Non-Governmental OrganisationsA Guide to Social Media

CHEN BaoquanEmmanuel Jean Florent LUCQ

PANG Yee HuatKenneth TAN Junyi

Jeannette THIA Jia YiPhilip Wing Tan SIU

NGO Characteristics

NGOS

Word-of-mouth/Friends

Grassroots marketing

Exhibitions and Showcases

Canvassing and Campaigning

Engaging personally

How do NGOs traditionally communicate and spread the word about their causes?

Key Objectives for using these methods:- Raise awareness for events, campaigns and programmes- Generate action- Recruit volunteers and raise funds- Generate positive Return On Investment from its activities

Why NGOs should Engage in Social MediaEasily accessible communities and

networks worldwide

Increases listening power and ability

to engage

Provides information

platforms

Empowers individual and small

group effortsCuts through red tape and

bureaucracy for fast action Provides

convenient avenues for donations

Low/no cost for better ROI!

Easy to showcase the visual element standard

in human interest stories

Social Media makes use of the same kind of communication, but through more

accessible ways, at low cost!

NGOs and Social Media – Current Landscape

A few statistics to give an idea about the profile of NGOs which are social media users,:• Facebook is the most popular commercial Social Networking Site (SNS) with non-profit organisations with 74% of respondents maintaining a presence there• Average number of fans on an NGO Facebook Page is 5,391• Staffing and budgets for non-profit social network projects are real, but small• Most popular use of SNS is for traditional marketing: to promote brand, programmes, events or services

How to apply Social Media to NGOs

Follow• Identify and follow

opinion leaders in the non-governmental scene

• People interested in your cause/area

Create• Post information

about upcoming events/FAQs etc

• Media content like photos, videos and podcasts

• Provide real-time updates on activities and causes

Engage• Talk to people who

are following you• Ask for feedback

and suggestions• Allow outsiders to

contribute to content creation

Build Communities• Provide discussion

platforms for members to contact each other and discuss latest news

Generate Action• Provide volunteer

opportunities• Provide links for

further action like donations

Begin by following relevant parties, then move on to create your own content, engage your audience and build communities with them to

eventually generate action!

Social Media tools NGOs can use

Facebook Profiles/Pages• Facebook Pages and other profile-

sharing sites are easy ways to share basic information about your organization, and also inform about upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, encourage discussion etc

• Facebook Applications – Engage users, platform to share stories, games and tools can be created and shared

Microblogging• Real-time status update tools like Twitter

enable fast responses – real-time updates in the event of disasters or crises, updates during an event or exhibition

• Event Activation – news about events and help required can be raised

• Adding value – share tips, videos, blogposts and more, while offering opportunities to get involved

• Create campaign/event-specific hashtags for easier following

Social Media tools NGOs can use

Media-Sharing Sites• Use media-sharing sites like YouTube,

Flickr and more to share videos and photos of past events or related stories

• Encourage followers and volunteers to share their own stories and experiences

• Harness the power of visual elements present in all human-interest stories with photos and videos and share the links via the Facebook page or Twitter

Information Platforms• Provide a platform for information

sharing• Use either wikis, official blogs or even

include house social networking hosted on the official NGO website

• Create close-knit communities with joinable networks, great for sharing in-depth stories, projects and campaigns

NGOs vs Corporations

• How do their use of social media differ?• NGOs can draw from the same lessons as corporations in utilising

social media platforms• Difference lies in their Key Objectives

– Corporations• Improve the bottom line

– NGOs• Increase campaign awareness• Generate subsequent volunteer action• Raise funds or donations• Each NGO will have different organizational goals

• This difference changes the way they approach:– Engaging their audience to generate action– Measuring return-on-investment

Best Practices• Set a baseline to begin engaging and identify

chief goals and objectives• Keep online and offline identities consistent• Create content and value-add regularly to

attract new users and retain current ones• Do engage and make use of external/unofficial

groups, find and interact with existing fans and users

• Provide useful resources, encourage discussion and interaction

• Provide ways for users to take further action (e.g. Application to engage volunteers, links to donate money)

• Leverage online events to increase offline awareness

• Remember to measure return-on-investment, not only in monetary terms

Worst Practices• Don’t create accounts and ignore

them, or update them sporadically• Don’t collect customer feedback and

not act upon it• Do not focus just on products, talk

about lifestyles • Do not restrict company culture(e.g.

blocking SNS), does not align with promoting SNS as a tool of communication

• Do not deviate from main content of corporate blog

• Do not hijack popular content to increase exposure e.g. hastags

Best and Worst Practices

Case Study 1 – Singapore Red Cross Society

The Singapore Red Cross Society makes use of Twitter, and Facebook to connect with their followers and keep them up to date on events and opportunities. They also have a YouTube account where coverage of their events are loaded. These are integrated to lead them back to the official website, where more detailed information on projects are available, and applications to make donations or to sign up as volunteers are available. Their official website even made it to the Hitwise No. 1 Award winnder.

Case Study 2 – POCC Campaign

The Power Over Cervical Cancer campaign was started by The Society for Colposcopy & Cervical Pathology of Singapore and the first phase of the campaign ran from July through November 2009. Over the course of the campaign, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were used. These platforms were helpful in informing the audience about upcoming events; but the main aim was to drive traffic to the main POCC website, where women could take the Cervical Cancer Risk Test to assess their risk levels. Information on the website then advised respondents on the next steps they should take. All social media platforms were also well-integrated, with the aim of gaining 1000 respondents for the risk test. As seen, this was successfully reached with the current count standing at 2693 respondents.

Case Study 3 - BreakThrough

Aim: Stop Domestic Violence in India

1 year campaign using TV & Radio

Bell Bajao Blog sustains interest through user-generated content such as abuse stories

Influential Bloggers were roped in to create content while all SNS were interlinked. Twitter also provided live-updates of workshops

Breakthrough monitored blogosphere with 2-way interaction through feedback & comments to better refine content constantly to engage audience. Awarded Gold Abby for Best Integrated Campaign at Goafest 2009.

Key Takeaway: Breakthrough managed to use Social Media to sustain interest in its campaign while harnessing benefits such as user-generated content to help form a closer link to its audiences as well.

Measuring Success

Brand Metrics• What are the

general sentiments of feedback, conversations & positive associations?

Traffic / Outreach• Are my

conversations appearing up in discussions areas such as a unique hashtag in twitter or a Facebook group?

Engagement• How often do

visitors leave comments, does NGO reply to feedback and act upon the opinions collected?

Retention• How many loyal

customers are kept, and how many SNS users are converted to actual NGO members?

Taking a clue from how corporations measure success

Measuring Success

ROI = (Sales – Investment) / Investment

Determine what constitutes sales in your NGO.•Number of recruited volunteers?•Number of donations?

Set a baseline for the identified key objective to determine the real change.

Although ROI ≠ metrics, traditional web metrics like traffic counts, number of comments, Twitter followers, Facebook fans, etc. are important components when determining your ROI.

Definitions of ‘sales’ will differ from NGO to NGO. Choose what suits you best.

Where do we get these figures?

Free Web Tools:• Google Analytics: visitors’ meta-

data• Xinu: reports on how your

blog/social site is shared/linked and ranked on various different social media such as Technorati or del.icio.us

• Twitalyzer (for Twitter): analyzes your status on Twitter.

External Research Agencies:• Data collection agencies will cost

more, but provide more comprehensive analysis. E.g. Meltwater, JamiQ

Conclusion

• Interactions on Social Media platforms can be used to supplement your presence on Traditional Media

• Social Media is a low-cost avenue to engage audiences• Identify your key objectives and set a baseline before using

social media• Remember to use the follow, create, engage, build communities

and generate action guideline and don’t leave your accounts idle• Determine what would be the key metric to measure to

determine your analysis and results• Employ web tools or engage external data analysis agencies to

analyse your results• Have a debrief to decide on improvements for the next campaign

AppendicesAppendix 1. – ReferencesAppendix 2. – Useful links and resources

References• Slide 3:

Yeatman, L. (2009, July 23); Top 10 Reasons why NGOs should embrace social mediaAvailable from Ruder.Finn UK on the World Wide Web: http://www.ruderfinn.co.uk/blogs/dotorg/2009/07/top-10-reasons-why-ngos-should-embrace-social-media/Barnard, D. and de Gale, M. (2009, May 28); NGOs and Social Media – Challenges and OpportunitiesAvailable from NGO Pulse on the World Wide Web: http://www.ngopulse.org/article/ngos-and-social-media-challenges-and-opportunities

• Slide 4Nonprofit Social Network Survey (2009, April); Nonprofit Social Network Survey ReportAvailable from the World Wide Web: http://www.nonprofitsocialnetworksurvey.com/

• Slide 5, 6 and 7Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide; The Executive’s Guide To Facebook for Business [PowerPoint]Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide; The Executive’s Guide To Twitter for Business [PowerPoint]Kanter, B. (2010, February 19); Reflections: Social Media and NGO/CSR Workshop in IndiaAvailable from the World Wide Web: http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2010/02/reflections-social-media-and-ngo-workshop-in-india.html

References• Slide 9

Bulla, J. (2009, November 23); Study Reveals: 13 Best Practices of Social Media Implemented by the Top 200 US CharitiesAvailable from the World Wide Web: http://jeffbullas.com/2009/11/23/study-reveals-13-best-practices-of-social-media-implemented-by-the-top-200-us-charities/

• Slide 10.The Singapore Red Cross Society; www.redcross.org.sg

• Slide 11Power Over Cervical Cancer; www.pocc.sg

• Slide 12 India Social. How Breakthrough Rang The Bell Via The InternetAvailable from the World Wide Web: http://www.indiasocial.in/case-studies/bellbajao/

• Slide 13 and 14Chris, L. (2009, March 5); 10 Ways To Measure Social Media SuccessAvailable from the World Wide Web: http://econsultancy.com/blog/3407-10-ways-to-measure-social-media-successAaron U. How To Measure Social Media ROI For BusinessAvailable from the World Wide Web: http://mashable.com/2008/07/31/measuring-social-media-roi-for-business/

Useful Links and Resources

• A Social Media Wiki Resource (India-based)– http://socialmedia-strategy.wikispaces.com/S

ocial+Media+India+Resources

• Social Media Resources – Mashable.com; www.mashable.com – Beth’s Blog; http://beth.typepad.com/

• A more in-depth presentation on calculating Return on Investment– Olivier Blanchard Basics of Social Media ROI;

http://www.slideshare.net/thebrandbuilder/olivier-blanchard-basics-of-social-media-roi