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?

Business Model Innovation at the Abbey - Monks Embrace Social Media

Social media both demands and creates the opportunity for Business Model Innovation.  The Monks at Portsmouth Abbey understand this. 

The monks are not known for seeking outside attention, nor has their fundamental purpose changed over the years.  But the world around them has changed, as has their ability to recruit and influence.  Like many socially conscious non-profits, Portsmouth Abbey has a higher calling, but they still need to “hire,” reach “customers,” and drive revenue to achieve their objectives. 

With the number of monks dwindling from a high of 24 to 12 today, one objective of Portsmouth Abbey is to “promote vocations to this monastery.”  Word of mouth and the simple physical presence of the monastery generated interest and “recruits” for the first 50 years or so.  Established in 1919, the monastic business model relied on being an integral part of the community.

Today, the abbey is simply making itself part of the modern community through social media.   

The underlying business and mission of the monastery hasn’t changed, but the business model is changing.  By adapting how the monastery interacts with its stakeholders, the monastery is creating a new infrastructure to support well defined objectives and a constant mission.   

• They are making themselves more accessible 
• They are engaging and listening   
• They are humanizing the abbey.

Portsmouth Abbey set up a website and began blogging in March, 2011.  They also established a YouTube channel and a Facebook page.  With some publicity from the mainstream media (CBS News, New York Times…), the impact of the social media effort was evident early on.  On the Portsmouth Abbey blog, David Moran commented:

“We have heard from 25,000 persons around the world; have nearly 100 sign-ups for our newsletter; our facebook visits are up 2000%;” and, perhaps most importantly, “we have a score of visit requests needing to be qualified.” 

The new business model seems to be having a positive impact on the business – more visits to the monastery.

Social media enables old-fashioned relationships.  It creates a way for organizations to become a community participant again, to become a collection of people rather than an impenetrable four 4 walls.  As we hear in one of the Portsmouth Abbey YouTube videos, “monks are human.”

So the old is new again...

And if you like Gregorian chants, you might want to download the ring tone from Portsmouth Abbey.