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To access links, see Steven Clift's blog: http://dowire.org/notes/?p=232 Post: Best Practices - How to Handle Online Criticism A clip from: For Nonprofit Organizations: How to Handle Online Criticism For Nonprofit Organizations: How to Handle Online Criticism So, your nonprofit organization has started an online forum for its volunteers, so that these volunteers can talk about various issues relating to their service and to help each other. Or, your executive director is posting her own monthly blog to the organization's web site. Whatever the interactive forum, eventually, you are going to be faced with a discussion that includes criticisms of your organization. It may be about your organization's new logo or mission statement. Or about the lack of parking. Or about the volunteer orientation being too long. It may be substantial questions regarding your organization's business practices and lack of transparency. Online criticism of your organization, even by its own supporters, is inevitable. How a nonprofit organization handles online criticism is going to speak volumes about that organization, for weeks, months, and maybe even years to come. There's no way to avoid it, but there are ways to address criticism that can actually help an organization to be perceived as even more trustworthy and worth supporting. To be successful with online activities, a nonprofit organization MUST be able to honestly and openly deal with online criticism, particularly from supporters and participants. Otherwise, the organization puts itself in a position to lose the trust of supporters and clients, and even generate negative publicity -- and, once lost, trust and credibility can be extremely difficult to win back. Before staff panics at the idea of supporters not being so supportive, or the organization removes its online forum altogether, withdraws its participation from someone else's forum or gets defensive, remember: being perceived as allowing such discussions reflects very positively on a nonprofit organization. By contrast, the aforementioned alternative responses will be perceived as negative, and will probably do more to hurt the organization's reputation and credibility than help it. * You must address the criticisms directly and promptly. If you cannot respond immediately, then at least immediately acknowledge that the complaint has been read by the organization and a response is coming promptly . A week or more is not prompt in online community conversations. ... see the full article at: http://www.coyotecommunications.com/outreach/critics.html *** Democracies Online Newswire - http://DoWire.Org *** To comment/for links: http://dowire.org/notes/?p=232 To network: http://groups.dowire.org Submit posts: http://dowire.org/submit Member profile for Steven: http://groups.dowire.org/main/contacts/stevenclift ----------------------------------------- Group home for Newswire - Steven Clift's blog posts by e-mail: http://groups.dowire.org/main/groups/newswire Replies go to members of Newswire - Steven Clift's blog posts by e-mail with all posts on this topic here: http://groups.dowire.org/topic/116261 For digest version or to leave Newswire - Steven Clift's blog posts by e-mail, email [email protected] with "digest on" or "unsubscribe" in the *subject*. Newswire - Steven Clift's blog posts by e-mail is hosted by Democracies Online - http://dowire.org.
