Dragonfly Interview: FundraisingCoach.com‘s Marc A. Pitman
Andy: When and how did you become interested in social media?
Marc: I have been sort of geeky since before my first Commodore 64. I started my first website and blogging at the end of the late 1990’s. At that point, blogging and email were social media! At that point, I was also an alumni relations director and fundraiser at a prep school so learning to connect with alum without spending money was a high priority!
If you could only give an organization one piece of social media advice, what would it be?
Just one? Hhmm…be social. Social media is just that—social. So have personality in your outreach. Even more importantly, let your employees do social media with you. Some people might have special Twitter accounts like Grey’s Anatomy’s Sarah Drew. Her tweets are from @SarahDrewGreys. This shows people it’s part of the show. You can also use a tool like HootSuite to see your teams interactions on various social media sites so you can coach them just as you would any other aspect of their work.
What is the top social media mistake organizations make?
Being boring. Imagine this: you’re at a networking event like a chamber’s “business after hours.” A guy bursts through the door and starts shouting out news headlines about himself while throwing out his business cards. Would you be interested in him?
Neither will people on social media. The best way to not be boring is to get to know people. Before you start broadcasting on any platform, take the time to listen. Learn about the norms of each community. What works on Twitter isn’t always what works on Facebook. Members are really good at policing these sites so take your time.
Dale Carnegie said you’ll be considered an incredible conversationalist if you ask people questions about themselves. Finding out more about people also helps you know how to be interesting to them when you do start sending updates and messages.
I guess another mistake is putting all of your online presence in social media. The point of social media should be to interact with your community of customers and donors. And to help them introduce their friends to you. But most everything should drive people back to your own website and blog. Donors that give on your website will make higher gifts than donors that give through social media sites. Plus, if anything happens to a social media site, you still have your own site and blog.
One worry with social media is that some technologies are so new, we don’t know if they are going to stick around. What kinds of social technologies are a good investment?
We really worried about this in the early 2000’s when trying to set up online alumni communities. Any company we contracted with, we made sure we’d get the code if the company went out of business.
But the point right now isn’t about what will last. The point is about getting familiar with what is out there. I’m sure Facebook and Twitter will go away at some point. But whatever replaces them will build on what they’ve done. Getting familiar with them now will help you jump on the next thing when it comes.
I’m not advocating being an early adopter. A couple years ago, there were lots of “just like Twitter only better.” Early adopters jumped on sites like identi.ca, Plurk, and the like. Some of them were indeed better, but none of them gained the traction Twitter continues to have. So jumping in early wasn’t helpful.
I am advocating getting familiar with where people are now. If you were looking for donors, you’d want to hang out where they hang out. There are around 200 million people on Twitter and over 500 million on Facebook. Get familiar with those tools.
What do you think the next trend in social media will be? How can organizations that want to be early adopters be on the cutting edge?
If I knew, I’d write a book and make millions! I do know that there’s a renewed interest in email as social media. This is great for nonprofits and organizations. People are still more likely to check their inbox than their Facebook newsfeed. So building your in-house email list should still be a priority.
And listen to your community. There’s little point in being on the cutting edge of a technology that nobody ends up using. The great things about nonprofits is that to be on the “cutting edge” you don’t have to be on the “bleeding cutting edge.” You can give companies time to duke things out and find out what works. Then when you introduce it, it still looks cutting edge!
Do you think the revolution will be tweeted?
LOL! I sure do think the revolution (and many wanna-be revolutions) will be tweeted!
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Marc A. Pitman is the founder of FundraisingCoach.com and author of Ask Without Fear! and the weekly coaching email Fundraising Kick. You can follow him on Twitter @marcapitman. And if you drive by him on the road, he’ll be singing 80’s tunes loud enough to embarras his family!