Turning Marketers into Social Media Champs for Nonprofits in Connecticut
Yesterday Fathom and CT Nonprofits kicked off our “Social Media Champs” certificate series for nonprofit Marketers. We have a really interesting mix in the class with organizations focused on a variety of areas in health, hunger, education, community, youth and rehabilitation.
We’ve structured the sessions so that we have one class per month. Our next class is in November and then our final class is in December. We promoted the class to people who are already using social networking platforms (Facebook, etc.) because we didn’t want to spend time in the class answering the “why” question. If we have to convince you to connect online with your audience, you need a different session.
We set up the class with this structure:
October, Session 1: “All About You” - Before our Champs can go out into the world representing your organization, you need to solidify your presence and understanding of the environments.
November, Session 2: “Bringing It Into Your Organization” - Between October and November, participants will be taking their activities to the next level and mapping out a strategy for their team’s activities and roles moving forward.
December, Session 3: “Folding It Into Your Marketing and Outreach Plan” - The good stuff! By this session, our Champs will walk away with an outline of a marketing plan to vet within their organization.
A Seriously Fun Group of Folks
From our first session, I have already learned a ton. Going into the class, my biggest concern was being able to match everyone’s expectations. With a room of 30 bright folks who all have various levels of experience and understanding in the online space, I was concerned about boring some and confusing others. Based on the evaluations, it looks like this did happen to about 10% of the class while the others thought it was a good basic intro.
NOW is where it will really get interesting. We have structured these sessions so that there is a month of activity and learning before we meet up again and I don’t want to lose the opportunity to learn from the Champs so that I can make Session #2 really kick butt. My goals for the next class will be:
1) Clarity: The content for Session #2 will not be a surprise. We are setting up a Facebook group and I will be checking in with each participant to see how things are progressing.
2) Focus: We have an outline for the next session but at this point it’s a framework. I’m hoping to learn more about the class over the next month so we can tailor it even more.
3) Interaction: I asked the folks to bring their laptop and was hoping to get into each platform for more hands-on workshopy stuff. When we got going, however, I found myself focused on delivering the main ideas within our 3 hour time slot. Next time we’ll have a plan for hands-on online work if this makes sense for what we need to accomplish.
Some things that I have learned for next time:
1) Don’t focus so much on the time constraint that I lose focus of what needs to happen in the moment. Case in point: I wanted to get introductions from everyone but completely forgot. That won’t happen again. And, also, now I’m wondering: maybe our first session is a full day? The first half is getting to know each other, finding out what everyone needs and then the second half is really, really hands-on and interactive.
2) Learn more about the class ahead of time. I checked up on everyone to see if they were on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. but what I should have done is set up a Facebook group a month ago and get the conversation going then. We wouldn’t have had everyone because not everyone had signed up until this week but I would have been better informed.
3) Get flexible. I was concerned about packing all the info into those 3 hours so I pushed my Powerpoint through but next time I will scrap it and put it out to the group if they want me to elevate the conversation or take it back a notch.
For the class participants reading this post, I would like to thank them for their participation. They asked excellent questions and shared great stories and knowledge of their own with other classmates. I was also extremely grateful that they filled out their evaluations and would love even more feedback, so feel free to post your comments here and don’t hold back! Your suggestions and comments will make the class even better!
For those not in the class reading this post, what ideas do you have regarding how nonprofits can benefit from incorporating social media into their marketing and outreach?
Written by: Suzi Craig
Email the author: suzi@fathom.net
Looking forward to connecting with other folks in the class through the facebook group and on twitter! (I had hoped to have a more concrete network of folks after our class this week, but am relieved that we’ll be grouped on facebook soon enough)
THANK YOU for working with CT Nonprofits and getting all of us together in one room to expand our social media know-how. I’m imagining GREAT things for us nonprofit folks here in CT. Tweetups, cross promotions, and general social media love. And this class will be the catalyst!
Follow me: http://www.twitter.com/xtinar http://www.twitter.com/wellspringct
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I too was very impressed with the organic nature and flow of the class. Everyone contributed a lot, and now we are seeing the class putting these ideas into play. Even with some facing a big learning curve, the participation and activity post-class has been amazing, which is the whole point.
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