What can a secure social media platform mean for your nonprofit?

Last week I talked about how social media platforms could help us work together in new ways, but it will also have an impact on how and what we know about each other. Social media provides us a new way to get to know and understand our colleagues, collaborators, clients, and supporters.

It had been widely reported that social network users have surpassed email users. People are using social media to share information about their activities, interests, likes, and dislikes. Is the Social Sector listening? Are we sharing? What can we do with this information? Mark Benioff talked about a social divide beginning between businesses that are social and those that are not. He even predicts that the next Arab Spring will be a “Corporate Spring” where heads of companies will be taken down because they are not listening enough to their employees and their customers.

What should the social sector do differently now that we have a new way to get to know each other, listen, and learn? What does this mean for fundraising? Marketing and communication? Volunteer recruitment and management? Evaluation and data collection?

I don’t think any of us can foresee all of the answers to these questions yet, but I want to urge us to begin to Get Social about how we can move the social sector to the forefront of the social revolution. Where to begin? Start the conversation by adding your comments to this blog about ways you think social media and the cloud can help advance your mission.