It sounds obvious. Why start another blog about community? There are plenty of blogs on this subject from content gurus, marketing ninjas and people who describe themselves in much less cringe-worthy ways.
Because most blogs seem to be written for community managers who are in it for the money. Sounds controversial. However, the vast majority of community management blogs, websites and events are tailored for people who are in the business of selling things and making profit. In it for the money. What if you work for a charity, or a purpose-driven organisation?
Your ‘why’ will be fundamentally different. Your purpose will be a cause or a challenge, and a belief that if people join you in that purpose, the world could be fundamentally different.
What if your primary aim is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable? What if your primary users have a health condition? What if you’re in the business of giving (as well as asking)? What if your main driver is to bring social change, to tackle isolation, or encourage people to volunteer?
To meet your aims, you’ll need engagement and resources like any other organisation. To meet your aims well, you’ll need to connect people around your cause. You’ll need to empower people, to support people, to learn from people.
You’ll need to bring people together because if they buy into why you exist, they’ll want to join you in making your vision a reality. That goes far beyond a website visit, a donation, a newsletter subscription and into the business of building and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships aimed at making things better.
Community Management – the profession that brings people together – is vital to the success of a charity. Community has been steadily gaining traction in the charity sector and I’ve been excited to be part of this work since 2008.
There’s much more that can be shared, discussed and learned, and more that can be done – so charities can connect people and make things better. This blog is my way of helping to share experience with others and I hope it will be helpful.
Community has always been primarily about people. John Coate, one of the world’s first online community managers said: “We realised pretty early on that we weren’t in the computer business, we were in the relationship business.”
Let’s bring people together – for good.
I’ll finish by sharing one of my favourite TED Talks, and the inspiration for this blog post. Before you do anything, it’s worth starting with why.
