Nonprofit Bridge

This week’s meeting focused on reviewing nonprofit web sites which were recently redesigned.  Since many of us consult mostly with co-workers when developing a new site, I always find it very informative to hear from colleagues at other organizations .  (We also do a lot of this at the Not-For-Profit Webmaster Round Table, which will meet next on March 19.) Please visit sites which we reviewed (some still being redesigned) and give feedback to the organizations on what you like or don’t like:

• MS Foundation for Women
• New York Public Library
• Children’s Health Fund
• ACLU
• YAI

Other topics we discussed:

1. Should navigation links be removed from a donation form to not ‘distract’ the donor from completing the process?  Many attendees said yes.
2. Nonprofits that sent multiple appeals near year-end 2009 reported excellent results, demonstrating the benefit of taking advantage of the tax deduction by 12/31
3. Only a few are implementing Convio’s Common Ground, which provides an integrated donor database – may discuss further at a later meeting
4. Drupal is in use by more of us, but link with Convio is not yet available.  (open source CiviCRM does connect well with Drupal)
5. We agreed that implementing a welcome series for new supporters was worthwhile, but few are using yet – too much time to setup?
6. Video – YAI has done well with its YouTube channel;  TubeMogul was also mentioned as way to upload to multiple video sites.
7. Some reports of recent delays in sending emails through Facebook Causes, resulting in a holiday message that reached constituents late
8. Per ACLU, activists that have taken at least two actions are very likely to become donors (may incorporate into welcome series)
9. Some sites are moving away from Flash to Javascript for home page – better viewed on mobile phones
10. Challenges in working with Facebook, which ‘changes every day’

Thanks to the YAI Network for hosting meeting, YAI’s Dario Mallerman for moderating discussion and Convio’s Stephanie McKnight for coordinating.  More details are also in Convio’s Community site (login required).   Despite the beginning of a two day rain/snow storm in NYC, about 50 Convio users attended!

I am pleased to announce that as of Feb. 22, I will be joining Common Knowledge as Senior Consultant.  I’ve known President / Founder Jeff Patrick for several years, and have had the opportunity to attend many of his web trainings on a variety of ephilanthropy topics.  It is particularly exciting for me to join forces with a firm that matches so closely with my personal passion to help nonprofits develop and implement online strategies, as I’ve done for several organizations for almost ten years.  Common Knowledge’s services have resulted in many effective website redesigns and have been on the cutting edge of showing how nonprofits can utilize social media to achieve their goals.

While Common Knowledge is based in San Francisco, I will be working from the NYC area and working with clients mostly on the East Coast.   Please see a sampling of the firm’s current clients as well as its blog which I hope to contribute to.

Thanks to everyone who has supported me during my quest for a new position and has encouraged me to continue to focus on ephilanthropy.  I am looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with Jeff and his very talented staff, many who I will be meeting soon.

With the emergence of social media options such as Twitter, Facebook, and now Google Buzz to join the web site and email marketing, nonprofit organizations now have a cornucopia of communications options to stay in touch with constituents.  But which channels are best to use, and what messaging should go in each?   To address this dilemma, Tech Soup recently featured Aspiration’s Allen Gunn in Integrating Social Media Into Your Website.   A few highlights:

• Consider where your constituents are most likely to be, and start publishing on those channels first
• Even if you’re not ready to use them, set up accounts with consistent names on multiple social media sites – don’t forget about media sharing portals YouTube and Flickr
• Provide information about other channels on email newsletters, blog posts etc.
• Add channel links to organization email signatures
• When deciding which channel(s) to use, consider whether you’ll be primarily sending, e.g.event announcements,late-breaking news or alerts, donation asks, scheduled communications or infrequent updates

To help prepare an overall communications plan, Aspiration provides a useful publishing matrix.  Gunner also recommended utilizing a social media dashboard using tools such as iGoogle and NetVibes (see Aspiration’s public dashboard) so you can keep track of how others are talking about your organization online.

So what content to use for what service?  We’re still learning, but my recommendations are:

1. Web content and email marketing still come first.  If using other channels, make sure the messaging and images are consistent.
2. Update blog content at least weekly;  include links to information you’ve already published on Twitter or Facebook
3. Post in Twitter or Facebook several times daily, including retweets of others’ posts that will be of value to your followers.  Facebook generally has a more ‘personal’ touch, but always remember to stay focused on your organization / brand.
4. Google Buzz? Too early to tell.  This seems like more of an effort to keep users in Gmail and as a response to other services than as a new value added product.
5. Make it easy for constituents to find your other channels by referencing them on your web site.  For example, see the ‘Connect / Join / Follow Us’  links at Environmental Defense Fund , Witness, and Aspiration.
6. Listen before you speak. You may have heard this advice when speaking with colleagues or with your spouse;  the same applies online
7. Make sure you have something of value to say. If you’ve followed #6 by reviewing colleagues’ blogs / public content, you’ll have plenty of ideas to choose from.  But don’t just repeat – add your own spin.

In addition to spending many hours online, I still do read books.  Recently I finished Wendy Smith’s Give a Little – How Small Donations Are Changing the World.  If you ever think that only large contributions make a difference, this book will change your mind, showing how small gifts make up the bulk of many nonprofits’ revenues.  In addition, I was introduced to many wonderful nonprofits that I wasn’t already familiar with – a complete list is available here.  My favorite quote – “giving changes you as well as the world.”

Your small gift can also help these very worthwhile causes:

• Idealist is asking for help so it can continue to be a resource for the nonprofit community
• Nten’s Holly Ross asks that you celebrate her upcoming birthday by helping a nonprofit colleague to attend the upcoming Nonprofit Technology Conference
• Support Idealware’s mission of providing objective software reviews for nonprofits by purchasing its new Field Guide to Software for Nonprofits

If you missed the recent PBS Frontline presentation of Digital Nation, you can watch it (and comment) online.   It is very thought provoking, and may provide a reminder that multitasking is not always the best way to get things done.  Also see this report from Pew Internet on Social Media and Young Adults.

Wondering about whether mobile fundraising will become a major fundraising channel as it has been for Haiti?  See MobileActive’s Definitive Guide to Mobile Fundraising as well as Beth Kanter’s summary of some recent viewpoints.