My colleague Catherine Novak and I had the opportunity yesterday to work with a number of local non-profit agencies, presenting a 6-hour workshop on social media, presented by Volunteer Victoria.

While we talk a great deal about the tremendous opportunity social media offers small business, the opportunities for non-profits are even greater. People who are socializing online are looking for what is going on in their community, including events, and causes their friends support.

One of the most common complaints we heard was that boards of directors and management were reluctant to take the plunge, for fear of diluting their brand, wasting time, or their inability to control the message.

Our response was simple:

People are online, right now, talking about your organization. The message is already outside your control. Do you want to be part of the conversation or not?

We plan on posting our slides and a number of other resource materials here early next week. If you were at the seminar (or not), please feel free to comment to this post. We’d love to hear your feedback!