Nonprofit Uses Social Media to Increase Awareness

Stephanie Pendrys, hiking in Colorado

Think Social Media only works for retail businesses?

Wrong!

It was through Twitter that I stumbled across Stephanie Pendrys, marketing manager for the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona. She and her colleagues have been busy gearing for the 2009 United Way Days of Caring event held a couple weeks ago. Kudos to the many volunteers who logged in more than 2,600 hours of service in Southern Arizona this year!

Exhausted, Stephanie agreed to answer some quick questions about how she’s using social media to raise awareness.

1. When did United Way of Southern Arizona wade into the social media pool?

We strapped on the goggles and jumped into the waters back in January.

2. What prompted the decision to try social media?

A big part of our decision to try social media tactics was just being aware that our constituents receive information on their own time, through their own vehicle (mobile phone, Facebook, etc.) and on their own need-to-know basis.

There are so many different channels and organizations vying for the attention of our constituents, we wanted to break away from the clutter and find new ways to tell our story — how we are working to build a better community in southern Arizona.  A flier on a wall or a newspaper advertisement isn’t going to reach the person whose eyes never stray from their Blackberry or Facebook page. (Um, gulp. Guilty.)

We also had been tracking some other nonprofits on the Internet and were amazed to see the passion and excitement that sprang up almost instantaneously after being mentioned on blogs or within social networking communities.  Social media just became something that we wanted to be a part of –  once everyone within our organization got on board and understood that Facebook and blogs aren’t just for the under-25 crowd.

We also were excited about the opportunity of enabling individuals who have a specific interest in United Way to advocate on its behalf within their own online networks.

3. Who were you reaching out to (target audience)?

United Way is unique in the fact that we have multiple audiences that we reach out to on a daily basis.  It takes many committed donors, community advocates and agency partners to help us work to create innovative solutions for our community by focusing on education, income and health, the building blocks of a good life.

We use social media to engage our committee members, such as United Way Inclusion Council and Young Leaders Society (YLS) members.  We also reach out to our volunteers, like our Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) volunteer tax preparers, by posting photos from their events and seeking feedback about how we can make events better.

We also use social media to communicate with our staff members and  I use social media to connect with communications folks from other United Way chapters across the country; we share stories and best practices.

4. Did you have an objective in mind or did you just jump in?

My graduate degree is from the University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications, so I was taught by some very good instructors about the need for creativity when it comes to integrated marketing communications.  I had some objectives in mind when we started talking about our social media strategy.

United Way also has been keen to participate in the emergent marketing environment where the constituents are co-creators, where insights and participation from influencers, close to the pulse of the consumer, bring tremendous value and insights for any brand.  The feedback and input we get would help us improve our work, relationship-building and constituent experience, and that’s the clear benefit.

5. What tactics did you use to achieve what result?

We use Twitter to drive traffic to our website and our blog.  For example, we were in need of a few more volunteers for our Days of Caring program and we used Twitter to get the word out and steer prospective volunteers to our website.

I also connected with a couple of media outlets on Twitter, who retweeted my message about United Way Days of Caring.

We use Facebook to share information about United Way meetings/programs and to invite our fans to upcoming events.  We use photo albums on Facebook and Picasa to share photos with United Way shareholders.

Our blog gives us the opportunity to highlight initiatives, like our school supply drive, and to just talk about things going on in the community in a more conversational tone.

6. Do you consider your campaign successful – measured how?

We have just taken our first strokes in the water and it is very early to talk results, but feedback has been warm and very encouraging and we are excited to learn more as we go.

Our community on Facebook is still very new, but people are joining in and it has been fun to see it evolve along with the way people are communicating with us about both United Way and their concerns for our community.  I think that people will always love to see and share photos, especially if they are in the picture!

The fact that we have had individuals join Young Leaders Society through Facebook is another indicator that we are starting to reach our target audience.

Expectations really are that we will be able to connect with more of our stakeholders and volunteers (when it is convenient for them), share ideas and gain feedback.  That would be great, and it is our main goal as we move forward.