4 Ingredients to Build a Vibrant Digital Community - Abby Fox

As you raise funds and fuel your mission in 2023, the single most important investment you can make is building an authentic community of belonging. 

Since the pandemic, the explosion of digital engagement has created a unique climate for community creation. It enables organizations to expand their influence beyond the boundaries of geography and enter into more frequent and meaningful interactions – leading to greater conversion from organizational awareness to active belief and support of your mission. 

How do we know? We’ve seen this power at work first-hand as we’ve built the We Are For Good community these past two years. In fact, this week is Community Week, so we asked our members what key ingredients contribute to the vibrancy of this community. 

If you’re sold on building a community but stuck on where to start, check out these four foundational building blocks👇

Ingredient 1️⃣ Value-alignment

Know who you are. Be who you are. Value-aligned people will draw in + activate. 

Not every community is for everyone. Meaning, if it’s your aim to serve everyone, chances are you are serving no one. Before starting your community, create a clear picture explaining the reason you exist. What mission are you advancing in this world? How do you go about it? Is there something unique and niche about how you show up? Clearly define and articulate your values so those interested in engaging with your community see the instant alignment. 

Ingredient 2️⃣ People-focused 

People care about people. They want to connect with other like-minded humans. 

Too often we see organizations rolling out sterile versions of communities built around an institution or product. In an effort to control the narrative and endure employee turnover, they spin up an organizational account, strip out personality (and adjectives!🫣) from posts and wonder why it’s not resonating. Rookie move. Let’s be better and more human.

Real humans are looking to engage on a more personal level. The best digital engagement happens person-to-person. When someone shares a story and meets a human on the other side - listening, learning and connection occurs. And the compounding effect is limitless as they share with like-minded friends. 

Ingredient 3️⃣ Safe / Supportive / Open

People can’t fully show up in a place where they feel threatened. 

This concept goes back to what we learned in psychology class with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow suggests our most basic physiological and safety needs are foundational and must be met before we can focus on higher-level needs like belonging and community. True connection isn’t attainable when people are guarded. 

So how do you create a space of safety and support? Start by setting ground rules for engagement to ensure each member of the community - including yourself as the creator - shares the responsibility of fostering an environment of safety and support.  

A great next step is stewarding stories well. We talk often about the power of storytelling on the We Are For Good Podcast. But if stories aren’t stewarded well, storytelling can actually have a negative impact on the supportive environment we wish to create. Researcher and storyteller extraordinaire Brené Brown says it best in her article, “The Practice of Story Stewardship” – “We are good stewards of the stories we hear by listening, being curious, affirming, and believing people when they tell us how they experienced something.” Respond to stories and comments. Help people feel affirmed and seen. That’s when real value begins to unfold in authentic digital relationships.

If you’re creating a community because you want to get a message out or influence a group of people, your posture is not open. Community is all about co-creation. It’s about putting an idea or concept out there with an open hand. Listen, respond and ADAPT to the stories you hear and the feedback you receive. 

Ingredient 4️⃣ Innovation

Best practices ≠best communities. 

If you aren’t creating something that’s unique, what’s the purpose of creating in the first place? The nonprofit space is filled with good intentions and best practices that either didn’t take or only yielded moderate success. We are leaving so much on the table because we’re afraid to try something new and different. 

While the world of digital engagement provides valuable opportunities for connection, it’s also crowded and noisy. Millions of people, organizations and advertisers are vying for attention. In fact, our advertising-for-good friend Jeff Rosenbaum tells us we're exposed to 5,000 branded messages every day, that's approximately a fresh one every 2.7 seconds we're awake. 😳 In order to break through the noise, you need to stand out. You need to be bold. You need to be you. 

Adopt a voice and style that is a true expression of YOUR brand. Try stuff. You might fail but you’ll fail forward because you learned. Maybe for the first time in a long time. Because it’s hard to learn about who you are when you are spending all your energy trying to be someone else. 

Episode 350: Growing an Active Sober Community Across the US with Rob Baumgartner

If you’re intrigued and need an example of who does this well, dive into episode 350 on the We Are For Good Podcast. In this interview, we talk to Robert Bomgartner about The Phoenix, a sober active community fueling resiliency and harnessing the transformational power of connection. Rob talks us through how they’ve built a community built on many of these key ingredients and - in the meantime - have grown their presence in 184 counties across 45 states, impacting the lives of 162,000 members and growing. 

You already have what you need to do this successfully. These ingredients are intrinsic, they’re already within you and your organization - they just need to be boldly lifted to the forefront. And with a little intentionality, you can create something that has a cascading, authentic affect building to something bigger than just dollars raised - it builds believers and rabid fans who will not let your mission fail. 

Want to test the waters in a community of belonging? Check out the We Are For Good Community. It’s entirely free, and may just provide the support you need to continue your journey – in community.