Friending the Finish Line: Why Social Media for Child Advocacy?November 9, 2011

Children in the Budget:Why Did First Focus Get Involved?

www.firstfocus.net

FRIENDING THE FINISH LINE: SOCIAL MEDIA NONPROFIT BEST PRACTICES

Attention in An Age of Media Overload

Source: Steve Rubel

Source: Beth Kanter

Children in the Budget:

Kids’ Programs Are Voters’ Priority

Lake Research Partners:

• 82-10% support for SCHIP reauthorization

– 93-3% among Democrats– 76-11% among Independents– 73-18% among Republicans

– 92-4% among Obama voters– 71-18% among McCain voters

– 83-10% among born-again Christians

– 80-13% among voters in the South– 81-14% among rural voters

Kids’ Programs are Voters’ Priority

22%

28%

33%

33%

35%

43%

48%

49%

49%

51%

54%

61%

49%

52%

46%

51%

42%

41%

37%

41%

40%

37%

34%

27%

28%

19%

21%

16%

22%

16%

14%

9%

10%

11%

12%

10%

Transportation Funding

Job-Training Programs

National Defense

Medical & Scientific Research

Unemploymenet Insurance

Student Loans/Pell Grants

Head Start

Medicare

Medicaid

CHIP

Child Nutrition Programs

K-12 Education

No Reduction Minor Reduction Major Reduction

Leaders Say the Right Things But…

Speaker Nancy Peolsi: “…what are the three most important issues facing Congress? Our children, our children, our children” (Washington Post, Dec. 21, 2009)

“Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said the expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program was the most significant development of the past 10 years” (Great Falls Tribune, Jan. 3, 2010)

Share of Total Federal Spending

Activation Point: Achieving Policy Change

Four Key Steps

Increase Knowledge: Data/Reports• Building Will:

• Overcoming barriers• Speak with a unified voice/working across silos• Creating a positive campaign• Stronger and coordinated communications

• Create Policy Agenda: Legislative, administrative/community change• Take Action: Identifying/creating windows of opportunity

The Road Ahead: Why Social Media?

• Increase Knowledge– Reports: Children’s Budget/KIDS COUNT– Letters/Testimony/Fact Sheets

• Build Will– Create Community/Speaking With Unified Voice– Improving Our Communications/Messaging

• Create Policy Agenda• Take Action

– Identify/Create Windows of Opportunity– Engage Allies/Key Stakeholders

Social Media: Helping Us Attain Our Advocacy Goals

• Increase Knowledge– Draw Traffic/Attention to Your Content– Control Message/You Are Your Own Media Channel– Reach New Audiences (other groups, individuals, bloggers)– Reach “Elites” (e.g, Rep. Doggett, Charles Blow, Jimmy Wayne)

• Build Will– Create Campaigns (e.g., #dontcutkids) & Community– Issue Concise/Action-Oriented Messages– Costs Nothing (…okay, there is the cost of time)

• Take Action– Identify/Create Windows of Opportunity– Engage Allies/Key Stakeholders/Decision-Makers

Social Media: Helping Us Attain Our Advocacy Goals

• Increase Knowledge– Draw Traffic/Attention to

Your Own Content– Control Message/You Are

Your Own Media Channel– Reach New Audiences

(other groups, individuals, bloggers)

– Reach “Elites” (e.g, Rep. Doggett, Charles Blow, Jimmy Wayne)

Creating Buzz: Driving Traffic/Attention to Content

Release of “Children’s Budget 2001”

• Largest Single Day of Traffic to First Focus Website…Ever• Large Amount of Traffic From Facebook and Twitter• Costs Us Nothing When People Download Content

Controlling Content: Creating Own Media Channel

• Publicize your own content• Frame issue using your own talking points, hashtags

Social Media: Reaching “Media Elites”

A report released this month by Jane Waldfogel of Columbia University and the London School of Economics paints a fascinating portrait of how smart policies and targeted investments in that country have produced stellar results.

Social Media: Reaching “Other Elites”

Social Media: Helping Us Attain Our Advocacy Goals

• Build Will– Create Campaigns (e.g.,

#dontcutkids) & Community

– Issue Concise/Action-Oriented Messages

– Costs Nothing (…okay, there is the cost of time)

Speak with One VoiceChildren at the Federal Level:

Children

Children’s

HealthEducation

Hea

d St

art

Child Care

Juvenile Justice

Foster Care

Home Visiting

Child Safety Seats

Infant Mortality

Childhood Obesity

Substance Abuse

BullyingEven Start

Healthy Start

Child Abuse & Neglect

ImmunizationsNo Child Left Behind

Adoption

Maternal & Child Health

Childhood Research

Autism

Child

DevelopmentPre-

K

Mis

sing &

Explo

ited C

hild

ren

Smoking Prevention

Child Tax Credit

Servic

e

Child

Nutr

itio

n

Build Will: Creating a Campaign and Speaking With One Voice

Social Media: Building Will with “Twitter Bombs”

Social Media: Helping Us Attain Our Advocacy Goals

• Take Action– Engage Allies/Stakeholders

• Different From Sign-On Letters, Which Are One Big Hit But Much More Passive

• “Rule of Six”– Identify/Create Windows of

Opportunity• Listening/Injecting Self Into

the Conversation• Opening Windows• Creating Accountability

Ladder of Love on Social Media

FRIENDING THE FINISH LINE: SOCIAL MEDIA NONPROFIT BEST PRACTICES

Source: Beth Kanter

Why it is a good idea to get started

Have A Strategy: Content Curation

FRIENDING THE FINISH LINE: SOCIAL MEDIA NONPROFIT BEST PRACTICES

Source: Gartner

Technology Hype Cycles

Controlling Content: Creating Own Media Channel

• Publicize your own content• Frame issue using your own talking points, hashtags

Spreadsheet: Who is Posting What, Where, When Recycle, Repurpose, Reimagine

Report Release

Children in the Budget:

Contact InformationChildren in the Budget:

Bruce LesleyPresident, First FocusBruceL@firstfocus.net

202-657-0670

www.firstfocus.net

Bruce LesleyPresident, First FocusBruceL@firstfocus.net

202-657-0670

www.firstfocus.net