Almost everyone is familiar with Goodwill. Founded in Boston in 1902 by Methodist minister, Edgar Helms, he collected used household goods and clothes and then trained and hired people who were struggling financially to mend and repair the items.  The items were then sold or given to those who repaired them.  In 2020, Goodwill served more than a million people worldwide.

Yet, in 2007, just as social media was getting started, a post titled “Think Before You Donate” went viral.  This post listed information about various charities and stated that the owner and CEO of Goodwill, Mark Curran, made $2.3 million in profits. “Stop giving to this man,” the post said. 

The trouble with this post is as follows:

1. Mark Curran does not exist.
2. As a nonprofit, Goodwill has no owner.  The current CEO is Steven C. Preston and he reports to a volunteer Board of Directors.  
3. Goodwill International earns $4.4 billion in revenue per year, and it spends about 82 cents of every dollar it earns on programs and services for people in need.

Since Goodwill has over 150 local groups, its headquarters provided guidance on how to combat the post.  Many local groups posted articles on their websites that disproved the information in the post and included a link to a Snopes article that had more information about the false social media post. Unfortunately, even an organization like Goodwill can be the target of someone with an axe to grind.  This also shows how far a falsehood can travel and underscores the importance of being vigilant when it comes to your social media channels. 

Who would want to post falsehoods about your business? It could be a customer who has an issue with something that was done or not done. It could be a former employee who is still angry about losing his or her job. It could be a random person who has nothing better to do than to be a troll.  While you can’t control what people are saying about your business on social media, you can control your social media page.

Start with monitoring your social media feeds.  Make sure what people are posting about your business is true and ideally, that it is positive.  Of course, if people do have complaints, address their concerns where they posted and immediately take the conversation offline. Contact them directly or give them a way to contact you.  It is not good practice to try to fix the issue on social media. That will only draw more comments and attention to the situation. And if you aren’t able to fix the issue to the other party’s satisfaction, everyone who follows you will know it and it could add to the other person’s ire. The last thing you want is for a negative exchange to go viral. 

Another suggestion is to Google your business to see what comes up, especially in the first two pages.  If the items include links to your website, social media channels and past media coverage you were able to get, that is great!  If your search yields negative comments or reviews, then you need to take stock and take action.  Investigate where this information is coming from and if necessary, utilize the services of an online reputation management company to get rid of the negative content.  While using a reputation management company can be costly, getting rid of negative content should be a priority and hiring an expert may be warranted. 

Being on social media doesn’t mean just posting information. It is also a way for people to show their love for your business and post reviews.  Be sure to activate the review function on your social media pages and let people know that you welcome reviews about your business.  If they are good, that means you are doing something right. If they are bad, find out what you did wrong and work to improve the situation.  While you can’t make everyone happy, doing good work is how you build good will among customers.