Friday, May 25, 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

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

Technology and Storytelling

Technology and Storytelling: Seeking Support With Multiple Channels by Richard McPherson The power of a good story is widely understood in philanthropy and fundraising, whether it is the effect of a disease, the transforming impact of education or the struggle of wildlife. Fundraisers also recognize that the most powerful storytelling occurs when one person talks passionately, face to face, with another. Charities have long attempted to transfer the authenticity and power of personal communicating to other means, notably direct mail, phone calls and e-mail. Thanks to a talented and restless technology sector, the creation of new tools continues through YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google and many more, and charities are challenged to tell their stories in many new settings. In terms of … Continue Reading

Whither Community?

by Paula Jacobs It was a routine e-mail request that rankled me. “A few volunteer slots are still available. I’d like to fill in the gaps on the schedule,” read the blind distribution e-mail sent by the volunteer organization where I have volunteered for years. I shouldn’t have been taken aback when this perfunctory request popped into my inbox. After all, I have written about technology for years, have conducted business via the Internet for more than two decades, have taught online courses, and have long relied on electronic calendaring and scheduling. My husband calls me an Internet junky. But coming from a non-profit Jewish organization which prides itself on fostering community, this impersonal e-mail was unsettling. Am I now someone on a mass distribution list who simply … Continue Reading

Facebook’s Impact on Email Campaigns

by Hannah Brazee Gregory Just like video killed the radio star in the 1980s, social media is very rapidly changing how nonprofits need to approach email campaigns and website development. Your nonprofit has been working on growing its Facebook audience, and one of the ways to invite supporters to your befriend your page is with your email list. What is likely to happen next illustrates a growing trend that is changing the "digital PR" game. Now that your audience member has connected with your organization on Facebook, they remove themselves from your email list. Why get email when they can get all the information they want in one handy place? Don't worry. You did the right thing by inviting your email list audience to connect with you on Facebook. You just need to be aware of this … Continue Reading

The Facebook Email Challenge

from frogloop: The Email Wars In the battle to win the war to become a one-stop channel for all your commmunications, Facebook is launching its new Messaging service. Will it impact nonprofits? Yes. To understand why, first you need to understand exactly what Facebook mail is attempting to do. It’s “NOT email, “Email’s too formal,” said Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, who thought of the idea after having a conversation with a teenager who said that email was too slow and official. ... Some early adopters in the space are quite excited about this announcement because they think it will make email more social and be easier to manage. If Facebook is able to pull this off ... it presents great challenges to nonprofits who rely on email for online fundraising and activism. … Continue Reading

Some New Links

One-Page Social Media Strategy Overwhelmed by the task of developing a social media strategy for your non-profit organization? Don’t know whether you ought to “friend” or “like” or tweet” to get the best mileage for your message in the social networks? Jumpstart the planning process with this smart one-page Social Media Strategy Worksheet. Online Marketing Guide for Nonprofits Online marketing is no longer optional for nonprofit organizations. Even the smallest and most local nonprofit must reach out to the public through an online presence. Email Dominates on Mobile Does your nonprofit know how many of its supporters read action alerts and fundraising appeals on their smartphone? It’s probably a lot more then you think. Ten Must-Know Email Marketing Metrics Every … Continue Reading

What’s Working in Donor Fundraising and Development Today?

In this new report: top U.S. nonprofit executives - at organizations with combined annual revenues of more than $14 billion - reveal their challenges, opportunities and strategies in acquiring, communicating with, and stewarding members and donors. Key insights on social media, donor acquisition and more. What’s Working in Donor Fundraising and Development Today? by Lisa Sargent Summary What are nonprofit executives facing - right now - in fundraising and donor development? This report sets out to answer that question, based on the input of more than a dozen US nonprofit professionals at organizations with $14+ billion in combined annual revenues. These leaders offered their input via telephone interviews conducted over a six-week period, on topics ranging from challenges in donor … Continue Reading

Email is Dead! Long Live Email!

from Englin Consulting: Email is Dead! Long Live Email! Every so often, someone in the online marketing world ignites a kerfuffle about the future of email. The argument goes that the advent of devices like iPhones and Droids that make it easy to quickly delete emails without even looking at them, plus the spreading reach of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, plus the email overload many people experience in their inboxes equals the demise of mass email lists as a productive tool. Facebook's COO recently revived the debate, saying that because young people don't use email the demise of email is imminent. Perhaps she's right and email will soon join the rotary phone in the dustbin of communications history. But for now, email remains an important and effective communications tool, … Continue Reading

New Additions to Our Resource Library

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. 3 Ways to Kill & Reinvent Your "About Us" Page Some of the most tantalizing metrics, for example, like number of impressions don't usually tell you as much as something more obscure, such as how long someone spent on your site and your top "exit page" - that is, the page that someone looked at last before leaving your site. Among those hidden metrics are the amount of people who visit your site and end up quite rapidly on your About Us page. 6 Ways to Constantly Produce Quality Blog Content Are … Continue Reading