This week I was the guest speaker in a UNC School of Social Work master’s program class called “Leveraging Social Media to Promote Social Change.” I conducted a workshop for the students on using social media tools in the context of a nonprofit organization.
Using my work at the School of Social Work as an example, I gave some background on how and why we started using social media; showed them all of the social media channels the School is using and the pros and cons of each; and discussed blogging, and how that strategically ties in to our social media plan. I also revealed some tips and best practices I’ve learned, and relayed a number of helpful resources.
The goal was to give the students practical ideas for how they might use social media and blogging to help an organization promote its mission, accomplish goals such as fundraising and volunteer recruitment, and inform communities about social issues. The workshop also assisted the students in developing the technical skills and knowledge necessary to use these tools.
We covered a lot of material in this class. The students were engaged, and asked great questions. After my presentation, they got started on their case study project in which they’ll create a social media plan, and then will use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogging hands-on to create an online presence for the organization.
Next month I’ll get to return for the final class, where they will present their completed project. They have some great ideas and a license to be creative, and I’m excited to see what these smart, talented students come up with.
