Pay Attention to Social Media to Protect Your Nonprofit Organization's Reputation

by Gary B. Grant

     In Part 1 of this 2-part series (Pay Attention to Watchdog Sites To Protect Your Nonprofit Organization’s Reputation), we saw the important opportunity to use independent watchdog sites to your advantage to proudly demonstrate your responsibility, financial stability, and good organizational behaviors, including showing transparency, welcoming input, and developing an effective strategy for achieving your mission. Here, we will discuss the even more challenging goal of managing public perceptions.

     Here, perceptions are everything. Funding could immediately dry up if there is even a hint of a scandal or negative impressions of the organization. To get ahead of this, it’s important again to not leave things to chance.

     Perhaps the biggest challenge is staying above the fray around unfavorable posts. For example, you may manage a Facebook site for your organization or constituency, but if you try to clamp down on negative posts, you may end up feeding the negativity and doing more harm than good. As uncomfortable as it may be, sometimes it’s best to let someone vent. Before you know it, their post will be history in the running discussions of social media.

     Pay attention also to how many respond approvingly to a negative post. If you routinely get 80 people to “like” and add value to positive posts, but less than five are feeding off each other on a negative one, then perhaps the dialogue is not doing any damage at all, and the poster is getting a bad reputation. It may be painful to see, but you will stir them up and perhaps inadvertently help them recruit others if you get in the mud, too.

     That’s not to say you shouldn’t respond, but do your best to stay on a higher ground. What I try to do is to restate their complaint in the politest possible way and use that voice when I do respond.

     For example:

Thank you so much for your feedback. I’m so glad you care enough about our mission to give us feedback, which we welcome. I do want to make sure you know a few facts about that situation and how we are handling it….Please continue to be an advocate.

     The important thing is not the facts you marshal, but how reasonable and inviting you are to dissent.

     At the same time, resist going back and forth after an initial response. Do not expect them to be converted to your view and repentant. They won’t be. In fact, your good, courteous response may even inflame them more. The important thing is that the hundreds watching the conversation will be much more sympathetic and appreciative of you. You’ve given them the facts they need to understand the situation, and you’ve demonstrated how positive you stay even in the face of insult.

     What if the negative poster is getting into it with another party? This is harder to stay out of. If you find that a poster is harassing and driving away people because of differences of opinions, then you may have to intervene. Not every one of your organizational fan base can be expected to remain cool when they feel attacked. Develop a policy that allows you to close threads and remove from your social media anyone who is making it very uncomfortable for others or inflaming conversation. Another tactic is to talk separately with individuals. Sometimes you can disarm their emotions one on one rather than publicly.

     In the situation where the social media site is not owned by you, you can, perhaps, still engage. Your staff can communicate with the unofficial site host. Offer to share moderating privileges if they think that might help. By being active when things are good, you can build a positive, trustful relationship with that website owner to engage when things go bad.

     In the end, just remember that social media is messy. There will be days you just want to shut down the whole internet for all the hassles in managing rudeness and misinformation. Instead of hoping for perfection, try to weigh the balance between the positives and the negatives. Are you getting enough support and donors out of social media to outweigh the headaches?

Gary B. Grant has a BA from the University of Chicago and a JD from Illinois Tech's Chicago-Kent College of Law. He currently serves as Senior VP for Development for Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech). Founded at the dawn of the Space Race in 1958, Florida Tech is the only independent, technological university in the Southeast. In this role, he oversees all fundraising and leadership engagement for the University. Gary has authored several books on the use of the internet in nonprofits and fundraising.