So far we’ve talked social media, ethics, public opinions and a couple of other communications and public relations types of blogs. That’s going to continue for just a little bit longer but today, I let’s talk about Fake News.
Fake news became a part of our modern world in 2016 from a little Macedonian town named Veles. In this article by BBC, we learned about them through a Buzzfeed.com journalist Craig Silverman’s accidental discovery of a “funny stream of completely made-up stories that seemed to originate from one small Eastern European town.” The stories they were sharing were completely fictional, almost satirical but with enough elements of truth, they felt very real. Buzzfeed called it fake news, social media caught on, and it just went from there.
And there is a difference between fake news and satire. Fake news is absolute lies. Satire is based on news to make it funny and outlandish. The onion.com is satire. Babylonbee.com is satire. World News Daily Report is fake news. (This little link here is a great resource to teach about fake news and how to spot it. It even includes a video.)
Now, when you think about fake news and your nonprofit organization and fundraising, think about this story. The big Planned Parenthood story in 2015. A pro-life group gained access to a Planned Parenthood, recorded a bunch of video, manipulated it, and then presented it as fact. It hit the media hard. It increased hate mail to the organization, it increased on-site clinic protests, and it cost them a lot of money. It was finally over when an investigation determined that the film had been faked, the information it contained was untrue, and Planned Parenthood was able to semi recover some of the funding they had lost.
Why were they able to recover some of the funding they’d lost? Because they were transparent, vigilant, and were dedicated to fulfilling their mission. They had a solid public relations and communication teams. They went into crisis communication mode, they were strategic, and they got their lawyers involved.
They also knew that facts were on their side. And that is something (nearly) all non-profits have for them. They know their issues. They know who the serve. They know the needs. They conduct study after study to prove their case. They make the facts public to everyone because those facts are the reasons donors need to see when they are deciding to financially support, endorse, or partner with a nonprofit’s mission.
So, if your organization should ever become a victim of fake news, rest assured, you can defend yourself. You have developed trust with your donors, media, the beneficiaries of your services. When they call you and ask if it is true, you can confidently say no – and this is why.
And of course, I have a loosely related fake news The Office video for you too.
Fundraising with Jenn 