Posts Tagged ‘what gives’

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 »

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 »