Discovering how to best connect with board members, clients, donors and other stakeholders using the newest, ever-evolving social media tools shouldn’t have to drive a nonprofit organization crazy.

In fact, it’s much easier than most professionals realize, said Amy Sample Ward, community development manager at TechSoup Global.

“Anyone can do this and you can have a presence on every piece of the Web, but you don’t have to, in order to be successful,” Sample Ward said.

In a recent interview with Nonprofit Business Advisor, Sample Ward spoke about some of the most common social media errors nonprofits make, and some of the best ways to maximize social media tools throughout the new year.

According to the author, blogger and speaker, social media can be defined as any tool that allows for a two-way exchange of information. It differs from older types of technology, such as television or radio broadcasting, she said, and can include anything that enables dialogue or sharing of files, knowledge or conversations.

“[Defining social media] really brings us to the first mistake nonprofits make,” Sample Ward said. “It should never be pigeonholed. Many people replace a definition of social media with whatever the newest [tool] is … and they forget that it can actually be as simple as e-mail,” she said.

Nonprofit organizations should consider which forms of social media they are already using, such as e-mail, websites and blogs to determine how much exchange is already taking place, and if they are correctly adding the functionality and platforms needed to grab hold of users and generate interactions, said Sample Ward.

For instance, Facebook is not social media, she said, but it is a type of social networking platform—just like LinkedIn and Ning—that allows like-minded groups a chance to communicate. Other platforms include: video sharing, such as YouTube; photo sharing, such as Flickr; text communications, such as Twitter; and blogs within the blogosphere.

With such a broad array of platforms and tools available for an organization to choose from, Sample Ward said, nonprofits often fall victim to another social media mistake: peer pressure, or feeling that if Organization X has a Facebook page, they should too.

“You may go to a conference and hear a story about someone’s wonderful Facebook page and start to think, ‘I must start a page tomorrow,’” she said. Yet in reality, an organization should consider whether its community—its volunteers, donors, stakeholders and all the people who use the organization’s programs and services—are actually using Facebook, she said.

“Creating a Facebook page and having zero people using it may not be the best way to connect with your community … and it shows the community that you are not really paying attention,” said Sample Ward. “Giving into peer pressure is not good, but it is okay to ask in your e-newsletter where your constituents are already hanging out. People will tell you,” she said.

And not asking those constituents is another common mistake nonprofits make. “You need to take the time to do your research, so you are not driving blind,” the community development manager said. “Nonprofits are used to doing due diligence for most of their programs and services. Why should their social media be any different?” Sample Ward said.

“Even though the tools are free or very cheap, they still take time and energy,” she said, “and you wouldn’t launch a direct mail appeal without a strategy concerning ‘the ask’ or what the follow-up message will be, so why create a Facebook page and not have an idea about what kind of actions you want to drive there?”

Finally, Sample Ward said that nonprofits should rest assured that their organizations can take on social media and win.

“Most research shows that if you have two hours total in a week, you can be successful in social media,” she said. “It doesn’t have to feel as if you are launching another organization on Facebook. Ask your constituents what they want, create a strategy and spend a half-hour, four days a week making sure the content is there for them. It’s not that much to commit to and it doesn’t have to drive you crazy.”

For more information

Amy Sample Ward is a blogger, facilitator and trainer focused on leveraging social technologies for social change. She is also the community development manager for a program area at TechSoup Global called Community-Driven Innovation, where she manages, among other things, the strategy and community for NetSquared.org. In 2009, Sample Ward co-authored Social by Social: A Handbook in Using New Technologies for Social Impact, which can be downloaded at no cost at SocialBySocial.com. You can connect with Sample Ward and learn more about her work at AmySampleWard.org or TechSoupGlobal.org.