That is a question coming up more and more from many nonprofits as they see news everywhere about people using social media for all kinds of things and nonprofit “gurus” pushing its acceptance. So I thought about this question from a small nonprofit perspective and here’s my answer to it:

YES, you do need social media. Social media is not going away; it is actually growing with more applications and more people participating. The majority of younger and middle-age generations have some of type of social media presence and regularly engaged - reading and posting on blogs, forums, social networks and sharing sites. It presents a huge potential audience to your cause: people that are willing to donate, volunteer, market or be a resource for you in many capacities. The real question is: how do you find these people and engage them when you not only small but have dwindling resources in this economy? After all why bother if it doesn’t benefit your organization. It certainly can - IF you understand how to use social media in line with your organization’s mission and create a well thought-out strategy around it.

Now first of all what the heck is social media? Here’s the definition from Wikipedia:

Social media are primarily Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings.

So nothing really complicated actually: communication using some new tools. There’s of course all kinds of social media out there and it can be very overwhelming, especially when you don’t know where to start. I have read some excellent articles recently which provide great guidelines on how to use social media effectively and efficiently so I am going to list them here for your benefit. I especially like the first one - a simple but powerful breakdown on the process of creating a successful strategy.

Social Media How-To Resources:

• 5-Part Social Media Process - Audience, Resources, Success, Technology and Evaluation. Great fundamentals!
• 10 easy steps to understanding social media - A simple list of social media options and their purpose.
• How To Think Like A Nonprofit Social Marketing Genius - An advanced how-to manual; not for the beginners or the faint-hearted! (Just in case you are already a social media warrior…) It also has an excellent slideshow.
• Creating a Social Media Policy for Your Nonprofit - An excellent detailed guide on the why’s and how’s of social media.
• Intel Social Media Guidelines - Another policy guideline from the corporate arena - good sample to imitate.
• CauseWired: Plugging In, Getting Involved, Changing the World - This is actually a book on Amazon; I haven’t read it but was recommended to me and read some great reviews about it. It’s meant for an easy, non-technical explanation of the benefits of social media for nonprofits.

Well; now you got a week’s worth of reading to do All these will give you some great tools to get your organization started on building a successful social media presence.