#INTERVIEW: Craig Lefebvre, Designer of Public Health & Social Change Programs, Discusses Social Marketing
R. Craig Lefebvre, Ph.D., is an internationally known designer of public health and social change programs. He is chief maven of socialShift, a consulting practice, and is a Research Professor at the University of South Florida College of Public Health. His blog, On Social Marketing and Social Change,” has been ongoing since 2005. He is the author of On Social Marketing and Social Change: Selected Readings 2005-2009 and a forthcoming textbook on Social Marketing (Jossey-Bass, 2013). The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: You got into blogging back in 2005. You must have been one of the first ones.
CRAIG: I was in there pretty early.
MKC: Does the blog get much response? Is there a conversation going on?
CRAIG: I would say there are periodic conversations going on. In the neighborhood of 4,000 people a day are coming on to it. It’s a long way from six years ago, when we were getting readers by the ones and twos!
(more…)
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Written by: Don Akchin
#ADVOCACY: Make Sure Pitch Has Call To Action, Not Just High Concept
What happens when you get corporate assistance to launch a new campaign, or pro bono development from a commercial ad agency? You can get some fabulous ideas and some valuable insights on establishing your brand. You can get your materials into some of the best publication and on some of the most visited sites on the web.
But as some of our colleagues at Sofii.org have discovered, you can also get a good deal of expensive nothing. The commercial backer or ad agency might not be sensitive to the constituents who want to be involved with various types of nonprofits. They might encourage outreach through channels that are quite unlikely to reach the people your charity traditionally reaches. They might give you a fabulous product on the design board (Indeed, I think it’s safe to say that they certainly will give you a fabulous design.) that falls flat in the real world. Let’s look at a couple of examples from Sofii.
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#INTERVIEW: Chris Forbes, Co-Author of Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits, Offers Great Advice to Groups
Chris Forbes is the co-author of Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits and a certified guerrilla-marketing coach. His varied background in marketing includes experience in the faith sector and work on five continents, and he has pioneered several media initiatives in public relations, television, radio and the Internet. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: What drew you to the marketing field?
CHRIS: I grew up in a marketing family. My mom had a product-administration service and worked with grocery stores and established networks with, say, free samples of food. When I was 14, she wanted me to dress up as Twinkie the Kid in a big foam-rubber costume to pass out Twinkies. When I was 15, she wanted me to dress up as Freddy the Fresh Guy from Wonder Bread. Then at 16, she asked me to be the Planter’s Peanut guy, but you have to wear leotards for that costume. I drew the line there.
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Written by: Don Akchin
#SM4NP: Kony 2012 Will Get A Sequel & More Context Today
Today is the day. Probably.
As any Hollywood mogul will confirm, when your movie is watched by 100 million people, you need to make a sequel. That market is just too big to pass up. And the renown viral video Kony 2012 has been viewed well over 100 million times. Nevertheless, the reasons the San Diego based firm ’Invisible Children’ will be releasing a sequel to their 30-minute wunderkind seem not really about tapping a market so much as explaining the phenomenon. It has not been released as of this posting, but one can’t help but wonder if we need the prequel/context-setter any more than we needed Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
What do we know about a movie that has not yet appeared?
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Tech: The Net Is Not Quite Dead, But It’s Not Your Mom’s Web Anymore
First of all, an adjustment/correction to yesterday’s story: Facebook pushed back its rollout of Timeline across all accounts until tomorrow, the 31st. Facebook did this rather quietly and did not state why, but you now have about 20 hours to get your Timeline up-and-running, as we outlined yesterday. (Thanks to Cody Damon of Damon Strategic for the heads-up!)
Today’s tech topic is related in so far as it is about how we interact with Facebook and other online services in new ways. The traditional ‘internet via browser’ model is fading away, to be replaced by a more precise paradigm − one that moves us from our mobile devices directly to the service/platform/medium that we want. The opportunity it presents will streamline, and perhaps redefine, the internet as we knew it. How?
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SM4NP: ‘Kony 2012′ Still Stirs Engagement, Controversy, And Embarrassment
Director's breakdown raises further questions
The controversy surrounding the viral video ‘Kony 2012′ continues even as its views on YouTube surpass 85.4 million as I write. The director, Jason Russell, had something of a mental breakdown a week ago, when he was arrested for indecent exposure while ranting almost incoherently about support and friendships. As reported by ABC.com late last week, “According to the National Institutes of Health, brief reactive psychosis is triggered by extreme stress, such as a traumatic event or the loss of a loved one. The symptoms, which include delusions, hallucinations and strange speech, can last up to a month, and the person may be completely unaware of them. … Alan Hilfer, chief psychologist at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City, said the backlash over Russell’s “Kony 2012″ campaign could have been traumatic enough to trigger the meltdown.”
How might disconcerting behavior of the video’s producer shift the discussion of the video and the appeal by ‘Invisible Children’ to raise awareness of Joseph Kony’s ‘Lord’s Resistance Army‘?
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SM4NP: ROI From Social Media May Be Elusive, But It’s Not Impossible
If you search for information about how to measure returns on investment in social media, you will be quickly reminded about just how new social media is in the business and nonprofit economies. Mathematicians are still searching out formulae and quality-control gurus want to talk about the developments of relationships that will bring customers and donors a bit later down the road. One of the underlying themes, though, is that no one doubts the value of social media writ large, even as we try to quantify that value and/or make it predictive of our outreach.
Perhaps success can be measured in hard, but not precise, numbers. Moreover, we should also consider social media as a ‘value added’ component to the core vocation of our nonprofit or charity, rather than as a fundamental element. How might we do both?
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Advocacy: ‘This American Life’ Retracts Story Of Abuses At Foxconn
It has been a rough week for social-consciousness movements whose leaders have produced stories a bit too slick to be true. We wrote last week about the doubts surrounding the viral video ‘Kony 2012′ meant to inspire a public campaign against Joseph Kony’s child army in Uganda − if that army still exists and Kony is indeed in Uganda. Over the weekend, the producer Jason Russell was arrested for public drunkenness and self-satisfaction, casting still further doubt on the veracity of the campaign and on the nonprofit ‘Invisible Children’.
To add to the unnerving series of good stories gone bad, Mike Daisey’s story/one-man-show “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” has been discredited for his taking numerous liberties with what he claimed were personal encounters at Apple’s suppliers Foxconn in China. His story – somewhat truncated – was broadcast on the popular ‘This American Life‘ public-radio program this past January, causing quite a stir. And it now has been retracted by producer Ira Glass and Daisey has been reconfiguring his story in light of probing questions into its authenticity.
What might be behind the rise and fall of these stories?
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SM4NP: Kone 2012 Video Goes Viral, But Maybe For Wrong Reasons
But will it hold up to scrutiny?
Today is yet another day in the Republican Primary Season. Today is another day many thousands of Republicans will not want Barack Obama re-elected, but nor will they rally around a viable contender. Yet today also is the day possibly the 75 millionth person watches the viral video phenomenon ‘Kony 2012′. The video tells the moving story of Joseph Kony of Uganda who was certainly known (7-8 years ago) for kidnapping boys and forcing them to serve in his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and the viral video campaign by Invisible Children to raise money and awareness to have him brought to justice.
But Is Kony even alive? Is Invisible Children truly dedicated to helping youth in war-torn central Africa? The very success of the ‘Kony 2012′ campaign shows us how fraught with challenges our media saturated brave new world is.
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#PUBLICPOLICY: Pressure Grows On Apple’s Supplier Foxconn
These are protestors of, not customers for, the new iPhone
The reputation of a nonprofit can make-or-break its efforts. Note the stunning blowback and reversal of the Susan G. Komen Foundation when it quietly tried to back out of its relationship with Planned Parenthood. For a business, the reputation can perhaps take more of a beating and still survive. Note BP’s expanding presence in the Gulf of Mexico despite the human and environmental costs of the corporation’s oil spill in 2010.
And then there’s Apple: perhaps the only company that can have a serious court case against its flagship product (the iPad in China), a publicity firestorm and protests over its (suppliers’) treatment of workers, and can still surpass the $500 share price. How is its PR responding to the oxymorons?
Popularity: 3% | Category Apple, Case Study, Civics, Communications, Community, Marketing Skills, Media Review, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Public Relations, Technology | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#FUNDRAISING: Impact Of Mobile Donations To Haiti Two Years On?
Two years ago this month, Haitians endured a 7.1 magnitude earthquake that destroyed much of the infrastructure in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and killed over 300,000 people. The outpouring of support from numerous nations inspired faith that rebuilding after the tragedy would bring notable improvements to the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.
Unfortunately, two years on, much of the news concerns not the rebuilding of the island nation but the challenge of simply finding where the promised money and resources went. Much of it simply has not shown up as countries have given less (some news sources state as much as half) than first promised. But of what has arrived has often been diverted to non-Haitian companies or to corrupt local officials who overcharge for minimal services.
And yet we also have the data to show how much non-governmental was raised ($43 million) and how.
Popularity: 3% | Category Case Study, Communications, Community, Crowdfunding, Fundraising, Grants and Funding, Media Review, News and Current Affairs, Newspaper Article, Nonprofit, Publications, Research, Resource, Social Media, Study, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#COMMUNICATIONS: Hashtags Haunt McDonalds’ Foray Into Social Media
If anyone suggests to you that social media lay the yellow-brick road to huge fundraising or provide the silver bullet to finish off negative responses to your company, just smile sweetly and back away. Like any power tool, social-media platforms offer opportunities to do fine work to reach out to new customers, and they offer the chance to do serious damage to your organization in a stunningly brief period of time.
The most recent victim of a social media/PR blitz that went awry is the McDonalds‘ corporation, who wanted to put a human face – one interested in good food – on its restaurant chain. But for a while, it looked like Mickey-D’s slipped terribly out of its own control.
Popularity: 4% | Category Advertising, Campaigns, Case Study, Diet, Health, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, Public Relations, Social Media, Twitter | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Development: Listening To Social Networks An Important Investment Too
The field got built only after Ray listened
Yesterday we talked about creating content on your business’s or nonprofit’s website that will bring new readers to your site, deepen the loyalty of those already in contact with it, and turn more of them into customers, volunteers, and donors. The creation of such content requires some investment. Staff – at least some staff hours – have to be dedicated to research and writing. The technological side of blogging is not like programming anymore, thanks to all the great platforms (think: WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, TypePad…), but it takes some time to get comfortable with the features and quirks of your chosen platform. When your blog reaches out to those beyond your office, you need to budget for unscheduled delays or time to allow your subject to review the interview.
But then what? If you build it, will they come? No. (more…)
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Interview: Allison Fine, Author & Analyst — Examines Intersection of Social Media & Social Change
Allison Fine researches and writes about the intersection of social media and social change. She is the co-author (with Beth Kanter) of the bestselling book, The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change, as well as the award-winning Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age. She hosts a monthly podcast for The Chronicle of Philanthropy called “Social Good.” The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: You’ve researched and written about social media and how it could impact democracy in the 21st century. Is the Occupy Wall Street movement along the lines of what you were envisioning?
ALLISON: Occupy Wall Street is absolutely part of the same DNA of social protests that we’ve seen for about the last ten years or so. They are widely distributed – meaning there’s no centralized organizing person or organization. They are fueled, but not caused, by social media – the ability to share messages, share photos, share videos, which are very powerful, is part of what’s stirring the pot and helping to organize the events. Occupy Wall Street has some of the drawbacks of this kind of mobilizing as well: the lack of a centralized message and the lack of goals. Whether or not those ultimately stop the momentum for these self-organized efforts locally will be interesting to watch.
Popularity: 4% | Category Blogs, Book Review, Campaigns, Case Study, Cause Marketing, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, Crowdfunding, Development, Direct Mail, Donor Acquisition, Fundraising, Grants, Grants and Funding, Interview, Major Gifts, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Permission Marketing, Perspectives, Perspectives, Resource, Reviews, Social Media, Sponsorship, Strategic Marketing, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Tools, Twitter | | 1 Comments
Written by: Don Akchin
#SocialNetworks: Primary Politics Offer Models For SM Strategy
Click to enlarge
As voters in New Hampshire head to polls to divvy up delegates for the Republican Convention (and the uncontested Democratic one), all the candidates are doing what Barack Obama did so singularly in 2008: developing social-media strategies meant to expand their bases, to parry jibes from their opponents, and to launch a few of their own attacks. In sheer numbers, the Republicans have turned the tables on their Democratic counterparts: According to Jennifer Steinhauser of The New York Times: “Republican House members have more than twice as many followers as their Democratic counterparts — about 1.3 million versus roughly 600,000 — and are far more active on Twitter with more than 157,000 individual Twitter messages, versus roughly 62,000 for Democrats.”
Nonprofits are not competing for votes in a similar antagonistic dynamic, of course. But donations and volunteer hours are finite entities, and the fact is nonprofits of all stripes now must challenge themselves to raise their social-networking strategy to challenge for every engaged constituent. The return on investment (ROI) might not be votes,
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Development: Make The Nonprofit Video – Don’t Sweat The ‘Viral’
Happy New Year to our much-appreciated readers! May your 2012 be notably donor-rich and Mayan-free. In case we are not here in 360 days, let’s get right to work.
We turned our attentions toward video outreach last December, and we begin this year’s posts with a story expressly about a business that turned an internal demonstration into a massive video campaign. The takeaway of the ‘Will It Blend?’ series, though, is to make your video brief, friendly, perhaps a bit off-kilter, and don’t worry about whether the video goes viral. Consultation and strategy are the foundation – Your organization must be invested not in polished production, but in long-term outreach.
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Philanthropy: Livestrong Bucked Economy & ROI Expectations Via SM
The Great Recession hardly seems over, though most are confident that we have worked through the deepest part of the proverbial woods. Nonprofits, whose work is even more vital for many thousands of people during an economic downturn, suffered as well. But a few were able to fight the long dark night by sticking to a simple strategy that proved effective before the recession and even helped them expand their Return On Investment (ROI) through the downturn..
The case before us: Livestrong, the cancer-survivors’ organization and network that provides support for those getting treatment and help staying fit while living with cancer.
The yellow bracelets raised millions at $1 a pop, but the support stream from the bracelets was already slowing before the economic crisis hit. Instead of retrenchment, Livestrong went on the attack: it hired a full-time social-media ‘evangelist,’ Brooke McMillan, who remains the voice of the organization’s Twitter feeds.
Click image to visit the site
She has since expanded her team and coordinated their outreach with that of Lance Armstrong himself. And millions of followers later, the community amplifies the voices of anyone who participates in the programs.
The result? According to analysis by SocialMediaExaminer.com:
- The 2009 LIVESTRONG Challenge raised $10.8 million – a record for the 13-year event in a down economic year.
- Online store sales set a new record in the rough 2009 holiday season.
- LIVESTRONG collected 70,000 signatures for a healthcare petition.
- Twitter matching challenges have brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The recession feels for most of us like it continues. But so does the sale of $1 wristbands, perhaps the icon of microdonations having a macro impact. FastCompany reports that some 7+ million were sold last year.
The scale of success of Livestrong is perhaps unique, but the strategies are not: Develop an authentic social-media voice as part of a larger outreach plan. Find little innovations that capture the spirit of your nonprofit and broadcast them to the world. Do not shy away from the challenges of a tough economy. Thousands are ready to follow your lead.
Popularity: 4% | Category Blogs, Branding, Campaigns, Case Study, Cause Marketing, Communications, Community, Crowdfunding, Development, Events, Facebook, Fundraising, Health, Healthcare, Marketing, Nonprofit, Public Relations, Social Media, Storytelling, Strategic Marketing, Twitter | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Communications: ‘Tis The Season For Making Lists & Prepping For 2012
In our last blog posting for 2011 we wanted to encourage some meaningful reminiscence over this past year and what it meant for the nonprofit world and to inspire some thinking about the possibilities for 2012. Making lists and checking them twice is a time-honored way to prepare for the holidays, so we present a list of lists and the opportunity for your organization to break onto a list when they are compiled in a year’s time. We have compiled this list based on our own experience with apps, platforms, and issues discussed on these lists.
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Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SocialNetworks: Senior Living Communities See ROI On Social Media
Outreach to older Americans through social media might have once seemed a bit like trying to create an oasis in a desert: a great deal of effort lost in the sand. But survey after survey has demonstrated how use of social media has become an important part of the lives of millions of seniors. Which means numerous businesses that target seniors and their families have begun to develop strategies to reach out to those ever-growing constituencies and markets.
The folks at Glynn Devins Marketing have shared a keynote address that traces a case study they did with a local (Kansas) retirement community demonstrating the success of a drive on Facebook to increase ‘Likes’ and to offer donations as ever more people share their contact with that retirement community.
Popularity: 5% | Category Advice, Aging, Blogs, Campaigns, Case Study, Cause Marketing, Communications, Facebook, Facebook, How-to, Marketing, Measurement, Public Relations, Report, Resource, Retirement Living, Senior Housing, Seniors Life, Social Media, Social Media | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SocialNetworks: Does Your Nonprofit Still Doubt There’s An ROI For Social Media?
The opportunity to develop a following online has been a part of our business and communications landscape for a decade now, yet many organizations remain shy about using social media as part of a broad strategy of outreach, conversation, and client/donor-development. The time to pay employees and consultants to develop a presence on social networks seems rather too daunting – especially in the current economic climate, as we all hunker down to known knowns. Social networking can seem too much like a known unknown (Oh, Rummy, what you have done to our language and nation…).
To ensure our followers who still might be considering the move, we link you to this short video that demonstrates the statistical opportunities that social media presents:
So how can be sure we connect with those who are out there waiting to get engaged with our work?
Popularity: 2% | Category Advice, Blogs, Campaigns, Case Study, Communications, Facebook, Facebook, Fundraising, How-to, Marketing, Marketing Budget, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Nonprofit, Site Administration, Social Media, Strategic Marketing, Technology, Twitter | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD