Social Ch@nge

Are you a social media trysumer? A digital dilletante, you are constantly trying out all sorts of social media sites, online networks and forums.  You flit from one to the next, finally settling on a few that work for you - for now.  You are, rather literally, a social butterfly. You just might be the future of online fundraising.

Trysumer has entered our lexicon, describing a class of consumer who constantly seek new products and experiences.  The good news? They have a great willingness to experiment and play with new ideas and things.  The bad news? They have ridiculously short attention spans.

Put in these terms, being trysumer comes off as a pretty negative thing.  I can imagine a boardroom filled with marketing wonks, all wringing their hands over these new consumers who just won’t behave. Where’s their brand loyalty?  Why won’t they stay on one damn channel?

Now put trysumers within the context of the internet and social media sites.  To me, their behaviour starts to sound a little more like engaged citizens.  Not the “vote once every four years” model: instead, this demographic is constantly voting with their feet, showing their support for different sites at different times.

Why are social media trysumers important to non-profits?

First, the behaviour of trysumers is becoming more widespread.  It’s often associated with the millenial group, or “Generation Y” - a younger group who have never known a time without broadband. But as our culture grows more familiar with the internet, and as countries like Canada become more wired, I suspect we’ll see more grannies acting like social media trysumers.

Second, your old Jedi mind tricks won’t work on them.  This group is much less likely to respond to traditional fundraising techniques - direct mail, phone solicitation, gala events.  Instead, they want to search out and find something new and cool to spend their money and attention on.

Third, the social media trysumers represent a huge opportunity to grab a massive base of supporters.  See, while they might not stick with you in the long term, the social media trysumers are much more likely to stop by and help out.

For an example, Advancing Philanthropy reports on a case from Argentina, where Greenpeace was able to collect 1.5 million online subscribers to its “Save the Forests” campaign in 65 days. Do the math: that’s about 1,000 new faces every hour.  That’s powerful stuff.

You can’t ignore them, and they can be great allies.  What will your strategy be to net the social butterflies?

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If you are stuck for how to incorporate social media into your non-profit, run don’t walk to Beth’s Blog: How Non-Profits Can Use Social Media. Every post is relevent, but we’re referring you to a post that explicitly detailed some of the workshop exercises she uses (and that you can use) to gauge your intergenerational non-profit’s readiness to use social media.

Obviously, we are also fans of NetSquared - participate in a NetTuesday if you’re looking for free training and  peer support when it comes to the social web.