Ten Reasons Nonprofits Need Social Media

I was working on a project for work, and googled why do non-profits use social media. Not one website that I found gave me a straight answer. I found tips, tricks, websites, examples, info graphics and case studies but no one could give me a cut and dry explanation.

 Ten. I came up with a list of 10 reasons nonprofits use social media. Now, you may be thinking duh Sara, of course that is why they use it. In fact that is why everyone uses social media for profit and non-profits alike. 

I found something out more interesting than just these ten reasons though; most non-profits don’t understand why they are using social media. They only know that they have to use it to stay afloat. If you don’t know why you are doing something then can you really get the most out of it? If you are just going along with tweeting, a fan page, groups etc. then is it worth it? 

When I started here (last semester for a class, now as a job yay!) social media was not an important aspect of this small nonprofit. Most of their competitors are not using it, and they are understaffed.

To me that is not an excuse, that is an opportunity.  I was giddy when I was asked to start helping them with their PR (not just social media) even if it is only part time. Not just because I wanted a job, but because they have a great message and need some help getting it out there.

I was all smiles once again when a coworker asked If I could put together a social media plan. Not just what we are going to tweet and when we will do it, but why we should be on twitter and other sites in general.

That is how I came to trying to figure out why nonprofits benefit from social media, and how I came up with these 10 steps. Trying to find a website that isn’t selling you something, trying to get you to use certain products, or pushing their consulting firm is hard to do. So here it is folks. The top ten reasons nonprofits should, would, could and have to use social media to stay alive.

1.       It gives them a larger audience
2.       It allows people to donate without having to get off the couch
3.       Their message can be spread further
4.       It is less costly than some traditional tactics
5.       Interaction
6.       Brand awareness
7.       Create partnerships
8.       Gives them a voice
9.       To stay competitive
10.    To get attention

What do you think of these 10 reasons? Should I have more? Or should some of them be taken off?  There are many ways to do each one of these, and many products and people that can help. Sometimes, when your trying to find a simple answer though, google can be overwhelming. It can also not sort things how you want them, give you too many ads and frustrate you. Feel free to use my list and prove to your boss, board of directors, or nonprofit in general that social media is here to stay, you better jump on now. 

 - Sara Alderman | @Sea6789

Peace Out

From the very beginning, I have always wanted to study Public Relations. I picked UNT because of the journalism program. From the very first class I took, right up until the last one (4470), I have loved every class. Maybe not every minute of every class, but over all I enjoyed my time here.

These classes have taught me more than just how to write correctly. I have learned how to deal with good and bad teammates, take constructive criticism, network correctly and how to be a professional.

As I get ready to leave the Mayborn School of Journalism, I have taken a look back at some of the most memorable times in my Three years here. I’m starting this blog of in the traditional fashion for the last mandatory blog in my undergrad career, with at Top 10.

Top ten ways to tell you went to the Mayborn School of Journalism

1. You see a grammar tweet and immediately go check paper to make sure you didn’t make the same mistake

2. Sex, sports and alcohol are all ways to keep you interested in ethics

3. Being the mayor of the School of Journalism is an accomplishment

4. Your grade is always better when Kentucky wins

5. #asseenoncampus is a common hashtag

6. Tweeting during class is not frowned upon, it is encouraged

7 . Your papers bleed in green or purple, never red

8. You will never misuse American’s and Americans ever, ever again

9. Writing blogs becomes second nature to you

10. You stress over which shoes to wear to graduation, knowing you will be shoe judged

Bonus:

11. You get excited when you make a new word, and see your blog pop up second on Google

The last three and a half years have been amazing. There have been some ups and downs (but isn’t there always), and I have made friendships that will continue on for years to come. My wow moments from this year and this period in my life are different, but connected.

This semester I went into ethics thinking that I had a base knowledge for the theories, and I did- a base knowledge. I learned that depending on what theories you use ALMOST anything can be right or wrong. That wasn’t my wow moment though. My WOW moment was when Dr. Broyles came in to speak to us.

One of the last things she said was “if you can see subliminal advertising, and point out what it is then it is not subliminal.” That one sentence made the entire lecture click for me.

I never really thought that subliminal advertising was real, but her lecture was in lighting. I love how she showed us the advertisements and let us look at them, trying to find what was “seen.”

One of the biggest “wow” moments of my entire college careers is how much work goes into a news story. Growing up watching the news I never thought about how the anchor got the story.

Going through the Mayborn School of Journalism I now know every step it takes to get a story from start to finish. Press releases, media kits, B-roll, interviews, logging tape, live action shots etc. all take part in making one 30 second video.

I hope that as I go on in life, and have full time job (cross your fingers), these things will always stick out in my mind.

Balance Beam

Is there a way to protect against libel and protect free speech at the same time, or will one have to be sacrificed for the greater good? Libel on the Internet has been around since, well the Internet. Bloggers took libel to a new level and now Twitter has created a platform for well, microlibeling. (I know I made that up.)

After having a bad experience what is first thing we do? Grab our smart phones and tweet away. Complaining is one of the top uses for Twitter, and companies are taking notice. More and more companies have departments or agencies monitoring social media for customer service, and many companies will give discounts or freebies to disgruntled customers.

Complaining after having cold food or an awful waitress comes with the territory. If you were there it is your First Amendment right to express yourself. What if you were not there, though? I know it is not ethically right to falsely complain about a place or service you have never been to, but is legal?

People do it all the time. They complain on Twitter without having actually been harmed just to see if they can get freebees. The practice is unethical and doing it is shady, but I also think it is libel, or microlibel.

Beware of what you tweet. In fact, when you are angry you might want to put the phone down and walk away. Calling someone a name or blaming a restaurant for food poisoning when you haven’t eaten there may seem harmless, but you can be sued.

Libel is one thing, but actionable libel; well that is what is missing from Twitter and other social media sites. Proving fault, falsity, injury, defamation, identification and publication can seem like a stretch in a sentence or two. In my opinion, identification, publication and injury would all be pretty simple but proving some of the other key points may be more difficult.

Why isn’t microlibel a word yet? My theory is that not enough people are paying attention. Most people get away with it because one tweet of 140 characters or less will not scream at a company or person to sue. Once the first Twitter/libel case has gone through the court system and sets case law precedents, more people will be sued, especially if there is a large jury award.

Another reason people (and companies) are getting away with microlibel is the anonymity that the Internet can supply. By using fake email addresses, Twitter handles, screen names and blog accounts you could “work the system” and get away with microlibel.

What these individuals don’t know is technology is working against, not for them. Tracking IP addresses, Twitter handles, email addresses etc. can all be done pretty easily. Finding out if you have actually visited the restaurant or went to the event is not rocket science. Every tweet you send and picture you upload from your phone has a location number on it, and if it is on the Internet (unless your privacy settings are super strict,) anyone can see it and find out if you were really where you said you were. No matter how secretive you think you are being, you cannot hide on the Internet.

There has been and will always be unethical, lying, cheating and shady people out there in this world. Microlibel may only be a made up word by a college senior but one day there will be lawsuits and settlements because of it. Once one person, or company, decides a tweet is worth suing over and going to court instead of settling, microlibeling will be included in the next Webster’s dictionary edition.

Sara Alderman|@sea6789

Crystal Ball.

After looking at all the codes of ethics, the Public Relations Society of America has the most complete ethical guidelines of all the ones listed online. It combines information from all the other sources without being too short or too wordy.

The PRSA, SPJ and WOMMA codes of ethics have many overlapping ethical principles but one in particular stood out to me. Conflict of interest is the easiest principle to blur the lines on. When is it ok to do a favor or work with clients in the same industry? When should you step back and say no.

My first experience in the real world was not rainbows and butterflies. I had a summer internship with a very large business to business benefits firm who had no marketing or PR department. I took the internship because I was promised help, education and the freedom of doing what I thought was right for the company.

After a few weeks of getting nothing accomplished because no one could agree on what I needed to do (that is beside the point) my boss started asking me to work on marketing for his personal business and home life. I tried avoiding the assignments at first, but I knew that was not the way to solve the problem.

Talking to my boss about my conflict of interest was one of the scariest things I have ever done. I don’t like people to be disappointed in me, but I was not happy with my job. After trying to explain to him why I could not work on any assignments except for ones for the insurance company for 30 minutes, he basically told me I did not know how things worked in the real world. He went on to tell me that in the real world interns do what their bosses tell them in order to move up in the company.

I was heartbroken. I felt like I was failing at my job and letting my morals go down the drain by staying at the company. After talking with anyone who would listen to me about my dilemma I decided to go above my boss and talk to his boss.

His boss was concerned, but not with the acts of my boss. He was concerned that having interns in the office would stir up issues with the head office (I was at one of six.) He knew what my boss was doing- using company time to work on his other business, and was looking the other way.
My boss went on vacation the next week and his boss told me that services would no longer be needed when he got back. I am ok with not working there, and would have resigned if he had not said anything to me.

I will always be super sensitive to conflicts of interest, along with all the other ethical principles, especially after seeing first hand that some people really are unethical.

Where do I want to be in five, ten and even fifteen years down the road? After my first run in with unethical behavior I can say not there. I love people, talking to them, listening to their stories and I hope that where ever I end up I will be doing just that.

Working for a corporation or agency would be wonderful for five years down the line. I love interacting with a team and brainstorming, bouncing ideas and having someone to double check your spelling is amazing. I hope that in five years I will be moving up the ladder and personally that I have a family to come home to.

In ten years I want to either be up the ladder or opening my own company. I still have the idea in my head that I can work for one company for my entire life, or at least most of it but I know that is not how it works most of the time.

Fifteen years from now, wow it is hard for me to even imagine myself in 15 years. I want to have an office somewhere, mostly because I want to decorate it. I would like to be known for my success in and out of the office and have avoided any conflict.

I know that my fifteen year plan for myself seems a little naive. I will have speed bumps. I will get knocked down and get into conflicts. I will probably switch companies and make mistakes. It won’t be an easy road to get where I want, morals and values will be tested.

I also know that I have my education to back me up. These codes of ethics been drilled into my brain from the first class I took and will continue to be in my head for the rest of my life. I know that I have professors and classmates that will turn into colleges and friends and that I can always pick up the phone (or tweet) them when I am having a tough time.

I Know that I will be successful, I hope it is in the way I have envisioned.

Little Tikes a Little Late

I heard on the radio this morning that Little Tikes is recalling 1.7 million tool kits and tool benches because of over-sized nails. The radio announcer said “just place the nails in a place your kids can’t reach them and they should be fine.” I felt like that was not enough of recall since at least two children had already choked…I decided to check out the Little Tikes website.

The Little Tikes website had something alarming on it. The recall is for products that were bought anywhere from 1994-2004. The products had been discontinued and redesigned in 2004 and were no longer a hazard.

The company did have a recall in 2009 after a few choking incidents, but apparently over 1.7 million were still out there, and still having the same problems. Why did it take 5-15 years before the first recall, when they obviously knew in 2004 that there was a problem (the reason it was discontinued).

Hasbro also has a track record of recalling toys, and then calling for more recalls years later. The Easy Bake Oven was recalled in 2006 because children were burning their fingers when trying get their desserts out. Over 100,000 children burnt their fingers before the first recall happened which is a lot more than the few kids who choked with the Little Tikes tool set.

Just like returning the nails for the tool set, the Easy Bake Oven recall was simply filling out a form and getting a replacement part. After the recall, another 250 children were burnt, resulting in a compete recall of all ovens made before 2006.

One more thing that ties these two cases together is that both recalls were for products that had already been altered. The Easy Bake Oven recalled was in 2007 for ovens made in 2006 and before, showing that the model for 2007 was different. The tool box was recalled for models manufactured in 2009 and before, and since it is 2011 the model had already been changed.

Utilitarianism

After years of following the utilitarianism theory, continuing to sell the product and not doing a recall, Little Tikes took a turn and ended up not following the theory. If the company had not recalled the product, it would have fallen under the utilitarian rule.

Utilitarianism does not take into account emotions, and when dealing with little kid’s emotions is key. Only a few children choked and all recovered so recalling the toys under the utilitarian theory would not be the greatest good for the greatest number

The Easy Bake Oven recall did not leave the items on the shelf either, at least the second time around. If they would have stopped at the first recall and continued selling the product, their actions would have fallen under this theory. However, more children got hurt and they decided to take everything off the shelves and recall all the ovens sold.

Both cases did not follow property number one of the utilitarianism rule either. The rule states that decisions should be based on the majority with little thought to that of the minority. For both recalls the majority of children who had the toys were not injured. There was a minority of about 100,000 of millions for the Easy Bake Oven and an even smaller one of 2-5 children for the tool sets.

Egoism

When I first read of the recall, I thought that they were looking out for their consumers and not themselves. After reading a little bit more, and looking into what the egoism theory really means, I saw that in fact Little Tikes was doing exactly what the theory states.

Little Tikes only recalled their product so that in the long run, parents will feel safer about buying from them. The nails that were/are being recalled are not a huge cost to the company, and what they are gaining is trust in their brand.

The Easy Bake Oven recall took a little bit of a turn to make it an egotistic move. The first move (recalling the part and replacing it) was not a huge deal to them or the consumer. After a few more children got burnt, they recalled all ovens and the ones in stores. This move was more egotistic. They basically recalled the rest of the ovens because of media coverage and concerned parents hounding them and made the move to prevent their brand from becoming tarnished.

Hasbro did the major recall of ovens to save their skin. In order for parents to want to get an oven again, some for the third time, they needed to take extra precautions, not just for the kids, but for themselves.

Conclusion

The Easy Bake Oven recall is one that I remember from childhood. I remember having to return my oven to the store (I got a princess tent instead) and I remember thinking about the minority of people who would get hurt. The Hasbro Company learned their lesson the hard way, and I am sure they weigh these theories every time they do a recall.

In my opinion, the Little Tikes recall is far from over. Although their decisions thus far can be sorted into many of the classical ethical theories, their future decisions about the product could change the theories their actions fall under entirely.

-Sara Alderman

Other sources:

http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/money/business_news/big-recall-of-little-tikes-play-tool-sets

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/06/toy.oven.recall/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

The Boy Who Tweeted Wolf

Have you ever heard of the boy who cries wolf? The little boy is unethical and no one believes him when he needs them too.

What about the boy who tweets wolf. Is it unethical to tweet information you don’t know is correct? What about retweeting information?

In today’s world news is created and travels fast. No longer do you have to wait by the T.V. to find out why there is smoke, you can check your twitter for a minute- by- minute update of the fire.
With the new speed of information comes the opportunity (for some) to be misleading or flat out lie.

According to an article on Mashable.com two individuals decided to tweet that schools were being attacked and children were being kidnapped in the state of Veracruz.

The tweets were false all the children were safe in school several accidents and chaos erupted because parents became frantic.
Mexico dubbed these two “twitter terrorists” and they are now facing up to 30 years in prison.

There is a huge debate on if legal action can be taken, but ethically is it right? Giving false information at any time on any medium is unethical. If you know what you are saying is not the truth you are lying, and lying is unethical.

Mike Wise is another great example of Twitter’s importance in distributing the news. Wise is Washington Post reporter who wanted to demonstrate how bloggers and Twitter users will post information without fact checking.

His attempt at proving a point backfired when he tweeted from an account that stated he was Washington Post reporter. His tweet (which was untrue) linked to a blog with rumored football trade information.

People took his tweet seriously and chaos ensued. He was soon suspended from his job and the credibility he had gained over 15 years was gone in time it took to write a tweet.

Wise tried to show how unethical others were being on Twitter and while blogging but instead he wound up being a case for his own point. The Post took actions they deemed necessary to fix behavior they did not agree with.

While Wise and the “Twitter Terrorists” both had actions taken against them for their unethical behavior, they are just two examples. There have been millions of tweets written with fake information, some with fun pranks and others with terrifying news.

Writing false information in a tweet is not only unethical but it is also lazy. Checking your facts is not reserved for news articles and textbooks; you should be checking information for your blog posts, tweets and Facebook posts as well.

If people continue to see Twitter as a way to be pranksters and a way to create information then the social media platform will continue to lose credibility.

Twitter should never be someone’s only source of news, but It should be an option to get news updates. I hope that people will be ethical about their content to preserve Twitter’s reputation and their own.

Mod-podge

This semester has been a roller coaster ride for me, I have learned so many lessons-some the hard way, and sharpened my skills a little more. I have made friendships with people I know will continue to grow next semester, and after graduation.
One of the most important things that I have learned is to not be afraid. I am probably the least confrontational person ever, and realizing that sometimes confronting people is necessary evil was a hard lesson. When group members slack off or disappear it is not fair to me or them to cover and just do the work for them. It is also not ok for me to hold back in my writing because I am scared it will be awful.

You also have to be assertive in this business (PR). If you want a job, go for it. Networking events are there to help you, and being shy or hanging out with the people you know does not work in your advantage. Asking for a business card and then following through with emailing them after is one of the keys to gaining a job.
Taking every opportunity (good and bad) and trying to use it to the best of your ability is a life lesson that was reaffirmed this semester. I didn’t get an internship that I wanted, but a new door opened and I am excited about this summer. I am also leaving a job that I LOVE and have worked at for 3 years for an opportunity that is a shot in the dark-it could be super successful or crash and burn.

Along with these life lessons this semester has taught me that the basics are what is important. If you can write, talk to people and not be afraid to cold call- the only thing stopping you is yourself. Reading the AP stylebook has been a new found life line, I never really refered to it before.

I also realized that life is not just about school and work. Yes those two things are very important, but taking the time to spend doing things you love, and staying connected with the people you love is a key to being successful in life.
There is a new found love in my life for cooking. Something about it is so peaceful, and I find myself escaping to the kitchen when life gets stressful. My puppy Cooper and boyfriend have also been huge influences in my success this semester.

This past year has been a rough one form me. I have tried to keep my personal life/issues private and not let them influence my work and that is super hard sometimes. I have a few health issues and my father passed away , but I never want to use either one of those things as an excuse, instead they empower me to push longer and stronger than most people.