10 Ways Non-Profit Clubs Can Use Social Media

Posted on Apr 16, 2012 in Corporate Social Media Zone, Social Media Implementation | 7 comments

Non-profit clubs using social I am a proud member of the Lions Club. I was just invited to be part of a social media experiment with them and am glad to be. Lots of them have questions about how to build their club membership with Facebook, Twitter, and such so I thought I’d shift from my normal PR/Advertising focus and share 10 ways that non-profit clubs can use social media. Perhaps this can serve some of the PR audience if they also help non-profits and community service organizations with their social media:

  1. Promote your events – let people see what you’re up to with a link to the event sign up. Events like your fundraisers, luncheons, charity events. It’s especially good to direct visitors to your website from your social media so they might find other things about the club that catches their eye there too.
  2. Promote the charities and community groups you support/fund – cross promotion and featuring who you support lets people get a glimpse of what you’re all about. It’s not just about promoting yourself. It pays to promote others.
  3. Connect with other clubs – helping each other is the game. Reach out to area clubs, international ones, whatever. We can all learn from each other and social is, after all, a tool of connection.
  4. Inform your membership – some people only do social media and have abandoned their email inbox. Some people do Facebook but not Twitter. Reaching across digital platforms to share member information is a great way to have an informed membership.
  5. Educate the public about your mission – sometimes the simplest things matter. What is your group about, what is its history, and why do the members devote time to it? It’s all yada yada to you because you’ve heard it before, but new people have not. Don’t assume just because you belong to a club that is well known that everyone knows everything there is to know about it. Share.
  6. Raise your cool factor – lots of traditional, well-established clubs are struggling with aging membership. Show you are progressive by being on social. It will start to attract a younger audience and raise your hipness among that audience.
  7. Reach the media – Twitter, for example, is widely searched by media for interesting news. Be interesting and be news and you could possibly get picked up. Social is a great word of mouth tool yes, but traditional media is very very present there.  Be there too.
  8. Build partnerships – by talking to other community groups via social you can build partnerships for service and funding. Cooperative attitudes are the rule in social, rather than competition or fighting. Go out searching for philanthropy minded groups, share their stuff, and be friendly. Kindness and friendships matter.
  9. Historical record – capture your history, like a living story book, via digital means – your website, Facebook account, Flicker, Youtube and more. Tell the story of your club – even pulling out those Golden Oldies pictures from the vaults, scanning them in, and sharing them. Not only do you have a digital scrapbook of old photos, but it adds such character and personality. Character and personality is A+ in social!
  10. Contribute to the community conversation – it’s ok to have an opinion on social media. In fact, the more opinion you have, the better. If there are things being discussed in your community, and discussing them is within the club’s by-laws, get involved. At least, act as an information hub for people who are interested in being involved in the conversation. Act like the water cooler for great ideas and great ideas will come your direction. If you serve the community, your members are part of the community, and your club is too, then why not get involved? It could be just the difference to make good happen!

As a closing note, I am honored to be able to serve my community as a Lions member. I love what we do and what we stand for. If you are also a proud member of a service organization, please share below – I’d love to hear about what you do!

In service,

Vicki @Smartwoman Flaugher