Much of this also applys to NPO’s

with Steve Fischer & Ja-nae Duane

If you are involved in the Non Profit community, Revolutionary Road is a presentation you just can’t miss!  Ja-nae and Steve present two different projects that they created and ran.  Both of them used social media extensively to develop their projects [...]]]>

Another reason to attend Tech Day Camp – Crowdsourcing for Non-Profits

Fall is creeping in, today in New England is a bright crisp day! We are about to announce the schedule for Tech Day Camp, and we have a whole series for NPO directors, staff and volunteers!! Hope you can make it Saturday, Oct 22! Now on to the picks for the [...]]]>

Image by lu2shoot via Flickr

Fall is creeping in, today in New England is a bright crisp day! We are about to announce the schedule for Tech Day Camp, and we have a whole series for NPO directors, staff and volunteers!! Hope you can make it Saturday, Oct 22! Now on to the picks for the week.

1. From our favorite  advisor, Susan Hammond: Advisory Boards Can Improve Fiduciary Boards

Many problems in governance start with uneducated people getting onto a board, corporate or nonprofit.  They are asked by a trusted colleague because they are successful in business or some other endeavor.  That success in turn is seen as preparing you to serve on a board.  Wrong!

One of the easiest ways to get familiar with board service is serving on an advisory board.

2.  Are you on Facebook? Christine Pilch, one of our fantastic speakers at Tech Day Camp: Facebook compromised your privacy this week, and you probably didn’t even notice it Thanks for watching out for us Christine!!

In the way of a great illusionist, this week Facebook got so many users worked up about the loss of easy access to recent posts that they were able to slide in much more significant changes that altered the privacy control that every Facebook user had over his own information.

3. More about changes on Facebook and Pages from Beth Kanter about: Facebook Changes for Organization Pages: Focus On Results

The discussion about the recent changes on Facebook has focused mostly around what it means for individuals, particularly the tension between openness and  privacy.    Many people are wondering what it means for nonprofit brands  using Facebook as one of their marketing channels.   So are people like me who do coaching and training on how to use Facebook effectively.     It makes no sense to freak out.

4. From another presenter, John Haydon, a regular here on Friday: The most important question you could ask a new donor

What made you donate to our organization?

5. What we all want to know: 5 Tips to Make Donating Easy from Inspiring Generosity

A few weeks ago we asked our Facebook friends what obstacles they saw in online fundraising. One friend noted that some nonprofits make it hard for donors to donate on their website, with too many clicks in the middle.

There are simple solutions to this, so if you’re thinking about revamping your nonprofit’s website, take these tips into consideration…

Related articles

• Around the Web Sep 23 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)
• Around the Web Sep 16 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)
• Non-profit people don’t miss Tech Day Camp (thenon-profittoolbox.com)

Well, yesterday it felt like summer, and today fall is definitely in the air here in MA.  Say good-bye to the lazy days of summer and back to business with this brisk weather.

1. Let’s start with the changes (again) to Facebook: At Long Last, Facebook Adds Twitter-Style Following, [...]]]>

Image by The Library of Congress via Flickr

Well, yesterday it felt like summer, and today fall is definitely in the air here in MA.  Say good-bye to the lazy days of summer and back to business with this brisk weather.

1. Let’s start with the changes (again) to Facebook: At Long Last, Facebook Adds Twitter-Style Following, Calls It “Subscribe” from All Things Digital:

Users can choose to post a Subscribe button on their profile. Once they do, any visitor can choose to subscribe to receive one of three options in their Facebook news feeds: all updates, most updates (what you’d see normally) or important updates (like getting married or having a kid)….On the flip side, brands can’t have subscribers. The Subscribe button is only for people.

More:  What the Facebook Subscribe Feature Means to Nonprofit News Sharing (Frogloop)

2. Events Are a Means to an End: Collecting Data that Will Help You Raise More Money from NTen:

Chances are, your organization has one or more special events that are part of your fundraising portfolio. You know events are a great way to engage your constituents in an immersive and impactful way. But are you using your events as an opportunity to learn more about your advocates and better focus all of your fundraising efforts?

3. 11 Qualities of an Effective Social Media Manager from NonProfit Tech2.0

Despite all the buzz about social media, the reality is that your social media campaigns are only as good as the human being(s) behind them. Going “viral” on social media sites is extremely rare, and instantaneous success is a myth. Being an effective social media manager is both an art and a skill.

4. Give2Gether, Rally, Razoo, Fundly offer nonprofits a new way to support causes from Frogloop:

There’s a new breed of fundraising tools out there that can help organizations with “social fundraising.” These tools leverage the social networks of donors, supporters and organizations to substantially increase the revenue raised as well as the long-term benefits of becoming a part of the fabric of your donors’ social media networks. They focus not just on large donations but on the collective power of micro-donations, which are often repeated and shared with friends.

5. Using an Advisory Committee to Transform a Founding Nonprofit Board from Susan Hammond

A young executive director (ED) I’m advising is working to change the founding board by way of an advisory committee.  The three-year old organization has a board comprised of family members.  The organization is at the point where it needs a board made up of members more representative of the community served and with greater expertise and experience. The organization has only one employee, the ED.  So the board of directors will be a working board for the foreseeable future.

Have a great, productive week!

August brings thoughts of sunny days at the beach…ahhh

Now back to work, here are my five for the week:

1. Five Recent Upgrades to Facebook Pages Your Nonprofit May Not Know About from Nonprofit 2.o

Facebook has been making a flurry of changes to the functionality of Facebook Pages, Facebook Community Pages, and Facebook Places [...]]]>

Image via Wikipedia

August brings thoughts of sunny days at the beach…ahhh

Now back to work, here are my five for the week:

1. Five Recent Upgrades to Facebook Pages Your Nonprofit May Not Know About from Nonprofit 2.o

Facebook has been making a flurry of changes to the functionality of Facebook Pages, Facebook Community Pages, and Facebook Places Pages over the last few weeks. The good news is that the upgrades signal that Facebook is working towards merging these three types of pages (when possible), thus making managing your nonprofit’s presence on Facebook much easier.

2. Where Should You Invest Your Time: Google+, Search, or Email? from Beth’s Blog

I think nonprofits should wait or rather don’t jump in deeply with a heavy time investment quite yet.  Take an ROI approach to the amount of time that is being spent, especially if you haven’t reallybuilt up, engaged, and developed relationships with people via your social networks in other places.

Don’t just do an ROI analysis with your social time.   Your time might be best spent on incorporating  multi-channel best practices.  Do you need to redesign your web site, incorporate SEO, or  beef up your CRM and email strategy.    As John Haydon said later in the thread,  ”Don’t buy the Persian rug if your roof has a hole in it” and then wrote this post.

3. Why your nonprofit should have a mobile strategy by Tamara Schweitzer at Socialbrite:

You don’t have to develop an app to be a player in the mobile market. In fact, SMS text messaging and QR codes are two ways that you can work with mobile technology without breaking the bank.

A QR code, or quick response code, is like a barcode that can easily be scanned by smartphones to relay all kinds of information.

4. Five Ways Nonprofits Can Use QR Codes by Allyson Kapin on Frogloop:

“QR codes allow you to land a visitor much farther down whatever funnel of engagement you’re interested in moving them through. Rather than trusting a visitor to type in www.yoursite.com, a QR code can send them directly to the specific page you’d like them to see,” said Henry Quinn at the Idealware Blog.”

A QR code can link directly to music, video, news—on or off your site—it can activate a phone call, send an SMS, open forums for conversation or social networking—anything that’s online and that’s going increase their engagement with your organization, you can put in front of a user with a phone, immediately, with one click, said Quinn.

5. An Introduction to Using Facebook Ads for Your Nonprofit from John Haydon. Reasons to use FB ads for NPO’s:

Now go see the whole slide deck!

5. Why your nonprofit should have a mobile strategy

Related articles

• Around the Web Aug 5 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)
• Around the Web July 29 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)

Lazy days of summer are here…Time to make the most of the time Here are some “food for thought”

1. Building Relationships with Donors from GuideStar

…many organizations struggle to find the time to establish relationships with donors. Phone calls, people dropping by, employee issues, and e-mails seem like [...]]]>

Image by robbplusjessie via Flickr

Lazy days of summer are here…Time to make the most of the time Here are some “food for thought”

1. Building Relationships with Donors from GuideStar

…many organizations struggle to find the time to establish relationships with donors. Phone calls, people dropping by, employee issues, and e-mails seem like a giant time-sucking machine that descends from the ceiling in your office and vacuums the life out of your day. With corporate and individual donors struggling financially, building relationships with your supporters has never been more important.

2. How to get more Facebook fans with Page Like Story ads from John Haydon

One way to acquire Facebook fans for your nonprofit is to use Facebook Ads to promote your Page. But not traditional Facebook Ads – Sponsored Page Like Story Ads.

Facebook Sponsored Like Story ads are different from traditional Facebook ads in four ways…

3. Seven Tips To Boost Your Email Open Rates from Frogloop by Allyson Kapin.

it’s not too early to start thinking about your year-end fundraising. Convio helps jumpstart your brainstorming with their new guide - Crafting Subject Lines That Work: Making Email Appeals More Effective.

This guide focuses on the importance of your email’s subject line, especially at a time when everyone’s inbox is flooded with messages. Getting even your most devoted supporters to open your carefully-crafted appeal can be quite a challenge, and you need to keep these seven factors in mind.

4. Socialbrite: Engage your supporters & succeed on the Social Web from JD Lasica: Slides and handouts from Social Media for Non-Profits. Lots of great ideas and information, links…check it out!

5. From NTen: Megan Yarbrough: Why We Love the “Like” Button!: it’s about spreading content:

we’re not talking about putting a ‘Like’ button for your organization’s Facebook fan page on your website to allow people to like your fan page (althoughthat’s a great idea, too!). We’re talking about adding a ‘Like’ button for your organization’s website (or for a piece of content on your website)

Have a great week!!

Related articles

• Around the Web Jul 22 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)
• Around the web Jul 15 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)