If you haven’t heard of TikTok I’d be surprised.  TikTok is a mobile phone app available through iTunes or the Google store and is used to share videos. Right now, after a threatened ban by Donald Trump, there are rumors that there may have been an agreement made that will continue to allow Americans to continue to use the app. 

In considering positive reasons to use TikTok in a social media campaign, we know one thing.  Videos work.  In March of 2019 it was reported that there were over 500 million TikTok users (NYTimes 2019). A potential audience this big is something noteworthy.  Considering that Facebook currently has 1.69 billion users (Statica), it may not seem like 500 million is all that many but, even Facebook started somewhere.  Facebook launched to high school students in 2005 and even then, it wasn’t until 2008 that they reached their first 100 million users (Vox). 

In addition to the potential audience size, the content being created on TikTok is all video.  Micro-videos to be precise, usually lasting around 15 seconds.  According to Brandastic’s website,

“The biggest draw of TikTok is the ability to post about anything. Humor, hobbies, fitness, travel, music, photography, dance; every category is open and gaining huge attention. Each area is offering exposure for those that can adapt their content to the short-form video model.

While entertainment seems to be the main draw at the moment, there is an increase in both educational, aspirational, and business-oriented content.”

In addition to the ever growing audience size, the age of the audience is something to consider.  TikTok is primarily used by those 25 years old or younger.  Facebook’s primary users are around 40+ years old.  As a non-profit, we know that the majority of our donors are in that 40+ category.  As we look at getting more young people involved with our work, reaching that 25 year old crowd is quite appealing.

If an organization is able to create their own 15 second videos at no cost, that engage and can ecapsulate a moment, or – relay important information, or – join a safe TikTok challenge for free – it sounds like a no-brainer, right?

Unfortunately, sometimes things seem to good to be true.  That may be the case with TikTok.  In this article from Business Insider, the primary controversy with TikTok is the fact that it is Chinese owned. There are concerns that locations of solders with it on their phones could disclose important top-secret locations to the Chinese government.  CBC Kids in Canada also reported that in addition to security issues there have been reports of political censorship, their dangerous challenges (let’s not forget the Tide Pod challenge), blocked content, and personal information of users as young as 13 years aged having their personal data compromised. 

Ultimately, the choice to utilize and include TikTok is up to each organization’s preferences.  When looking at the positives and negatives, there ends up being a choice that is right for you.  If your organization is looking for an inexpensive way to add quick, interesting, videos and publishing them for free, and you have the capability to do so – it may not hurt.  If you are concerned about possibly and inadvertently adding to some of the negatives associated with the app, it may not be the platform for you. 

Either way, here’s a fun parent prank that is kind of gross and still funny.

Remember when I said this blog was started as part of a public relations class?  This is another one of those posts.  Its okay.  My intention remains… work these PR lessons in to fundraising.  And, since my teacher reads this, another assignment with additional self-inflicted expectations.  Let’s do this!

Picture yourself in the early 20^th century.  Newspapers report on men that are building business empires, men like, Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, and Rockerfeller.  Their businesses are booming, they’re making hand-over-fist amounts of money.  But – they are giving very few, if any, “mucks” about the American public.

Enter the “muckrakers”.  The muckrakers (a group of journalists) had heard the displeasure of the public and decided that Vanderbilt’s declaration that “The public be damned” had gone too far.  They assumed the responsibility of outing these prolific industries and individuals through publicizing their hidden secrets, true or not.  For instance, Upton Sinclair wrote a book regarding the meatpacking industry and a book by Ida Tarbelll about the petroleum industry.  Accusations founded or not, they were affective.  Muckrakers and their works became so effective that it created a distrust between businesses and consumers, businesses and employees, and businesses and the government.  This distrust with the government ended up getting involved in these industries and creating laws regarding what were allowed and not allowed to do and help new labor unions to form.

Remember, fundraising is an ethical career.  What the muckrakers taught businesses can be applied to our organizations.  Be honest.  Because? Someday some “muckraker” may bring up the salary of your organization’s CEO or they will slam your marketing budget.  And you can honestly and ethically reply “We may never find a cure for all cancers.  We may never end homeless, poverty, or whatever or organization’s mission is but… when we are honest with our donors, our board members, our staff and the public about what we can do…we will feed the hungry, cure some cancers, house the homeless, empower the impoverished, and all of the amazing things that our organizations do.”   

As you may have read, I am also a college student.  A communications major, college student at that.  And that means I have been taking a lot of communications classes.  One of my college classes this semester is Introduction to Public Relations.  Part of the Public Relations class is writing weekly blog post or recording a weekly podcast.  Essentially, I sided with the weekly blog assignment and that was the catalyst for Fundraising with Jenn.

I want to add a few upfront nerd-out tidbits about this class and then I will get on with the assignment and somehow “spin” it to be applicable for fundraising.

1. The image in the student learning app is of MAL from FIREFLY! – Say what you will but I’m a browncoat for life.  If you don’t get this reference, check Firefly out on Hulu.
2. On all that is holy, she used the term “chaotic evil” in her lecture.  Now that is a Dungeons & Dragons reference if I have ever heard one and, blended with the Firefly reference, I think we have ourselves a fangirl!

Now, on with learning some basics about “spin”.

What is Spin?

A very simple definition is – the way we turn something mediocre into something much, much better.  It can also be a fancy way of telling a lie or exaggerating the truth.  Spin can be a very positive thing or, it can be a negative thing.  It’s a way of redressing something mundane into something only the elite can afford. And lastly, it’s something that can make someone feel good about something or, feel bad about something.   

For example: My husband and I were looking for a new car about a year ago.  We found this really awesome Ford Escape in red.  If you know anything about speeding tickets, you know red cars get more tickets than say… a blue car.  When we explained that we were really fans of the red car, the salesperson emphatically said, “Oh, that’s not red – it’s SALSA!”  And, my dear reader, that is how you spin the color red.

Oh, we went with a Chevy Trax, in burnt orange.  It’s not exactly red either.

The Origin of the “Spin”

Spin originated with Bill Clinton.  Or did it?  According to the book The Father of Spin: Edward L Bernays & The Birth of PR by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, the practice of spin started with… Edward Bernays.  He was so good at spin in the 1920s he convinced an entire nation of women that smoking was beneficial to their health.  But, while Bernays may have started it, Bill Clinton certainly gave it a whole new life in journalism when the Monica Lewinsky scandal was the big news in the 90s.

How does “Spin” apply to Public Relations?

I don’t know that we need any kind of fancy link or reference to this when we are seeing it every day.  Spin becomes part of the job when you are doing any kind of marketing or journalism.  Are you looking for an example?  Let’s look at what is going on around us.  COVID.

COVID sucks.  It’s bad.  It’s a flu that will most likely make you feel like you’ve been hit by a truck and maybe even kill you.  But… it is literally someone’s job to tell you about the good things that are coming from this pandemic.  In this case, it is imperative for people to have some “good” stories that are coming from a “bad” thing because we want to lift peoples’ spirits.  We want to bring cheer and goodness to our communities.  We want, and kind of need, those warm fuzzy feelings happy stories tell us. 

Take a look at this story from a local news channel. 

There is crisis but there is hope.  Our community is coming together.  Not only was the spin on this positive, it was critically important to get the news of hope during desperate times to people in need.

A “Spin” Warning for Fund Raisers

It really is amazing that we see all these wonderful stories right now.  And this positive spin we, as fundraisers, are putting on our organization’s relief and assistance efforts are absolute truths.  And the words and statistics we are using now, aren’t spins. They are allowing some organizations to meet or exceed in reaching their annual fundraising goals in record time.  The spin will come later, next year.  When we aren’t depending on a crisis to do our fund raising for us.  When the urgency fades.  When the services go back to normal.  And we will have to be careful that our spin still accurately and transparently reflects the continued work that was important now, just as it was before this pandemic.  And because we, as fund raisers that follow some form of the Association of Fundraising Professional’s Ethical Standards of Fund Raisers, and as humans know – spinning a lie will only hurt the organization you care so passionately about.