April 20, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
Washington
Are nonprofit groups too fortress-like in their approach to social media?
Allison Fine, an expert on nonprofit groups and the host of Social Good, a Chronicle podcast, told participants today at a conference that charities have yet to demonstrate that they understand the interactive nature of tools such as Facebook and Twitter.
The conference, sponsored by the Points of Light Institute, is an effort to bring together nonprofit leaders and volunteers to discuss how social-media tools can change the way people solve social problems.
With that goal as the backdrop, Ms. Fine said that while the number of nonprofit groups has exploded over the past 20 years, most of them are working to solve problems in isolation rather than reaching out to others to work collaboratively.
Today, however, organizations can use social-media tools to engage more people in conversations about their work, she said. To do that, nonprofit organizations should work with “free agents” who are fascinated with social media, passionate about a cause, able to create their own content and nurture their own networks, and are effective in what they do.
Ms. Fine described a new kind of entity called “a networked nonprofit,” which includes organizations that have used social-media tools for social change. The American Red Cross, the Humane Society, and Planned Parenthood are examples of nonprofit groups that have become networked organizations, she said.
These groups don’t simply work with networks, she said, they act like networks.
Most important, she said, is that the organization’s leaders embrace an interactive culture and let others see what they are doing.
