by Jayne Cravens
via coyotecommunications.com & coyoteboard.com (same web site)

Reading At Least One Online Discussion Group Regularly is Easy & Essential Professional Development

What online discussion groups does the staff at your nonprofit, including the Executive Director, read regularly?

Hello? That's not e-crickets I hear, is it?

With FEW exceptions, each and every employee, as well as each and every leadership volunteer, at your nonprofit, NGO, charity, government agency, etc., should be a part of at least one online discussion group, and subscribe to at least one email newsletter, relating to their job.

Encourage it. REQUIRE it!! SUPPORT IT!!

Why?

This activity offers a simple, easy way to get employees connected to important news and resources they need in their jobs.
It's professional development right from a desktop! (or a smart phone).
It's probably cost free (meaning the group or subscription is free).
It may provide them with information that you would not know otherwise, or that you need to know sooner rather than later (such as cuts in federal funding that will affect your nonprofit, or new OSHA requirements that affect your public spaces).

For instance

a receptionist in charge of inputting information into a database could be encouraged to join a discussion group relating to the database software she or he is using. The employee can ask questions of other users and build his or her own capacity to better use the software and manage the data.
a manager of volunteers could use an online discussion group of other managers, or even HR managers from the private sector, to learn about screening potential candidates, or recruiting candidates from under-represented populations (teens, seniors, people with disabilities, etc.). The manager could also offer tips based on his or her own experience, highlighting best practices by your agency.
a manager of a charity thrift shop may find a sales idea that would be great to replicate in your store.
a project manager may see a new way to involve volunteers, a way that allows them to delegate tasks to volunteers in a way that frees up their own time for other priorities.

Online discussion groups and email newsletters offer both the new and veteran nonprofit employee and volunteer important resources that can help in the work place, and reminds staff that there is a big world out there with tools, information, people and ideas that can help support their work. It can reinforce what they learn in trade magazines, conferences, workshops and other traditional offline sources.

Another benefit is that online discussion groups help employees learn to communicate online, and this is a valuable skill in any profession, in any sector, as more and more business is conducted via the Internet.

And yet another benefit: employees can keep an eye out for discussions of your organization online. This can help your staff see how your work and the issues your agency is concerned with are perceived in the public.

If you trust your employees to attend workshops or conferences, take classes to support their work, participate in panel discussions, have lunch with business associates, etc. on company time, you should trust them to participate in online discussion groups.

The time spent on an online discussion group that supports an employee in his or her work is more than made up for in the time it saves employees in struggling by themselves with a particular issue that they and other staff do not have expertise in. Your organization also benefits in that staff are connected to knowledge and resources they can use in the work place almost immediately. Do NOT fear it! Encourage it! Provide guidelines for it!

Make joining an online discussion group part of each employee's professional development plan. Talk to each about areas he or she needs better support to meet expected goals, or professional areas he or she would like to grow in. Put a limit on the amount of time employees should spend lurking or posting to online discussion group each week (one hour is a good place to start). Require that employees submit the name and focus of any online discussion group they want to join, as a part of their work, to their supervisor, and to include, in their regular reports to supervisors, what they have learned from or contributed to online discussion groups.

And make sure you talk to employees about what is and isn't appropriate to discuss on an online discussion group, particularly if they are using an email address, computer and Internet access associated with your company.

You may require employees to put a signature on all of their online posts, to affirm that they are associated with your company and promote your organization's web address. You may also want to require employees to include some kind of disclaimer in their signature, such as "The views expressed here are not necessarily those of such-and-such company." Or you may ask employees to NOT note their affiliation, and to use an email address that is not associated with your organization.

For advice on how to participate in online groups, see this resource, The dynamics of online culture & community.

Where to find appropriate online groups? Contact any professional association to which you belong, to find out if they have an online forum for members; some will be email-based, and others will be web-based. For other types of groups, try going to Google and typing in what you are looking for, such as:
-- human resources "online discussion"
-- shelter management online discussion group
-- nonprofit marketing "online discussion"

Also try keywords to search for groups hosted by:
-- Reddit
-- LinkedIn

Facebook also has groups devoted to specific topics, including professional topics, but not everyone is comfortable mixing their professional activities with their social lives.

You can also see which online discussion groups to which I belong.

See more resources re: Community Relations, With and Without Technology

Also see

The Nonprofit & NGO Guide to Using Reddit
As of July 2019, Reddit ranked as the No. 5 most visited website in the USA and No. 13 in the world. Reddit is a community of communities, and its communities are called subreddits. A subreddit can have a focus on a geographic area, a book, a celebrity, a particular time in history, a specific hobby - anything. Statistics suggest that 74% of Reddit users are male. Users tend to be significantly younger than other online communities like Facebook with less than 1% of users being 65 or over. If you want to reach a younger demographic regarding your volunteering opportunities, your awareness messages, your data that shows your value to the community and more, you need to build posts to Reddit into your marketing strategy, no matter what your nonprofit's size or focus. This resource tells you how to do it.

The Difference in Email, Social Media & Online Communities: A Graphic Explanation.
It can be difficult for people to understand the difference in email, in social media and in online communities, especially since email can be used to create an online community, or social media can be used to create an online community (Facebook Groups, for instance). And they all are people sending messages to people - so what, really, is the difference? This is my attempt to graphically show the difference, but I'll still have to use words to more fully explain what I mean. All three of these avenues for online communication can intersect. But one online avenue of online communication may be a better avenue for a communication goal than another - this resource examines that as well.
-- Online Leadership / Influencing Online
There's plenty of information about leading a team online, but this new web page on my site focuses on online leadership, on engaging in activities that influence others online, that create a profile for a person as someone that provides credible, important, even vital information about a particular subject. To me, leaders are looked to for advice, direction, knowledge and opinions on specific subjects.

-- One(-ish) Day "Tech" Activities for Volunteers
Volunteers are getting together for intense, one-day events, or events of just a few days, to build web pages, to write code, to edit Wikipedia pages, and more. These are gatherings of onsite volunteers, where everyone is in one location, together, to do an online-related project in one day, or a few days. It's a form of episodic volunteering, because volunteers don't have to make an ongoing commitment - they can come to the event, contribute their services, and then leave and never volunteer again. Because computers are involved, these events are sometimes called hackathons, even if coding isn't involved. This page provides advice on how to put together a one-day event, or just-a-few-days-of activity, for a group of tech volunteers onsite, working together, for a nonprofit, non-governmental organization (NGO), community-focused government program, school or other mission-based organization - or association of such.

-- Myths About Online Volunteering (Virtual Volunteering)
Online volunteering means unpaid service that is given by volunteers via the Internet. It's also known as virtual volunteering, online mentoring, ementoring, evolunteering, cyber volunteering, cyber service, telementoring, online engagement, and on and on. Here is a list of common myths about online volunteering, and my attempt to counter them.

-- Studies and Research Regarding Online Volunteering / Virtual Volunteering
While there is a plethora of articles and information about online volunteering, there has been very little research published regarding the subject. This is a compilation of publicly-available research regarding online volunteering, and a list of suggested possible angles for researching online volunteering. New contributions to this page are welcomed, including regarding online mentoring programs.

-- Incorporating virtual volunteering into a corporate employee volunteer program (a resource for businesses / for-profit companies)
Virtual volunteering - volunteers providing service via a computer, smart phone, tablet or other networked advice - presents a great opportunity for companies to expand their employee philanthropic offerings. Through virtual volunteering, some employees will choose to help organizations online that they are already helping onsite. Other employees who are unable to volunteer onsite at a nonprofit or school will choose to volunteer online because of the convenience.

-- Creating One-Time, Short-Term Group Volunteering Activities
Details on not just what groups of volunteers can do in a two-hour, half-day or all-day event, but also just how much an organization or program will need to do to prepare a site for group volunteering. It's an expensive, time-consuming endeavor - are you ready? Is it worth it?

-- Recognizing Online Volunteers & Using the Internet to Honor ALL Volunteers
Recognition helps volunteers stay committed to your organization, and gets the attention of potential volunteers -- and donors -- as well. Organizations need to fully recognize the efforts of remote, online volunteers, as well as those onsite, and not differentiate the value of these two forms of service. Organizations should also incorporate use of the Internet to recognize the efforts of ALL volunteers, both online and onsite. With cyberspace, it's never been easier to show volunteers -- and the world -- that volunteers are a key part of your organization's successes. This new resource provides a long list of suggestions for both honoring online volunteers and using the Internet to recognize ALL volunteers that contribute to your organization.

My academic / research work at my profile on academia.edu. Most of the academic articles that have cited my work regarding virtual volunteering are listed at my Google Scholar account.

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Jayne Cravens
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