In the past two years, environmental charity WWF UK has established an active social media programme that has promoted its causes and set the stage for future activity. As WWF’s social media advisor, we’ve worked with the organisation to build a deeper understanding of the value of online activity and how to make it work effectively. The combined team of WWF and NixonMcInnes is taking the charity’s social media programme from strength to strength.
Since 2009 we have worked with WWF to help the organisation manage its social media activity. Our work has included innovations that helped the organisation transfer more control of its social media programme from being outsourced to being in-house, measuring campaign effectiveness, and helping WWF’s Communications and Fundraising departments create related social media programmes to meet their individual objectives. In 2011, we have built on this success, continuing our work with WWF on a retained basis.
In-house teams trained, enabled and supported by NixonMcInnes
WWF’s new social media programme is more action-orientated; less focused on research and developing understanding, more on expertly putting initiatives into play. The social media council continues to guide a coordinated approach, no longer chaired by NixonMcInnes, but by individuals in the WWF team. Having helped WWF take command of its strategy, we now have an advisory role. We run quarterly workshops with WWF to identify key campaigns, goals and measures, and generate tactical ideas. Once approved, WWF teams will drive implementation, using NixonMcInnes resources where they can help the most.
Dual social media strategies for multiple departments’ needs
We help WWF’s fundraising department to achieve specific objectives: proving a clear return-on-investment, improving retention of donors and advocates and creating awareness that becomes advocacy. The communication programme is taking a similar approach, enabling the team to manage its own actions, but with NixonMcInnes helping to formulate the baseline strategy against objectives: building a team of external advocates, empowering WWF’s people to make even more use of social media, and embedding social media into its annual operational plan and wider communication strategy.
Integrating social media into the heart of the charity
One of the key successes in the past year, on which the partnership will build further, is the ever-increasing integration of social media at a strategic and tactical level. Whereas social media was once the domain of the online team alone, or applied to an activity where possible, digital and social have become integral elements of the WWF communications approach.
“A more integrated approach will drive powerful change”
Max St John is our lead consultant on not-for-profit accounts:
Our work in this sector is about deepening relationships between the organisations seeking to effect positive change in the world and the people who will help them deliver it. Social media provides opportunities to do this, whether that’s through building online advocacy or helping to achieve long-term sustained behaviour or legislative change. WWF’s enthusiasm, appetite and proven capability from its work in social media will fuel new innovations that can bring about those high-level objectives in ever more impressive ways and drive powerful change for WWF.
Highlights
- Complementary strategies for fundraising and communications departments
- New ROI strategy to accurately measure campaigns against high return targets
- Empowering WWF to create and manage its own social media programme
