Angry Buzz Over Social Media

It takes a whole lot to get me worked up.  But after reading the ridiculous  suggestion this morning in Pop City Media’s article titled

“Steady diet of social media isn’t nutritious for nonprofits, says TechNow keynoter”

I got pretty riled up.  It goes against everything I know to be true.

John Kenyon, some social media guru from San Francisco gets quoted up front in the article as saying “a nonprofit’s Website and email are central. You have to have your vegetables before dessert. And social media is dessert.”

Calling social media dessert is like saying it has no value and therefore it can or should be skipped. It’s my fear that when non-profits hear something like this from someone who is supposedly an expert, they will assume people like me are wrong in advocating their use of social media. Trust me when I say it isn’t dessert, but being part of the social media world will have very tasty rewards.

I’d like to know what nonprofits in Pittsburgh he’s actually worked with as stated in the article.  I feel bad for them if he’s telling them leave social media til the end.  You need to be integrating. You need to utilize social media, which has multi-million users every single day.  And you need to realize that, especially if you are in Pittsburgh, the conditions are ripe for using social media tools.  By nature, Pittsburgh on the whole is a social city and that translates to many social networking users. It does make a difference geographically sometimes and our Pittsburgh nonprofits can thrive through social media.  It isn’t “buzz and hype.”  It’s the way things are getting done here.

Geography plays a role in how users interact with nonprofits through social media, but an even bigger piece of the picture is the age factor. Over 50% of the world’s population is under 30 years of age.  Think about this. That demographic has really never known a time without computers or cell phones. Where are they getting their information.  Online.  The largest group of users on Facebook?  Under 30. (With a great increase in over 30 users in the last 2 years.) Why wouldn’t you set up your nonprofit to be in line with how people are communicating right now so that you can connect and stay connected in the future?

It’s funny to me that Mr. Kenyon will tell you social media is dessert, but then push for mobile communication on his blog: “There are a variety of interactions people can have with a nonprofit via mobile devices. They can donate, be directed to a web page via QR code, or receive and share information via text.”

And while he is correct and I absolutely agree with him on this point, I don’t get him.  Navigating social media use without someone like me as a consultant to help is difficult enough for non-profits, but he wants to explain QR codes to you?  And Mr. Kenyon’s  more than willing to tell you that mobile devices can help people donate or be directed to your web page, but he can call social media hype and dessert for nonprofits? Social media does exactly what he describes in his mobile tech post and will continue to do so.  Know what else people do from their mobile devices? They access SOCIAL MEDIA sites.

Ask places like the Pittsburgh Foundation if social media is dessert.  Ask small nonprofits like South Hills Interfaith Ministries who embraced social media and drove their Day of Giving Donations up from $1,500(2010) to $13,000(2011) if social media is dessert. It might have resulted in the icing on their cake, but I watched them become an active source of information, purpose and social media success.

I want to impress upon the nonprofit community that getting involved with social networking sites and streamlining your social media presence now with all the other traditional communications is necessary, not a sugar-filled, stomach-bloating part of your organization’s diet.  It is the amazing side dish that is integral to the hearty substance of your website, email and paper-trail communications effort.  I beg you not to hear something like what Mr. Kenyon said and decide that social media isn’t for you.

Simply Put- Social media is not dessert, but it is definitely for sharing.

Top Reasons NOT to Help Non-Profit Orgs

Top 11 reasons NOT to support non-profit orgs:

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1. I’d much rather spend time complaining about how awful things are in the world instead of helping others fix it.
2. I never need/take/want help from anyone, so therefore no one deserves mine either.
3. Helping people only makes them more needy and I don’t want to be any part of enabling bad behavior.
4. I can find a job, put food on the table, give my kids the things they need. Those slackers should get off their lazy butts.
5. There’s not enough time or money to make a difference anyway, so I’d rather not give any of what I have.
6. I can’t volunteer around dirty, smelly degenerates.
7. I can’t volunteer. What if my neighbors think I do it to be a show-off or am needy too?
8. Non-profits should be able to help others without always bugging me for my money and things and time.
9. I don’t mind closing my eyes to people who are abused, go hungry, shiver in the cold, or suffer injustice as long as my family is taken care of.
10. I don’t have skills or anything anyone needs. Why would I think I’m important enough to volunteer or promote a cause?
11. Someone else will do it.

Angry with me yet?  Good.  Because I didn’t make this up. These are things people think and say all the time.

Simply Put- Are these points valid? If yes, why?  If no, why not? What information can you share to prove or overcome these opinions?