Giving Tuesday hopes to spark a movement of people and organizations who want to celebrate giving and encourage more and smarter giving during the holiday season. The intent is to create an annual national day of giving on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving or this year on November 27, 2012. The campaign will encourage philanthropic activities that support nonprofit organizations. I heard about it in September and immediately signed up to be a social media ambassador which was a simple ask “Join us in helping spread the word and receive special messages from us to help us tweet, share and more.”
What is a social media ambassador or champion? This is a new breed of supporter who cares so much about your cause that they’re willing to spread the word to their friends. They have been called “brand advocates” or “super fans.” There are good benefits (and risks) to using Ambassadors as part of your strategy.
But they don’t just magically appear – there is a process of cultivation. This is what I have observed so far by watching GivingTuesday’s process.
The first step is to recruit by providing opportunities for Social Media Ambassadors to opt into your email list so you can begin the cultivation process. They offered this opportunity with the high visibility launch of the campaign (They also put a call to potential ambassadors to sign up for a “thunderclap)
In a recent email, I received information about the communications plan and a toolkit. The second item is especially important because it gives me everything I need to take action – from suggested Tweets, and other opportunities to participate, including guest blogging on the Giving Tuesday blog. All of these ways to support this effort are different levels of engagements – some asks are easy and require a click or two and others require slightly more time. I am assuming that behind this messaging lies a ladder of engagement and they are tracking what how bring people through it.
Also, I have a heavy work load and this is a volunteer job for me. So, by making it super simple, easy, and not time consuming to participate, I’m more likely to. I get a lot of requests to be a social media ambassador or “influencer” requests. I say yes to those where there is relationship or where I truly believe in the cause. Then, whether or not I actually can do something depends on the tools they give me to make participation easy and how they manage the relationship – saying thank you, simple shout outs, making connections, etc.
Now, the last step – “unleash” is when we will be empowered to go do something, take action -leading up to the campaign. They involve their ambassadors in the content and promotion around the campaign. One channel that they are using is Giving Tuesday Google Hangout. These are taking place on Tuesdays leading up to the campaign. Here’s the recording from a recent hangout.
I’ll be participating in one on November 6th.
Google+ Hangout
Please join us on Tuesday, November 6 at 12:30 EST for a our next Hangout: How non-profits and corporations use digital media and technology to reach a broader audience and build awareness about a cause.
Panelists this week are;
Beth Kanter, Speaker/Author/Master Trainer & nonprofit innovator @KanterHazel Cobb, Senior Public Relations Officer and Porter Mason, Deputy Director of Social Media, U.S. Fund for UNICEF @UnicefUSAChristine Cea, Senior Director, Marketing Communications, Unilever @Unilever, @MakeLifeBetter Emcee:Zoe Fox, Reporter, Mashable @ZoeBFox
Help spread the message about this and contribute to the conversation using the hashtag.
Twitter: Join the #GivingTuesday Google+ Hangout Tues Nov 6 at 12:30 EST to hear from @Kanter @ZoeBFox @MakeLifeBetter & @UnicefUSA http://bit.ly/TTHmZ2
Is your nonprofit using social media brand ambassadors? In what ways?
