The World Is Watching You Dance: The #1 Tip For Nonprofits Building Relationships Online

Sure, you’ve heard over and over (and over), that you have to “build” relationships online, but what does that really mean? Do the same rules as “offline”, in-person relationships apply? Well, yes and no.

Yes, in that online relationships are often an extension of in-person/ offline relationships and vice versa. Meaning that relationships that start online can develop into in-person ones – like when someone from the Twitterverse ultimately ends up coming to a race or a walk you’ve organized.

And no, because the medium in which you’re building the relationship is different. Unlike in-person relationships where you get a hundred visual and aural cues when speaking with someone, online relationships rely on emoticons and caps and well, guesswork to know how the person feels. Plus, the majority of online relationship building takes place in public spaces where you and the person you are interacting with are essentially dancing in front of the world… all the time.

Yikes! No one said you were on Dancing With The Stars! But unlike with breakdancing, there’s really only one move your nonprofit must remember: People form relationships with other people.

www.mantherapy.com

It’s ubiquitous to hear about brands building relationships online. But, it’s simply not true. Brands don’t build relationships. People do. Brands that successfully engage with people online are ones that mimic human beings – i.e. they have personality, they respond, they listen. It’s so simple, it’s mindboggling how often it’s overlooked: people online will interact with other people. Your nonprofit just has to demonstrate that it is like a person or even better, that it is made up of people.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Figure out your organization’s personality by creating an actual human profile of your organization. Give her or him a name, figure out what s/he would like, say or do. And then, how s/he would express her/himself.  Would she use slang? Would he break into song every now and then? Last night, I discovered (to my delight), www.mantherapy.org, where the entire brand is the person. Check it out and take a cue from the good Dr. Rich Mahogany.
2. Great, you’ve figured out that your nonprofit has personality, a little pizzazz, and you know how to talk in your “organizational voice”. But is that enough? Yes, in some cases. The North American Bear Center has built its entire Facebook presencearound Lily the Bear, who functions as the “person” whom other people interact with. But a cute cat or a lovable bear just won’t work for say, a domestic violence agency or a policy think-tank. This is where you need diverse people with diverse experiences representing your organization.
   

   Email from Dreamactivist.org

   I received an email today with the subject “Tomorrow I’m Marrying My Same-Sex U.S. Citizen Partner”, from a staff member at www.dreamactivist.org. The email lays out the writer’s personal journey around immigration “reform” and includes calls for financial support. Dream Activists regularly include first-person commentary from various members and staff on their website and on social media.
   For many nonprofits, it’s vital not be seen as monolithic (since your work resonates with diverse people), so having multiple people build relationships for your organization can be key. But make sure that everyone is on the same page about your organization – that your staff’s views and opinions, while unique to them, are not in contradiction to what your organization stands for. This, of course, means having clarity about your nonprofit’s values. Spend the time to do this. It’s the equivalent of fine-tuning your Electric Slide before you hit the world’s stage.

3. And finally, don’t be shy. Just like with dancing, you have to be yourself… with abandon. You’ll make mistakes, but isn’t that human?