social media: opening up new routes to volunteering
DESCRIPTION
Workshop at Green Volunteers 2011 conference in Bristol. www.greenvolunteersbristol.co.ukTRANSCRIPT
Engaging with volunteers through social media
"Social media are online venues, such as social networking sites, blogs and wikis that enable people to store and share information called content, such as text, pictures, videos and links"
http://thesocialmediaguide.com/social_media/50-definitions-of-social-media
“social media is people talking to people online”
http://thesocialmediaguide.com/social_media/50-definitions-of-social-media
“by building relationships, by being open and approachable, by reaching out to people, by building up trust and opening channels of communication, we will encourage people to use our services and also to support us in other ways, like volunteering or fundraising”
Leah Williams, Breast Cancer Care, via www.theverytiger.com
Where?When?Who?What?Why?
1. Volunteer’s Perspective
2. Organisation Perspective
• Aims of communication campaign• Size and composition of current
and potential constituency• Time and capacity
Start not by thinking “how can I use this technology” …
…but “what do I need to communicate, and how can this be improved”
“it’s like being delivered a newspaper whose headline you’ll always find interesting” (www.twitter.com)
• World’s largest social network• Space for people to chat and
share• Online focal point
• Who is going to monitor the accounts?
• Tone – personal and authentic
• Blurring of boundaries between personal and organisational accounts
• Interactive nature – how to respond to comments
To think about…
• Online photo sharing• Allow existing volunteers to contribute
• Quality of photographs• “tagging” and naming• Copyright / licencing
• Sharing video• Less regular, more durable messages• Attracting new volunteers – What? Why?
questions
Start not by thinking “I must use everything”…
…but by thinking “what is appropriate for the organisation’s aims and volunteers’ needs”
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound
www.greenvolunteersbristol.co.uk
greenvolunteersbristol.wikispaces.com
www.twitter.com/greenvolbristol
www.facebook.com/greenvolunteersbristol