Do Nonprofits Still Need a Home Base?
Rebecca Leaman is the primary writer for Wild Apricot nonprofit technology blog and team member at AssociationJam.org.
I’ve always been a keen proponent of Chris Brogan’s home-base-and-outposts model as the most effective way for an organization to manage its Web presence. The basic idea is to set up profiles on those social networks where your supporters and prospects are already active, and engage them there in a way that will draw them back to your organization’s own blog or Web site for a deeper level of engagement or to complete a specific next action.
A case for a nonprofit or association wanting to move fans from social networks to home base is easily made: social proof, content control and a broader community than is possible on, say, Facebook — not to mention the SEO benefits of a constant stream of fresh user-generated content.
But Chris Bailey left a comment at Wild Apricot Blog recently that made me step back and question my working assumptions.
He said, in part:
I’m not sure I completely agree with the notion that a community should exist primarily on a nonprofit’s home site. That’s like us hosting a party and herding people having great conversations into certain rooms of the house WE want them to be in. Yes, we can always encourage the movement, but we do need to ask about the real costs of this action. Are we trying to exert too much control? And how will this be received by individuals already comfortable with their current surroundings?
The key I think here is to gently encourage rather than to push. Even so, some people will leave the conversation entirely rather than let themselves be herded into another room, and it can end up being a tough choice between stretching resources over several social media outposts or letting a significant number of people drop away from your cause.
So if nonprofits need to be active on mulitple social networks — and given what Chris points out is “an era of increasingly fragmented media,” spreading out across the channels is likely as unavoidable as it is challenging — the next question must be this:
Is the “home base” concept still relevant?
Are there still real benefits for an organization in centering its online activity around its own Web site?
My gut says “yes” but those benefits may be less tangible than even a year or two ago — although the SEO advantages of a home base remain vital as long as search engines play a large role in an organization’s online visibility.
And I see two more enduring advantages in the home-base-and-outposts model. Especially for smaller nonprofits without the staff to adequately manage a number of channels or platforms, the question of where to allocate those resources is more pressing every day. With a home base, the choice becomes simple. The other advantage is related more to positioning your organization as a trusted authority. The same social media fragmentation that can help you target a more specific audience — MySpace or LinkedIn? (two very different animals!) — can also fragment your message. Having one authoritative go-to source for up-to-date and reliable information about your cause can reassure prospective donors, enable supporters to communicate your message more consistently and bolster your organization’s credibility. When searchers for information on your nonprofit’s cause pull up a search results page, they’ll know which link to click first.
Regardless of what social network is hosting the party, I still believe that sometimes you just need to invite the crowd back home. Sitting around the virtual kitchen table with virtual coffee in hand is where the long, slow conversations take place and how our most enduring relationships are built.
Tags: association, nonprofits, Rebecca Leaman, social networks
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Posted by bethludwick on February 9th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
SmartBlog Insights: Do Nonprofits Still Need a Home Base?: Rebecca Leaman is the primary writer for Wi… http://bit.ly/98ghRe #association
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Posted by Chris Bailey on February 9th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Rebecca, I think you make some very valid arguments, particularly in relation to a nonprofit’s staff size. There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach here. For smaller orgs, maintaining one home base where the vast majority of conversation takes place is what responsibly scales for them. And I would rather see an association be successful within their own sense of scale than try to overextend and eventually serve no one.
Thanks for extending the dialogue. This is a juicy topic with a lot of right answers.
Posted by FSSimon on February 10th, 2010 at 5:43 am
Do Nonprofits Still Need a Home Base? http://ow.ly/15RiP Thought provoking post by @rjleaman #socialmedia #nonprofit #npo #nptech
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Posted by Rebecca Leaman on February 10th, 2010 at 8:03 am
Chris, my thanks for prompting this post, and for your comment. One of the joys of connecting with others online, truly, is that our basic assumptions are so often challenged – and so often in a thoughtful way that asks us to revisit those assumptions, and to justify – or revise – them!
You’ve put your finger on a key point, easily overlooked: that one size does not fit all. Much of the social media advice we read, though it may be very sound indeed, speaks directly to business or to large organizations. Scaling those evolving “best practices” to fit the smaller nonprofit or association can be an interesting challenge!
Posted by rjleaman on February 10th, 2010 at 9:10 am
Do Nonprofits Still Need a Home Base? http://ow.ly/15RiP Thought provoking post /via @FSSimon : thanks! – @chris_bailey helped
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Posted by Jeff Hurt on February 16th, 2010 at 6:30 am
Rebecca (& Chris):
Provocative post with some great insight and discussion.
Here’s my spin on this. The post assumes that smaller associations are providing a place for online conversations on their home base. So many small-staff nonprofits (ten employees or less) are not providing an online place for their members to converse. Those organizations are still operating static Web 1.0 pages without a second thought of hosting their members’ voices.
It’s hard to have a discussion around the kitchen table when the kitchen is not even available and the only the exterior of the house exists. It’s like the Hollywood backdrop set–a facade without anything behind it.
Heck, the nonprofit would do better if they at least provided a porch for members to sit, lounge and shoot the breeze. But alas, no porch, no rooms and barely a foundation to the house.
In those cases, members are creating their own discussion posts in other social media platforms. When the nonprofit realizes that people are talking about them in other places, it’s too late to create a home base and try to bring them back home. It’s like opening a restaurant for the first time. Until the organizers provide good, quality food for the members to devour and share, it’s not going to happen.
So the virtual kitchen table is a virtual picnic table setup in another playground by the members.
Posted by MissLynn13 on February 16th, 2010 at 8:24 am
Do Non-Profits Need a Home Base? http://bit.ly/bvQdzk [Interesting insights, agree in my own way]
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Posted by uberVU - social comments on February 16th, 2010 at 8:30 am
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by BethLudwick: SmartBlog Insights: Do Nonprofits Still Need a Home Base?: Rebecca Leaman is the primary writer for Wi… http://bit.ly/98ghRe #association…
Posted by JeffHurt on February 16th, 2010 at 9:05 am
Do Nonprofits Still Need a Home Base? by @rjleaman #nonprofit #assnchat http://ow.ly/17PPp
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Posted by Rebecca Leaman on February 16th, 2010 at 10:36 am
Jeff, what a great extension of the analogy!
I’d say that the assumption is more that event the smaller nonprofits *should* be making that kitchen table available, but you’re so right — there are still far too many static brochure-type websites out there. It’s sad that they’re missing the greatest (and most cost-effective) opportunity of being online: the opportunity to have that conversation.
No question, though, that with little or no staff, and perhaps little or no tech know-how, this whole business of “getting online” can feel overwhelming. And sure, a static website can feel like a safe first step for those small nonprofits — but often they seem to get stalled right there. Time passes, and they’re into the exact position you describe, where the conversation starts happening elsewhere and the NPO is left scrambling to (a) create their own kitchen table and (b) invite people in.
Here’s another observation — and I’d love to hear if anyone else has noticed the same thing:
Creating a static website can actually hold back an org in moving towards a blog/forum or other kind of two-way platform. Visitors who don’t find the information they need (or the opportunity to “talk back” they may want) will often hit the Contact page — and then the org’s overtaxed staff has to deal with an increase in email inquiries. So the concern then is, what will happen if we actively invite even more engagement? How will the staff, already stretched to the limit, handle those extra demands on their time?
Posted by rjleaman on February 16th, 2010 at 10:39 am
great comment from @JeffHurt here > Do Nonprofits Still Need a Home Base? http://ow.ly/17PPp
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Posted by dhutson on February 18th, 2010 at 11:10 am
Do Nonprofits Still Need a Home Base? http://bit.ly/akABuh
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Posted by SmartBriefScoop on February 19th, 2010 at 10:50 am
Join our ongoing discussion of “Do Nonprofits Still Need a Home Base?” http://ow.ly/17WTr #nonprofits #association
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Posted by Acronym on February 25th, 2010 at 5:58 am
Quick Clicks: Home runs…
Welcome to another edition of Quick Clicks. Thanks to all the association bloggers who give us so much great stuff to link to! – On the SmartBlog Insights blog, Rebecca Leaman wonders whether it still makes sense for nonprofits to……
Posted by Jeff Cobb on February 25th, 2010 at 8:22 am
Thanks for the mention, Lisa – and for all these other great links. (Glad you liked the toddler post. That was a fun one to write.) – Jeff
This comment was originally posted on Acronym
Posted by Lisa Junker on February 25th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
I’m always happy to link to great stuff, Jeff! (And I really did love your toddler post. I have a four-year-old, so the toddler years aren’t that far removed for me–and it’s still amazing to watch how fast she learns.)
This comment was originally posted on Acronym
Posted by Rebecca Leaman on February 26th, 2010 at 6:45 am
Lisa, thanks so much for the mention. The "home base" question is certainly still very much open for me – but maybe that’s all to the good: it can’t hurt to be pushed to re-examine our assumptions, right?
This comment was originally posted on Acronym