Friday, February 10, 2012

Resource Links

If you are not familiar with our Resource Library, have a look. We developed this section as a way to assist you in connecting with others, reaching a greater audience and keeping current on the newest tends. We also encourage you to check back often as new links are added on a regular basis. Some recent additions: Building Your Social Media Fan Base If you post a message on Twitter and no one’s there to hear it, does it make a noise? The fact is, there isn’t much reason to tweet if you don’t have an audience - a fundamental truth of all social media channels. As you think about ways to engage constituents and advance your nonprofit and its mission through Facebook, Twitter and blogs, you should also be thinking about how to promote each channel and build your audience. How to … Continue Reading

How to Create a More Social Website

by Debra Askanase (Socialbrite) and Seth Giammanco (Minds on Design Lab) If you’re considering revamping your website to include social elements like the Facebook Like button, streaming from YouTube, or adding information from a social site through its API, it can be overwhelming to know where to begin. There are many ways to “get social,” and so many reasons for doing so. Primarily, it’s about creating a fundamentally engaging experience for the website visitor that brings them closer to your organization. The process of considering how to get social starts with considering goals. Why integrate social into your website? Ask yourself: what do you want to accomplish for your organization using social media? Having a goal seeks to address why you might want to make your website … Continue Reading

Resource Links

If you are not familiar with our Resource Library, have a look. We developed this section as a way to assist you in connecting with others, reaching a greater audience and keeping current on the newest tends. We also encourage you to check back often as new links are added on a regular basis. Some recent additions: 39 Questions Your Nonprofit Can Answer with Facebook Insights Facebook Pages include a reporting module called “Insights” which enables Page admins to understand how to better use their Page to market their cause and organization. Following are just some of the questions you can answer with these reports. A Consumers Guide to Low Cost Donor Management Systems This 140-page report provides an overview of what donor management systems do, recommendations for systems … Continue Reading

Staying On Top with Tech

Three important new articles for managing your organization's tech strategy: E-mail Is Social E-mail should be working hand in hand with the other digital messaging channels and each channel should complement and leverage the strength of the other. Is Your Blog Really Mobile Friendly? Is your blog or website mobile-friendly? And if not, how do you make it more mobile-friendly? The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Marketing The thing about Facebook is, for a platform that’s used by millions and millions of people, it can be kind of … complicated. Particularly if you use it for business. So let’s get you some specific how-to advice so you can get rolling without getting frustrated. So how do you get your Page started? And how do you get more people to Like your Page? What are the … Continue Reading

Code of Ethics: Israel Association of Professional Fundraisers

Preface to the Israeli Code of Ethics In order to propose a professional Code of Ethics for the Israeli Association of Professional Fundraisers, we examined a wealth of ethical codes being used in different countries. Recognizing the diversity of Israeli society and the unique array of philanthropic practices used here, we preferred to adapt the language of the ethical code developed by AFP - the Association of Fundraising Professionals which we felt best expressed this diversity. The translation below closely follows the original language, with the exception of an additional principal relating to professionalism. International Statement of Ethical Principles in Fundraising PREFACE Fundraisers work in many varied fields, countries and circumstances, but they share several fundamental … Continue Reading

Developing Social Media Metrics

Following our post from Friday, Developing a Social Media Policy, we thought it a good idea to remind our readers about social media metrics. As nonprofits make expanded use of social media, many are still struggling with a concept that is second nature to them in other areas of fundraising: metrics. The Social Media Group of Convio Services has created a guide “Going Social: Tapping into Social Media for Nonprofit Success,” which offers the following suggestions for social media metrics: General metrics: Media coverage from social media. Social shares from respected networks. Number of new supporters in email list from social media. Referring traffic to campaign landing pages. Number of click-throughs to campaign elements from each source. Number of calls to action taken, including … Continue Reading

Philanthropy Course Syllabuses Available

The Duke Sanford School of Public Policy has established an online database collection of syllabuses for courses on philanthropy, contributed by scholars from institutions nationwide. Titles and course descriptions are fully searchable. Users can also browse by focus, keyword, institution, instructor and year offered. … Continue Reading

Resource Links

If you are not familiar with our Resource Library, have a look. We developed this section as a way to assist you in connecting with others, reaching a greater audience and keeping current on the newest tends. We also encourage you to check back often as new links are added on a regular basis. Some recent additions: IRS Tax-Exempt Status Newly revised, the process for dealing with the IRS to obtain tax-exempt status (October 2010) Finding the Right Transparency Today, more than ever, the public and government agencies are demanding nonprofits to be transparent. But concerns about having a realistic picture of internal operations, where money is going, and the effectiveness of the programs are countered by concerns of overburdened staff, increased administrative costs, and an invitation to … Continue Reading

Creating a Mobile Version of Your Website

from Mashable: 8 Tools For Easily Creating a Mobile Version of Your Website The mobile web is burgeoning. Usage of iOS, the operating system for Apple mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad, almost doubled in just seven months (from March 2010 to October 2010), according to Netmarketshare. This is an indicator of just how many people are browsing websites, more and more, through their mobile devices instead of their computers. Small [organizations] should be on top of this trend. To help out, we’ve compiled a list of easy-to-use tools for creating mobile sites. The tools in this list were purposely chosen for ease of use - that is, they’re all aimed at site owners who don’t have any web development/coding experience. They’re perfect solutions for small- and medium-sized … Continue Reading

Defining an Amutah [an Israeli Charitable Organization]

by Shuey Fogel The Hebrew word amutah, referring to a charity in Israel, is used both correctly and incorrectly to describe just about any nonprofit organization registered in the country. But wait, it get’s more confusing. Not all charities are charities, sometimes they’re companies. And sometimes a charity isn’t tax-exempt while a company might be. Confused? Don’t worry. In this post I’ll cover the various terms and statuses available to Israeli charities - along with links to government websites - that will help you find the answer to the bottom-line question burning in your mind: Is this organization worthy of my donation? A United States "Nonprofit" Like many things, sometimes the easiest way to define something is to first define what it is not; thus, a look at our … Continue Reading