The Best Thing You Can Do TODAY
I just received this email from meetup.com: “Ten years ago this month, Meetup was born. People thought we were crazy, but 76 million RSVPs later, it turns out we’re all a little crazy.”
I’d say we’re not crazy. We just long for community. We want to belong to a tribe . It’s a universal human yearning. Churches know this. Community centers know this. Yet not everyone belongs to these institutions. So… what’s the lesson for business, both nonprofit and for profit?
If we facilitate it they will come.
You notice I said “facilitate” rather than “build”. Because meet-ups are created organically. Whoever wants to start one, around whatever common interest, simply puts it out there. They see if anyone else shares their passion. Then – like any other social network — folks start joining and dialoguing and, before you know it, they’re a little engaged community.
What’s unique to me about meetup.org is that it’s both virtual and real-time. Because the groups arrange events where they “meet up.” It may be the “secure open social San Francisco” group arranging a “grub with people who care about online identity”… the “Fantastics 50 Plus” organizing a “Watch the Shining on Halloween”… a “Social Influencers Club” hosting “Free Social Coworking Fridays” … a “Walking for Health and History” group proposing a “Walk on Hidden Pathways”… the list is endless. I found 1,871 groups just within five miles of San Francisco
Meetup’s motto: “Use the internet to get off the internet.”
This reminds me an awful lot of two things:
1. Folks building tribes on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and the like (in other words, this is people self-selecting to be part of a tribe; it’s not us forming an alumni society or something else to which we assumepeople would care to belong).
Perhaps we’re not doing enough to allow people to organize according to their own interests. Aside from having attended the same school, what do alumni really have in common? They’re all ages. Some like outdoor activities. Some like indoor activities. Some like reading. Some like watching things. And so forth. Because we often don’t know exactly what to suggest that will have universal appeal (if there is such a thing) we end up either (1) guessing the wrong thing, or (2) putting the whole thing on the back burner. Huge missed opportunity.
What if we were to begin by virtually engaging with our constituents to see what they’d all enjoy learning, doing, seeing? A side benefit would be that we’d be forced to not do the back burner thing. If our constituents are telling us what they care about, we’d be nuts not to listento this need; then fill it.
USE THE INTERNET. It’s a great new tool. Don’t ignore it.
2. Us creating engagement activities for our folks. Those of
us who work in nonprofits know that engagement promotes a desire to be part of a family of supporters that can lead to philanthropy. But it’s easier said than done. For those of you who’ve had bad experiences trying to get people to show up for house parties, lectures or even really cool stuff like art tours or performances, what may be going awry?
us who work in nonprofits know that engagement promotes a desire to be part of a family of supporters that can lead to philanthropy. But it’s easier said than done. For those of you who’ve had bad experiences trying to get people to show up for house parties, lectures or even really cool stuff like art tours or performances, what may be going awry?
Perhaps we’re not creating the right activities. Penelope Burk’s groundbreaking research into donor-centered fundraising found folks insisting: “Show me that you know me.” I once had a donor who almost took back his donation because he thought it meant he was going to have to come to a black tie event – which totally was not his thing!
What if we began pulling; not pushing? Sure, it takes time to actively listen. But isn’t it much more effective than creating activities our constituents don’t want? Communication should have a purpose; engagement must be meaningful to the person we’re attempting to engage.
GET OFF THE INTERNET. Old tools are still good too. People to people is where true, meaningful, sustainable engagement happens.
What does using the internet to get off the internet mean to you?
How are you combining the use of both old and new engagement tools?
RANDOM BONUS: Want to win a free trip? You heard it here: To celebrate their success, meetup is having a contest to send one lucky winner to a meet-up anywhere in the world. Yes, they’re global. Meeting up. Connecting.It’s human nature – all over the world.
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