Geoff Livingston co-founded Zoetica to focus on cause-related work, and released an award-winning book on new media Now is Gone in 2007.
Foursquare isn’t just a good place to find cheap Mocha-Frappuccino’s. The social media tool is quickly allowing for new ways to benefit a range of fields, including non-profit organizations.
There have been several articles on how non-profits are using Foursquare, but I wanted to find out how his location-based social network can help non-profits, so I chatted with experts about how non-profits can maximize their Foursquare accounts.
“Non-profits are about awareness, they want to get as many people to understand what they are doing,” Foursquare Co-Founder Naveen Selvaduari said. “Foursquare is a great platform for that, and bringing people together, and make it easier together for them to understand.”
The Standard Stuff
Having a location-based non-profit will obviously help you get the most out of a Foursquare account. Make sure you claim your location and then create specials that appeal to your audience.
“Location based non-profits have an easier road, since they can offer specials and other incentives on Foursquare,” said Chris Thompson, author of the About Foursquare blog. “In Cincinnati, the Taft Museum of Art uses Foursquare as a loyalty program, offering increasing rewards as guests return again and again. The fifth check-in gets a free dessert, the 10th earns a free membership and the 15th gets a free poster or museum guidebook. It’s a great, easy way for the Taft to increase repeat visits.”
Your account can also help you find and mobilize a base of willing volunteers and donors. “There are also other organizations like hospitals and small advocacy groups who can leverage Foursquare,” said Allyson Kapin, founder of Women Who Tech and editor of Care2’s Frogloop blog. “…Big Love Little Hearts, an organization which helps children in developing countries with heart defects, raised $25K in just 24 hours by getting a donor to contribute $1 when someone checked in or tweeted using the hashtag #100by100. The money raised was enough to pay for 12 heart surgeries.”
Leverage the API
Perhaps one Foursquare’s greatest assets is its unique, open API. Developers can be deployed to create new ways to check-in, allow data mining and unique application creation to visualize foot-traffic at a location.
“Using our API, anyone can go in create a unique effort,” said Foursquare’s Selvadurai. “Shelley Bernstein from the Brooklyn Museum pulled data from the API to highlight the people that come to the museum and started keeping track of all the mayors. The museum announces the new mayor when it changes. They host special mayor parties, and have turned it into an event, a token ceremony.”
Valeria Maltoni, author of the Conversation Agent blog suggested a few simple steps. After you capture your check-ins, follow up with mailings that can push those users to your Facebook page or website. The most important step is to then give your audience an offer immediately. Foursquare is a great tool for honoring loyalty.
“I haven’t seen a ton of non-profits take to Foursquare or similar services yet but I do see opportunities,” said Ken Yarmosh, a mobile product strategist. “For the non-profit itself, what is much more interesting is leveraging the core data of these API’s—knowledge of those who’ve checked in—to mobilize those members around specific campaigns and initiatives.”
Do We Need Badges?
While you could certainly pay for your own badge, that can get expensive, and quickly. It might be worth your while to wait a couple months: Selvadurai said Foursquare was in the middle of revamping its badging procedures. In the end, creativity is the best asset for a non-profit. Still, badges could be a useful way to incentivize giving.
“Some interesting uses for non-profits, a kind of next level up, would be tying their loyalty card program with the ability to participate in a cause when in proximity of the information and story of what that cause supports,” said Maltoni. “For example, say you’re looking at the Body Worlds exhibit at the Franklin Institute and you have the opportunity to use your check in to donate to one of three causes of health issues. Each will get a badge equivalent to part of the proceeds from the ticket sales priced appropriately for the occasion. In other words, it’s time to connect the dots.”
More Foursquare resources from Mashable:
- 10 Foursquare Apps You Can Use Right Now
- 6 Foursquare Apps We’d Love to See
- 6 Tips for Getting the Most out of Foursquare
- Foursquare vs. Gowalla: Location-Based Throwdown
- The Twitter of 2010: Foursquare as Next Year’s Breakout Hit
Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare
More About: badges, donors, foursquare, naveen Selvadurai, nonprofits, taft museum
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