White Paper - Portalfuze Non-Profits/Associations

Enterprise Social Mediaand Non-Profits/Associations

Introduction

Web 2.0 and social-media technologies have drasticallyimpacted the way people interact on the Internet, both witheach other and with the data in which they have an interest.

With this paradigm shift in interaction, government agencies,corporations, associations, and other enterprise-focused groups arelooking at these technologies more than ever to add collaborativefunctionalities to existing Web platforms.All effective social media solutions enable users to establish anidentity and communicate with other users through numerouschannels within a collaborative platform. Social media engages theaudience and presents multiple simple opportunities for contribution.

Social Media: What Is It?

Ask ten different people about their definition of “social media,” andyou’ll get 20 totally different answers — if not more. At Portalfuze,we think of social media as tools that enable enterprises to:

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Engage the user by facilitating two-way and multi-wayconversations; as opposed to the one-way conversation fromthe enterprise to the user, seen in typical “brochure” Webapplications

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Promote collaboration and secure information exchangebetween and among users

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Provide new and novel ways for the organization,distribution, and collection of feedback of traditional data andinformation

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Encourage an “architecture of participation” that relies oncontributions from both users and site moderators

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Mesh and interact easily with other new and emerging Web-based technologies, especially those focused on userinteraction and media distribution

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Create participation points for the audience to augmentexisting informationWhy do people collaborate? Whether online or in person, peoplework together to share information, answer questions and solveproblems faster and (usually) better than by working alone. In thecontext of enterprise social media, collaboration is generallyaccomplished by comment posting, forums, document sharing andother simple means.With multi-way collaboration among clients and the enterprise,

participation is not only extended, the sponsoring enterprisebecomes an even-more entrenched part of the client's daily life. Thiscan lead to additional sales or referrals, increased sign-ups to a non-profit and/or association, and so on.

Benefits of Social Media for Non-Profits/Associations

Associations and non-profits are already putting their proverbial toein the water, when it comes to social media. A recent report from theAngerosa Research Foundation showed that 27% of more than 300associations surveyed said they have set up their own socialnetwork, typically by using software they own or license.The best news of all is that 21% of respondents said they generatedrevenue from social media, mainly through sponsorships.Enterprise-strength social media platforms and networks canprovide a significant tool to assist in effective communication withinan association/non-profit, as well as among geographically distantmembers or chapters. The benefits of such platforms focus oncreating new and informal, but traceable, methods ofcommunication. Most important, though, is that thesecommunication channels should be positioned to facilitate one ormore specific functionalities for the end user. Some examples offunctional applications of social technologies includes:1. Knowledge-management modules, which enable users in acollaborative environment to build out teams by searching forother users with specific technical expertise.2. Sourcing modules, which allow for quick creation,dissemination, and collection of RFPs for various goods andservices.3. Collaborative modules, which let multi-functional projectteams work together on a product with a shared end-goal.4. Broadcast modules, which allow for quick distribution ofcontent and critical updates within a network and via e-mail.5. Publishing modules, which enable the posting and mining ofvarious content types to identify synergies among membersof a diverse network population.Associations and non-profits implementing a social-media strategythat goes beyond a simple blog post or a Facebook/LinkedIn groupcan see numerous benefits. First, we need to see what makesenterprise-level social media different – and better – than these"good-but-basic" first steps.