If you are in Kansas City and not attending Social Media Club of Kansas City (SMCKC) breakfasts, you're missing outstanding social media-related speakers and content monthly. The September presentation from Scott Monty at Union Station was fantastic, and October's Social Media Club of Kansas City breakfast (back at the Kansas City Cafe) was equally strong, featuring Mike McCamon, Chief Community Officer from Water.org.
I've been struck by the organization's compelling online strategy since meeting Erin Swanson from Water.org at one of the first breakfasts I attended. Talking informally with Erin several times in the last few years, it's been clear water.org is all over inventive social media strategy.
Social Media Automation
At last Friday's SMCKC breakfast, Mike McCamon provided a "Social Media 700-level" course on how Water.org uses social media automation, under the banner "Donate Your Voice," so Water.org Twitter and Facebook fans can share their social network feeds with the organization. Beyond "one-to-many," Mike characterizes the strategy as enabling "none- to-many," since fans don't have to do anything once authorizing Water.org to use their social media broadcasting capabilities.
This video from the presentation features the strategic thinking behind Donate Your Voice and the social media automation strategy. I told Mike afterward that being a strategy guy, he had me right away by starting with not one, but two X-Y charts.
How Extendable is Donate Your Voice?
Does Donate Your Voice have a fit beyond non-profits? Mike discussed Water.org considering sharing the technology with non-competitive non-profits and licensing it to for-profits in exchange for a financial commitment to Water.org. Even if it does (or others develop similar capabilities), the Donate Your Voice concept will likely need an option for more user intervention.
When you care about what you share in your social network channels, I can't imagine surrendering my "voice" to any organization without an option to say yes or no on a particular message.
Would you want that type of message-specific approval, or are you okay with donating your online voice unchecked?
I'll be covering Donate Your Voice in greater depth for the December issue of The Social Media Monthly magazine. I've been writing monthly articles since the magazine's introduction earlier this year. If you're in a Barnes and Noble in the next few days, you still have an opportunity to pick up the October issue of The Social Media Monthly where I wrote a cover story on the Google+ vs. Facebook battle. – Mike Brown
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