Let Us Talk For a Minute About What a Community Is

Let us Talk for a Minute About What a Community Is

We have defined “our community” as “the people on our email list” for a long time, but that’s not what community is all about. To our credit, we knew that they (people on our email list) cared about one thing—our mission. We measured that in dollars and cents. What we did not understand is the second part.  

When we talk to our list, there’s only one-way communication, us to them, and very rarely, them to us.  

Real community—is a group of individuals with a common belief /interest and a way to communicate with one another. 

My doctoral research is on the effect of identity on volunteer fundraising on Facebook. Community membership is one-way people define their identity. We know that identity is a major shaper of behavior.  

Why is communicating with others in the group so important? As people engage with one another, they have experiences that reinforce their identity as someone committed to the CFF (Cystic Fibrosis Foundation), for example. This creates an emotional connection. So, community membership and identity reinforce one another, it is a virtuous loop.  

We have focused on events because they are simple. The dynamics of community... not so simple. If you want to learn more about this, read Hooked on a Feeling: How the passion and devotion for good causes become memories and identities by Francesco Ambrogetti at UNICEF. 

We have focused much of our attention on creating the best practices for setting up and constructing events. We must turn our attention to how to recruit and nurture supporters in a community.  

COVID taught us how important having a community is to fulfill our missions. The organizations that had organized virtual communities pre-COVID fared much better than the ones that had to “go virtual” from scratch.  

So, what is the future of events? 

Events will still be a part of what we do. Events live in the community, they are “community goals.” They will come and go and are still important because there is a well-defined goal that we can use to recognize people for their success. Events are not the plan, the goal. Events are a tool of the plan, the goal.  

One of the platforms where you can organize a community is Facebook. Studying Facebook, we have learned how important it is to take advantage of user-generated content. The thing that encourages others to join a group and drives engagement is posts from the community.  

Just with a typical ad hoc Facebook group set up for an event, GoodUnited reports that group participants take an average of 20 actions (comments or posts) during each event. That is a lot, and it tells you that it is a terrific way to replicate the in-person fundraising experience online.  

When people can chat with one another to share ideas they feel they are more a part of the organization’s community. The upshot is they are more likely to consistently donate and participate in new events. 

Bottom line: participating in communities makes people happy. Delivering happiness by making things happen in a community is a powerful, secret superpower that successful nonprofits will learn how to create and nurture.