Engaging Nonprofit Staff in Social Media
Most people are on board with social media these days. You don’t have to spend time convincing your bosses or co-workers why you need Facebook or Instagram. And the goal everyone gets behind is “engaging the public” through social media. Which is imperative. But it’s also valuable to have your staff engage actively with your organization’s online activities. Why?
Because you can’t do it right if you’re doing it alone.
Let me give a few examples. When I was PR manager of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, I was in charge of the social media platforms. I knew a lot about the history the museum explores, but I wanted our online communications to be broader than just my experiences and interests. I wanted to tap into the knowledge, ideas, and experiences of the many wonderful people who also worked at the museum.
I made it a priority to involve as many of my colleagues as possible in the process of curating, brainstorming and creating online content. I hounded the curators at lunchtime to find out what they were up to. I reminded the education staff to keep an eye out for good visitor stories or share their own historical research – not just once or twice, but at every staff meeting. I approached people you might not think of first for social media content, like the payroll coordinator or the bookstore manager. And in the end? It worked. The staff felt more engaged with our online activities and took ownership over what we were doing. We got better and better at creating exciting, educational online content. When a store across the street from the museum emptied out their basement and found boxes of 100-year-old rubber boots, our collections manager ran to find me in my office.
“You have to come and make a video of these shoes for the blog!”
YES, people! Her first thought was for the blog – my pestering had paid off. I ended up sharing the story with another local blog, so we had exposure on their site as well as cool content for ours.
I also got many tips from the front-line staff in the visitor center about great stuff to feature on Facebook. In this smart-phone era, they could easily snap photos of books they loved, scenes on Orchard Street, or cool visitors. Their participation livened up our feeds, so we weren’t just history, history, history all the time.
At my next job, with the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, it was imperative to engage staff in our social media activities. The program directors worked with historic sites around the globe and had access to stories, news, photos and other cool content that I simply didn’t. If I couldn’t get them excited about sharing that content online, I wouldn’t have anything to share with our followers.
Like as not, most social media managers are in this position. You’re not necessarily on the front line. That’s why it’s so critical to make sure “Let me take some photos of this great children’s event for our Facebook page!” is on the minds of your program staff whenever possible.
In the end, engaging staff with social media – making it fun and relevant for everyone – means better content and ultimately a more engaged group of fans and followers. I encourage you to make it a priority!
How have you engaged your staff in your organization’s online activities?
