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Several months back a colleague commented that if he had a dollar for every time a journalist asked him if MoveOn could email a story link to their 5 million members, he could retire early.

These journalists’ half-joking pleas say volumes about how radically media and communications has transformed in the last couple of years.

Legacy media is still trying to find its way in the era of Twitter, Facebook and declining advertising revenues. In this new environment, media outlets are experimenting with tools and tricks that will drive traffic to their content. This has lead to a search for new models of content distribution–including the expectation that individual journalists cultivate their own audience via Twitter and Google+. Some journalists are taking this engagement a step further by embedding information and links for people to take meaningful action in response their stories.

Big consumer brands are still learning to swim, too. Like legacy media, they recognize that it is getting harder and harder to compete for consumer attention. Pepsi is no longer competing just with Coke. It is now also competing in the same social streams with photos from your Uncle Joe’s retirement party and the box-diving exploits of Maru the cat.

Increasingly, media and consumer brands are recognizing that social networks are great, but keying in on large, well-connected communities of people organized around a single interest topic is even better.

These communities are otherwise known as  “interest graphs.” These graphs are a level of specification up from social graphs.  Think of it this way: If a social graph is the relationship map of the people we know, an interest graph is the relationship map of what we like.  Whether it’s knitters, new moms or dog lovers, these groups represent a powerful constituency that can be targeted through the very specific lens of their interest. This specificity is why media and brands eager to identify and engage audiences are finding interest graphs to be much more powerful than social ones.

This information should cause nonprofits to prick up their ears because many have spent years cultivating groups of supporters who are connected by their passion for a single issue or cause. MoveOn is an interest graph of people committed to progressive political change.  The ASPCA is an interest graph of people who have a soft spot for animals.  And Save the Children is an interest graph of people who want to protect the health and wellbeing of kids. In a world full of noise, these interest graphs represent tremendous potential for up-ending traditional media and funding models within the nonprofit sector.

In the recent past an organization would write a press release and pitch, hat in hand, to media gatekeepers hoping for a few inches of entry. Today, it is the media that are searching for new audiences. One low-cost opportunity is to partner with trusted influencers (read: nonprofits) who can help broker an introduction to their interest graphs.

The same goes for companies committed to cause marketing. They’re looking to attract consumers who care about saving forests or girls’ health, and would support brands that share their passion. By partnering with them as their cause partner and activating their lists, nonprofits have the power to deliver.

The rules have changed. And if you are a nonprofit with a decent-sized list, you could be sitting in the catbird seat. All you need to do is start throwing around some list swagger and then stand back and wait for the magic to happen, right?

Unfortunately, many nonprofits have neglected their graphs for years. We’ve encountered too many nonprofits who seem resigned to modest open rates for their e-communications, or milk their lists for small money donations instead of maximizing their potential.

If you are the head of a nonprofit, you should not be happy if only 10% of the people who self-identify as being interested in your issue and your organization are opening your emails.

For organizations that have struggled to understand why building and growing a social media community is important, the value of interest graphs to potential media and corporate sponsors should settle the question.

So, how can nonprofits get their interest graph mojo back so they can sit at the media and cause-marketing table with strong hand? Take these four steps:

1. Adapt to the new rules of the game. You do not own the relationship with your graph members; they do. You are no longer the agent of change; they are.  Your messaging and communications should reflect this.
2. Take a customer service approach to your graph members. These are people who have said “YES!” to you. Every day you should wake up asking, “How can we be useful to these people?” It’s not about embracing new tools; it’s about embracing new behaviors.
3. Learn as much as you can about your graph members. Focus on the basics of data gathering, message testing, listening and experimentation to deliver the type of information they’re looking for in the format they prefer. This will only inspire more loyalty.
4. Tear down the org chart walls! Your graph doesn’t understand or care about your membership, fund development or social media teams. They are interested in your issue and a consistent brand experience that models their behavior= not your internal structure.

Making these changes aren’t easy, and they won’t happen overnight. They may even require that you rethink your staff make-up (tip: don’t leave social media to an intern who will be gone in four months. It’s too important). But the nonprofits that successfully weave these changes into their organizational cultural will emerge with robust interest graphs – and a new powerful force for change.

Want to learn more? As part of Social Media Week, Fenton is hosting a panel discussion moderated by John Gordon (@j6ordon) on NGOs, Causes and the Original Interest Graphs. Join the conversation on Tuesday, February 14th at 9:00am at our NYC office. For more info and to register, go here.