The Art of Listening: Social Media for Non-Profits

I spend a lot of time nagging talking about using social media professionally. It’s a tool I truly believe is invaluable. Both small- and large-scale programs can benefit from using social media to stay connected, heighten awareness and educate colleagues and the public about relevant issues that can strengthen communities as a whole. And yet…[sigh] medical-forensic programs are not widely embracing its use, and individual clinicians still seem to be avoiding Twitter and other types of social media engagement more often than not. But a girl can push her own agenda dream.

Allow me to introduce you to a new tool kit from the Greenlining Institute—The Art of Listening: A Social Media Tool Kit for Non-Profits (PDF). It’s relatively brief as tool kits go, and full of very specific, accessible ideas about how to go about using social media in your own organization or agency. You’re not obligated to engage once you open the file, but do me a favor–read it, please? Because one of the most common complaints I hear from colleagues is that other professionals and community members don’t even know their programs exist. Yeah, about that. I know that a table with brochures about your services during Sexual Assault Awareness Month generates a lot of awareness, but there are other things we can do all year long that can also make us more visible and educate our communities about important concepts we’d like them to know–about our services, about our partners and about victimization. Plus many of our funders (and potential funders) are on Twitter and the like. So consider how using social media in an organized and strategic way can help your program. Maybe this will be the year we start to create a real presence online.