5. Make the Most of Chapter Activities in Dedicated Groups
    Fire up grassroots enthusiasm by setting up individual chapters in your social networking community. Local chapters can gather offline, then network online to continue the conversation, follow up on issues and plan ahead to the next local event. Cause-driven or goal-driven chapters who are nationally-directed can conduct business online, communicate important benchmarks and update group members about chapter-related news. Documents such as presentations and meeting minutes can spur collaboration and consensus.

4. Online Chapter Blogs: an Around-the-Clock Educational Platform
    Your association staff can communicate directly with chapter constituents in a group blog where a meaningful dialogue can transpire. Keep chapter leaders and the rank & file fully informed about local successes and inter-chapter collaborations. Form study groups that will appeal to local members and boost their learning curve regarding educational opportunities and major association causes.


3. In a Socially-Enabled Community, Chapters Can Link Social Events to Groups and Vice Versa

2. Communicate High-Level Association Policies to Local Chapters Quickly and Conveniently in the Community Setting
    Critical articles of policy need to be updated periodically, and a social networking community is the ideal destination to disseminate policy matters. CMS blog announcements will help community administrators communicate details regularly to regional, state and local chapters. Open commenting should provide a productive, interactive discussion related to major policy shifts or initiatives.

1. Reach out to Local Communities from the Association’s Online Community to Boost Recruitment
    A socially-infused, integrated social community can quickly become an association’s most formidable recruiting tool. Individuals interested in joining a chapter near their geographical location can connect with local officers instead of having to apply to administrators in the national headquarters. Local chapter heads can offer persuasive online incentives to retain existing members and attract new recruits. For any association, emerging or well-established, a fully integrated social networking community is at the core of membership retention.

Please feel free to comment on our blog topic about online social networking, local chapters and associations. 

Don’t believe every Twitter, blog post, comment or instant message you hear. Email is still an effective means of communication—in both an online social community, and in the marketing of the same. Although the percentages of web users who embrace the latest social media tools is rising, the majority of people are very comfortable with sending and receiving emails.

And yes. If you really do have something interesting to say, individuals will respond positively to an email communication.

For example, let’s say you just joined an exciting new social networking community. You’ve taken the time to register because it’s a community linked to an association that can benefit your professional goals and provide knowledge you can use. But you have a close colleague in a far away geographical location. You want her to join the association’s social networking community, too. After all, she may not even be aware that this destination exists.



You won’t have to intrude on her work day with an instant message. You won’t have to wait for her public response on Facebook or Twitter. She can answer at her convenience, when her schedule and time permits. Plus, your message is private and secure, delivered directly to your colleague’s mailbox.

In the context of a socially-infused online community, email is the primary vehicle for inviting non-members to visit the url, then register and join the social networking fun. ThePort Network routinely integrates an “Invite” tab into a community’s main navigation bar. It’s an example of how email supplements social media interactivity.

Email Is Universal and Personal

On the web, email is universal. To use it effectively, you needn’t belong to a specific group or have an account with a particular service. Conversely, you don’t have to know to which groups, communities or organizations your correspondent belongs. Since email functions independently from all Internet destinations, without community barriers, you just have to know your recipient’s address, then fire away.

In regard to RSS feeds, they obviously do compete with email, and subscribing to hand-picked feeds is very convenient. But RSS subscriptions can’t rival one-on-one, personal communication. It’s just not the same thing. So, even though early adopters of social media may be tiring of what they describe as old-fashioned communicating, millions more are happy with it and rely on it. Just ask today’s marketing specialists. They are certainly not shutting down their email lists as part of a savvy new strategy.


The Last Word on Email

Rather than dying, it is more likely that email will continue to have its place in a growing arsenal of web tools. Chances are excellent that email will co-exist as a useful supplement to newly created, dynamic and entertaining social networking solutions.

In addition, in its role as a communication tool for online communities, email will enable community organizers to provide their users with instant updates, further empowering the community to grow beyond its traditional walls.

Please comment and share your thoughts if you have an opinion about the value of email in today’s ever-changing social media landscape.

Every so often, you have to discover a parody to seek the truth. This video does a hilarious job of putting the Twitter phenomenon in perspective. We know the art (or act) of Twittering is growing exponentially. But is it true that Twitter fans are, at the same time, "talking to no one yet talking to everyone?"...

 

For growing associations and nonprofit organizations, online content sharing is critically important in the success of a socially-enabled web destination. Document sharing among Groups, Chapters, Committees, and Special Events participants promotes community engagement and interaction before and after offline meetings.

 

In a custom-tailored social community, members will have multiple options for creating and posting text, visual and audio content. The content can be linked to specific groups, selected individuals or made accessible to the community as a whole. In addition, the documents can be shared with anyone or made private to be viewed only by designated constituents. The privacy option especially facilitates sharing among association chapters and committees. Pre-event planning and post-event follow-up can proceed at a brisk pace—a pace unachievable  outside a socially-enabled, Internet-based community.

 

 

A Few Ways Organizations Are Using Document Sharing

 

-Simple, fast dissemination of minutes and summaries from meetings

 

-Effective sharing of conference presentations to registered attendees

 

-Collaboration on plans and proposals using shared commenting and version control

 

-Rating and Tagging shared documents to help develop a consensus among chapter members

 

 

ThePort Network has carefully crafted a social media platform that fully supports document- sharing file types. A sampling of exchangeable files includes:

Microsoft Word                          Apple iWork

Adobe PDF                               Images (.jpg, .png, .gif)

Video (.avi, .wmv)                       Music (.mp3, .wma)

Zip files

 

 

ThePort Content-Sharing Practices for Associations:

 

-Share Documents with Individual Friends and Groups

            Collaborate on tasks by sharing documents with members, chapters and committees. Select with whom you would like to share. Use the privacy option if desired. Seamlessly create documents online.

 

-Security and Privacy Checks Included

            Perhaps you don’t care to share a sensitive document with the entire community. Or, your communication is only appropriate for reading by fellow committee members. In   either case, you also want to be sure your document is secure and virus-free. That is why we recommend you seek a community provider who offers built-in security and permission checks.

 

-Add Comments, Ratings and Tagging to Your Documents

            In order to reinforce active document sharing, have your organization’s online community enabled with Commenting, Rating and Tagging. When published content can be         commented upon, rated and tagged, it helps members collaborate on changes and identify better content that deserves your attention.

 

-Request the Capability of Version Control

            Especially when several individuals are collaborating on a series of documents, the exchange of content can become confusing. As members revise and publish over previous forms of a document, unwanted changes may occur. With ThePort’s Version Control technology, your members can instantly replace documents with prior versions.

 

Above all, make content sharing in your branded, integrated  community a social networking priority. For associations and nonprofit organizations of every size, robust document exchange equals happier, more productive members at every level...local chapter to corporate executive committee.

 

If you have ideas, questions or comments about how document sharing can be a focal point of a social networking community, please share them here.

Contrary to the opinion of many, fundraising is rarely a nonprofit organization’s primary occupation or objective. Yet, it’s an ever-present issue that nonprofit leaders are never free of.

So it is instructive to see executives of high-profile, not-for-profit entities turn to social media as a truly dynamic mission-enhancing and fundraising reinforcement.

What are some of the ways nonprofits are reaching out to donors in branded, subscription-based social networking communities?

Well, the first thing a custom-tailored online community does is provide a nonprofit organization with simple, effective data collection based on member registration. This easily accessible profile data provides a solid connection between constituents and the organizations they voluntarily belong to. This connection makes it simple for community administrators to communicate directly with members during fundraising campaigns. These fundraising efforts happen online, with minimal effort, and with negligible marketing costs.

But direct fundraising requests are just one way to engage donors in your causes.

Inspiring advocates with a clear call to action stirs their passion and gets to the heart of the community’s mission. For example, CARE, one of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations, urges members of its CARE Connections community to sign up for email updates on women’s empowerment and fighting poverty. This links individuals to an ongoing cause and generates increased donations at the same time.

In the Events area of CARE Connections, community managers post special events of interest to members. Events such as Evaluating HIV/AIDS Programs in Africa and Human Well-Being and the Environment. CARE constituents who have deep commitment to these issues are more likely to attend as well as donate to the cause.

The Groups area of CARE Connections is another place where members gather, connect, share content, and express their passions about a variety of causes. Group activity naturally generates donations over time. In addition, community administrators can reach out to Group members with mission-related merchandise (t-shirts, for example), with a portion of the proceeds set aside to meet fundraising goals.

Other nonprofit organizations have developed creative ways of engaging members in their partnering quest to achieve mission objectives. One strategy is to involve constituents directly in the direction of the community. Asking members to submit their best ideas for improvements to the community generates a robust response, amplifying activity and interaction.

Challenging individuals to invite new members in support of their concepts further boosts community membership. This proves to be a sound strategy when new members begin contributing to the community in both content and currency.

Finally, a nonprofit’s offline and online events should be exhaustively linked to capture engagement and attendance. Pre-event, post frequent announcements to all constituents, even if they have not yet joined your social networking community. Post-event, be sure to follow up the offline gathering with an online conversation that rallies members around an event’s primary objectives. Above all, give your advocates easy, simple ways of expressing their opinions about your organization’s events, causes and movements.

You might not always like what they tell you, but you will better understand the impact of your policies and goals.

If you have ideas, questions or comments about how nonprofits might reach out to their donors, please share them here.

Every member of an association views the events calendar as an important element of his or her enrollment in an organization. Offline event gatherings promote traditional networking, idea exchange, educational opportunity, and credentials enrichment.

 

As annual events grow more vital and complex, a social networking community can play a powerful role in effectively promoting every aspect of a yearly conference. Attendees can easily connect online, share past experiences and explore details of scheduled tracks and sessions. Linking with like-minded community members, an association’s most influential individuals can advise others and help guide them to select the most beneficial programs. When scheduled presenters at the event have questions or need counsel, the community’s thought leaders can help them prepare for a successful session.

 

Pre-event, social media tools such as blogging, commenting, photo and video sharing, group dialogue and forum discussions will help inform and animate attendees. The online interaction and “buzz” can significantly boost attendance, particularly when the exhilaration builds over time. Community administrators can seed annual event topics by embracing them in community announcements, timely blog entries, and forum threads.

 

The dynamics of social media are even more important after an annual event takes place. Following up on the excitement and energy of a major conference, a socially-infused community can keep the conversation going for weeks, if not months. Attendees actively share event experiences and nurture new connections made at the offline venue. Without the barriers of geography, a post-event dialogue in an online community can give new meaning to a central topic and elevate its status.

 

In simple terms, attendees create more value when they are able to interact with each other, ask questions and share opinions during sessions at conferences. A dedicated, dynamic social community is the perfect destination in which to achieve this, along with the sharing of photos, videos and presentation highlights in the form of blog post, comment, group creation or forum conversation.

 

A custom, seamlessly integrated social networking community helps radiate a year-around spotlight on the next annual event on the calendar. Both membership retention and future attendance benefit, and those two critical factors help ensure that every event an association sponsors is indeed, special.

 

Please click here if you would like to attend an informative, free webinar about how Associations use social networking to increase attendance and sponsorships of their offline special events. The webinar takes place Thursday, April 9 at 2:00 pm EST.

 

 Also, if you have ideas, questions or comments about associations promoting special events in a socially-enabled community, please share them here.

5. Thinking Globally, Acting Locally

            Within their own dedicated social media community, association leaders have discovered that one of the community’s prime benefits is its power to obliterate geographical boundaries. Connection with members from every corner of the globe is simple, yet dynamic in a custom-tailored social networking setting. Even at the local level, the ability for chapter members to meet online saves enormous amounts of time and energy. Give local chapters the lead and their activities will flourish.

 

4. Members Creating their Own Groups and Blogs Keeps the Conversation Alive

            Within your community, energize registered users by letting them create special groups that reflect your association’s objectives. For example, members of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) create tutorial study groups where students gather to blog, comment, share opinions and help each other prepare for professional testing.

            In addition, allowing members the freedom to start their own blog topics steers the engagement toward subjects that naturally surface during exam sessions.

 

3. Connection is the Key with Fast, Simple Searching and Friending

        Make it easy for like-minded subscribers to form meaningful relationships and effective coalitions with prominent connectivity tools. In a primary navigation area—or better yet, in multiple areas—give individuals one-click access to a simple Search field where member icons are displayed with basic profile information that can be scanned quickly. Also, provide a more in-depth Search method with options for connecting with other members by age, geography, occupation, and interests. Likewise, let members quickly “Friend” with other members (and non-members) via invitation to Groups, Events, and initial membership registration.

 

2. Before You Launch, Research How other Associations Have Grown their Constituency Using Social Media

1. Above All, Let User-Generated Content Rule in Your Community

Give registered members the ability and incentive to share content freely in your association’s socially-enabled community. Make it quick and simple to post an opinion, offer a comment, share a photo or video, tag a news or blog article, create a group or add an event. If it’s possible, post-moderate published content instead of pre-moderating so that interactivity can flow unabated. Inspire your members by implementing a generous rating system that gives them profile points for worthwhile contributions.

 

For example, the social community of the United Church of Christ, displays “call to action” icons boldy under the main navigation bar, appealing to new members instantly after they have registered. Once they are engaged in content sharing, we see UCC members love to create an array of Groups based on local affiliation and avocation interests such as music or humanitarian mission.

 

If you have ideas, suggestions or questions about the use of social media in the fascinating world of associations, we welcome them here.