Social media is such an important tool for any business, but it can be especially important for non-profits. It’s a great way to reach out to current audiences, new audiences, and audiences you may not know exist; and best of all—it’s free.
Web 2.0—sites that allow users to interact with each other and contribute to the content—is becoming part of daily life for so many people. It can be a great tool for Community Health Centers to use to
• Build and strengthen relationships with health center staff, boards, and advocates
• Expand reach, educate and mobilize potential supporters and advocates
• Be a significant source in the online environment of information related to health care delivery to medically underserved persons in general and health centers in particular
• Expand the reach of the health center’s messages via communications channels that more and more individuals, policymakers and the media are using
• Be able to react quickly to the kind of Web 2.0 feedback requests now seen from the administration and Capitol Hill
• Boost traffic to the health center’s web site.
Hashtags
The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages and make them easier for users to track interesting tweets.
For instance:
• People use the hashtag symbol # before relevant keywords in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets to show more easily in Twitter Search.
• Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category.
• Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet.
• Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics
Right now NACHC/CHC social media users are employing the following hashtags:
#fqhc
#SaveCHCs
#MedicaidMatters
#NHCW11
For posts related to the 2011 NACHC community Health Institute use #CHI2011
Sample Social Media Guidelines for Staff: This template provides a basic framework for staff guidelines using social media.
Sample Image and Video Release Form: This template obtains written consent from willing participants in your photo shoots and videos. Modify this form to suit your health center's needs and state requirements.
