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People are talking about you … right now

Social media has changed the game when it comes to communicating about your organization. Not only can supporters talk about your nonprofit on their own, but your employees also have free reign to these social networks.

Your staff can be the most passionate spokespeople for your organization and each staff person can be a brand ambassador, according to Danielle Brigida and Farra Trompeter.

Brigida, senior manager of social strategy and integration for National Wildlife Federation in Reston, Va., and Trompeter, vice president at Big Duck, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based communications consulting firm, presented a session titled, “How to empower staff to be the voice for the organization through social media” during the recent Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference at the Gaylord National Conference Center in National Harbor, Md.

The duo offered some suggestions on how nonprofits get started when it comes to staff using social media:

  • Conduct an audit. Review employees’ profiles on major social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Do they list the organization in their bio or about section? Have they ever shared your content? Do thy use each channel “well”? Is their “personality” aligned with the organization?
  • Find your internal evangelists by conducting a survey. Ask staff whether they use Twitter and/or Facebook; what blogs do they read; are they engaging in LinkedIn group discussions; do they like to share images on Pinterest or Instagram?
  • Create social media guidelines.
  • Start small, then roll out to everyone.