Posts Tagged ‘Jack Dorsey’

4 Tips for Using Social Media to Mobilize People

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

by ,  HandsOn Network

Remember the Service Nerd Fantasy Panel discussion that took place at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service this summer?

I’ve been reviewing the Q&A footage from the session and pulling out the juiciest nuggets.

In the clip below, and discuss ways that social media could – or should- be used to mobilize people to take action.

As the he New Media Director of President Obama’s 2008 campaign, Joe Rospars learned a lot about how to engage people in the digital space.

Jack Dorsey, one of the founders of Twitter, talks about strategies for engagement that don’t sound all that different from what we already know about engaging people – the same things that work off line also work online.

Give it a look…

Thinking about this commentary in the context of mobilizing volunteers, I’m taking away a few key points.

Joe Rospars reminds me that I’ll be more successful engaging and mobilizing people if I involve them in planning and shaping the project itself.  (This has always been true, right?  Now to make it true in our online social spaces!)

He also reminded me of the way that volunteers have to be eased into a commitment.  We’re all more likely to sign up for something simple first.  His remarks make me think about how to create levels of engagement online – from light and easy to increasingly committed.

Jack Dorsey’s comments reminded me that all of us like to feel part of something larger than ourselves.  Letting people know what kind of progress is being made, how their efforts fit into the larger impact is a great way to do this.

Finally, it was interesting to hear him say that Twitter’s biggest successes have been those that bring people who met online together, face-to-face.

All of us want to be more connected.

Let’s make sure we create offline opportunities for our online communities to come together.

Related Posts:

  • Joe Rospars on Effective Organizing
  • Mobilizing Volunteers with Social Media
  • Finding the ROI in Social Media

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Posted in Equip, Mobilize, Service, Social Media, Tools You Can Use, Volunteer Leader, Volunteer Management, Volunteering, Volunteerism | 3 Comments »

NCVS Panel: Finding the ROI in Social Media

Thursday, July 15th, 2010
by Chris Noble

“Can nonprofits measure Return on Investment (ROI) for their social media activities?” asks Marcia Bullard, former CEO of USA WEEKEND.

This next part in our series from the National Conference on Volunteering and Service (NCVS) focuses on determining ROI,  one of the most talked about issues in our community today.  As more nonprofits are engaging in social media, and as budgets continue to be tight in the current economy, it’s a natural question.  How do we know this stuff is working?  Can we even measure it?

I’m going to take some of the suspense out of it for you.  These guys say you can.  In fact, Paul Gillin gives you a road map in the first three minutes:

1. Know the lifetime value of a donor / volunteer – when someone supports your organization, what’s the average $ per year the give, and how many years do they stay with you?  $ multiplied by years, and there’s your lifetime value.

2. Start keeping records now – Use historical data from physical events: how many attended, how many gave, what totals were raised?  If you have already run online fundraisers, so much the better.  If you’re running your first, keep track of how visits turn into donors.

3. Do the math – now that you’re keeping track, measure how many new volunteers or donors have come from online activities.  What % of your Facebook fans have shown up in the real world at an event?  What % of your Twitter followers have donated?  What are the actual numbers – how many people have acted.  Multiply # of people taking action by your average lifetime $, and you know how much your organization stands to bring in from a particular online (or offline) effort.

Watch the video for more from Paul, and for additional comments on the same topic by , , , and .  In all, a valuable primer on understanding the return on your social media investment.  Take a look!

from on .

To see part one in this series, click here.

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Posted in Equip, News & Links, Social Media, Tools You Can Use, Volunteer Management, Volunteer Recruitment, Volunteering, Volunteerism | 1 Comment »

Mobilizing Volunteers with Social Media

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

by Chris Noble – Originally published on What Gives and republished here with the author’s permission.

There’s a lot of “activity” in social media.  More people are embracing social networks every day, and more organizations are using social channels to reach their audience. But in all this “activity”, is there any real action?  How can nonprofits and others use social media to mobilize volunteers and get things done in the real world?

That’s the question put to a panel of social media luminaries at NCVS, the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, held by HandsOn Network and Points of Light in New York City a few weeks back.  Maybe “luminaries” isn’t exactly the right word… how about superstars?  These folks have been on the front lines where social media meets social change:

, who headed up President Obama’s social media strategy and action in 2008, now Founder and Creative Director of Blue State Digital.

, Founder of Craigslist, who’s been championing social media as a way to make government more accessible, accountable and efficient.

, Co-founder and Chairman of , who has his own social venture launching in the fall.

, who, as Manager of Public Policy Communications handles some of the tougher policy and community organizing issues for on a daily basis.

We’ve got lots of coverage coming your way from NCVS over the coming weeks, including more from this group and fifth panel member, social media marketing strategist , as well as individual interviews with an incredible range of activists, CEOs, authors, and other leaders in the nonprofit space.  This segment is a great start, because these guys have some solid advice for nonprofit organizers based on real-world experience.

Not only valuable content, but actually fun to watch.  Joe does a great job describing why you should treat volunteers like gold, and how to do so in a social framework. There’s also a great analogy in there for those of you who need to explain to your parents why all this “social media stuff” is relevant to social change – just go to Craig’s Gutenberg/ Luther shtick about 5 minutes in – I’ve used it 5 or 6 times since hearing it.

Enjoy!

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Posted in Equip, Service, Social Media, Tools You Can Use, Volunteer Management, Volunteering, Volunteerism | 5 Comments »

Change Points: Girl Power

Monday, June 7th, 2010

We are beginning our countdown to the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in New York City June 28-30, and this is the first of a number of highlights from the upcoming great gathering of nonprofit, government and corporate leaders.  Just to give you a teaser, this year’s conference includes White House leaders such as Cabinet Secretaries Arne Duncan and Shaun Donovan; CEOs such as Jamie Dimon from JP Morgan Chase; social media rock stars , the co-founder of ; Craig Newmark, the founder of craigslist, and Joe Rospars, the social media guru behind President Obama’s election campaign.

A special summit on June 28 focuses on Girl Power, inspiring action and celebrating the extraordinary efforts of teenage girls to create meaningful change.  After all, a majority of young girls say that improving their community is their favorite activity, and consistent young volunteers are significantly more likely to be girls than boys. With the help of such special guests as civic entrepreneur Lauren Bush and WE tv President and GM Kim Martin, the “Girls. Power. CHANGE: Girls Summit on Civic Engagement” will focus on how school and work can reinforce the value of service, and how citizens can self-organize and mobilize to address social issues.   In addition, three girls will be awarded $1,000 WE tv Power Grants for their innovative Changemaker ideas.

This is a generation of young girls who grow up understanding their own ability, and responsibility, to change the world around them for the better. They are answering President and Michelle Obama‘s calls  to service, and we celebrate their  commitment, energy, and creativity.  Imagine the power of girls unleashed to create change!

Sincerely,

Michelle Nunn
CEO, Points of Light Institute

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Posted in Education, Equip, Michelle Nunn, News & Links, Service, Volunteering, Volunteerism | No Comments »

Change Notes: Creating A Civic Hub

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

Friends,

I want to tell you a great story of how necessity created serendipity for us at Points of Light Institute. After the merger of the Points of Light Foundation and HandsOn Network in 2007 and the resulting move of the organization’s headquarters to Atlanta, the Washington, DC, office of Points of Light faced the challenge of excess office space.

During this time, a vision around creating a “Civic Engagement Hub” in the Points of Light DC Office emerged.  The thought was that co-locating organizations with a common mission around civic participation could be both advantageous financially and programmatically for Points of Light and its subtenants.

The hope was this hub could be an environment where ideas could be exchanged, where partnerships around cutting edge advocacy and service initiatives could be formed, and where field-advancing summits could be held to highlight the evolving ways people are empowered to advance change in their communities.  On top of this, we aspired to create new cost and operational efficiencies.

Through both informal networking and a dose of luck, our Washington office realized a portion of this vision earlier this year. In January, the National Conference on Citizenship became an official subtenant along with Mobilize.org, whose mission is to enable “democracy to work better by investing in solutions driven by the Millennial generation”.   In addition, the Washington office is home to America’s Service Commissions, Be the Change‘s Washington staff, ServeNext and the Association of Nutrition Services Agencies.

Besides the natural conversations and visioning that occurs when like organizations coexist, this nascent civic engagement hub has had the first in a series of brown bag discussions which we hope to host quarterly. In March, we convened a discussion of the recent Supreme Court decision on campaign finance and its implications for our civic life as a nation.  We offered this opportunity both to subtenants and to their partner organizations.

Later this month, Politics Under 30, whose mission is to help the young people of today become the political leaders of tomorrow, and Public Allies – DC, which advances new volunteer leadership to help communities, will join us, adding to the creative and service mission-driven mix. Let us know if you are interested in being a part of this Service and Civic Hub!

National Conference on Volunteering and Service

In just a few short weeks we will be creating a virtual civic hub of thousands in New York City at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, the world’s largest gathering of volunteer and service leaders from the nonprofit, government and corporate sectors. From CEO roundtables to forums on social media for social good, from Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to co-founder , attendees will find inspiration, thought leadership, and solutions, not to mention world-class entertainment at our gala evening event (after all, this is the home of Broadway!).   We hope you can join us June 28-30! The conference Web site is here.

HandsOn Nashville Update

The numbers of volunteers mobilized by HandsOn Nashville for flood recovery continue to astound. In one month almost 16,000 volunteers have donated more than 66,000 hours, which are worth a projected $1.4 million. The action center has coordinated 881 project sites in that time.  On May 26, The Tennessean, Nashville’s major newspaper, published a story headlined “HandsOn Nashville Rises to Challenge” about the tremendous efforts.  Please click here to link to the story.

In addition, for the Congressional Record, Tennessee Representative Jim Cooper and Senator Lamar Alexander praised the volunteer effort coordinated by HandsOn Nashville. Rep. Cooper in particular saluted the HandsOn team and its “crucial contributions to the Nashville community.” We are gratified to see the amazing and sustained efforts by HandsOn Nashville recognized so prominently.  The accomplishments of its volunteers for the Nashville area exemplify what our HandsOn Network is all about – equipping and mobilizing citizens to make a significant difference.

In Service,

Michelle Nunn

CEO, Points of Light Institute

Co-Founder, HandsOn Network

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Posted in Change Notes, Impact, Michelle Nunn, News & Links, Service, Volunteer Management, Volunteering, Volunteerism | No Comments »

Service Nerd Fantasy Panel Discussion

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

While regular people play Fantasy Football, Service Nerds (like me) play Fantasy Panel Discussion.

This is Joe Rospars.

He’s been my Service Nerd Fantasy Panel Discussion TOP PICK since I read Lessons from Obama: Lessons for Online Communicators in 2009 and Beyond.

Rospars was the new media team director for the Obama Campaign and, regardless of your politics, you’ve got to hand it to the man… brilliant!

I was so piqued by the report that I insisted that our CEO, Michelle Nunn read it.

[Which may have been a tactical error because now she wants me to BE Joe Rospars and that might be a bit difficult because...

...the road from Service Nerd to Digital Genius is long.]

If I could, I’d ply Joe Rospars with exotic and tasty tapas and delicious, tiny cakes until he was powerless to resist answering my questions. Then,

“Joe,” I’d say “tell me how the online strategies you used to engage citizens in the Obama campaign could be re-purposed to mobilize millions of volunteers to take action on our nations most pressing social challenges.”

Joe, under my tasty morsel spell, would reveal all his secrets to me and I would achieve:


The Service Nerd Fantasy Panel Discussion would also include Jack Dorsey, who is to what the Big Bang is to evolution.

Throw in Craig Newmark, the man behind the list. (You know, Craig’s List.)

Toss in Paul Gillin, author of The New Influencers and Andrew Noyes of Facebook and…

Check out my Service Nerd Fantasy Panel line up.

Rospars — Dorsey– Newmark — Gillin — Noyes

Now if there’s one thing I learned (from my other fantasy about being a problem like Maria), it’s that you .

And Diana Ross taught me that there .

So my trusty partner, Ranit from CNCS, and I drafted a series of highly persuasive letters inviting the Fantasy Panel All Star Line up to our annual conference and had them signed by the big bosses.

And guess what?

You can LIVE THE DREAM with me because they all accepted the invitation and they’ll all be there!

And I feel less like a Service Nerd and more like a Service Nerd SUPERSTAR!

The Social Media For Social Good Panel will take place on Tuesday, June 29th from 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. EST in New York City at The National Conference on Volunteering and Service.

Register now and join me there.

If you want to submit questions for the panelists, leave a comment.

And the next time you have a Service Nerd Dream of your own… don’t stop believing.

Follow the Social Media for Social Good Panelists online:

Joe Rospars ; Jack Dorsey ; Craig Newmark ; Paul Gillin ; Andrew Noyes ; And if you’re really feeling it… Service Nerd:

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Posted in Equip, Inspire, Mobilize, News & Links, Social Media, Tools You Can Use, Volunteerism | 24 Comments »