Arts & Cultural Organizations: Why You Should Be Using Pinterest

Posted by Kristen Gastaldo to Altru on May 7th, 2012

I have 1021 pins. 1021. I knew I had a solid interest in Pinterest, but this confirms it – full blown obsession. I wonder how long it took me to pin so many things. If I sent someone 1021 text messages, I could probably be given stalker status. Good thing I’m not alone:

So what does all this mean to you? Who are these users and should you be trying to reach them? Check out this infographic from Tamba and see if Pinterest attracts your target audience. (P)interested yet? As I am getting to know more about the Altru users, I’ve been convinced that you could benefit from being on Pinterest. Here’s why:

1 – You have the images!

Museum of the Moving Image

Clyfford Still Museum

Grounds for Sculpture

Pinterest is all about visual stimulation, showcasing beautiful images that move people to like, repin, or share, thereby supporting your cause. As museums, zoos, galleries, festivals and foundations, you have so many powerful images to choose from. You can pin images of your venue space, grounds, events, exhibits or patrons.

Hands On Childrens Museum

Laguna Art Museum

2 – Your supporters are already on the site.

I did a quick search for a few of our Altru users and almost every search returned images of your organization. You already have fans on Pinterest: time to connect with them!

3 – There’s a category that’s perfect(ly searchable) for you. On Pinterest, images are categorized. For children’s museums and zoos, there’s Kids and Pets; for museums, Art, Architecture, or Design. If you host weddings at in your event space, pin images to Wedding & Events. There’s also Food & Drink, Gardening, Outdoors, Science and Nature, Technology … your organization could be a part of so many searches!

Here’s a suggestion from Frogloop.com on how museums, zoos or aquariums could use Pinterest: Create a shared Board for visitors to pin their favorite works of art or to share shots of themselves feeding their favorite animals (In exhibits and galleries where photography is permitted, of course!). To pull this off well you’ll want to print up some effective signage to orient people to what Pinterest is about and how the museum is using it. Include a QR code that visitors can scan to get to the Pinterest mobile download page. Still not sold? Here are 10 examples of nonprofits leveraging pinterest for social goodand a couple more articles to check out:

Enough of the rehashing of internet articles; you could be pinning already! Is anyone already using Pinterest for your nonprofit and loving it? Or did you decide against it? We’d love to know why you joined or didn’t! Maybe we can chat about it in the community. You can keep up with us on Twitter by following @bbsupport; we use the hashtag #bbaltru when we discuss our Altru, our Museum Management Software . Take a look at our Twitter Guide for more information. Check out the Altru Community to submit ideas, ask questions and network with fellow Altru users.