Why we’ve decided to join Snapchat…and how you can help!
I remember when Facebook first came out. I was a college student, and in 2003, my university was granted access to the elite ranks of eligible schools (please note sarcasm). In the years that followed, the platform changed dramatically, but I was able to keep up with the changes and found it an incredibly useful tool for connecting with people and maintaining friendships, both on a business and personal level. It was also our first social media channel for Tri 4 Schools, and I remember working hard to get 25 people to like our page so we could get our own snazzy URL.
Then, two things happened that changed the landscape of our social media world forever:
- I became a parent, and thus became “old.”
- The internet exploded with a bunch of new apps and social media platforms.
Suddenly, I was struggling with questions I’d never bothered to answer before, like “Why would you use Instagram when you can just post pictures on Facebook?” and “Why would you send someone a Snap when you could just text them?”
Yep, my practical nature (remember, I’m now OLD) set in and I felt out of the loop on social media happenings. It was only a matter of time before I would be in slippers, watching reruns on TV Land, while occasionally chasing “young’ns” out of my yard with a broom.
I’m happy to report that Tri 4 Schools eventually got with the program, joining Twitter and Instagram (though I still struggle with Twitter, and I’m not alone), and we now try to focus on a few key concepts:
- We should be where our customers (donors, participants, volunteers) are
- We should provide content that is useful, fun, and informative to our customers
- We should regularly analyze the platforms we’re on to judge their effectiveness
In doing this research over the summer (and having two interns in high school and college), we came across Snapchat. After a brief personal experiment in 2013 as a means to connect with my niece, I got rid of Snapchat on a personal level. But, Snapchat has come a long way in the last three years, and we thought it was time for us to give it another go.
Our summer high school intern, Sydney, discovered that many community non-profits and larger corporations have been able to make connections with younger people they didn’t think would be possible. “By using Snapchat, United Way and other nonprofits are targeting a generally untapped population: teens and young adults.” Our goal through the implementation of Snapchat is focused around those who use it the most – our millennial donors and volunteers between the ages of 18 to 29. In fact, as of mid-2015, there were over 100 million total users, and 30% of all millennials had a Snapchat account.”
Our intent is to capture the moments that not every parent, volunteer, or donor will see leading up to an event, allowing them a ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at what goes in to our organization.
We hope you’ll add us on Snapchat: tri4schoolswi and help us better connect and engage with you, and even share more about our mission, too.
Oh, and if you can help me figure out how to use those cool filter thingies…that would be great.
Love,
Old Lady Katherine (aka Katie Hensel, Executive Director)
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