I was reading Allison Fine’s blog post the other day about the great report on Nonprofit Social Media and Jeff Patrick (one of the gurus behind the report) commented with an analogy that made me chuckle – “hiring a 23-year old to drive your social networking initiatives at a nonprofit because they use this technology everyday is a bit like hiring a lumberjack to drive the program work at an environmental nonprofit.” It made me realize that the only thing worse would be if the nonprofit recruited that 23-year old to do the same work as a volunteer – which is a thought that I know is going through the heads of many smaller nonprofits who don’t have the staff to get started with social media.
Now, getting a volunteer to run your organization’s social media isn’t a bad idea if it’s approached correctly. You have to recruit this volunteer with kid gloves – much the same as if you were recruiting a volunteer to handle the organization’s finances. The wrong volunteer in either situation could completely destroy the organization. If this volunteer has login and editing access to all of your social media and they become disgruntled – they have the power to cause major damage to the organization’s image and brand and have instant reach to all of your donors and supporters.
Using a volunteer in this capacity should really only be taken on by organizations with an established volunteer program; this is not the volunteer to get your volunteer program started. You have to treat this volunteer more like an unpaid staff person – they must have a supervisor, they must sign a contract that details expectations of what they can and cannot do, you must do reference and background checks, and they should be included in any staff meetings that address social media, marketing and fundraising needs. This is not a position that can operate in a silo; they must have their hand on the pulse of the organization in order to have the knowledge to properly leverage social media.
So, how do you find this volunteer?
- Mine your donor and volunteer database for people who work in marketing, PR and IT. Contact them directly to see if they have the expertise and would be interested in helping the organization in this way. If they don’t, ask them if they can refer someone who may be able to help. Referring means that they not only give you the name and contact information of the person, but that they actually contact the referral themselves, summarize the opportunity and get permission for you to contact them.
- Send out a call for volunteers using viral email to your entire donor and volunteer database (those who have given you permission to contact them in this manner). Many people have the skills and knowledge of social media as a result of personal interest and hobbies that would not be apparent from their occupation. This call should be very detailed in regards to scope of activities, skills/experience needed, and time commitment. By viral, that means that you request they send the email on to anyone they think would be interested or able to help you locate the volunteer. Do not send the email message using cc or bcc. The email message should be sent using mail merge or other email system that sends the message out to one person at a time.
- Use third party volunteer recruiters like VolunterMatch.org or Business Volunteers Unlimited.
Another thought that many organizations may be having is to get a business or consultant to donate their services. One thing to keep in mind is that there is no tax benefit for donation of services – only tangible property. Therefore, when negotiating the donation, you should recommend that the organization pay for the services and ask for a donation/pledge that will offset the cost. The donor could generally restrict the gift for use (such as technology or public relations) if they so choose, but there cannot be a true quid pro quo or it negates the tax deductibility of the gift.
When it comes to using social media, it is very important to remember that you are dealing with very valuable assets - your organization’s image and brand. Make sure that the organization has control when using outside souces (volunteer or paid). The organization must have administrative powers and login information for all of their social media activities.
May 13, 2009 at 6:21 PM
Volunteers to do our social networking… great idea for time management but I don’t think a volunteer would be given all the information needed to market your agency. This is coming from someone who says we have a volunteer opportunity match for everyone … except skydiving… I don’t have skydiving.
You really need to have someone who knows the organization’s goals, mission, marketing approach, strategic plans and their target audience. Optimal volunteer… Board member.
May 13, 2009 at 6:47 PM
Brenda,
I agree 100% – having a volunteer in this position is far from optimal. However, we all know that there are many small nonprofits struggling on limited resources who will turn these tasks over to a volunteer. My intention with the post was to say that if you’re going to do it, these are the things you really need to consider and here is how you should go about it. I also agree 100% that this “volunteer” would have to be given intimate knowledge of the organization to capitalize on the power of social media – which is why they have to be treated like an unpaid staff person. A Board member with expertise in social media would be the ideal volunteer because they are personally vested in the mission and the organization.
In regards to your skydiving match, do you have an organization looking for a skydiver or someone willing to voluntarily jump out of a plane for a nonprofit but no takers:-)
But seriously, the point I wanted to make was that your social media is not something you hand over willy-nilly to someone just because the person knows the technology and your staff doesn’t have the time or capability. If someone in a management or leadership position has the thought of getting a volunteer to work in this capacity, I just want them to stop, tread lightly and think everything through before moving forward.
Thanks for your comments!