Turnbull Marketing Group

When the 7.0 earthquake and countless aftershocks hit Haiti three weeks ago, the ensuing images and reports of mass damage, people trapped, and horrific injuries moved the world to action. And it touched us deeply at Turnbull Marketing Group. Not just because I'm from Haiti, raised in the mountains outside Port-au-Prince, but also because two of our biggest clients at TMG, Baptist Haiti Mission and ISOH/IMPACT, have extensive work in the island nation. While our hearts were in Haiti with those we know and love, we immediately had to set to work providing communications support for our clients. People's lives depended on it.

When we entered the business of "nonprofit communications," this level of crisis wasn't exactly what we had in mind, but we've never been more grateful for the power of communications or more astonished by the extent of its reaches.

If any nonprofit continues to question the relevancy of social media in today's fundraising and communications world, the answer can't be stated more clearly than in the example of Haiti.

Baptist Haiti Mission and ISOH/IMPACT both began updating their web sites immediately. With no landlines, cell phones or electricity, satellite internet connections and computers running from batteries were the only form of communication between personnel in the US and staff on the field in Haiti. We immediately established a virtually constant stream of communication via Skype and then offered the only support we could--consistent online updates and emergency communications with donors.

We set up Twitter accounts for both clients and amped up their Facebook pages. The numbers of followers online exploded. Within days, BHM and ISOH/IMPACT had maxed out their bandwidth, and at the end of two weeks, each organization had upped its organization's contact list by as much as 10%, counting Twitter followers alone. Facebook added up to another 5%, and we're still tallying the numbers of new donors and web registrations.

The decision to plunge headfirst into Twitter, after months of questioning its relevancy, was a wise one spearheaded by the organizations' presidents. It was a decision made under pressure and out of desperation to keep updates flowing as freely as possible. The decision turned out to be life-saving, literally. Twitter has allowed the missionaries and staff in Haiti to connect not only with donors, but also with people needing emergency relief aid -- sometimes just a few miles away from them.

Amazing volunteers have jumped in to join the organizations online, spending hours upon hours to connect needs to solutions. The generous contributions of these men and women continue to astound me, but I couldn't ask for a more perfect example illustrating the importance of providing as many outlets as possible for volunteers and donors to interact with your organization.

At Turnbull Marketing Group, we like to think of ourselves as "ahead of the curve," and we've been building social media programs for quite some time. But we've never witnessed such amazing connections as those happening each and every minute online during the crisis in Haiti. Through this crash course in "crisis-centered social media," we have learned several critical lessons at Turnbull Marketing Group. Lessons that are helping us to better serve these courageous clients working in Haiti, and lessons that will will allow us to better serve you.

The next few posts will focus on some of those lessons and offer concrete tips you can apply directly to your life-changing nonprofit.