8.01.2008

Another awesome slideshow

Charities & The Social Web


I just have to repost this awesome slideshow by British "community builder" Steve Bridger. It's about charities, but the lessons are absolutely relevant to all non-profits and associations, I think.

Check out this quote from Steve from his post of the slideshow:

"On my way back to Somerset on the train, I read that E. L. Doctorow once said writing a novel is like “driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”

It struck me that this is much like the journey we’re all making with social media. Charities need to learn to be agile enough to get into driver’s seat, and brave enough to take the wheel and move out of second gear. It’s going to be an interesting ride. Baggsy be the co-driver."

Awesome. (Let me help you drive).

Thanks to Beth Kanter for the find.

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5 comments:

  1. Glad you discovered Steve's work - he's in the UK, works with nonprofits, and been in the social media stuff a long time - err well since 2006 - maybe longer but that's when I discovered his nfp2.0 blog.

    Check out his slideshare collection - they all rock - and he also wrote a great post that promoted the idea of being a "buzz director" incorporating social media skills into the job description ..
    http://www.nfp2.co.uk/2007/06/07/buzz-director-help-me-write-a-job-description/

    A year ago that was a radical idea - at least in the nonprofit area - do you think more organizations are convinced of that?
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  2. PS looking for interesting posts on social media metrics - I have a wiki here - but starting a module on metrics next week. Have anything?
    http://socialmediametrics.wikispaces.com
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  3. Hi, Beth - on your first question, yes I absolutely think non-profits and associations are starting to realize they need "buzz directors" and community managers. It's still early days, but I am seeing a serious shift from just wanting to know about all this social media stuff in general towards figuring out how to implement it - and the first step might be hiring someone who knows what they are doing!

    And on your second comment - everyone wants metrics! I'll look around!
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  4. Maddie - thanks for doing me the huge homour of embedding my slideshow here. I didn't pay Beth to say such nice things, honest :)

    Absolutely, my recent experience is that charities are broadening their focus, deepening their commitment to online, and prepared to take some tough love... and this is reflected by larger charities now moving from a small team of "website managers", to larger, more inter-disciplinary "digital engagement" teams.

    Now they need to recognise that their "content strategy" needs to evolve into what I call a "participation strategy".
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  5. Exactly right! Associations, also, are getting that they need to engage in this way - they may just need a little help to get started. : )
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