I was lucky enough to meet Paull Young when I was last in New York. We had a really interesting conversation about how social media has changed the fundraising landscape. Prime examples of this change are Twestival and colalife. These grassroots fundraising campaigns demonstrate the power of social media to mobilise a large number of people from across the world for the greater good.

One of the challenges that social media presents for fundraisers is how to sustain interest in a particular cause while continuing to raise money. The Red Cross relief effort for the victims of the bush fires in Victoria raised a staggering amount. This was partly due to the extensive international media coverage of the tragedy as it unfolded. However, what happens next? What happens when people no longer feel compelled to donate because the danger isn’t imminent despite the continuing need for donations?

Social media is the answer! It provides a level of connectivity and interaction that, generally speaking, is unparalleled with other mediums. Presuming that social media encourages people to be more socially aware and thus more socially conscious, does this lead to an increase in donations on an ongoing basis? Or, do fundraisers have to continue to use social media to capture people’s interest as the critical need for donations arises? After all, “social” media should be used for “social” good. Right? This is what Paull had to say:

What are your thoughts?

Last Wednesday I went along to measurement camp.

The idea behind the camp, inspired by a chinwag event, is to have regular sessions where people within the social media sphere come together to discuss how to measure social media campaigns/engagement projects.

The format of the 2hr workshop usually consists of brief introductions (depending on numbers) followed by a series of break out groups (designed to solve specific measurement issues) and ending with a group wrap-up session.

As the only government person in attendance (and possibly the first) it was reassuring to hear that everyone is facing the same dilemma’s regarding tracking customer/citizen sentiment; mapping user journey; quantifying behavioural change based on marketing/engagement activity; and deciphering comments/posts from the blogosphere.

Discussions focused on the need to improve online evaluation strategies and the collection of social media statistics. Whilst these issues are extremely important I think there should also be an emphasis on the need to evaluate the entire process, including measuring how on-and-offline approaches integrate, if at all. Perhaps, I should raise this at the next meet-up!

In addition, a number of commercial monitoring applications were also discussed. However, interestingly the conversation kept resorting back to traditional measurement indicators, such as:

• Benchmarking (comparing attitudes before and after the campaign/engagement activity);
• Level of interaction (number of posts and responses), and
• Whether objectives were met.

Social media has certainly enabled people to interact in different ways but the underlying principles of engagement (conversing and building relationships) still apply. The challenge is how to produce a clear picture of what is going on when there are fragmented conversations and relationships being developed in a million different places.

The measurement quest continues. At least I know that I’m not alone!

Yesterday I was proud to be inaugurated into the FutureGov Consultancy team along with Justin Kerr-Stevens.

To mark the occasion, FutureGov is giving one official from either local or central government the opportunity to attend the Politics Online conference in Washington! To enter all you have to do is tell us in 140 characters why you think you should go. It’s that simple!

Best of luck!!

Tufts University in the States has created a wiki that allows people to input to the syllabus for their new Digital Engagement and Democracy courses.

While you have to request permission from the University to edit the content (which I have done successfully) I think that this is a HUGE step towards open and transparent collaboration. What I like about Tufts’ approach is that it is using the tool for the right reason. Yep, you got it – COLLABORATION and ENGAGEMENT. Too many organisations, companies, agencies and government departments use social media as a broadcast channel. Even the Obama campaign, to some degree, is guilty of this. Ari (social media analyst and blogger) also agrees.

It will be interesting to see who contributes. In my experience people seem reluctant to directly edit content. Instead they prefer to raise issues and discuss them. For a project I’m currently working on I used a wiki to co-design evaluation metrics for online engagement initiatives. Only a handful of people got involved despite a number of people expressing interest. In part this is due to the scope of the marketing strategy, the timeframe, and the specialist nature of the topic.

Good luck Tufts! I’ll be keeping track of this exciting project.

Ok, so perhaps the entire world might not be listening but what an ambition to have! I figure it has taken me long enough to start blogging so why not aim high!

The reason that I’ve finally decided to take the plunge into the wide world web is because I realise that I can share and discuss  (in my mind a euphemism for blog) about my thoughts, observations and viewpoints in a way that enhances and informs my thinking instead of compromising my professional position.

So, let’s engage away!