(Guest contributor Alison Byrne Fields leads the Issues & Advocacy practice for DDB, working with nonprofit organizations, foundations, and corporations to create social and policy change by using a full range of communications solutions. This is her first post for PhilanTopic.)
Don't know whether you saw the recent article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy about the growing number of foundations that have begun to use online media, including social media, as part of their communications strategies. One of the key points raised by the article was whether foundations should be making further investments in communications, as opposed to making those dollars available to well-deserving nonprofits.
Do I think foundations should be spending wads of cash to send out self-congratulatory press releases? Nope. Do I think it matters all that much if the average American can distinguish between the “brand values” of this or that foundation? Not really. But I do think foundations could and should be using social media in the same way that corporations are beginning to: to build relationships.
Another recent article, this one in AdWeek, examines how a growing number of companies are "building brands by building relationships," forgoing large advertising budgets in favor of better customer service and a focus on developing great products. Their reasoning? As trust in institutions (of all kinds) and the efficacy of top-down messaging continue to decline, the best marketing tool is excellent word of mouth.
So, how, specifically, can foundations use social media to build relationships and engage others? Here are a couple of thoughts:
Facilitate learning and community among grantees: Many grantees look at a funder's other grantees as competition, not as allies. Through grantee social networks, foundations can help their grantees come together to share resources, war stories, and lessons learned. These networks can be closed to the public or made transparent to generate greater interest in the funded work and opportunities for the public to get involved.
Amplify the conversation: There's already a conversation going on somewhere in the social media universe about the issues in which your foundation is investing. Count on it. That conversation is happening both on Web sites created by your grantees and other nonprofit organizations, and also among individuals whose ability to reach and engage an audience is changing the face of advocacy. As a foundation, you probably already serve as a convener, so why not "convene" a conversation online? And I don't mean starting a new conversation; I'm talking about aggregating conversations already happening around your activities into a central location and investing resources in driving others to become engaged in those conversations as well. One of the best current examples of that is the relatively new (and still-growing) Digital Media and Learning site created by the MacArthur Foundation.
There are other things foundations can and should be doing in the social media universe, and I'll be writing about some of those ideas and activities in future posts. In the meantime, you might want to take a closer look at how your foundation is using social media to build relationships. Does it have a social media strategy and/or goals and objectives? If not, why not? And how might you, as a staff member, help convince your colleagues that it's time to explore the brave new world of social media? We'd love to hear from you.
-- Alison Byrne Fields
