Monday, February 13, 2012

PR? Or Did Komen Forget Social Businesses are Built on Culture and Community?

The Huff Post headline read "Bad PR Move, Susan G. Komen."  The Washington Post called it a "PR fiasco."  But was it really a PR crisis?  Where was the internal community that should have been a cohesive unit?  Where was the engagement of the broader external community they have cultivated?

Doug Poretz asked a good question:

How could an organization with such a stellar reputation and such deep grassroots support, become so dramatically stupid and incompetent so suddenly? (http://bit.ly/yK5d8l)

The answer, of course, is that nothing happened suddenly.  The public melt-down reflects a culture that lacks internal cohesion and fails to engage communally with its external supporters.

Social business is about people and community - and it starts inside an organization.  Komen executives from within the corporate ranks as well as among the local affiliates not only resigned in protest over the announcement that Komen was halting funding to Planned Parenthood, but they did so with public statements of surprise and outrage.  They did not support the organization they represented.  The internal cohesion and coordination of a social business was lacking.


The Komen Foundation is built on grass-roots advocates, on ardent supporters who spread the word, on passion.  It is built on community.  But the Planned Parenthood decision exposed an organization that seems to operate internally in an unsocial, me-versus-you, hierarchical manner.  Individuals, not community, seem to dominate.

When internal community is weak, the external segment of the community founders as well.  Komen supporters still believed in breast cancer awareness and research, but could they believe in the Komen Foundation?

In contrast, Planned Parenthood engaged their community.  And social networks worked.  According to the Washington Post, the response was swift and strong.  More than 2,000 people shared Planned Parenthood's Facebook post; over 32,000 new fans joined the Planned Parenthood Facebook page in 4 days; Twitter users sent over 1.3 million tweets referencing Planned Parenthood.  Planned Parenthood reached out to their community and asked for their involvement, and the community responded.  Many voices created a loud statement; people signed petitions; they donated money.  Activity was coordinated and connected; social at its best.

Particularly in non-profit social businesses, success depends on the engagement of a passionate, coordinated community.  Lose the organizational passion, lose the community, and the social impact of your message is fleeting.

How have you grown and maintained your community internally as well as externally?