One of the most common questions with regards to implementing social media objectives at churches, nonprofits and associations is “Whose responsibility is it?”. Should the IT people do it? After all, they know how all this techy stuff works. What about marketing/communication? They are in control of our “messaging” and “branding”. What about the leaders in the organization? They should do it because they reflect the vision and heartbeat of the organization.

The truth is most social media experts will suggest that all staff members at your organization should have social media as part of his/her daily tasks. Social media should be used at all levels of the organization.

Earlier today, during the free M2Live webinar, Cynthia Ware (a well-respected church technology consultant) suggested that churches should appoint a Social Media Director. Someone that is responsible for laying out the plan for your church’s use of social media. I for one think this is a great idea! Here’s why:

• Every church should have a social media policy for their staff. This person is responsible for that.
• This person is also responsible for all social media strategy. What should Facebook be used for? What should it NOT be used for. Will you use Twitter? What is the PLAN? Who responds to ridiculous comments on your Facebook page? Should your pastor blog? What is a blog? Should someone wear a Hootsuite?
• All questions social media related are filtered through this person.
• This person is responsible for new trends and staying on top of the rapidly-changing landscape that is social media.

Should you hire or does your social media director already exist? What else am I missing? Why is hiring a social media a director a good idea? Why is it a bad idea?

In the last year, many people have claimed that email is passe. Often, the main argument is that the use of social media tools like Facebook and Twitter are growing so fast that eventually everyone will just use those tools and their mobile phones to communicate. Others have argued that email is just an inferior communication protocol. While it’s curious and interesting to entertain such a massive shift in the way the world communicates, I think it’s an outrageous claim. Here are 5 signs email is here to stay for while.

1. Email is Too Ingrained In Our Every Day Life

Email is dead….really?…really? The entire world communicates through email. There is so much business infrastructure around email and years and years of data that it just seems ludicrous to suggest that email is even dying. Did the T.V. kill radio? Has the mobile phone killed the land line? Just because there are new ways to communicate doesn’t mean that the tried and true email is going bye-bye. Email may die one day, but the biggest factor that would contribute to its demise would be time…and a lot of it.

2. Google Failed to Replace It

Last week, Google announced that they “don’t plan to continue Wave as a standalone product”. If you know anything about Google Wave you’ll know that Google had grand plans to create a “better email client”. But that’s just it, it wasn’t email. It was totally different. Kudos to Google for trying to change the world, but if Wave had sent emails (like most other technologies) it would have had a better adoption rate. As it was, it was just another “inbox-thing” people had to check. That brings me to my next point quite nicely.

3. All Applications Use Email

As of this post Facebook is reporting that people spend over 700 billion minutes on Facebook a month. That’s a lot. But what happens when you o send someone a private message? It sends them an email. In fact go take another look at your Facebook’s notifications preferences. Almost every single thing the application does can and will by default send you AN EMAIL. Like around 100 different email notifications. This type of notifications preferences isn’t unique to the 2nd most active website in the world; they all depend on email.

4. It’s a Nice Alternate to the CONSTANT Steam

People complain about email all the time. They complain about having to empty their inbox and going through 100s of emails. I’m guilty of this too. But the reality is that email is still a great protocol for messages that need to be delivered, but not consumed immediately. Emails are not as disruptive as text messages, but that’s only because text messaging is a relatively new medium to receive messages on. It used to be that when we got a new email we said “Woohoo” I got electronic mail message! Neat. My point here is that just like wedding invitations will always be delivered via snail mail, email provides a great alternative to drinking from the firehose of communication and data that is social media.

5.  Email is a Protocol, Not an Entity

Recently I’ve heard my wife increasingly say to others, “I’ll facebook you.” What does that mean? It means that Facebook is the protocol. It is the medium by which the communication takes place. As inevitable as it may seem, Facebook could be gone tomorrow. The use of Email is not dependent upon the success of a company. Email remains.

What are some other signs email is NOT dead?

When you adopt a tool like MemberHub as your organization’s primary communication tool you’re essentially telling your members that “this is how we communicate”.  Opening up two-way communication channels and putting your members in touch with each other will result in more informed, more engaged members. This means you get less phone calls and potentially save money on extra staff needed to ensure proper communication is taking place. But “will my members use it”, you ask.

Your members hang out on Facebook all day. You’re likely NOT going to get them to hang out in some other social networking application or communication tool. But that doesn’t mean that you should be using Facebook as your communication tool. And it also doesn’t mean that you need a really cool social tool to enhance communication.

A successful implementation of MemberHub means your members are connected, know how to reach other members, and can take care of the business of being a member (like signing up for an event). There’s no concept of “friends”. It’s not about logging on creating unbelievable online community. Online community doesn’t just happen. Even if you have the best tool in the world, online community only happens will it’s fostered and cultivated by people.

It’s about taking care of the business of being a member so that you can leave time for REAL community when members do gather together; rather than worrying about logistics and planning.

So when you’re considering your communication software needs don’t worry so much about getting members to hang out in the tool all day. Just make sure that you’re using it. Make sure that members know how to reach their group. Make sure that they know where to get the latest information. Make sure that communication can take place. Do these things and you will enhance communication in your organization.

This may seem a little crazy at first, but I wonder, should churches and nonprofits buy Facebook ads? Our business has been running some ads on Facebook and finding some great success. It’s easy, hyper-targeted and based on demographic information in your Facebook profile. So I started to wonder if I should share my experience with creating Facebook Ads..and we will, in another post. But for now, I’m wondering what would it look like for a church to be “advertising” on Facebook? Why would a church ever do that?

I’m sure this topic has been debated somewhere on the Internet before (although a quick search didn’t reveal anything fascinating) but I think it’s brilliant. Why not pay for clicks on Ads in Facebook? Why not target people in specific zip code and draw attention to your organization…to your ministries, events, message…your website. Think about it, I bet for roughly $1/click you could have your specific message being place on Facebook and reaching folks right where they are: Facebook. You could have literally millions of impressions and pay for only 5 clicks a day. Would it be worth it?

• Would it increase the likelihood of that one guy that drives by your church everyday to actually show up one Sunday?
• Would it increase the participation in a local outreach event? Think service project or Good Friday festival!
• Would it bring recognition to your organization on a local level that may ultimately lead to serving the community on a greater level?

I think so. I think it’s worth a try. Have you ever considered this? What churches and nonprofits are doing this and finding success? Leave some links to interesting posts or thoughts below!

(Note: The image above was produced by Church Ad Project. Check them out: http://www.churchad.com)

I don’t know about you, but I need to work on my listening skills. I love to learn and I learn best by audio. I play the drums by ear. I love to listen to music. I enjoyed school because I liked to listen to professors (well usually). But I cannot for the life of me listen to two things at the same time. It’s physically and literally almost impossible for me to listen to phone call and have my wife talking to me at the same time. It’s amazing to me how well women can multi-task when it comes to listening. She can do it, I cannot. If I have more than one stream of thought or information trying to enter my head it’s bound to fail. Unfortunately this is what Twitter and Facebook have become for me at times.

Lately, I feel like I’m drinking from the fire hose with Twitter. It’s so hard to find the information that’s relevant to me and my business while also keeping track of personal events for friends, family and colleagues. I often feel like I am not communicating through these mediums.

What about you are, are you really communicating with Facebook and Twitter? Do you feel like you’re getting a valuable exchange of information?

If so, leave a comment and share some tips.

Yesterday I listened to a webinar put on by Drew Goodmanson and Cynthia Ware on the State of the Church Online. You can read an excellent review of the research findings that they presented over here and the slides from the presentation are here.

These guys are doing a really good work. I personally believe that this research and the motivation behind it is edifying, reverent and inspired. God’s timing is perfect. Churches are undoubtedly trying to make some sense of all this social networking, private community tools and online technology. And they have nothing to guide them.

Kevin does an excellent job of pulling out the conclusions that have been reached. He points out:

One thing that stands out to me when I look at those key findings is the overwhelming awareness in the church market of Facebook yet very little brand awareness of comparable tools designed specifically for churches. You might chalk this disconnect up to ineffective marketing strategies but I believe it points to a more crucial issue which is: churches aren’t approaching social media strategically.

Kevin goes onto to point out that:

Churches dive headlong into social media (primarily on Facebook and more and more on Twitter), investing their time and their churches reputation without a solid sense of how exactly their efforts are going to redeem lives and bring glory to God.

Let’s also take into consideration the top 5 requested features/functionality sought in church/Christian social networks:

1. Ability to find, register and/or get details for events.
2. Ability to post prayer requests or needs.
3. Ability to find serving opportunities at the church based on interest of gifts
4. Ability to join and interact with home/bible study groups.
5. Integration with existing church website.

Here’s my conclusion so far: The respondents are NOT looking for another social networking tool!

In fact, there are so many instances where churches are looking to use social networking for communications, logistics, planning, etc. when that’s not at all what social networking is intended for. It’s intended to “network”. Facebook is definitely not the best way to connect your members and groups. When you’re in a church and are involved in various ministries and groups you don’t need to network with these folks, you need take care of the business of being a member. You need to plan, share a calendar, get reminders, have discussions and generally be accessible to each other. Technology and the internet is perfect for that! It’s not about social networking. It’s about giving the groups in your church and other organizations a place for them to connect, share information, share ideas, plan, and again, be accessible to each other. This takes the burden off the administrators of the organization, by empowering the groups to connect and get things done on their own accord! What they want is a private, groups communication tool.

The Phase 2 of this research and its findings will be a very powerful step forward in helping churhes sort through the options of online private community and group communications tools (of which MemberHub is one, of course). We are looking forward to that research that will be available in the fall.

In the last week I have gleaned a stronger vision for what I think churches really want from online technology. They just don’t know it.

Social media, social networking, Facebook, Twitter…churches are being bombarded by a slew of social technologies and online tools to help build “community” and connect their members and staff. It’s absolutley mind-boggling how fast all this technology is moving and being adopted. Churches are looking around asking not only What? but also Why?

Churches are hiring consultants to come in and establish a social media plan for their church. In the words of Lee Corso (ESPN’s College Gameday) “Not so fast, my friend”. The market is flooded with social media gurus who simply aren’t *that* at all. Be careful before you pay someone to teach you about social media that takes your money and provides no value. Or perhaps even worse, plugs your church into the grid, only to find out that it doesn’t line up with your church’s vision and value. Churches are being advised to put together a plan and execute it accordingly. But so many churches and other organizations act without really, really thinking about what they want.

What I’m hearing is that churches definitely want private online groups for their ministries, small groups, teams and staff. Internally, churches want to use the power of the internet for logistics, planning, coordinating and communicating. But the other big one that some churches don’t even realize they want or need right now is the ability to communicate with other churches! Learn from other churches, share resources with other churches, and generally learn from each other. After all this is what this “social” media thing is really all about…the sharing of information, ideas and networking. And if churches are sharing information and strategies isn’t this a good thing for the Kingdom? I think so.

What do you think? What does your church use social networking or online technology for? What do you want to see with online technology for churches? What do you think about partnering with and sharing with other churches as opposed to competing against them?

If you are a non-profit organization and not following Rebecca Leaman on Wild Apricot’s blog, do yourself a favor and start. It’s an excellent resource and chocked full of relevant information, tips, and insightful conversations that all non-profits can benefit from.

This past weekend I was enjoying her post; Facebook Profiles and Pages and Groups, oh my! This post was very timely for me because I finally created my Facebook profile after coming to terms with the reality that if I’m going to embrace social media on every level, it is simply necessary to have a presence there. 

Rebecca’s post is a great explanation of not only the differences between Facebook profiles, pages and groups, but also suggests appropriate uses for each and covers exactly what the folks at Facebook say about them. At the end of her post was when I got really excited. Here’s an excerpt from the last 2 paragraphs of the post.

Embrace the features of Facebook for what they are and what they can do, but ake [sic] your website the hub of your online community. It’s there, on your own turf, where you can encourage a higher level of engagement, subscriptions to your blog or email newsletter, active membership in your organization, conversions to offline actions, and the true two-way communication that leads to more lasting 

If you’re familiar at all with MemberHub, you’ll know why this excited me. She’s proving one of our biggest points. And that is this: the members, constituents and volunteer’s of your organization need a platform that centralizes staff and community members to seamlessly handle the logistics, administration, communication and coordination that often drains time, energy and money from all involved parties. Facebook is social networking. It’s a “networking” tool that can be effective at spreading your organization’s reach and better your cause. However, once someone is an active, participating member of any 3rd party organization, they need another tool that will immediately connect them with the organization so they can conduct the “business of being a member”.

Organizations can signup with MemberHub and in minutes have a “hub of [for] your online community” for each volunteer group, ministry, team and/or small group. Hubs are private and secure; you have to be personally invited or have a hub key to join one. With MemberHub, you can immediately encourage your members to participate in conversations, share files and calendars and generally stay connected with instant notifications and automatic event reminders. Leave your website alone for now and create a private online community for your members in MemberHub TODAY!