How does social media reinforce your brand? How are you converting your social media supporters to actual donors and activists? What are your policies towards what is and isn't appropriate for your staff and community to post?

These kinds of questions are tough even for those who have been working with social media for years. Even if you have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Four Square, or all three, and are diligently working with blogs, photos, and videos to tell your story, it's not easy to hone them in combination to have the most impact?

This class is for those who are ready to step beyond the basics. Over the course of 5 trainings, we'll delve into advanced social media strategy and discuss how to use your social media for branding, deeper engagement, and integrated campaigns. In addition, we'll explore how to measure your social media impact, and walk you through creating a social media policy, step by step.

Roll up your sleeves and join us as we dive into some of the really tough concepts that don't fit into the basic social media classes.

Only a few seats are left for the Advanced Social Media Decision-Maker's Toolkit!

> Purchase the series recordings!

Through participation in this course you will:

• Create and reinforce your organization's brand using social media.
• Learn about strategies for engaging supporters and motivating them to act.
• Learn how social media tools can work together to create an integrated campaign that promotes your brand and your cause through multiple channels.
• Begin the process of creating a social media policy for your organization.
• Discover what tools to use to measure your social media efforts, and how to make this task effective and manageable.
• Design your organization's advanced social media strategy.

> Purchase the series recordings!

Session by session, we'll walk through (all sessions at 11:00 am Pacific / 2:00 pm Eastern for 90 minutes):

January 31 - Branding Through Social Media

To kick off the course we will dive into the concept of branding through the lens of social media. Taking a detailed look at how you can create, refine and manage your brand message and personality through social media our first session will explore how what you say and how you say it impacts people's impressions of your organization.

February 7 - Getting Beyond the Like: Using Social Media to Cultivate Deeper Commitment

People "like" you, but what's that actually doing to support your organization's bottom line? In this session we'll talk critically about how you can move constituents up a ladder of engagement from a simple "like" to actually get them to do something for your organization. Sign a petition, attend an event, join a movement and yes, even donate—it's possible to get your constituents to do all of these things as a result of social media actions, but boy is it difficult! Armed with case studies, industry research and plain old common sense and experience, we'll work together to recalibrate our social media mindset in order to provide more value and cultivate a deeper commitment.

February 14 - Integrating Social Media Channels (and Other Communications)

When we work in social media is it essential to remember that our communications don't exist in a vacuum. We need to consider not only how our different social media channels work together, but how our messaging stays consistent across other online channels like email and websites, as well as offline channels like direct mail, general press and advertisements. Which channels make sense to communicate what kind of messages, or to encourage action? What's actually working in what situations? We'll provide a decision making structure to help you define what makes sense for you and a model to articulate your own communications strategy.

February 21 - Measuring Your Social Media Efforts

You have a Facebook site, a blog, a Twitter account, and a YouTube channel. Are they working? Is it worth the time you're putting in? How do you know? We'll walk through a framework -- including Views, Followers, Engagement, and Conversion -- and the tools that can help you gather the data, to allow you to analyze your strategy, strengthen what works and change what doesn't.

February 28 - Creating a Social Media Policy

As social media transparency and two-way conversations become the norm many organizations are racing to develop a social media policy that governs who does what, what's OK (and not OK) to say on behalf of the org, and how to handle sticky situations. But even more than legislating these details, the process of creating such a policy can help you and other leaders in your organization engage in important discussions that will mature your organizational culture and help you be better positioned to take advantage of the tools and opportunities at your disposal. In this session we'll explore why the process (not just the product) is so important, how to make these conversations productive and strategic (and dare we say fun?), and why a social media policy is an important milestone of digital maturity.

About the Presenter

Andrea Berry, Idealware

Andrea Berry, Director of Partnerships and Learning, oversees Idealware's fundraising and training activities including the Field Guide to Nonprofit Software, sponsorship, corporate and individual giving, grants management and online seminars. Prior to joining Idealware, Andrea held fundraising positions in education, health research and museums and has taught math, performing arts and history in traditional and non-traditional educational settings. She brings a breadth of experience with fundraising software, particularly as it relates to small nonprofits, and has worked as a consultant with nonprofits across New England to help identify appropriate donor management software. Additionally, as a former teacher, Andrea brings front-line tested expertise in curriculum development and training.