2nd Annual Grassroots Innovator Awards- the finalists

It's officially awards season in Hollywood- and we're following suit at the American Heart Association! We're just days away from announcing the winner of our 2nd Annual AHA Grassroots Innovator Award. But first, you'll need to hear from the finalists. Then- be sure to cast your vote for the winner right here on the Let's Talk Grassroots blog.

If you missed the finalists' presentations- you can access a recording by calling (866) 609-5877. Conference ID: 3774314, Participant Passcode: 8876228

The finalists are...

Melissa Brown (GRA): Faced with declining email open rates and little indication of why, Melissa and her advocacy colleagues in the Great Rivers Affiliate developed a survey to gather more information from their advocates. They used two sets of questions- a more detailed questionnaire for their most active advocates and a shorter survey for their mid-level advocates. They intend to use the survey results to shape future grassroots messaging.

Allyson Frazier (FDA): As a prominent advocate prepared to receive an award at the Boston Heart Ball, Allyson and her colleagues seized the opportunity to raise the profile of advocacy with the Heart Ball audience. In addition to heightened exposure to advocacy messaging, attendees were invited to record video messages that were later delivered to state legislative offices in support of AED legislation.

Julie Archila (GSA): In need of a way to visually represent the wide support for an increase in Florida's tobacco tax, Julie worked with Florida Advocacy Director James Mosteller and coalition partners to collect pictures from supportive volunteers. The photos were posted to a Google Map, and the link to that map was shared with lawmakers- putting a face on the support for this bill.

It starts with listening

How can a really big, diverse organization “turn the ship” toward a meaningful and intentional social media strategy? The American Red Cross started by simply listening.

“Perhaps the biggest benefit and unexpected outcome of engaging in social media through listening first is that the Red Cross drove internal adoption of social media. Wendy says people are no longer afraid of negative comments or posts. “The opposite of hate is indifference, if someone bothers to post a negative comment it means they care.” Negative comments are now viewed by the organization as an opportunity to educate and improve what they are doing.”

You can learn more about the Red Cross philosophy for social media outreach here.

Twitter for the little guy

Beth Kantor has another great post about how even modest organizations that don’t have pots of gold can make social media work to accomplish for their own missions. Plus, she wants to hear about any good ideas out there form nonprofits using social media in new and exciting ways:

“And, if you are a small organization and have succeeded, I want to hear about it.

Leave a comment sharing how you're using social media to support your organization's work in a local community or regional effort and using a shoe string budget to do it. And, if you could win a copy of "Twitter for Dummies" that the good folks from Wiley just sent me.”

Doing something cool with Twitter? Facebook? Ning? Drop Beth a line.

The power of layering

According to this great post from Frogloop, the key to a successful campaign builds momentum both offline and online:

“The cardinal rule of offline campaigns is layering: multiple contacts on the doorstep and on the phone build on each other to create momentum. Neighborhoods that have had multiple passes of canvassing tend to deliver higher ROI on each successive pass - the second, third, and fourth contacts aren't "cold calls", they're follow-ups. Adding contacts through online advertising and content, social networks, email, text, mail, etc. can build momentum, too. The more times a voter, donor, or advocate sees, hears, reads, or experiences a message and call to action the more likely it is to penetrate the noise of every day life…”

Face Time

For nonprofits, engaging supporters online is becoming the norm. Emails fly and movements are building on social networks. But nothing will ever replace the power of real, live, human beings standing together for a cause. How do you get online activists not only to show up at real events – but to make those events truly awesome and effective?

Check out One Day, One Planet: A How-To Guide to Orchestrating a Global Day of Action on techpresident.com.

What does the future hold for democracy? For organizing around a cause? 350.org's Global Day of Action might give us a clue.

Recruitment: Turning Media Spikes Into Leads

Getting on the nightly news or in the local paper is one thing – turning that exposure into recruits is another. And your window of opportunity is short – 3-4 days at most to make the most of the exposure.

The blog over at Seachange Strategies is a great one to follow all the time, but this oldie-but-goodie post is a great read if you’re looking to grow your email list:

Seachange Strategies Blog

Are You Ready for the New Consumer?

Over at Katya’s Nonprofit Marketing Blog, Katya is asking: What are supporters expecting of your organization? Three things to consider:

1. Personal relevance
2. Social benefits
3. Tribal benefits

Are you ready for the new consumer?

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