As changemakers in our communities, it's important to take the time to learn from the communities that we serve about their impressions of our services. Whether your community is of volunteers, members of the public, internal stakeholders, or international organizations, it is valuable to ask them what they think of your work and invite them to help shape the future of your programs. In this month's Net2 Think Tank, we look forward to learning from you about surveying your community!

Microblogs like Twitter are a great vehicle to help organize political demonstrations in countries run by corrupt governments (and an effective way to spread misinformation), but how can nonprofit organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), libraries, government programs, and other mission-based organizations really use microblogs to promote their work, increase attendance at an event, get donations or mobilize or support volunteers?

Originally posted at my own blog.

Social media -- those avenues to send instant, short, widely-distributed messages and images -- cuts both ways:

• It can be used to organize protesters, but it can also be used to identify protesters and arrest them.
• It can be used to spread information, but it can also be used to spread MISinformation.
• You can use it to promote your organization and cause, and others can use it to tear down your organization.

And it's been used to organize protests since the 1990s - so can we stop now with how "new" it all is?

"We've just got to keep on keepin' on" I say to my boss as we try to understand why our efforts to engage our fans and followers have flopped again and again. But a question arises in the back of my mind; what am I expecting here? To be overwhelmed with RTs and comments? To be scrambling to keep up with it all? Right now, it's a slow trickle of engagement here and there. But it seems there is a hook we haven't baited properly, no one's biting.

The July Net2 Think Tank provided an opportunity to look at some of the changes in our organizations, our messages, and even our strategies because of the impact of social media.  We know that the Internet in general, and social technologies especially, have greatly impacted the way social benefit organizations do their work.  To take a closer look at just how technology has impacted community engagement, we have four contributions from NetSquared Community members!

The July Net2 Think Tank hopes to provide an opportunity to look at some of the changes in our organizations, our messages, and even our strategies because of the impact of social media.  We know that the Internet in general, and social technologies especially, have greatly impacted the way social benefit organizations do their work.  You can participate in the Net2 Think Tank by blogging your answer to the topic below - all submissions will be republished at the end of the month.

NTEN's 09NTC just wrapped up in San Francisco and many conversations at the conference focused on social media use by nonprofits.  With so many tools out there, and different options for individuals and other organizations to engage with you, how do you manage it all?  April's Net2 Think Tank focused on the multiple entry points of engagement used by nonprofits.  It was a tough question, but someone had to answer it: Idealist's Scott Stadum!

Topic:

Okay, I'm back.

Thanks to you who are emailing me privately and commenting here on the blog.  Let's jump right in.  I got this message anonymously (this is part of a longer email)...

"I have a somewhat specific interest that I thought I'd pass along in the spirit of two-way media.  I am a young professional working at a membership-based environmental nonprofit.  My background is nontechnical...  I am trying to transition some...academic knowledge into job skills.

Hey All,

So I received a few responsest to my post last week about how can N2 engage the community better.  Most came privately to my email address, and it is a theme in those emails that I want to use as this next engagement email.   Here is what one person wrote to me (this is only a portion of a much longer email about a variety of topics):

Happy Holidays, N2 community!!

I've been hush-hush for a while because the team over here has been discussing a critical issue - what do we need to be doing in order to get you all engaged a whole lot more?  The N2 blog is not churning up the type of engagement we had hoped to see and we're scratching our heads wondering why.  We're providing content - perhaps its not what you want or need?  We're focusing that content on social media strategies - perhaps we're missing the mark?  Essentially - we're rethinking our strategy and we want you, the community, to guide us.