As part of our ongoing profiles section, we’re taking a look at people making a difference in the world of new media and are harnessing the power of web 2.0 to make positive change.
Today we’re talking to Danielle Brigida, Social Media Outreach Coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation. In the new media sphere, NWF has had a significant presence, pushing the envelope in how the organization approaches members and generates awareness of its campaigns. Everywhere you turn on the web, NWF seems to be there, whether it’s with a new video, a photo contest or simply just updates on what we all can do to enjoy nature, and Brigida is certainly one of the organization’s new media driving forces. She’s well respected in the world of green new media and last year was named one of the top 75 Environmentalists to Follow by Mashable. She has also spoken at a variety of new media events including South by Southwest.
We caught up with her to learn more about the ins and outs of her job and how she thinks new media is changing the layout of nonprofits.
How long have you been working as the Social Media Outreach Coordinator for NWF? How did you land the gig?
I started out as a grassroots assistant, doing data entry and trying to think of ways to engage activists. One of my tasks was maintaining the National Wildlife Federation’s MySpace page, and I was given the freedom to experiment with engaging people on that site and any others I could find. Since I was the Ecology Club President at my college, I knew that Facebook was another great way to connect with people, so I started testing out profiles, groups and pages for NWF. I’ve never looked back.
I’m always looking for new ways to engage people with any social site I can find. The more I was able to prove the value of having NWF’s brand represented online in these diverse ways, the more I was able to incorporate my after-hours experimentation into my current job description. I created this role for myself, and it wasn’t easy. I also can’t say that I’m done molding it to be what I know it has the potential to be. I’m lucky because the National Wildlife Federation does a great job of helping its employees explore their interests. Mine just happened to be social media from the start, and for the past 3 1/2 years I’ve been learning all that I can.
NWF certainly has a big social media presence, what are some main components of your social media outreach program?
I live by the “social media is for everyone” motto. That’s not to say we’ll all use the same tools in the same ways, but I think learning from life experiences (and that includes online) is incredibly important. When one of my colleagues comes to me interested in trying out social media, I help them focus in on what they want to do with their program, what audience they want to engage, and what their capacity is—knowing these answers helps me determine what sites they should be on.
I may be the only person with “social media” in my job title, but I’ve been able to persuade a good number of my coworkers to open their browsers and find out how their subject area is talked about on social networks. It almost instantly sells them on the value of participating, because they see a new world at their fingertips: instant focus groups, new people to connect with, people who might help share our message, people interested in helping out in any way they can, etc.
By empowering our subject-matter experts to communicate to the niche audiences interested in their subject, NWF as a whole benefits, because we are able to connect with more gardeners, Ranger Rick readers, political wonks, educators, parents, college students, etc. than anything I could offer up from a single NWF account.
Some of our staff may just lurk, some people may comment here and there, and my star pupils see the benefit of providing as much value in return to their audiences as they can. I’m seeing that no matter how much you engage, there is always something to gain from being present online.
What have been some of your most successful new media campaigns?
I’m not sure I would consider my success in the typical sense. We’ve definitely had some successful experiments, but the biggest overall success is that we’ve changed the way many of us work. For example, with our campaign to get kids outside, we’ve met many passionate parents online. This has helped us create better content, make more meaningful relationships and reach people we normally would not have reached.
We have more than 30 mommy bloggers who are our friends and help us assess our campaigns. We have used crowd sourcing to gather knowledge and interest around gardening stories and we’ve really just been using social media to lower the ladder of engagement so we can include more people and get more people engaged.
One campaign that did take us by surprise was our Endangered Species Day campaign. I wrote a blog post about how everyone knows of animals outside of the U.S. like the panda or the tiger, but very few could list endangered species in their own backyard. So we asked each person to pick a species and tweet all day about that species! It was more engaging then we EVER could have dreamed. We’re hoping to recreate the same experience and get people thinking locally when it comes to wildlife.
I truly believe as long as your learn something you haven’t failed.
What has social media allowed NWF to do that it couldn’t do before?
Social media allows us to truly connect with members. We are a big organization and we’re lucky to have so many supporters. I think our large size hasn’t always made it possible to connect with our base in the past. Thankfully, social media lets us talk to long time supporters from all over the world and engage with them daily–it’s very inspiring.
Not everyone has jumped on the new media bandwagon, how do you reach out to people that maybe aren’t used to getting news and information via new media channels like blogging?
Social media can be intimidating, and in some cases the only cure is actually trying it out. I found that once people play with it, they either love it or struggle with it and it may take a few more attempts to really get them to use it. Either way, I usually stress that some of the best users don’t have an “Aha moment” right away (you know, the moment you realize the value and want to explore it more). I love it when people come to me, to learn the tools because they generally listen more, and are more open to testing things out. I am passionate about connecting with people and I find that anyone who is interested in that will be interested in social media, for some though-it’s a series of baby steps. And that’s ok!
Why do you think new media is an effective tool for non-profits?
I think nonprofits represent passionate groups of people trying to make change. Social media allows for great organizing, information sharing and a perfect place to feed your passion (whatever it may be). With nonprofits, they may not always have the money for fancy tools, but with passion and content, social media can really be an asset to even the most understaffed nonprofit. I’m constantly impressed with the way nonprofits use social media. It’s invigorating!
How do you think new media is helping to create positive change?
There are so many benefits that we can garner from crowd sourcing and expanding our networks as well as learning and information sharing. I look at social media as a new way to do old business, and because of that I see positive change happening throughout the different communities. The neat thing about the tools is that they are simple enough to serve a number of different change initiatives at once. Look at Twitter, Twitter has successfully saved lives through its immediate response but it also serves as a collective knowledge pool. The way social media affects change is both instantly and over time. We’re learning, we’re growing and best of all, we’re communicating and I think that’s where social media can really create positive change.
Where do you get your news from?
Tons of RSS feeds and twitter of course. I read my RSS feeds like the paper every morning and track twitter throughout the day. Staying a top of our mentions and current events helps me be relevant to our members and social media friends.
What are 3 blogs that we should all be reading?
If you’re talking social media blogs, I think there are many!
My favorites are:
Beth.typepad.com
Kdpaine’s measurement blog
Kivi’s marketing blog and many more
You can check out the blogroll on
www.thenetnaturalist.wordpress.com for a few of my green pals too!
What are your main tips for people/organizations that want to be more effective in using social and new media?
Be brave and take the leap! Do social media for a few minutes a day or whatever you can spare. Interact with people, join conversations and add meaning, be yourself, ask questions, and push yourself to learn more every time you’re on the site. I have to say that “failing” isn’t going to happen unless you miss out on an opportunity to learn.
Thanks!
