I'm beginning to feel like my blog on this topic is becoming as repetitive as The Agitator's many sarcastic blogs on the Direct Mail is Dead topic. Perhaps if I say this 10 different ways, someone will hear it. Then again maybe not... but what the hell, I'm going to keep trying.
Twitter is NOT Direct Response
Let me repeat this. Twitter is NOT Direct Response! Don't treat it like direct response. It's not your cash cow. It's not your space to raise big dollars. There will be SOME charities who are well suited to running a good twitter campaign on Twitter and raise some direct dollars. However, most charities won't be able to log on to their twitter account, ask for money and receive it. It doesn't work that way.
Look at Mashable's Summer of Social Good. These guys are some of the foremost experts on social media. Thus far, they've raise just over $8000.00 to be split between 4 charities. These are large well known charities, partnering with some of the most well connected social media personalities around. It's not doing well. And there's a good reason for that - which I'll discuss in a later blog.
Do you want to be monetized?
Lets look at this more closely shall we? Would you send out a Direct Mail to your donors and ask them how we can monetize them? Charity and not for profit professionals are posting on Twitter and social networking sites all over the place asking how to monetize their supporters. Guess whose seeing that? Your supporters!
Do you approach your major donors, corporate sponsors, volunteers or any other constituency and ask them how you can monetize them? NO - you'd alienate them immediately!
Nobody wants to be "monetized" as an individual. How many conferences, courses, seminars etc. have you attended that review the motivations for giving? Have any of them said - people are dying to be monetized? NO!
Engage, Inspire, & Empower Champions!
Twitter and social media is the place where your supporters hang out. It's a social space, like a local pub, a community gathering place or anywhere else that people congregate to laugh, talk, share stories, information and otherwise be.... social!
Do you remember Herb Tarlek, the corny, cheesy, sales guy everyone hated on WKRP in Cincinnati?
When you wander into social media spaces and ask about monetizing your supporters you become Herb.
People can smell a Herb Tarlek 10 miles away. Do NOT become a Herb! The corporate world moved away from the Herb Tarlek approach decades ago. And the charitable and not for profit world appears to moving close to it.
Stop it - now! Stop talking about "monetizing social media" on social media. Your donors are there. Your clients are there. Your supporters, champions and friends are there. How much respect are you showing for these people when you refer to them in these terms?
Personally, I'm not giving to any charity who asks me for money without getting to know me. And they can all get to know me on social media. It doesn't take much. Send me some information, retweet something I've said, laugh at a funny link i've posted. COMMUNICATE WITH ME.
STFU About Monetizing People
Just so I am clear. People aren't cash cows. Nobody likes to be considered solely as a dollar figure.

See this guy to the left? Charities are looking more like greedy Mr. Burns than charities. When you talk about monetizing Twitter (or any other social media) you're talking about monetizing PEOPLE!
We're supposed to care about our supporters. We have missions that usually include spreading awareness about our cause and raising funds to help us achieve our mission. If we share information, listen to people. communicate WITH them, EARN their respect, admiration, and trust, they will be inspired to act and become champions. It's not a short term "ask and receive" proposition. If you really want to monetize people - get out of the charitable sector and become one of those multilevel marketing folks.
Waiting it out
Do you expect an acquisition mailing to be immediately profitable? Do you expect a newly launched Major Gift program to be immediately profitable? Do you launch any kind of business or charitable venture (except perhaps an event, which I would argue is often not at all profitable) to be immediately profitable? NO! Anything we do that is worth doing tends require initial investment, hard work, effort, relationship building and much more before it produces results.
If you're sitting back and waiting for someone to create a magic "monetization" template, you will miss the boat forever. The organizations who succeed at this aren't doing it over night. They've jumped in and invested and learned how it fits and works for them. They invested in people.
Back To Basics: Love Your People!
If you love your people and you treat them like the good people they are... If you take genuine pleasure in communicating with them on social networks - you're ahead of the game. There are many things you can do to maximize your IMPACT on social networks. Many ways to inspire, engage and empower champions and emerging champions - but before that happens, you have to respect them and love them.
Step one in demonstrating your genuine appreciation for people - is to stop talking about them in terms of monetization. Have I said this often enough yet?
I'll share more steps later - but lets see how many of you can observe step one for awhile, before we go further.
So in short - today's lesson is:
- Social media isn't a thing - it is people.
- People are nice and want to be inspired and help.
- People don't want to be monetized and get really pissed when you talk that way about them.
- If you view people as "monetization" you suck and your charity will suffer.
- If you love people, respect people and treat them like people - you rock and your charity will thrive.
Thank you and have a great day!
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