I'm honored and delighted that CPEHN has invited me to share a few reflections about what makes for effective online outreach. At Aspiration, we spend a lot of time advising other nonprofits on how to sustainably incorporate the internet into their communications and advocacy, and the following are three themes which consistently come up in these conversations.
1. Email is still the most effective online tool: While the internet offers a broad and sometimes dizzying array of technologies and tools with which to engage your online audiences, email is still the primary conduit for reaching most of those audiences, including press and funders. Focus your online efforts on collecting email addresses, and use those addresses to communicate with online supporters, develop trust relationships, and gather more information about their interests in order to better engage them.
Websites definitely matter, but many supporters will reach your site by clicking on links in messages you send them. For visitors landing on your web pages via Google and links from other sites, make sure each page is inviting and provides them an opportunity to sign up for your email list. You can't keep them informed until you have their email address!
2. Social media is worth trying: With all the hype about Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, blogging, and other “social media,” it's easy to get both confused and cynical in considering how such tools might support your online efforts. But certain tools do in fact offer new ways to engage online allies and future supporters. Consider maintaining an organizational blog where you can narrate programmatic work; blogs by their nature afford a more first-person tone than the drier editorial voices of most websites. And blog comments from readers are a low-impact way to hear from your online audiences and engage them in your outreach.
Real estate on the most popular social networks sites such as Facebook and MySpace are gaining value similar to website addresses. Try setting up a basic page on one of those sites, with your mission and contact information, and invite others to link to you. By posting news items in parallel with your regular website updates, you can test the waters and see if your online audiences want to be engaged through those channels. If you decide it's not worth the time, you can still leave your page in an orderly state, and use it as a calling card to an ever-growing audience.
3. In the end, it's all about the data: As you consider what tools and technologies to enlist for your online communications, focus on the data you collect and store as your central asset. Tools and applications will come and go, but information about your supporters and other contacts are a foundational piece of your digital power. Consider your full universe of data, (information about your supporters, members, donors, funders, and clients as well as your organization's files and documents) and make sure it is backed up on a regular basis.
In all endeavors, make sure to know what tools your allies and peer organizations are using, and tap their knowledge early and often. Peer support is an under-utilized dimension of technology capacity building in social movements, and we heartily encourage you to leverage the knowledge of your networks as you evolve your online strategies.
Aspiration (www.aspirationtech.org), is nonprofit organization focused on helping other nonprofits make more effective use of technology.
