Tag Archives: social networking

Insights Into Developing a Social Media Strategy

Most of us haven’t yet figured out how to best utilize social media for our organizations. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be experimenting to see what works and what doesn’t as we build a closer connection with our constituents. In yesterday’s Nten webinar, How to Develop a Social Networking Strategy for your Organization, Nten’s Holly Ross provided an in depth review of how she has used social networks to interact with the Nten community, joined by Jeff Patrick of Common Knowledge.

Earlier this week, I presented at Nten’s Long Island 501 Tech Club on Social Networking for IT Managers, where I tried to answer questions I often hear from nonprofits that are struggling with how to enter this new environment.

For a perspective from another organization, read Beth Kanter’s blog entry on the Independent Sector, where she discusses the value of using small pilots to get started.

One particularly interesting takeaway from Holly & Jeff’s presentation: the information about constituents that a nonprofit can derive from engaging in conversations with constituents on social networks would normally cost considerable time and money to obtain. This data helps you to understand what your supporters are most interested in so you can communicate more effectively.

In addition, take the time to understand how to best utilize various social networking sites and make sure that you seek to have a conversation, not simply blast out information about your organization.

For more insights about Nten’s development of a social media strategy, register for next Friday’s follow-up webinar. And if you think that your organization is too small and can’t possibly devote the resources for social media, consider that Nten has done a great job with a staff of only 7. From what I’ve seen, small nonprofits actually can do as well or better as larger organizations since they are often better able to experiment and shift gears if their first efforts don’t succeed.

P.S. Happy birthday John Lennon – he would have been 70 today.

It’s Not Just the Organization Web Site Anymore / Thoughts on the ‘Death’ of Email

Managing an organization’s web presence no longer focuses only on the main web site, which many constituents may never visit. An online presence consists of:

main web site
organizational blogs
Facebook cause / page
twitter posts
email marketing messages
AND what constituents are saying about organization in their own blogs, Facebook pages, twitter posts etc.

When I seek to learn more about a nonprofit that I’m not already familiar with, I use the main web site only as a starting point. It’s usually much easier to get a feel for a nonprofit’s culture and philosophies by reading its blogs (if it has them!) and social networking sites.

But as many of my colleagues have noted, it’s vitally important to listen to what others are saying about your organization. This will tell you much more than if you only rely on your web analytics to learn which pages on your web site are attracting the most traffic. Even if you aren’t able to generate regular content on Facebook, Twitter etc., participating in conversations will show you how effective your outreach is and whether you need to tweak your marketing efforts.

Social networking may not be for everyone (yet), but keeping abreast of what others are saying should be part of every nonprofit’s strategy. If you are able to maintain a presence on Facebook and Twitter, make sure the messaging is appropriate for each forum. Simply replicating the same content everywhere isn’t the right approach.

Addendum 10/12/09 on the growing importance of social networking – Why email no longer rules in online communications. Blue State Digital disagrees. I concur – it’s always best to use a combination of approaches and email clearly still deserves a prominent place at the table.

Addendum 10/29/09 – Many new thoughts on while email may be changing, email is not dead

Tips from an ePhilanthropy Pioneer

eTapestry introduced their ‘software as a service’ product in 1999, long before many others realized the benefits of a web based interface. (eTapestry was acquired by Blackbaud in August 2007.) This week I had the opportunity to attend a session given by CEO Jay Love who offered some interesting insights.

Social media is on everyone’s radar lately; Jay described the value of monitoring comments about your company / brand and described a recent experience where eTapestry was able to respond quickly to a negative tweet by a customer. Read about the happy ending.

It’s often frustrating when our donors stop giving, but sometimes the problem is hidden when the number of new donors more than make up the difference. If we can find ways to re-engage lapsed donors, what a difference this can make in our list growth! Here’s some recent Guidestar tips on how to reduce donor attrition rates.

Two important questions to ask:

How do you welcome new subscribers? (Common Knowledge has also done considerable work on developing a welcome series of communications.)
How do you manage relationship after opt-in?

Jay described the importance of having a donor database what everyone uses to document constituent interactions, also detailing a personal experience where he is considering discontinuing support for a charity which ‘asked the same questions’ that he had already answered in a past meeting. In my experience, organizations that have a fully functional CRM often have difficulty getting staff to use it. In response to my question, Jay recommended that nonprofits demonstrate that those who are the biggest ‘note takers’ are the most successful in fundraising – and publicize this information to all staff.

Another point which may seem obvious but isn’t always applied – make sure you direct constituents to specific landing pages so you can track where they came from, not to your general home page.

For more ideas, visit Jay’s blog as well as Blackbaud’s NetWits ThinkTank blog. To learn more about social media, visit the Gear Up for Giving training offered by the Case Foundation.

Report from Social Good Conference

Yesterday’s Social Good Conference was the final event of the Summer of Social Good, benefiting four nonprofit organizations which were featured at yesterday’s event: Livestrong, Humane Society, Oxfam America and WWF. The program offered many examples of how we can use online tools to further our missions, particularly social media.

Facebook’s Randi Zuckenberg suggested that to fully take advantage of Facebook’s latest capabilities such as their Insights Tool, nonprofits setup a page, not just a group. She also suggested creating videos to feature on the page. It’s not so important how many fans your page has rather how many of them are engaged with your cause. Read more at Wall Street Journal.

Global Giving and Causecast offered brief presentations to show many ways constituents can be encouraged to support causes beyond making direct donations.

What have been the most successful online fundraising campaigns: Twestival ($250,000), America’s Giving Challenge ($340,000) and Causes Birthday Wishes ($ 2 million in 6 months!).

Andy Ridley offered a stirring review of the success of the worldwide Earth Hour initiave, reminding us to ‘let people make their own messages’ to promote your cause.

Oxfam America extensively uses social media because “it’s the best way to reach supporters quickly” and “allows for instant response / feedback.” Bob Ferguson offered these suggestions on how to help Oxfam:

follow us on Twitter and retweet our posts
join our Facebook fan page and repost
sign up for our e-advocacy list
volunteer
tell others about Oxfam

Humane Society has made a strong commitment to ephilanthropy and was an early adopter of social media. They have 25 (!) staff in online communications, 6 which focus on social media. Everyone in the organization “gets it” – their CEO is tech savvy and blogs regularly. They’ve raised over $400,000 in Facebook Causes (still doubt that this platform can be a significant contributor to fundraising revenue?). While brand monitoring “can be very time consuming,” Twitter offers the best way to keep in touch with what others are saying about your organization. Take advantage of tools such as Tweetdeck and Google Alerts.

WWF explained their social media strategy as a way to build community, not just do fundraising. They’ve also worked with MobileCommons to build a mobile subscriber list and were recently featured in the Facebook Gift Center. They’ve also built relationships using eBay Giving Works and SocialVibe.

LiveStrong described their recent Global Cancer Summit, which was promoted primarily in Facebook and Twitter, and attracted 4500 online attendees. Their goal: “make those online feel like they are at the Summit and are participating and learning.”

Beth Kanter has long offered a wonderful blog on social media; her in person presentation was equally stimulating. Beth suggested we use three R’s to connect with our constituents: relationship building (don’t just connect when asking for money), rewards and reciprocity. She also used her personal connection with Cambodian children to demonstrate the power of establishing an emotional connection with story telling. Read Beth’s comments on conference.

Drew Olanoff, recently diagnosed with cancer, offered a stirring description of how he’s created Blame Drew’s Cancer to promote Livestrong.

All for Good‘s Jonathan Greenblatt described how his organization is using open source to transform volunteerism and to engage all Americans in service.

My take aways from the day:

Organizations like HumaneSociety are succeeding online because everyone in the nonprofit is involved, not just a ‘department’ which has been charged with the role of promoting and monitoring their online brand
It’s important to support organizations that have charitable goals. My wife has a large shoes collection, but we’ve never known about Tom’s Shoes.
While online connections are important, so are face to face conversations. Some attendees I tried to speak with at the conference seemed so involved with their computers / phones that I felt that any attempt to speak to them would not be welcome.
We need to all find a way to make volunteering part of our lives. I’ve slipped a bit and will do my best to rectify this by year-end
Use social media tools to engage with constituents, not just build a large list. The organizations profiled above have set a wonderful example of us to follow.

The end of the event featured a surprise ‘announcement’: Mashable’ COO Adam Schwartz, who hosted the event, proposed marriage to Sharon Feder on stage. We all cheered and she said yes.

New ePhilanthropy Resources From Around the Web

Do you take the time to analyze how long visitors stay on your web site, and what paths they take?. Try these 14 free tools to find out why they leave. Crazy Egg is especially worth looking at, even though it now has a small monthly cost.

Many nonprofits are still unsure about how to approach social media. Wild Apricot’s blog offers encouragement in how to create a social media policy

Want some real statistics in how nonprofits are faring during these rough economic times. Review Target Analytics Index of National Fundraising Performance as well as The Agitator’s quick review of its findings. Why do you think animal welfare and environmental organizations are doing better than others?

Steve MacLaughlin offers an interesting look at 2008 Online Giving Trends, including more reasons to use a multi-channel fundraising approach.

Need more reasons to pursue or enhance an online fundraising policy at your nonprofit? Robert Weiner has many great resources to support your case.

Finally, Jeff Patrick at Common Knowledge offers an analysis of Mission Inspired Gifts, a combination of fundraising and ecommerce which may be worth trying at your organization. In a webinar earlier this week, Jeff explained how the messaging is critical in telling donors exactly how their funds will be used.

NYC Nonprofit Boot Camp – Social Networking for Nonprofits?

More from Craigslist Foundation’s recent NYC Nonprofit Boot Camp; Big Duck‘s Farra Trompeter offered an engaging session on social networking – is this a tool that nonprofits should be taking full advantage of now?

If your organization does take the plunge, expect that it will require a 2-3 hour investment daily. A recent feature at Philanthropy Journal confirms this, also describing who is best suited to fit this role:

Knows and enjoys social media
Is tech savvy (but doesn’t have to be a geek)
Knows your organization and is committed to its mission
Has a personable, outgoing writing style

Is your main goal is to raise funds or to attract and interest current / prospective constituents? So far, few nonprofits have successfully been able to prove that the potential return is definitely worth the dedication of resources to social networking activities.

Farra recommended these first steps in Facebook:

find out whether other organizations with compatible missions are already there, and what they are doing
create fan page
create cause

Some nonprofits have been also to receive donations through text messaging, although this also is a relatively new initiative. Twitter is already used by nonprofits such as Red Cross and ASPCA to distribute information.

Starting and maintaining a presence on social networking sites confirms the trend that your constituents may never find your organization’s web site, so why not go to where they already are?

Listening to the Groundswell

Probably the best book I’ve read on how the Internet has changed our world is Groundswell, Similar to my posting last week on how donors are bypassing traditional nonprofits to make direct contributions, authors Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff define groundswell as a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.

The main idea is how organizations can use tools such as blogs, social networks, wikis, forums and other web 2.0 technologies to listen and to communicate with customers. Many examples are offered such as Salesforce’s IdeaExchange and Dell’s IdeaStorm where customers participate in an online community to help develop products. This is a very different approach to how communication and branding have traditionally been handled since no longer is the organization controlling the messaging vehicle and the content.

How can we apply these ideas to nonprofits? By engaging with our constituents all year, not only when we are seeking a donation. By having a presence on social networking sites. By communicating through blogs and paying attention to what others are blogging about our cause. By rewarding constituents who not only support our organizations, but also spread the word to others.

It’s not so important that we figure out which tools we should use, but instead utilize whatever technologies are available to connect with our audience. As the authors point out, Even though you may have a clear vision of what the company needs to do, getting the company to embrace the groundswell will take a lot of small steps and a lot of time. The first step is to find others in your organization who already understand the value of these strategies and can help win management support, which is essential for successful implementation.

See the Groundswell blog for more ideas on how to get started.

More ePhilanthropy Ideas from Around the Web

Guidestar summarizes recent Giving USA online fundraising survey:

while Internet giving is widely used, it still represents a small portion (under 5%) of overall fundraising
most common way organizations raise money over the web is through an online donation page
best results come from organizations that combine an online donation page with email appeals

Overall, social networking tools aren’t contributing much – yet, but an organization that utilizes online ‘communities’ is likely to improve results.

Care2′s FrogLoop blog interviews Phillip Artez, President of Artez on how to choose an eCRM. Phillip says that successful nonprofit fundraisers “aren’t afraid to share brand, content and promotion with their supporters” and reminds us that a large portion of funds will come from a small group of fundraisers so we should “treat them differently.” He mentions three areas where nonprofits should especially pay attention to: potential of social networking sites such as Facebook, donations originating from mobile devices and more organizations utilizing SalesForce (which has excellent connectivity to other systems and provides up to 10 free licenses to nonprofits).

Finally, the Nonprofit Times explains the importance of using multiple channels since many donors will visit the web before making a donation - even if it’s offline and, surprisingly, even more so for constituents 65 and older. PerDonordigital‘s Nick Allen, “more people are online, more people are doing research online, checking out charities they support or are thinking about supporting.” But NPAdvisor‘s expert Rick Christ warns that “nonprofit’s Web site should try to support direct mail, but not replace it.” and that direct mail is still how many first hear about a nonprofit. Convio‘s Vinay Bhagat adds that while blogs and social networking are getting more attention, the core web site is still the main way constituents will evaluate a nonprofit.

Many contributors to the Nonprofit Times article, including Nten‘s Holly Ross stressed the importance of integrating the web site with email appeals.

Notes from Fundraising Day, ePhilanthropy Symposium

I joined over 2000 colleagues who help nonprofits raise money at Fundraising Day last week. Some takeaways:

Mark Rovner offered these tips:

Ask When the Time is Right – when your organization / cause is in the news
Avoid the Constant Ask
Synchronize Your Channels – direct mail, email, web site
Avoid ‘Soft Asks’
Ask for Feedback – surveys, online focus groups
Finish the Story, Close the Loop – don’t ask again after donation before informing how past donation was used
Don’t Ask for the Wrong Amount – know what levels your donors have previously gave
Recognize Cross Channel Behavior – many will donate online after receiving direct mail
Make Sure You Thank More Than You Ask
Test – Find Out For Yourself

Tom Gaffny demonstrated the value of asking for a specific amount for a specific purpose, rather than simply requesting a ‘general donation.’

A day later, I attended the ePhilanthropy Social Networking Symposium, where we debated the value of social networking tools to nonprofits. Some highlights:

Steve MacLaughlin, Blackbaud‘s Director of Internet Solutions suggested that we ‘experiment first, plan later’ to make sure our organizations are represented in these new web environments. He suggested a POST approach:

People - who are you targeting?
Objectives - what do you want to achieve?
Strategy - what will it look like when you’re done?
Technology - what tools will you use?

Philip King of Artez Interactive suggested the value of recruiting fundraisers instead of donors, and suggested that the ‘from’ line in an email will often be more important than the ‘subject’ line; i.e. people give because of their relationship with people, not necessarily because they support the cause. He also discussed the ‘game changing idea’ of Kiva, where people can donate without going through a nonprofit organization; Oxfam Direct has also used this technique successfully.

To keep up with latest trends, many speakers mentioned the value of following sites such as Beth Kanter’s blog.