How a nonprofit CEO helped her organization adapt | Mixtape ...

The YWCA of Seattle is 118 years old & has adapted to use social media

?I see everything that we do at the YWCA, whether it?s with our clients, donors or volunteers, it?s all really about relationship and communication. So therefore social media is one more tool in that toolbox.?

Sue Sherbrooke, CEO
YWCA of Seattle/King/Snohomish

We?ve all heard the stories of nonprofit Executive Directors who dismiss social media because they don?t understand it or its value for their organizations. Sue Sherbrooke is not one of those CEO?s. She may be a self-described Luddite but she recognizes and celebrates what social media allows her 100+ year old organization to do.

Sue Sherbrooke, CEO of the YWCA Seattle/King/Snohomish, understands the value social media adds to her nonprofit & its mission.

As CEO of the YWCA of Seattle/King/Snohomish Sue?s at the helm of an organization that is very active on social media. In addition to having a Facebook presence they have at least 5 Twitter accounts tailored to specific audiences, like volunteers and GenRiser, or programs. Earlier this year they took it up a notch with Firesteel, a program that leverages social media for advocacy.

In a recent interview with Mixtape Communications Sue shared how??the YWCA has adapted to these new tools and how she sees her role as CEO in fostering this change. Read the highlights or listen to the whole interview in this podcast.

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On who championed using social media at the YWCA:

?? I don?t get any of the credit (for starting social media at YWCA). The credit I get is for not standing in their way.?

?As soon as I started to hear from people on our staff who were active in social media I could see that we needed to be doing this.?

?It certainly emerged from people who are fluent in that type of communications, and that would not be me. But my role as a leader at the organization is to see the value in it and how it can advance our mission. And to ask what I hope will be useful questions and to support the efforts.?

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?On role of social media & her own use of it:

??I see everything that we do at the YWCA, whether it?s with our clients, donors or volunteers, it?s all really about relationship and communication. So therefore social media is one more tool in that toolbox.?

?My own personal attitude towards that is that we have to do that. Whether I personally am a user of every social media technology is irrelevant. The organization needs to be fluent at that because it?s all about building relationships. I think it?s essential to our business.?

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?On the questions the YWCA asked to be ready for social media:

?Some of the barriers that I?ve personally needed to work through are the ones that I think most people who?ve been around a while have questions about. Can we manage this technology in a way that is not going to put our organization at risk? We had to work through issues of liability and privacy. We have to work through the whole manner of expectations. It?s one thing to say, ?we?re going to throw up a Facebook page? but once you do that you?re establishing a relationship and you need to be able to keep up your end of the obligation for that relationship. Another thing that I worry about is that we don?t want to do just one-off things. Whether it?s Firesteel or our other social media work that we?re doing with our GenRising group, it all needs to be integrated and consistent with our mission.?

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What has social media and technology made possible for the YWCA:

?The YWCA has a long rich history as a movement for women and girls, maybe even more than it has been a deliverer of social services. So the thing that we can?t do, without being fluent in social media, is maintain that sense of movement. And part of that is making sure that young women have a voice in what we do. Not just a voice in it, but help drive it. Social media is one of the tools for that. I?m very excited about how tools like Firesteel will help young women make their voices heard on issues they care about.?

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?Sue?s advice on social media?for other nonprofit CEO?s:

??Be open and be excited about it. And know that you don?t have to be a proficient user yourself to encourage your organization to be proficient. It?s not about you, it?s about the organization and its mission. You don?t have to be afraid of it, just because you?re not an user.?

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Firesteel is a new platform for advocacy that utilizes social media

What measurements Sue looks for to point towards social media?s success:

??For all our social media I look for pull through. It?s great to get the first time interaction but what I?m looking for is continued and increased engagement. We?re not satisfied with ?Likes?. What we want is for the young women and men who engage with us is to do a second thing, and a third or fourth thing. Whether it?s related to public policy or blogging on an issue. It?s all about an integrated, holistic approach to engagement with our mission.?

Listen to the whole interview and learn more from Sue.

Image ?thanks Flickr:koalazymonkey

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