mobilizing your community through research

Caroline Wilson@carolinevireo

#communitymattersMRIA QRD Day

February 21st 2014

Session #6: Mobilizing Your Community Through Research

Community matters.

We live with unprecedented connectivity.

There’s a lot of communities out there.

FIVE MAIN TYPES OF COMMUNITIES

•Neighbourhoods, cities, villages•Sharing common geographies, resources, issuesPlace•Families, ethnicities, heritage•Sharing common heritages, languages, culturesPast•Companies, organizations, institutions•Sharing common missions, goals, interestsPurpose•Religions, political affiliations, worldviews•Sharing common beliefs, stories, valuesPerspective•Disciplines, crafts, and careers•Sharing common types of work, knowledge, learningPractice

Consider the prevalence of these communities, and the frequency and depth with which we

interact with them.

FACILITATING, DEEPENING AND CROSS POLLINATING

Sometimes it feels like there are new communities and new ways to connect and

collaborate created every day.

That’s because there are.

“Over and over again, connecting people with one another is what lasts online, some folks

thought it was about technology but it’s not.”- Seth Godin

“The best way to get people to do things for you, is to join them in what they are already doing.”

- Tom Merilahti, XING Forum

It’s with this understanding and this starting point that we can start to explore these communities, and

support their creation.

An international non-profit looking to understand and

mobilize their online community, and the effects of

community on donation behaviour via a Qualitative

MROC.

A Board of Trade with funding for a Youth Social Enterprise

Program, ready to get started, but with no information or

connection to local youth in this emergent area.

We were challenged to embed, understand and mobilize around community for both of these

projects.

WE HAD A GREAT ONLINE COMMUNITY TO START WITH

WE RECRUITED AND INVITED FANS INTO THE MROC

OUR FOCUS WAS CREATIVE ASSIGNMENTS THAT UNDERSTOOD CURRENT ACTIONS AND POSSIBILITIES FOR THE FUTURE – ONLINE AND OFFLINE

DonationBehaviour

FundraisingBehaviour

Advocate Behaviour

WE EXPLORED AND DISCOVERED…

• Powerful, relevant content is key to advocacy and action

• Social Media is a tool for commitment

• Fundraising is an emotional rollercoaster

• Community members want a platform for protest and passion

A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE ECOSYSTEM FOR YOUTH

THIS WAS A CHALLENGE AT THE OTHER END OF THE SPECTRUM

PEER-LED DISCUSSION GROUPS IN THE COMMUNITY

CommunityCall Out

Youth Participants

Peer Moderators

We needed information, but we also needed to understand and build community in the long term.

WE WERE ABLE TO CO-CREATE AND DEFINE THE ECOSYSTEM

• The level of understanding needed around Social Enterprise

• Programs and services were a combination of actionable information combined with guidance

• The expected community and the expectations of that community

Understand and leverage the power of our networks.

Define the communities we want and decide on the communities we need.

Become a part of those communities in a real way, by talking, listening and empowering members.

“The future of marketing is not about doing and saying things to people, the future of marketing is

about doing things with and for people.”- Tom Merilahti, XING Forum

Your community is out there.

Thanks so much!

Any questions?

Caroline WilsonVireo Research

caroline@vireoresearch.comtwitter/carolinevireo

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