The growth of social media on the internet is nothing short of staggering. Consider the number of registered members now interacting in the most popular networking communities, as of summer 2009: Facebook = 300 million. Twitter = 44.5 million. LinkedIn = 43 million.

Nonprofits and associations are recognizing the enormous power of these numbers in terms of their own branded communities. By discovering new and creative ways to link with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, nonprofits and associations are significantly reinforcing their causes, actions and missions.

Connecting with supporters in these popular web destinations is proving to be a cost-effective and productive way of promoting the original goals of a proprietary online community. Here are a few of the ways organizations are leveraging the growing traffic of “big tent” online destinations:

-As a simple start, community administrators can be sure links to “big tent” social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are prominently positioned so that members can easily navigate from the organization’s branded online community to Facebook and Twitter, then back again. The AddThis module makes it easy.
      For example, let's say you and some of your friends belonged to a social networking community sponsored by the humane society. You decide to create an online group called, "Adopt-a-Pet." With one click, you can link your new group to Facebook and start asking others to join the cause.

-It’s becoming increasingly important for nonprofits and associations to maintain an active presence on heavily-trafficked networks. It’s a very effective way to build relationships and reliably attract new members to branded communities

-Posting links about important actions, events announcements, newly created groups or current networking and knowledge-sharing opportunities effectively boosts awareness about an organization and generates support

-Another constructive tactic is to create specific causes in Facebook, develop a following and interaction there, then link back consistently to a private label community. This strategy greatly enhances cause perception and support

-Engagement with followers of nonprofits and associations is also being heightened on Twitter and LinkedIn, where an organization’s persona can be subtly shaped by an individual staff member who posts regularly. Developing a genuine, personal connection with supporters and potential supporters can help spread the word about your mission.

-With a socially-enabled community, of course, there are additional creative strategies you can leverage. Interacting with your Facebook account, your organization might set up RSS feeds on your Facebook home page linked to key content in your branded community. Key spokesperson bloggers, for instance. Advocates for "Adopt-a-Pet," in this case, would appear in both communities simultaneously. This approach would automatically and continuously freshen your Facebook content.

-Though Twitter has a 140-word limit on tweets, you could keep communication active with your followers by automatically posting highlights from your community RSS feeds with Twitterfeed. Introductions to blog entries are the perfect length in this scenario to pique the attention of all those who already have an interest in the subject. Your followers, passionate about all things to do with gardening, for example, would doubtlessly click through to see what, exactly, is being talked about in your organization's white label community.

This is just a peek at how nonprofits and associations are creatively supporting their social networking communities by engaging with the most dynamic social interactions on the web. If you would like to learn more about social media solutions for nonprofits and associations, please click here.

 Knowing what to expect prior to launching a white label community is essential, every step of the way. Now that you have chosen your online community provider, there is a process which takes place, beginning with your community configuration and continuing to the date of deployment. We will discuss deployment strategies in our next series’ post. Nonprofits and associations, especially, should expect the step-by-step timeline to reflect the following basic elements. Please note, however, that the complexity of the chosen platform will affect the completion of each step as well as the overall timeline.

1) Review the Project Specification Document from Your Vendor
The next step should be a detailed project specification. Look for an initial document that is in-depth yet flexible enough to incorporate critical changes. This important handoff should include a final community design mock-up.  Make sure to devote quality time to reviewing it. Carefully check the details and proposed functionality. The project specification should include feature descriptions, a timeline, along with roles and responsibilities of both parties. Sign off on the specifications and mock-up.

2) Receive the Formal Configuration Document for the Community
Approve all of the specification elements as well as module positioning, advertising scripts and url/domain name.  This is the outline for how your community will look and function when it is completed. 

3) Gather the Necessary Resources from Your Organization
Your social networking community provider should provide details on exactly which members of your team will need to be involved in the building of your community. Most likely, members of your technical, web, and communications teams will  need to be present at minimum. These teams will need to be able to address questions around your databases, website, branding and messaging.

So that your vendor can furnish a detailed, accurate project specification, you need to think about some of your community’s critical elements:

- If your organization is implementing Single Sign On with the community, plan out the steps to procure the technical information your community supplier needs to implement single sign on. If SSO with a custom-built database is being implement, you will need a technical resource on standby to work with your social networking community provider. Utilizing management systems from a provider such as Avectra, Blackbaud, Convio or TMA Resources will expedite the process, as these systems have standard Single-Sign-On procedures and tools that can help the process move faster

-Think about the look and feel of your community. Do you want the socially-enabled side of your web presence to perfectly reflect your website, or would you prefer the community to be unique? If you are creating a new look for your community, you'll need a designer that can work with you, and you'll also need to work with your community provider to ensure the CSS of your new community reflects the updated design

 -At the least, you will need to furnish your community provider with your website's header and footer so it can be plugged into your community design

-Because your website and servers have unique DNS settings, you will need to reconfigure them to create a unique subdomain for the new community (community.yourwebsite.com). Also, decide upon an appealing domain name that reflects your community and its mission.

It is important, as you create the project plan for the community, that you have gained appropriate buy-in from all departments involved in the community and get them to commit to project deliverables.

5) Construction and Branding of the Community
Your provider will tailor the platform to your needs in terms of design, branding and functionality. This may take as little as a week or months, depending on the configuration and sophistication of your community.  Gathering all of the required information from your organization's different departments in a timely manner will improve the time-to-launch for your community.

6) Community Walk-Through Followed by Q&A
Once the community construction and design has been completed by your providers, give the community close scrutiny and a rigorous trial.  Your provider should adhere to industry-standard Q&A and testing practices before releasing your community.  Key members of your organization should also take time to test all of the different components of the community, ensure that the organization's message and branding is properly reflected, and ensure that the community's work flow will make sense to your organization's members and constituents.

7) Final Review and Acceptance
Prior to deployment, you will have the opportunity to formally review your new community. When your team is satisfied, you will be expected to sign and return an acceptance certificate.

The final step in the process is launching the community and getting your members and constituents to join the community—we'll cover this next week.

Evaluating the process of a social networking deployment can be complicated. It is our hope that these common steps will aid your research. If you would like to learn more about the real-world benefits and ROI being realized by nonprofits and associations in white label social media, please click here.

We’re putting together a four-part series of informative blog articles on evaluating social media deployments, covering initial research to beyond launch. Deploying white label social networking communities can be confusing and complicated, which is why we would like to take you on a step-by-step approach, from initial research to beyond launch.

This post is about establishing goals and starting research. Stay tuned for weekly updates—next up is comparing vendors and evaluating platforms.

Without a doubt, researching a white label community deployment can be complex and time-consuming. The question is, how should you initiate such a research project, how can you best take it step by step, from evaluating vendors to launch strategy and beyond. Today we take a look at how associations and nonprofits might get started on their social media platform evaluation.

Begin by Compiling Reasons for Launching a Community

What do you expect to accomplish with your new online community? First, identify the person or department in your organization that is best suited to spearhead this type of demanding project.
Which department should lead the way? Marketing...Communications...IT... Development...or perhaps even the executive staff should be in charge. But in the end, it probably makes sense to pick the department that has the right resources to create value from the community after deployment.

First, create a definitive list of precise objectives that need to be realized with the online community. Here are a few examples:
-Ultimately, what level of return on investment (ROI) do you expect to achieve?
-When do you expect to see this ROI?
-What are your expectations about a timeframe for the deployment?
-What do you want constituents or members to do in your online community?
-How many staff members can you dedicate to the administration and marketing of the community?

Define the Technical Considerations that Will Affect the Performance of Your Community

Your organization will face the same challenges before and after an online community deployment...fundraising and/or dues collection...membership growth...connection to and engagement with members...healthy participation in causes and/or events. The list goes on.

You should definitely consider the depth of integration your social media platform will offer with your existing databases:
-Do you want your community provider to offer seamless integration with your management systems so that your member data can be fully utilized?
-How deep does integration with your AMS/CMS database need to run? Do you need to socially-enable fundraising, advocacy or other programs that are powered by these systems?

Which Current Programs Would You Like to Socially Enable? Which New Programs Would You Like to Create?

 

Make a list of the important initiatives you already have in place to benefit your members. If these programs are effective and popular, chances are you can take them to greater heights with social media. Exceed constituents’ expectations in these suggested areas:

 

-Events participation

-Chapter meetings and sessions

-Group/committee creation

-Causes and Mission actions

-Online classrooms/certification -Interactive Supplier Directory

Think creatively about new programs/concepts that might engage, educate and enlighten your constituents within activities that help deliver a more meaningful social networking experience in your newly deployed community:

-Consider launching campaigns that boost Advocacy and leverage

the power of your constituents’ networks

-Think about creating social groups or committees that work in conjunction with your online training programs

-Keep in mind how you can more fully engage your supporters with socially-enabled Knowledge Sharing 

-Analyze how thought leaders in your community might go about driving discussions and action commitments around important causes

 

If you would like to learn more about the real-world benefits and ROI being realized by nonprofits and associations in white label communities from ThePort Network, please click here.