Beth Kanter
Social media can be a scary place. There are many social media platforms ranging from social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn, microblogs like Twitter and Tumblr, video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo, and photo sharing sites like Instagram and Flickr. And those are only a few of them! Each social media site has different functions and best practices. They require time and resources to monitor, update, and use effectively. It takes time and energy to understand the sites, and to learn how to navigate and use them. All of these factors contribute to a reluctance of many nonprofits to embrace social media. They ask, is social media really worth the effort? Social media in nonprofits expert asks Beth Kanter a different question: how much is your organization missing out on if you don’t embrace social media? Her answer is: a lot!
In this podcast, Kanter discusses both the benefits of incorporating social media into your organization’s daily practices, as well as some of the barriers that some organizations face in effectively utilizing these technologies. She also reviews some strategies for assessing the effectiveness of your social media use. Throughout the discussion, Kanter provides many suggestions for using social media as well as concrete examples of ways that nonprofits have used social media effectively, in ways that have helped them to thrive.
Beth Kanter is the author of Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media, one of the longest running and most popular blogs for nonprofits. Beth has over 30 years working in the nonprofit sector in technology, training, capacity building, evaluation, fundraising, and marketing. Beth is an internationally recognized trainer who has developed and implemented effective sector capacity building programs that help organizations integrate social media, network building, and relationship marketing best practices. Beth is an expert in facilitating online and offline peer learning, curriculum development based on traditional adult learning theory, and other instructional approaches. She has trained thousands of nonprofits around the world.
Interviewer: Nancy Smyth, PhD, LCSW
