Developing a Social Media Strategy for a Small Non-Profit Organization: More Conversation, Less Marketing

Abstract

Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR), based in Richmond, Indiana, is a successful microfinance organization that empowers marginalized women in Kenya, India and Sierra Leone. Although established in 1967, RSWR remains a small organization compared with other NGOs and has not had the time or expertise to update its website or to take advantage of the power of social media for outreach and public relations. The first project was to complete a total redesign of RSWR’s website as well as a new branding campaign. This project is to develop and implement a social media strategy that will allow RSWR to better communicate its message to its target audiences, such as donors, volunteers and the public at large. Building on the methodology used for the website redesign project, I interviewed key players and investigated social media best practices, specifically the social media approaches of small firms and non-profit organizations. Among my findings are that an organization should have a written policy and limit the number of people who can publish social media content. A social media strategy must be dynamic and there should be at least one person dedicated to content management. Content must be fresh, sincere and purposeful, never arbitrary or perfunctory and should be consistent with RSWR’s overall branding efforts and public persona. This same methodology for developing a social media strategy could be used by nearly any small entity that has to be very judicious in how it communicates through 21st century technology.