Engaging with volunteers through social media

Ben Connorben@bnhc.org.uk

"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