, Social Media | 1 Comment

From ABC News in Chicago:

While the Girl Scout Cookie Program has been around for decades, the Girl Scouts recognize the value of communicating via social media and for the first time are launching a social media venue for girls that they can use to market and track orders.

The Cookie Club” is an interactive, online cookie business for girls. The password-protected website teaches girls about goals, tracks progress, and allows girls to send e-cards to friends and families. Customers use an online order form to submit their “promised” cookie order that is automatically recorded on girls’ Cookie Club” account order pages.

While there are now formal resources in place to help girls market and track their cookie businesses via social media, the girls will continue to meet customers, take orders, and manage the financial transactions which enable them to learn important life skills at the same time.

“We realize that social media is the way youth communicate today. The Cookie Club amplifies the Girl Scout Cookie Program lessons of setting goals; developing action plans to reach those goals; working together as a team and cultivating a sense of business ethics,” said Maria Wynne, CEO of Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana.

“Additionally, Girl Scouts build confidence by developing public speaking and interpersonal communication skills. Girls learn about money management, marketing and customer service in fun and memorable ways. This experience lasts a lifetime,” Wynne said.

This year’s Girl Scout Cookie Program kicks off on Jan. 8 at Allstate Arena, with several thousand girls gathering to learn the basics of money management, product marketing, interacting with customers, and goal setting. Girls from all 245 communities that are part of the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana council will accept pre-orders for Girl Scout Cookies Jan. 9 – 23, 2011, and will be offering cookies for immediate purchase during booth sales Feb. 18 – March 20, 2011. Customers will be able to select from eight varieties: Thank U Berry Munch, Samoas, Thin Mints, Trefoils, Tagalongs, Do-si-does, Lemon Chalet Cremes, and Dulce de Leche.

Customers are encouraged to visit www.girlscoutcookies.org to connect to local Girl Scouts who are selling cookies in their area.

“It’s not unusual for me to talk to women in leadership positions who proudly admit they had their first real-world experience in business when they sold Girl Scout Cookies. That tells me we’re providing valuable experiences that will enable girls to fill all important leadership roles in the future,” Wynne commented.

A portion of the proceeds also goes directly to the troop level where girls decide how to spend it, thus further encouraging goal-setting and leadership abilities. Many local Girl Scouts also participate in the Gift of Caring program, a service project in which troops decide which organization in their community they would like to help and then ask customers to purchase and donate boxes of cookies that the troop will deliver to the organization.

Background

It started in 1917 as a simple way for a group of Girl Scouts in Oklahoma to finance their local activities. More than 90 years later, hundreds of thousands of girls ages 5-17 engage in what has become one of the nation’s premier financial literacy and entrepreneurship programs.

For generations of girls, the Girl Scout Cookie® Program has fostered a sense of personal and collective empowerment. It gives girls of all ages the opportunity to practice basic skills they will use throughout their lives, including money management and goal-setting. Participation ultimately furthers the Girl Scout Mission which is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.

Profits from the sale of each $4 box of cookies help the council recruit and train new volunteers; update experienced volunteers; offer council-wide program events and outdoor experiences; maintain council properties; pay for printed materials and postage; provide support for nearly 86,000 girls; and offer financial assistance to girls from economically disadvantages areas. All profits are used locally.

About Girl Scouts

Founded in 1912, Girl Scouts of the USA is the preeminent leadership development organization for girls with 3.4 million girl and adult members worldwide. Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana impacts the lives of nearly 86,000 girls and 23,000 adult members in 245 communities in six Illinois counties (Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kankakee, Lake, and Will) and four Indiana counties (Jasper, Lake, Newton, and Porter). For more information, visit www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org.

Tagged girl scouts, Social Media, the cookie club

HOW TO: Do Good on Facebook

September 11 2009 | LaurenCandito | Blog, Nonprofits, Social Media | Comment

Who knew that social media could eventually become a means to contribute to a greater cause? This article by Barb Dybwad, from Mashable’s Social Media Guide, discusses different tools Facebook offers to help individuals and businesses make a difference…

HOW TO: Do Good on Facebook

September 3rd, 2009 | by Barb Dybwad9 Comments

This series is supported by Toyota Prius and presented by harmonytweets, a Twitter()-based platform for filtering conversations around design, sustainability, eco technology and philanthropy. Leverage Twitter to communicate around ideals you care about at harmonytweets.com.

We’ve taken a look at using your blog for good, how to do good on Twitter, and how to change the world in only 15 minutes a day, but what about using other platforms to help social good?

Today we’ll look at how you can use the popular social network Facebook() to help contribute something positive back to the world. Do you have other great tips for using Facebook for social good? Please contribute your ideas in the comments.

1. Use Charity Applications

We already know about the power of Facebook’s application platform to enable us to do far more frivolous things, from playing UNO to managing a virtual farm. Why not put the app platform to use for social good?

Luckily, a number of applications can help you do just that. Let’s look at a few here, and we’re sure there are a number of others we don’t know about yet. Know of a great Facebook charity application? Let us and other readers know about it in the comments!

Causes — Perhaps the best known, the Causes app allows users to join or start causes on any number of activist topics or positions. Causes can be used to raise money, accumulate support, or simply to advocate a particular position or point of view. You can join as many causes as you like and choose one cause at a time to feature and promote on your Facebook profile.

Willy’s Sweet Shop — Playing this interactive game helps raise money for the St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Track the net amount donated via the aforementioned third-party Causes charity clearinghouse.

Go Go Give — The Go Go Give app is a simple but effective tool that reminds you to visit The Hunger Site daily. The Hunger Site offers a dead simple clickable badge that donates food to the hungry around the world, paid for by the sponsors whose ads you see upon clicking the button. Install the app to get daily reminders, plus keep track of how much food you’ve raised as well as the number of people you’ve invited to join the cause.

(Lil) Green Patch — Using the (Lil) Green Patch app benefits the Nature Conservancy and other Green causes. After expense revenue from the app funds a portfolio of rainforest reforestation projects, with a reported 183,244,167 square feet of rainforest being saved so far via donation to the Adopt an Acre program.

GoRecycle411 — The GoRecycle411 app lets you fill in how much material you’ve recycled and translates your energy saved into barrels of oil, trees, gallons of water, pounds of carbon dioxide, kilowatts of electricity and cubic yards of garbage you’ve saved. It also keeps track of the aggregate total for all those using the app, and donates ad revenue beyond expenses to The Arbor Day Foundation’s Rain Forest Rescue! program.

SocialVibe — The SocialVibe site mixes brand sponsorships with charity donations, and their Facebook application allows you to tap into their fundraising network on your Facebook profile page. Essentially, you choose a brand sponsor and a favorite charity, and users who interact with your SocialVibe application help earn you “points” that accrue donations to your chosen organization. It’s an interesting twist that combines ad revenue with charity, with the more “points” you earn increasing the percentage donated.

2. Join Charity Groups

From simply raising awareness to keeping you informed, from displaying your active causes on your profile to donating money to charities on your behalf — there are a number of worthwhile Facebook groups for social good.

Canadian Cancer Society — For every 100 members who join the group, $2 will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. The community-based volunteer organization’s mission is the eradication of cancer and the improvement of life quality for those living with the disease.

Darfur Aid — For every 1000 members of the group, $1 will be donated to an organization working to provide aid in Darfur annually.

Making Poverty History — Join the group to show your support and invite your friends to amplify awareness of the cause. Printing your country’s specific letter and sending it to your government helps put pressure on them to donate 0.7% of the national income to ending world poverty.

One Million Faces Against Malaria — This group holds an annual awareness day every April 25 to raise awareness about this preventable disease.

Fight Global Poverty — Started by a couple in Seattle, the group is one part of raising awareness and funds to fight poverty around the globe. The admins have committed to donating $100,000 to the cause now that the group has eclipsed 100,000 members, and have set up a non-profit group called One Day’s Wages to encourage further donations to global poverty.

3. Become a Fan of Activist Organizations

We can become fans of our favorite celebrities, but why not also show our support for some of the amazing organizations out there working for good? Becoming a fan can also help alert you if and when that group holds specific events or fundraisers around time-sensitive issues.

Check out a few noteworthy organizations that have a presence on Facebook, and let us know about your favorites in the comments.

The Humane Society — Working in the U.S. and abroad to celebrate the human-animal bond and fight animal abuse, The Humane Society is well worth showing your support.

Planned Parenthood — Advocating for women’s reproductive health and rights since 1916, Planned Parenthood’s Facebook Page provides news, health information, discussions and more.

LIVESTRONG — Get updates on news and events from world-famous cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong’s organization dedicated to raising funds and awareness about the fight against cancer.

ASPCA — Get news, updates and yet another source of cute cat pictures from the ASPCA’s Facebook Page.

Greenpeace International — Global environmental conservation organization Greenpeace gets you involved quickly with a Take Action tab.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure — This well-maintained Page provides information, alerts and ways to act surrounding the fight against breast cancer.

Oxfam America — Show your support and get news and announcements from Oxfam America’s Facebook Page. The international relief and development charity helps save lives, end poverty and fight for social justice.

4. Give a Virtual Charity Gift

They’re not quite live yet at the time of this writing, but at our own Summer of Social Good Conference recently Facebook’s Randi Zuckerberg announced that virtual charity gifts will be coming to the Facebook Gift Shop this week.

Initially the gifts will be available from charity partners Kiva, Toms, (RED) and WWF. Purchasing a $5 or $10 gift not only donates the equivalent amount to the charity sponsoring the gift, but does so on behalf of a friend. Like its real-world concept of donating to a charity as a gift to a friend or relative, it’s almost like giving two gifts in one.

Depending on the results, Facebook may open up the charity gifts program to other partners as well. So not only will you be doing good on behalf of a friend, you’ll be contributing to the continued renewal of the program itself. Be sure to check the Facebook Gift Shop to keep an eye on the availability of the gifts.

5. Host a Charity Event

Why not celebrate the fact that Facebook recently made event planning easier by hosting your own event to raise money or awareness for your favorite cause? Of course, this idea requires quite a bit more legwork than some of the above options, but it also has the potential to have a much greater impact.

AllFacebook has some great tips on hosting a successful Facebook event. Have you ever held a charity event or attended a gathering you heard about on Facebook? Let us know in the comments.

There are certainly pluses and minuses to using Facebook for activism. It may be difficult to convert more casual Facebook activists to the next level of cause engagement. Nevertheless, Facebook offers a set of powerful tools for social good organizations and ad hoc causes to leverage involvement and awareness from the social network’s huge member base.

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