Last Tuesday’s historic election of Barack Obama as the next president of the United States and his phenomenal use of the web and text messaging should silence once and for all the stubborn nay-sayers who have continued to dismiss the power of technology to communicate and build support.

According to news reports, AT&T had the single largest spike in text messaging in the company’s history—44% higher than the average of the five previous days and higher than traditional spikes such as Valentine’s Day, Christmas and New Year’s Eve—in the moments following the announcement of the election outcome. Of course, traditional media also surged to record highs in the hours after the election results were announced. Yet, the tremendous surge in text messaging signals something very significant that validates it as a leading communications strategy that can no longer be marginalized.

Watching live television and web-based live video feeds as America celebrated this historic election felt like you witnessing a spontaneous, virtual New Year’s celebration that you could join while it was unfolding. You could watch people texting one another, sending photos and videos all while they and you celebrated in person. And if you were one of the tens of thousands of Obama supporters on his campaign email list, you received a thank you email note from him within minutes of the announcement of his victory. Talk about a way to make people feel good and like they were part of history in the making.

In my many years writing about and encouraging support from and for the Jewish community, I have often struggled to communicate what “community” is and why it matters. Last Tuesday, I saw, I read, I texted with a community that is both “old” and “new school.” It is “old school” in how it brings together people around a shared set of experiences, values and interests. It is “new school” in its size, powerful reach, immediacy and undeniable energy. Whatever way you look at (and this blog is not political) it we witnessed a powerful expression of community in action—online and in person—all blended together to create a moment we are likely to carry with us for some time.

I hope we are all taking note and that Jewish organizational leaders are taking their young, savvy text messaging staffers out to lunch this week to learn a few things.

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Because no one asked them to….

The million dollar question in fundraising is “why do people donate?” and the million and one dollar question is “why don’t people donate?” And the best answer so far is “…because no one asked them.” And that’s also Omar Mahmoud’s answer to the question “why don’t fundraisers use market research?”

Changing the question again, why do marketers use market research, which costs money and time? And the answer is the boots, the tower, and the pizza.

A company sent two researchers to investigate the potential of boots in Bongoland. One researcher sent a message saying “there is no potential here, no one wears boots.” The other researcher called to say “huge potential, lots of people and no one wears boots.”

Yes, marketers search for opportunities. Opportunities are gaps between what people have and what they need, want, or dream of. Read more

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a guest post by Nancy E. Schwartz:

I hope you’re holding off on campaigns this week. Eyes, hearts, minds and mouths are focused on the election, and whatever your organization has to say is going to get lost. Promise.

Even more importantly, election results will shift the context of daily life for your base. And it’s vital that you always communicate within that reality. That understanding is what enables you to connect with your supporters, rather than talking at them.

So hold back, listen hard and see what bubbles up in response to election results. That way you’ll be ready to shape campaigns that connect your work to the key issues and headlines that emerge, both next week and going forward. Folks will quickly re-focus on what’s next, and you want to be there ready to engage them.

Nancy E. Schwartz is the author of the Getting Attention blog: a source of ideas, tactics, and tips for nonprofit communicators focused on helping their organizations succeed through effective marketing.

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I recently spent some time on YouTube searching for examples of great video story telling. One aggregator site on the YouTube nonprofit channel makes it easy to post your nonprofit videos and easy for viewers to find them. I found “Story of a Sign,” a powerful, poignant story of a Mexican street beggar there. I like it and the video “Invisible Children” because both videos demonstrate the power of the medium to tell a story and motivate people to action. “Story of a Sign” is linked to Karmatube which helps you get involved with the cause behind the video.

Other good examples of YouTube nonprofit video successes are Taglit Birthright Israel, Greenpeace, and The March of Dimes. According to their YouTube profiles, they have each captured thousands of viewers and many new advocates. For Birthright Israel, YouTube is a natural place to engage young adult Jews and keep the energy of their Israel experience alive beyond the trip itself.

YouTube’s nonprofit channel is growing as organizations realize the cost/benefit ratio makes it worth the investment. Read more

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Sometimes things crystallize all at once.

The New York Times reporter, Stephanie Rosenblum writes this week that Walmart, the behemoth retailer whose ethical, environmental and worker treatment record has been so poor that it will now require its manufacturers supplying goods to its stores to adhere to stricter ethical and environmental standards. This is big news.

If Walmart is capable of raising its bar I am hopeful that our ethically and morally strong but often-slow-to adopt-change community will soon make some headway here as well.

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I just connected to a very intriguing Web 2.0 forecasting game. Launched on September 22nd and only alive for three more weeks until November 13th, Superstructgame, is the brainchild of The Institute for the Future (IFTF), an independent nonprofit research group founded in 1968 by Rand Corporation researchers with a Ford Foundation grant to build understanding of the future.

The forecasting game, Superstruct invites players (you can play) to imagine, forecast and plan for a brave new world of 2019 by focusing on a unique set of “future parameters” that are presented in rather sobering videos. The five video superstructure scenarios trigger your interest and encourage you to select one of them as your primary play area. Then you add your own stories, strategize with other players and create a possible future structure. The areas are defined as:

• Quarantine, where you learn “homemade bombs kill 75 people in Birmingham as fear, anger and unemployment drive unrest…”
• Ravenous, where “abandoned supermarkets have become temporary village squares in many parts of Amsterdam…”
• Power Struggle, where you are told “Masdar City’s 500,000 inhabitants match energy consumption of a U.S. suburb of 20,000..”
• Outlaw Planet, where “grieving and hacking attacks disrupt Superstruct after the issuance of its Extinction Report..”
• Generation Exile,  which presents a scenario of “displaced people in Minnesota now numbering over 100,000 and facing a tough winter…”

So, I wondered if anyone in the Jewish community world was playing and/or if Superstructgame might spark interest in creating a version for our future. Could be very interesting to get some engaged Jewish people gaming about continuity, Jewish education, social responsibility, the future of Israel…and???? Anyone game to play?

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In the work we do with various organizations, we constantly come across staff not properly understanding the time factor involved to both have and properly maintain a social media presence. We first posted about this in August, in Don’t Underestimate the Staff Factor. As the economy moves ever southward, it is even more important to maintain a handle on expenses.

Here’s a great image we came across to help re-enforce the time commitment needed for various levels of social media involvement along with a link to lessons learned by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum through their projects.

source: Beth Kanter, How Much Time Does It Take To Do Social Media?

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Negative pr has always been a thorn in the side of those of us who work hard building and protecting the reputations of Jewish organizations that do good work and put a high value on maintaining the trust of their constituents.

Yet, from time to time, even the most highly respected organization is faced with a situation that has the potential to seriously damage its reputation. I know because I have had to handle my share of negative pr situations over the course of my career. It’s never fun, difficult to get through and yet, if you follow the time-tested protocols for dealing with a pr “crisis,” you will get beyond the storm. The best “crisis pr” advice I ever heard was from Howard Rubenstein, the venerable crisis pr maven, who always started with “be prepared before a crisis strikes and always tell the truth as quickly as possible.”

So with the blogsphere now a legitimate, mainstream source of information, what must organizations do to be sure those writing about them get it right and how does an organization stay on top of the blog world to know what is being said?

Here are a few thoughts, but please add yours to the conversation.

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My email inbox is filled with Rosh Hashanah e-cards from colleagues and friends wishing me a sweet and healthy New Year. Some are quite clever and all very lovely. There are lots of e-greetings using video and animation and a couple that have taken humorous, sharp pokes at the U.S. presidential political scene. I even received a few old-school, snail-mailed holiday greetings. All these wish are nice, albeit not terribly inspiring and leave me feeling flat.

So, Monday morning as I was putting the finishing touches on the noodle kugel, I figured out what was bothering me. It’s that this is a time of reflection and hopefully a chance to focus on doing things better next year. None of the messages I got from Jewish organizations inspired me or offered me anything of substance or value.

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The proper use of viral marketing can help your message spread rapidly. Take your message online and there’s no telling how many potential supporters you will reach. According to Steve MacLaughlin, Interactive practice manager at Blackbaud in Charleston, S.C., the success of any viral marketing strategy is in the “pass it on” rate.

“Response rates increase dramatically when users can see that a message is coming from a friend, family member, or co-worker,” he said. “People must be encouraged to pass a message along-don’t rely on them to think of this themselves.

MacLaughlin shares with us 10 tips for creating an online buzz:

• Provide for effortless transfer to others — keep the message simple and easy to share Read more
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  Tags: Web 2.0