One of the things that I have come to learn over the years is how committed and smart people marketing for non-profit programs are. From communication strategists to social marketers, focus has been on overcoming the struggles faced with their external audiences and donor agencies.  But times are changing. As the global economy encourages the use of social media, funded programs are promoting and communicating through social media platforms to encourage global participation.

The Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance (GSTA) was established in 2005 with 15 non-profit and for-profit organizations with significant experience in sustainable tourism development and funding by funding by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the founding alliance members.  With a holistic and systemic approach to sustainable tourism development, Uganda’s Sustainable Tourism in the Albertine Rift (STAR) launched the Friend-A-Gorilla  program through its website and social networking sites.  The innovative campaign has captured over 14,000 followers on Facebook and 1300 followers on Twitter, since its launch on September 26, 2009.  The social buzz has also made it newsworthy with more than 500 news articles generated about the program worldwide creating the best international publicity Uganda has ever had.

In truth, you don’t have to be a big, powerful brand with a huge budget and global reach to incorporate these strategies. In fact, startups, small- and medium-size companies, associations, and non-profit groups are all benefiting from rethinking how they market their services.

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