Why Social Media is like a 3D Movie

Guest post by Steve MacLaughlin from the Nonprofit Trends blog.

3D movies have been around since the 1950s. In the 1980s, they made a big comeback and in recent years they’ve been all the rage in Hollywood. There was a period of time last year when every single movie action or kids movie was in 3D. And that trend has continued into this year’s summer movie season.

I’ve noticed a common thread happening: A bad movie in 3D is still a bad movie. Wearing a special pair of glasses doesn’t help bad acting, weak characters, and plot holes you can drive a truck through. Not to mention a complete lack of verisimilitude, but I digress.

Then I started thinking about all the things nonprofits have been doing with social media the past few years. All the buzz. All the blogs. All the consultants. All the conferences. All the noise. All the lost signals.

But here’s something not a lot of people are saying:

Social media is no substitute for an audience-focused website, compelling email campaigns, clockwork multichannel communication, and donor stewardship that drives retention. Period.

Social media can help build relationships, reach constituents in new ways, and allow nonprofits to communicate in some very compelling ways. But it doesn’t mean you can ignore the other really important things. It’s not a shortcut.

A good 3D movie starts with having a good movie and then adds the 3D to enhance things. A good nonprofit starts with doing the fundamentals right and adds social media to enhance things.