media cause digital community building for nonprofits
DESCRIPTION
Originally delivered 5-19-14 at the Social Media for Nonprofits conference in Boston, MATRANSCRIPT
www.mediacause.org | [email protected] | @mediacause
DIGITAL COMMUNITY BUILDING FOR NONPROFITS
Cody Damon @codydamon
Digital Community Building
1. Community Building 101
2. Community Building Tools• Google Ad Grants
• Email List
• Social Networks
• Website/Blog
What Is Digital Community Building?
A group of individuals and/or organizations that support your organizations mission. Supporters have actively subscribed to one or more of your organizations digital channels.
Quick Poll
A.1B.2C.3D.More than 3E. Don’t Know
How many interactions does your nonprofit typically have with donors before asking them to give?
How Not To Do Community Building
You don’t ask for a
donation within
the 1 minute of
meeting
someone. Why do
so many nonprofit
do that online?
Community Building Vs Advertising
Advertising is
expensive
$1 Cost per Click
5% Conversion Rate
1 X 100 X .05 = 5
$100 to reach 100 people
$20 to drive 1 important action
The Power of Community
mediacause.org | [email protected] | @mediacause
The Revolution Will Be Tweeted
Want to know the secret to successful community building?
Review and prioritize your GOALS before starting
The COMMUNITIES’ GOALS are more important than yours.
But don’t forget…
How It Works
1. Get permission to
continue the
conversation
2. Connect on issues the
community cares about
3. Share content that
informs and inspires
4. Celebrate wins and
progress together
5. Ask for participation
Community Building In Action
Meet New Supporters:
Grow Community
Engagement: Focus On
Community Goals
Active Community
of Supporters -- Driving Org Goals RSS
(blog)
Social Conten
t
Email & Newslet
ter
Google Ad
Grants
Shared Content & Social Ads
Blog (seo)
Community Building & Essential Tools
1. Community Building 101
2. Community Building
Tools• Google Ad Grants
• Email List
• Social Networks
• Website/Blog
Program Overview $10,000/mo free ad credit
on Google.com $2 max cost per click Ads shown below paid ads 1000’s of new potential
supporters on your website each month
Sign up IMMEDIATELY at Google.com/nonprofits
Google Ad Grants
Your #1 Goal is Donations, but…
Email List Building with Google Ads
Homepage Vs. Targeted Landing Page
Conversion Rate = 12.59%
1,000 + email address / mo
Case Study: Cornell Lab – Inbound
Google “screech owl” and land on the AllAboutBirds.org species account
May receive direct mail
Begin receiving monthly eNews and email solicitations
Learn more about the Lab through triggered emails
See offer to download owl sounds in exchange for email address
Donate/Join for the first time via email or direct mail
Community Building With Email
Tips:• Don’t forget to thanks
and welcome supporters
• Remember to focus on
the communities’ goals
• Over 50% of emails in
2013 were open on a
mobile phone (use
responsive templates &
mobile friendly donation
tools)
The secret to building community:
ENGAGEMENT
Facebook: likes, comments, and
shares
Twitter: retweets and replies
Email: open rate, clicks, forwards
Blog: subscriptions, comments, and
shares
Community Building With Social Media
Tip #1. Leverage High-Arousal Emotions
Physiologically high arousal emotions fire
people up.
They drive people to action and spread the word:
• Awe• Excitement• Anger• Amusement• Humor
Learn more:
bit.ly/FirePeopleUp
Tip #2. Share Content That Achieves Community’s Goals
Futures
Without
Violence
Audience size
37,579
Post reach
89,984
Tip #3. Share Progress & Victories
Water4
Audience size
2,435
Post reach
14,336
Tip #4. Encourage Participation
Cornell Lab’s weekly quizzes help maintain its audience engagement
Community Building With BloggingOur Goal: Become the industry leader.
Community Goal: Become educated and protect children.
Research: Identified 50 keywords that would boost Thorn’s organic search results.
Execution: Created keyword driven content calendar.
Results: After 1st month, 24% of all traffic was from blogs. After 3rd month blog posts had been shared over 500 times on Facebook and 200 times on Twitter
Community Building With Blogging
Tips:• Focus on your
communities’ goals
• Do your SEO keyword
research
• Use titles that draw
readers in
• Make it easy to subscribe,
share, and comment
Case Study: Cornell Lab - 2013 Results• Year over Year Facebook
• Likes increased 78% (171,037)
• Engaged Users Increased 52% (102,706)
• PTAT* Increased 67% (50,208)
• Increased our email file by 56% to 522k
• Increased unique users to website by 31% (2.5mm)
• Doubled online fundraising over prior year ($537K to $1.1mm)
• 60% of first-time donors are coming from online
• Average “sales” cycle – 78 days from lead to donor
Case Study: Cornell Lab Fundraiser
Email Subscribers
:Reach – 31,043
Donors – 5
Facebook Fans:
Reach – 46,533
Donors – 9
BOTH:Reach – 24,160Donors
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