Association generates opportunity to connect with people outside of community living movement
LiveWorkPlay quadruples volunteer base by using social media marketing
Friday, February 05, 2010 -- Natalie Hamilton
LiveWorkPlay is connecting with people outside of the community living movement and increasing its volunteer base dramatically through the use of social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter.
With 1,000 fans on Facebook and 1,000 followers on Twitter, the online tools are helping the organization engage with new people and share knowledge about inclusion with a broader audience, says Keenan Wellar, CEO and co-founder of LiveWorkPlay.
Wellar says while traditional media also plays a role in educating the general public, social media marketing is proving to be very beneficial for Community Living Ottawa.
"We have utilized social media marketing as part of an integrated strategy that has resulted in a quadrupling of our volunteer team and other community development achievements, all in a period of less than six months," says Wellar.
"It may not seem important to organizations who are doing just fine without it, but most associations are certainly facing issues such as the recruitment of new volunteers and staff. Increasingly younger applicants want to work for organizations that understand social media," Wellar adds. "People are expecting it."
Many of the new recruits to the organization are in their late 20s and early 30s, a population LiveWorkPlay hasn't reached successfully in the past. When these users of Facebook and Twitter become fans and followers of LiveWorkPlay, not only do they get to stay in touch with the association and other volunteers, they expose their friends to the organization, creating the potential for the network to grow even more.
For example, Wellar recently posted a link to a television segment featuring a person who accesses supports from LiveWorkPlay. It generated a lot of feedback and contributed to dialogue that wouldn't have happened otherwise, he explains.
LiveWorkPlay is investing in learning more about social media marketing and has submitted a proposal to discuss Invitations for Inclusion: Engaging with Individuals Outside of the Movement One Person at a Time at Community Living Ontario's annual conference this spring.
"We also see it as part of our responsibility in working to promote inclusion with those who are not directly connected to people supported by our organization. Needless to say, as an organization with eight staff serving 70 individuals, the 1,000 fans and 100 volunteers -- none of those hundred are connected to individuals or families we support -- indicates we have succeeded in bringing a new segment of the community to the inclusion movement."
Visit LiveWorkPlay on Facebook by clicking here and on Twitter by clicking here.
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