1. Ask a question.  Not only is this the best way to get specific feedback for your needs, but it gives you an opportunity to introduce yourself to the group and share a current work challenge you are facing.
2. Prepare in advance by researching the speakers, reviewing the agenda, and coming up with some specific issues you’d like to address
3. While it’s great to reconnect with those you already know, take the time to get to know people you don’t.  (This is easier if you attend an event alone rather than with many of our work colleagues.)
4. Find out the session hashtag and tweet out major points to those in your network who weren’t able to attend the event
5. Thank the speakers for their time and for sharing their knowledge
6. Follow up with those you met after the event;  don’t just take business cards.  Instead, arrange to speak or meet at a later time.
7. Summarize what you learned from the event in writing for your boss and for others at your organization who might be interested in the topic
8. Make sure you offer to help others, not just to get ideas about ‘your’ problem at work.
9. Return to your office with a few strategies that you can apply quickly (if you wait too long, you’ll forget)
10. Give back by arranging to speak about your expertise at a future event.

Fortunately the nonprofit community is a very sharing group, so take advantage of every opportunity to learn – and to share what you know about succeeding with ephilanthropy. (If you’d like an opportunity to apply some of these tips, please join me at the NYC 501 Tech Club meeting Monday night, Sep. 19 to learn how to innovate and thrive in the digital age.

Addedum 10-3-11 – great tips from my friend Ben Lichtenwalner on 25 Ways to Prepare for Conferences, which is helpful even if you’re attending only a one day event.

Is your nonprofit prepared for a disaster?  Care2 offers a webinar this week on Surviving and Thriving When a Crisis Hits.    And while this week’s events were a major inconvenience, find a way to Put Your Cause in the Eye of the Storm to tell stories about how your organization helps its target audience.  Here are some Tools to Help Any Nonprofit Tell Stories Online from Amy Sample Ward.

For yet another reason to use social media, read why Nonprofits Are Expected to Use Social Media During Disasters.  For many great ideas on how to implement a social media strategy at your organization, learn from Jereme Bivins in his Social Media Case Study on how the Foundation Center uses Thrive and other tools.  Per Pew Internet, 65% of Online Adults Now Use Social Networking Sites.

Most of us make presentations, but it’s always challenging to keep listeners engaged, especially when you’re on a webinar.  I participated in last week’s Nonprofits Live: Great Presentations, offered by Tech Soup.  You can watch and listen to the event here or search the #nplive hashtag on Twitter  which include many of my comments.

Help Nten to make next spring’s Nonprofit Technology Conference the best yet by tweeting your ideas to #12NTC.  Work for a really great organization?  Nominate your organization as one of the 50 Best Nonprofits to Work For In 2012.

How can I get more event participants to fundraise?

• encourage participants to form and join teams, then ask their employers to sponsor corporate teams
• offer incentives for specified fundraising levels
• provide step by step instructions and coaching
• ask on the registration form – are you planning to fundraise?  Then prepare different messaging based on their response
• encourage participant donations – makes it more likely they will ask others to contribute

How to Use Social Media for Event Fundraising

• Sponsor live chats with top fundraisers (chats don’t only have to be about fundraising, but can help to build affiliation with nonprofit)
• Create a mobile phone application, then push it out to social media (has worked well for March of Dimes and will be released soon by National MS Society)
• Target Facebook messages based on location
• Provide Facebook exclusive content
• Give ‘white glove service’ to top fundraisers (at National MS Society – 50% of $ is raised by top 2% of fundraisers!)
• In multi-site organization, national office can offer weekly highlights to provide content to local chapter / affiliate offices

How Can I Enhance My Marketing and Communication Efforts?

• Event360 strongly suggested segmenting messages (my concern – do many of our orgs have staffing to provide strong content for different audiences)
• Focus on customer service – offer a special hotline for top fundraisers
• Use Seth Godin’s ‘Purple Cow‘ concept – find a way to differentiate your event from other organizations offering walks, endurance events etc.
• Ask your nonprofit staff to come down on event day to cheer event participants (has been consistently used successfully by YAI)
• Don’t rely on one person to handle social media (Autism Speaks has devoted considerable resources to build huge audiences on both Facebook & Twitter)
• Visit your organization’s programs and tell great stories (suggested by YAI)

Thanks to roundtable participants who shared their expertise: Scott Archimbaud, March of Dimes;  Paul Irwin-Dudek, Autism Speaks;  Papa Kofi F. Baffour-Awuah, YAI; and, Nancy Palo, National MS Society (NYC-SNY Chapter) and to David Hessekiel of the Run Walk Ride Fundraising Council who moderated the panel.

It was also great to see many friends from across the country such as Shana Masterson who attended with several of her co-workers from the American Diabetes Association, Jono Smith from Event 360, and a few attendees from the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, where I first focused on managing peer to peer fundraising events.

Interestingly, when the Beatles were together (and much younger), they did a song entitled When I’m 64, which asked the question of who would be there to take care of us when we reach retirement age.  This seemed a long time away at the time, so I found the song amusing but didn’t give it much more thought.

It’s great that Paul continues to perform as he approaches his 70th birthday next year, but most of us won’t be as lucky to have his talent – or his financial cushion – to insure a happy retirement.  Even if we’re fortunate enough to have a loving partner, there’s no assurance that he or she will be around to take care of us – or will be able to do so – for the rest of our lives.

Through my work at Jewish Funds for Justice, I recently became aware of a new initiative, Caring Across Generations, which seeks to call attention to long-term care workers who care for the elderly and those with disabilities.  These people often work for little money, yet put in long hours and deal with very difficult work situations.   Here’s what you can do now to call attention to this very important issue:

• Watch or attend a Care Congress in your area
• Sign the petition to protect what we have (e.g. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security) and to create better working conditions for those who care for the elderly
• Join the Caring Across Generations movement
• Write to your local paper that you want to protect rights of long-term care workers
• View presentation of this month’s kickoff conference in Washington DC

As an only child with a small family, I often cared for many elderly relatives, including my wonderful Aunt Minnie, who lived until 98 despite dementia which afflicted her in her later years.  She was able to live at home until the end thanks to the devotion of her two aides, Hazel and Lena, who worked 24×7 for many years to insure that she would continue to have a good quality of life.  I can never thank them enough for what they did.  By participating in this new Caring Across Generations initiative, you can help insure that you and your family will be cared for when you’re 64 (and beyond).

To hear Nicholas’ amazing story, there is a recorded stream available.  You can also read this recent NY Times article or watch his Democracy Now interview.

I asked Nicholas how his situation has affected his relationship with this client only to learn that the client is still unaware of the sacrifices Nicholas made in their defense.  Would you put your life on the line for something you believe in, even if it completely alters your life?  Nicholas continues to fight for our right for privacy in his work with the Calyx Institute.

• ask supporters to ‘give up their birthdays,’ offering a great ‘experience’ in return
• focus on ‘sharing great content,’ not on asking for money
• ‘uncomfortable transparency’ about exactly how donations are used
• we ‘make the campaigner the hero,’ not the organization
• goal is to have a ten year relationship with constituents
• 100% reliance on social media / online – no direct mail
• exceptional video – take a look at Water Changes Everything

After his session, I congratulated Paull on his success and asked whether some of Charity:Water’s techniques could work in a larger, less nimble nonprofit.  He pointed out that he had worked primarily with larger organizations before joining Charity:Water, then added that any nonprofit could do well by paying close attention to its culture and by ‘getting people with the right skills on staff.’  In our country where the availability of clean drinking water is usually taken for granted, it’s also impressive how this organization has developed such a huge following in such a short time.

As I also heard from several speakers during the event, you get the best results by developing the relationship with constituents first before making any ask.  And as Charity:Water has demonstrated, it’s critical to stay in touch to show supporters specifically how their contributions have helped the cause.

If you weren’t able to attend the event, several session handouts are available here.

As might be expected during an event on social media, there was an active stream on Twitter, which you can review with the #SM4SG hashtag.  Below are some highlights:

• Mentioned several times this week and also by Danielle Brigida who recently spoke at the NYC 501 Tech Club, social media involves a lot of trial and error and experimentation.  Often you will have to try different tactics before you find what will work best with your audience.   Don’t be afraid to fail.
• Engagement = stimulating a conversation and encouraging constituents to take action on issues.
• Developing a social media policy for your organization will help guide your staff how to speak about your nonprofit online – look at the social media governance policy database and the social media policy generator for help.
• Your social media policy should be a fluid, living document that is reviewed with staff and updated regularly, not in a book that is stored on a shelf.
• On Twitter, in addition to sharing ideas from others you find worthwhile, make sure to include your own ideas too – the best Twitter streams have a mix of links, no links and original content.  See this example of a Twitter engagement formula.
• If your management is still uncertain whether social media is worth the effort, show what your competitors are doing online to engage and build their constituent base.

Want more resources?  For a step by step process on how to use social media, download Idealware’s Nonprofit Social Media Decision Guide.  For more guidance on developing a social media policy – Big Duck’s Measuring Your Impact and Creating Policies for Social Media.  And for general tips on Twitter, read Mashable’s Twitter Guide Book

Social media is sexy, but don’t forget the online basics: make sure your website and email marketing program is in place.  Social media works best when part of an overall communications strategy that includes any way you connect with your constituents, whether online or offline.  Focus not only on your organization’s programs, but on the issues which your organization (and constituents) is most focused on.

Thanks to the Foundation Center’s Vanessa Schnaidt for moderating the discussion and to social media guru Jereme Bivins (who manages the Foundation Center’s Twitter stream) for planning this event.

• When analyzing email marketing statistics, a high unsubscribe rates will often be accompanied by a high response rate.  With overall open rates of emails declining, it’s a continuing challenge to get subscribers to open and read your email messages.   So look at all your statistics;  don’t panic if you suddenly see a rise in unsubscribes
• Do you give an option for monthly gifts whenever you ask for one-time donations?   Other than by large nonprofits which seem to do the best in this area, many US based organizations seem to neglect this strategy – or forget to pay special attention when communicating with these donors
• 9 of 10 nonprofits now have a presence on Facebook, but use of Twitter seems to be leveling off (my take – what’s good for other nonprofits may not be best for you.  I’ve seen Twitter often succeed better in creating a buzz and raise visibility than relying mostly on Facebook)
• While most nonprofits aren’t raising significant funds on Facebook, many of the organizations that are doing the best in raising money are small.   So if you dedicate the budget and staff, you can get good results
• Many nonprofits focus on commercial networks such as Facebook and Twitter; only 13% of those surveyed have private / house networks which are used mostly for program and service delivery (my take – even though they’re initially harder to create, house networks have the strong advantage of being totally under your control;  Facebook can and does change its rules often, and still makes it  difficult for you to extract email addresses of those who like your page.)
• Few organizations have yet shown concrete hard benefits from measurements such as ROI to validate the use of social networks;  soft benefits such as increased organization visibility and non-financial supporter engagement are mentioned more frequently.

How can you use these statistics to tweak your online strategy?  With an overall email churn rate of 18%, it’s critical that we always be thinking about ways of building our supporter base.  While website and email marketing still predominates, it’s clear that the most successful nonprofits use a variety of techniques to engage current constituents and to attract new supporters.  Social media can help, but it shouldn’t be done in a vacuum.  Pick a few channels to focus your efforts, test some new approaches to see how they work, and get ideas from what other nonprofits are already doing successfully, especially others in your vertical.  As both reports show, results often very dramatically between sector, e.g. international organizations whose results are often skewed by fundraising for emergencies.

For even more statistics, review the Online Giving Study, also presented at the recent Nonprofit Technology Conference.  Many slides and recordings from the event sessions are now available at Nten’s NTC page.

These are some sessions I found especially rewarding (with Twitter hashtags):

• Opening Plenary, featuring Dan Heath, co-author of Switch (#11NTCSwitch) – I’ve always been fascinated with how change affects our lives;  Dan clearly demonstrated how we can learn to welcome change rather than to fear it.   His advice that we analyze our successes instead of our problems and ‘do more of what is working’ is also consistent with my life philosophy of looking for the good.  This is particularly relevant at our nonprofit organizations, which are almost always changing.
• E-mail Design Workshop – Don’t Let Bad E-mail Code Ruin Your Day or Your Results (#11NTCemail) Shana Masterson and Sean Powell provided an eye opening look at how we can prepare emails that will look good on whatever device or browser our constituents use to view them.  Sadly, Shana recommended that we give up working in WYSIWYG, as many email programs provide, and stay with HTML for the best results. Emailonacid was mentioned as a good way to preview emails and test deliverability.  Unfortunately, email design is very different from web design and can’t fully utilize common web technologies such as CSS (cascading style sheets).
• Secrets of the Engagement Pyramid (#11NTCeng) presented by Karen Uffelman and Eric Magnuson, featured an interesting approach to evaluating the engagement level of our constituents, and how we can move them to higher levels to commitment.  As many nonprofits are learning, social media followers may or may not become more involved with our organizations.  But those who take advocacy actions are strong donor prospects (and vice versa).
• Not convinced that segmentation yields better results?  In Scientist in Your Communications Department: Segmenting Messages, Customizing Content, and Delivering Results. (#11NTCsegmt). Jeff Schuck used the success of sites such as Amazon and Netflix to provide customized recommendations based on its knowledge of user preferences.   The simplest way to get started?   Separate your donors from non-donors, and prepare different content for each.   I asked why so many nonprofits struggle with targeting groups of constituents;  Jeff replied that many organizations keep data in too many places.  Another point: it’s much easier to get a donor to increase their gift than to get someone to donate for the first time.
• Marketing gurus Kivi Leroux Miller and Nancy Schwartz led the session on Weaving Your Marketing Loose Ends into a Strong, Tight, Powerful Plan (#11NTCweave), which demonstrated the importance of developing a marketing plan template as well as doing a communications audit to insure that your communications are consistent across channels.  Nonprofit marketers Tara Collins and Karen Secular also shared their experiences in managing the sometimes difficult balance between development and communications, showing why it’s so critical that these departments work together to build relationships with constituents
• In The Social Website: Integrating Social Media into Website Design and Function (#11NTCSocsite), Debra Askanase and Seth Giammanco discussed many websites which use a variety of techniques to engage visitors using social media links – view the slides for details.   They then challenged us to develop ideas for a fictional nonprofit which wanted to do the same.

Notes from these and other sessions are all publicly available, as are recordings of several of the presentations. Also download these newly released reports,: e2011 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study (#11NTCbenchmarks) and the Nonprofit Social Network Survey Report (#11NTCBench), which I will analyze further in my next blog post.

Kudos to Holly Ross who, together with her Nten staff, put together such a wonderful event.  Kudos also to my friend Peter Campbell who received special recognition, those who won the NTENny awards (which I helped to present) and to those nonprofits who produced winning videos.  If you couldn’t join us in DC, hope to see you in San Francisco next year.

• Stop Chasing Rainbows: Enduring Success In a Shifting Online Landscape (Fri 3/18, 10:30 – 12 Noon) - Jascha Franklin-Hodge will review how we can integrate social media, location based services and mobile to engage supporters
  
• E-mail Design Workshop – Don’t Let Bad E-mail Code Ruin Your Day or Your Results (Fri, 3/18, 3:30 – 5 PM) – email is still the primary way to communicate with stakeholders, and Shana Masterson and Sean Powell will discuss how we can get the best results
• Sneak Peek at the Third-Annual Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report (Fri, 3/18, 3:30 – 5 PM) – I helped prepare last year’s report, which is sponsored by Nten, Common Knowledge and Blackbaud.  Even if you can’t attend this preview, you’ll be able to download the report soon and attend follow up events to discuss its findings.
• It’s Not Direct Marketing If You Can’t Track It! Analyzing the Social Web (Sat, 3/19, 10:30 – 12 Noon) – Social media can be fun to participate in, but you have to be able to show your management how it’s helping.  Brenna Holmes will offer some tips.
• 2011 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study Release (Sat 3/19, 1:30 – 3 PM) – Nten & M&R Strategic Services‘ annual study looks at online messaging, fundraising, and advocacy data from 36 nonprofit organizations;  you’ll be able to download this report too, but it’s fascinating to hear the analysis

The biggest problem you’ll probably have at the event is deciding which session to attend – since this is the largest NTC ever, there are even more choices this year.  In addition to these tips from Yesenia Soleto, don’t deliberate too much about what to pick.  But I’ve found that you can quickly get a feel in the first 15 minutes whether a session is matching your expectations;  if not, feel free to go elsewhere.  And don’t fret if your first choice is overcrowded and you need to select an alternate session;  this happened to me last year and the ‘other’ presentation turned out to be fascinating.  Also consider which sessions will be recorded or covered later through follow-up webinars.

If you’re in town early or staying after the conference, consider visiting the US Holocaust Memorial Museum (I’ll be there Wednesday) or attending Penguin Day to learn more about open source software.

Can’t attend the conference in person?  You still still participate through the Online NTC.

Don’t forget to thank Holly and her staff for putting this event together.  They work hard year round to make this a special experience for all of us.  Hope to see you later this week in DC.