Spitfire-Mast

Issue 17 - Sep-Oct 2011

Change is constant. Every day, organizations must find ways to adapt to changing roles, shifting circumstances and evolving technologies. To successfully keep up with it all, organizations must adjust their communications efforts to meet these changes. Keep reading for strategies that will help your organization navigate the coming political winds as the 2012 elections draw closer. We've also got tips for putting Facebook's makeover to work for you and fun insights on side-stepping the pitfalls of celebrities while using their star power to move your issue forward.

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What's Inside
Good to Great - Blazing the Trail to Election Day
Web 2.What? When Like Just Isn't Enough: Facebook Changes
Reach Out and Influence Someone - How to Use - Not Abuse a Celebrity Spokesperson

Good to Great

Smart Strategies for Success

Blazing the Trail to Election Day
Part two in a series focused on preparing for Election Day.  

by Ed Walz - Vice President, Pete Rafle - Vice President, and  Stephanie Zarecky - Senior Account Executive

A year from today, we will be in the homestretch of the coming election cycle, overwhelmed by candidate ads and election media coverage. To help nonprofits get ready for Election Day 2012, we launched this guide to election season. 

Our first article was crafted to help you determine whether Election Day 2012 matters to your organization - either because the issue you focus on is affected by government policy or because your organization receives government funding. Here, we'll explore how you determine which races matter most as you become increasingly more "election aware."

First, consider which policymakers matter most to your work. Changes to the status quo may have a ripple effect on your work, for better or worse. Is an incumbent you already have a relationship with up for re-election? What about members of committees that have an impact on your work? What about someone in a leadership role? Do any candidates have a positive track record on the issues you care about? Those legislators are often well positioned to direct positive attention to your issues during the campaign.

Second, pick one or (at most) two to focus on. With so many federal, state and local elections, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the volume of races that could affect your work. But, if you narrow your attention to one or two of the most relevant races, you can make the most of your time and energy.

Now it is time to do your homework! Here are some things to explore:  

  1. District - Gather as much information as possible on the areas your target policymakers represent, including population, demographics, average income, education, crime rates and major industries. Policymakers and candidates often have this information available on their websites. Other sources include city and county governments and chambers of commerce, as well as the U.S. Census Bureau.
  2. Election Calendar - Research dates for candidate debates, primary elections and general elections. Your state and county boards of elections are reliable sources for this information.
  3. Candidates - Read the candidates' bios, websites, newsletters and social media to learn more about their positions. If they are incumbents, research their voting history and public statements on relevant issues. If they have run for office previously, note how well they did in previous elections as well as endorsements and donors. The Center for Responsive Politics operates a website that allows you to research candidates' campaign contributions.

This information will enable you to lay the groundwork to ensure the issues you care most about are a part of the public conversation during election season.  

Check out the Jan/Feb issue of Spitfire Sparks to learn how to put this research to work for you.

Web 2.What?

Cracking the Code on the Latest Trends and Tools 

When Like Just Isn't Enough: Facebook Changes

by Jaymie Gustafson - Director and Phoebe Kilgour - Account Coordinator

Each season seems to bring changes to Facebook. The social networking site's most recent transformation includes major shifts in functionality that have left many organizations wondering how they can most effectively leverage these changes. Here are some tips to help you continue to reach and engage your target audiences - and track your success. 

Despite the recent Facebook updates, one rule continues to hold true - before attempting to engage social media audiences, you must define your objectives and be clear about what you are using social media to achieve. Are you trying to incite action from your audience, build a community of support or have another goal in mind? The answers to these questions should inform how you use Facebook's changes to effectively engage your target audiences.

Once the Facebook changes are complete, individuals will not have to like your page to write on your wall or share a post. This change emphasizes the importance of creating compelling, engaging posts that encourage fans and page visitors to visit your page and interact with your profile.

When people comment on your post, like your post or share your post with their friends, it is elevated to "Top News" in the news feed, making it visible to more Facebook users. Now more than ever it is critical to craft posts designed not just to get your target audiences to read them, but to engage with them. .

As the value of like or the number of fans your organization has decreases, tracking how people interact with your organization's content becomes more important. Facebook Insights now includes new metrics that make tracking audience engagement quick and easy. As before, you can see how many people like your organization. You can also gauge how many people are "talking about your posts," which includes anyone liking, commenting on or sharing your post. Since individuals no longer need to like your page to "talk about" your content, this new metric will give you the true story.

Here are a few tips you can use to encourage and track engagement on your Facebook profile: 

  • Include pictures or video that relate to the post content
  • Pose a question to followers they can respond to in the comments section
  • Ask for feedback using the polling function
  • Ask individuals to like your post if they agree with or support your effort
  • When possible, tag other organizations or Facebook pages in your post so that visibility is increased
  • Use Insights to track which posts are most "talked about" and analyze what types of posts, topics or issues are interesting to your fans

Facebook remains an important social media platform and by following these tips you can continue to maximize its reach to your organization's benefit.  

Reach Out and Influence Someone

Tips to Spread Your Message  

How to Use - Not Abuse - a Celebrity Spokesperson  

by Benjamin Gass - Account Executive and Emily Lowe - Account Coordinator

Everyone pays attention to celebrities. Even if you are not tempted by the tabloids at the supermarket, it is hard to avoid stealing a glance at the latest gossip. We are drawn in by the familiar faces, the makeup and the lifestyle most of us cannot afford.

Hollywood may have a progressive bias, but few celebrities turn into activists for a cause. Those that do, however, can have great impact - some for better, like Wyclef Jean's efforts for post-earthquake Haiti, and some for worse, such as Kanye West's bizarre outburst during a televised fundraiser for Katrina victims.

Here are a few lessons for using - and not abusing - celebrities in your advocacy:


  • Provide a meaningful way to be involved. During her keynote address at the 2011 Communications Network Conference in September, actress America Ferrera implored nonprofits to actually engage celebrities on an issue instead of simply asking them to thoughtlessly attach their names to a cause. While Ferrera is often approached to autograph a purse or a pair of shoes to be auctioned off to benefit a nonprofit, she said she prefers when organizations explain to her why their issue matters and how her involvement can lead to real change. Engaging celebrities means finding the right asks, not just the easy ones.
  • A celebrity can be the face of your campaign, but not of your organization. A celebrity face can help draw awareness to a specific cause or make your campaign hip. But celebrities sometimes have meltdowns (Mel Gibson in 2006 or Charlie Sheen in 2011), and you don't want your organizational brand to hinge on someone who can easily fall out of favor with the fickle public. When they go down, you don't want to go down with them.
  • Keep them on message - your message. Celebrities have the stage and the audience to champion a cause loud and clear; they can amplify any message. But it's important to equip your celebrity advocates with your message, providing them with the stats and language your organization uses. If you don't, you not only lose an opportunity for your messages to reach a wider audience; you put your cause at risk when your spokesperson is not prepped with key messages and accurate facts. The case in point is what Heather Mills did to the legitimacy of veganism as a celebrity spokeswoman for PETA when she said that meat "sits in your colon for 40 years and putrefies, and gives you the illness you die of.
A celebrity champion can help push an issue to the forefront of people's minds and provide the momentum you need to achieve real change. As you weigh whether and how to engage a celebrity in your advocacy campaign, don't let the glitz and glam stop you from making smart choices that protect your organization and advance your cause.
Spitfire Strategies is dedicated to helping nonprofits and foundations create and implement high impact communications programs to achieve their social change goals. To learn more, visit www.SpitfireStrategies.com.

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