The Networked Nonprofit Ch. 1 and 2

So today I started our next book “The Networked Nonprofit”. I have to say that it was pretty good, the first two chapters were as expected more like an introduction telling a lot about social networks and nonprofits and how in today’s world they work hand and hand.  

In chapter 1 it starts off by telling about the organization called Surfrider Foundation and how they have used their networking to better their nonprofit. On page 3 the book tells about Networked Nonprofits when it states, “They engage people in shaping and sharing their work in order to raise awareness of social issues, organize communities to provide services, or advocate for legislation”. They also tell how these groups use social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter, or Blogs, to spread awareness. This chapter really relates to the work that we have been doing for Safe Harbor and domestic violence awareness, by using our social media groups and other networks. One why that we have done this is through our Chick-Fil-A page that we made on Facebook, by doing this we were able to use our classes networking groups. The book also tells how our work with Safe Harbor is what they like to call “social change” which means any effort by people and organizations to make the world a better place.

Chapter 2 tells about the Millennials and how they are the generation that is bigger and more diverse than the Baby Boomers (I thought this was cool). They book tells how the Millebbials are what they like to call “free agents” these are people that work outside of organizations to help are raise awareness. The free agents use social media to their advantage to spread awareness to mass amounts of people. The chapter does tell of rules that organizations want to follow when working with free agents to adapt to the change of working with a younger crowd, such as:

• Get to know the free agents 
•  Break out of silos 
•  Young people and free agents need to explore and learn about issues and sort out their feelings about them.
• Don’t ignore the newcomer

Overall this chapter is showing how nonprofits need to change their way of thinking and start working with free agents to insure that they keep up with social change. I feel that this is what Safe Harbor is doing, they know that our class has the age generation that is always growing in social media and with our help they will be able to spread awareness on a very touchy subject.

SCFN Chapters 9 and 10

When working for a non-profit or any other organization it is very important that you have a knowledgeable or creditable spokesperson. This could be the organizations executive director or a celebrity, however the book does explain that a celebrity is not always the best person because they could hurt more than they help if a personal scandal appears. When picking a spokesperson there are three key points you want to stick to.

1.     .     The person is comfortable doing press interviews
2.          The person is willing to take time to out of the day to deal with journalists
3.          Delivers a good presentation on television, on the radio, and in print or is willing to be trained

Another point that is also important when training your staff, is the proper way to relay a request for an interview. If this is not done properly it can ruin your chances of ever getting another call. The first step is that you need to make sure they understand the reporter’s deadline. You also want to make sure that there are only two stops in relaying the message; the receptionist and the press staffer.  

When giving an interview the spokesperson wants to make sure that they always assume that they are on the record with a reporter. You want to make sure that the spokesperson is aware that there are three ways of speaking to a reporter:

•             On the record interviews- reporters will assume that everything said to them is on the record and   quotable unless otherwise stated at the start of an interview.
•             Background interviews- are discussions with reporters that are held with a prior understanding that the information can be freely used in a story, but only as background, without a direct quote.
•            Off-the-record interviews- not for quotes, not for attribution, and usually not for use in an article.

I also found the section of the book “Doing Better Media Interviews: Quick Tips” to be very helpful.  I feel that the two most important points here are to always tell the truth and state your messages more than once. If these steps are followed your organization will have a well-rounded spokesperson.

  

I feel that our group did a very good job at having just one spokesperson for reporters to contact. Erin did a great job, she made sure that the right reporters got our press release so we were able to spread the word about our project to a mass amount of people. Our release was consistent in stating our message. I also feel that throughout promoting our projects to other organizations and visitors at our booth on Bowman Field, we made sure to keep telling explaining that we are supporting domestic violence awareness. The group made sure that DV and Safe Harbor was our focus and I feel that this is why we were so successful in spreading awareness.

In chapter 10 of SCFN, they stress the importance of partnerships in the world of nonprofit organizations. This is a great way of making sure that your message is heard. Our group did that by utilizing the Fraternity and other organizations that built a float for homecoming by getting them to pomp and purple ribbon of their floats. This was a great opportunity for both our class and the organizations because it allowed us to reach mass amounts of people to spread awareness and it also showed the school that these organizations do care about more than just partying and want to help spread the word about domestic violence awareness month.