Social Media for Non-Profits

Bhupesh Shah October 2012

Social media is the shiny new toy that everyone seems to love but few have figured out how to play with safely. Even fewer know whether it’s worth the investment. However, not playing with this toy could have a negative effect on your brand. Getting your non-profit message retweeted or having numerous Facebook “likes” is one aspect of social media – but how can it be effectively used across functional areas within your non-profit? Who are the innovative users of social media? How can non-profits learn from for-profit approaches? In this session, Bhupesh addressed these questions and shared insights on the why’s and how’s of curation, challenges of using social media, and current and future trends

Five Good Ideas

  1. Don’t be afraid to open up.
  2. Think like a for-profit.
  3. Offer value to your stakeholders by curating and sharing relevant information.
  4. Look out the window.
  5. Develop a social media strategy before dipping your toe in the water.

Five Good Resources

  1. Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media. http://www.bethkanter.org/. This site has insightful posts and guest posts, particularly on technology as it applies to non-profits.
  2. Feedly Content Aggregator. http://www.feedly.com/. Feedly works across all major platforms and even synchronizes so what you’ve changed on your desktop is reflected on your Android smartphone or iPad.
  3. Pinterest. http://pinterest.com/. This virtual pin board or visual content curation platform is rapidly rising in popularity. There are a large number of marketing, social media and non-profit boards that you can learn from.
  4. Yammer – Enterprise Social Network. https://www.yammer.com.
  5. YouTube Charities Program. http://www.youtube.com/nonprofits?info_lang=ca. Apply to have a non-profit channel on YouTube. Site includes tips and tricks on how to run video campaigns.

Other Good Ideas about Social Media

 

Bhupesh presents at a TEDx Seneca event

Building Conversations on the Web

Marco Campana and Christopher Wulff demystify online communication and help you take the next steps in making practical, daily use of the Web in your community engagement, client service and public campaigns.

View the video.

Leadership lessons from Twitter

From capturing details of daily life to being a mobilizing tool for social change, there is no doubt that Twitter has become an important medium of communication. It teaches us many things about what, as a culture, we deem important and worthy of repeating.

What I’m interested in is what we can learn from it. In particular, what does it teach us about leadership?

Five interesting articles about social media we stumbled upon

  1. Does Your Nonprofit Have A Social Media Work Flow?
  2. 9 Digital Ways to Become a Social Good Hero in 2012
  3. Understanding the Value of Your Social Media Influencers
  4. Myers-Briggs Personality Types and Social Media
  5. 7 Movies about Social Networking & Business

Bhupesh Shah

Professor, School of Media and Marketing, Seneca College

bhupesh

Bhupesh Shah is an award-winning Professor at Seneca College, teaching courses in general marketing, digital media and marketing metrics. Bhupesh is ranked as one of the Top Marketing Professors on Twitter (#33), one of the top 50 Business Professors You Should Follow on Twitter (#21), and recently co-authored a marketing textbook for post-secondary students. He is an acknowledged public speaker on social media, marketing strategy and diversity and has shared his insights on national TV, radio, syndicated newspapers and publications. He also works as a consultant at ethnicomm inc., helping small and medium-sized enterprises with their marketing, web and sales strategy. Having earned his BSc in Anthropology/Microbiology-Biochemistry from the University of Toronto and his MBA from York University, Bhupesh has over 15 years of marketing management experience in the retail, packaged goods and equipment industries.

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