What’s New in ePhilanthropy

Posted on February 5, 2012 by nhr2000

This week’s torrent of news centered around Susan B. Komen’s decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood, the torrent of outrage which eventually caused them to reverse their decision. What’s even more amazing is that Planned Parenthood supporters stepped in to make up the loss by special contributions, similar to in the past when funding was taken away. Congratulations to Planned Parenthood for quickly activating their dedicated constituents; shame to Komen for ruining its branding with such a poorly thought out decision.

So Facebook is going public. How will this affect its relationship with its many devotees, which is expected to increase to 1 BILLION later this year? It’s a bit sad that Convio, not long after going public, agreed to be acquired by its long term competitor, Blackbaud, apparently to take advantage of a financial windfall. (Also see my recent blog post.) It will be interesting to watch the path Facebook follows once its loyalties move mostly to its shareholders.

Pinterest seems to be very popular lately. Have you used it yet? With all the social media tools available, Small Act (via my friend Shana Masterson) suggests you choose carefully how many you can manage. (I’m posting regularly on Twitter and Facebook, but less so on LinkedIn and Google Plus so far, trying to find content which is appropriate to each platform.)

After they donate or take the actions you request, do you make sure to thank your donors? Here are some tips from Guidestar and a quiz from Network for Good.

Are you getting good response from your email marketing efforts? Use these 7 tips for appeals and also 5 Best Practices for Increasing Email Subscribers Engagement. (And go here if you need help in getting them to sign up to receive your emails.)

Thinking about getting a tablet, such as the iPad or Kindle Fire? Here’s a good article to read first.

What’s New in ePhilanthropy

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Norman Reiss

Social media expert Beth Kanter summarizes recent studies on how to increase Facebook engagement – it’s also a great way to find out what issues your constituents are most interested in. Beth also outlines how to set SMART social media objectives.

To better understand how multichannel marketing works, read the recent DonorCentrics report and these write-ups from Frogloop, NonprofitTimes, The Agitator and Katya Andresen. One step in the right direction – make sure your marketing/communications and fundraising are planning campaigns together.

How much resources should your nonprofit devote to a Twitter strategy? Here’s Pew Internet‘s latest update on who’s using Twitter. And in addition to having a Facebook like button on your website, you can add a Twitter follow button also. Here’s also advice on the best days/times to tweet.

If you’re using integrated software like Convio, what stops you from using the tool most effectively? Recent options like @ConvioHelp and live chat can be helpful, but my experience shows that issues with product usability often get in the way also. My suggestion – make sure you take the time to train your staff on an ongoing basis.

Idealware also offers its own guideline on how to allocate your time between website, email and online outreach.

Attending Fundraising Day in New York this week? If so, please look for me there.

What’s New in ePhilanthropy

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Norman Reiss

When developing a Facebook strategy, remember that your constituents don’t just want to hear about your organization. Andrea Barry explains how she adapted Idealware’s strategy to appeal to supporters’ desire to ‘be social.’

Planning a new website? Beaconfire reminds us to pay attention to content early, and to incorporate content into the wireframes. Techsoup also provides this overview into the redesign process. Big Duck suggests we put someone in charge of content creation. (Here’s my recent post on developing a content strategy.)

This week, I launched a new campaign for my organization through a combination of email marketing, website and social media strategies. It takes a lot of coordination, but you can’t just rely on one channel to get the word out. Read more tips on integrated marketing from Convio and EMC.

How often are you sending bulk emails? Hopefully you have some type of communications calendar. And don’t forget to review the statistics after your email goes out. Is your audience actually taking the action you are encouraging them to do? See also these ideas for email marketing to seniors.

Today is Mother’s Day. In addition to showing your mother how much you love her, also post her picture to support a new campaign to demonstrate that our parents want to protect Medicare benefits not only for themselves, but for their children and grandchildren.

Report from Chase Charity Insights Event in NYC

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Norman Reiss

A stellar panel from Facebook (Matt Jacobson, Head of Market Development), Mashable (Zachary Sniderman, Social Good Assistant Editor), Nten (Holly Ross, Executive Director), and Twitter (Jack Dorsey, CEO/Co-Founder) shared thoughts this week on nonprofits’ use of social media at the Chase Charity Insights event in midtown NYC.

Jack Dorsey, who recently announced he will return to the helm of Twitter, began by recalling the now familiar story of Charity:Water, and asked that nonprofits:

focus on design and storytelling – tell stories about the people you’re helping, not only about your organization
measure results and listen to constituents
use ‘simple tools’ to engage followers through ‘constant outreach’ to stay in touch

(Jack’s most recent project is Square, an amazing credit card reader which plugs into mobile phones, allowing organizations to accept donations / payments anywhere.)

Jack noted also that many charities are addressing the same issues, asking that we find ways to work together towards common goals.

Matt Jacobson explained how a simple gesture of agreeing to pay for someone’s groceries led to the $93 dollar club which has raised over $120,000 to fight hunger. He offered a few websites to help nonprofits get the most from Facebook, such as Non-Profits on Facebook and Facebook Pages.

My friend Holly Ross gave a quick review of the Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report, recently released at Nten’s Nonprofit Technology Conference (and which I recently blogged about). The most interesting takeaway – how organization size doesn’t matter – any nonprofit can benefit from using social media. But Holly pointed out that online represents only about 5% of total fundraising and that direct mail still brings in the most money. She also asked that we look past statistics and focus on telling good stories and building relationships. During the Q&A session, Holly reminded us not to talk at people, but to seek to engage in conversation.

Zachary Sniderman offered several examples of creative nonprofit social media initiatives such as Earth Hour, Living Philanthropic and would you believe, World Poopin’ Day.

Today’s event was sponsored by Chase Community Giving, which recently extended its philanthropic program by two years and $25 million and will soon begin another contest to select charities to support. There was some controversy over this program last year but nevertheless, learning from our colleagues on how to creatively use social media at our organizations is very worthwhile.

What’s New in ePhilanthropy

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Norman Reiss

Thanks to Charles Lenchner for today’s Organizing 2.0 Conference, where I presented a session on how to evaluate and implement a donor or membership database. Thanks also to fellow speakers (among many others) Steve Dondley, Jason Lefkowitz & Colin Delaney who spoke about content management systems (particularly Drupal) and managing online consultants.

Last week’s Nten webinar on email list management strategy offered tips such as segment on constituent behavior not on interests so you can better target your communications. According to the Agitator, email is still an important channel, but many readers may be reading them on their phones, making it even more important that your message is concise. Big Duck also offers 7 tips for an effective e-newlsletter.

Facebook has (again) changed how pages are presented – The Social Path and Tech Cafeteria offer a look at the latest changes, and Beth’s Blog discusses a Facebook content strategy.

Using a slide show on your home page? Future Fundraising Now suggests it may not be effective, even though many other sites are doing this. Also see EchoDitto’s take.

I’ve noticed on the NYC subway lately that almost everyone is on their smart phones, not a surprise since smart phone sales now exceed PC sales. All the more reason to make your website mobile friendly.

Nten’s 2011 Nonprofit Technology Conference next month will be the biggest and best ever. Even if you can’t attend in person, you can now participate online.

What Nonprofit Webmasters Talk About

Posted on October 1, 2010 by Norman Reiss

This week I attended the quarterly get together of the Not-for-Profit Webmaster Round Table, chaired by long time leader David Milner. As usual, discussion was lively covering topics such as:

Google Analytics – use scheduled reports often to get colleagues to look at data but make sure they understand some of the basic terms – e.g. page views, visits etc.
Surviving a website redesign – David suggested an ‘outside in’ approach to consider what site visitors are looking for rather than ‘inside out’ – where you spend most of your time getting feedback from others in your organization. Another interesting point – when selecting a developer, remember that the firm that creates the design doesn’t necessarily have to implement it.
Content management systems – While CMS products offer the potential of allowing staff through a nonprofit to update web content, many of us have had mixed success in actually achieving that goal. Bill Swersey of the Asia Society (thanks for hosting the meeting) showed us a wiki which includes an internal style guide as well as tips on how to create online content. Another idea mentioned was to revise job descriptions to include responsibility for website updates
Donate now – Is it really important to put a prominent button throughout your website? My take – you want to make sure that those who are ready to contribute can do so easily – and can get through the process without having to fill out a lot of information – and are not distracted by extraneous links to other website pages
Facebook ads – Bill commented on the amazing targeting capability available within Facebook so your ad can display to a very selective audience

If you’re in New York, please join the conversation at the next meeting in December. If not, consider joining our LinkedIn group.

What I Learned This Week

Posted on September 25, 2010 by Norman Reiss

What’s especially nice about the nonprofit community is how generous everyone is in sharing their knowledge. This week I attended the Westchester Chapter meeting of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, listened to webinars on Using Online Tools for Year End Fundraising, Rethinking Your eNewsletter Strategy, a session based on the recently released Nonprofit Social Media Decision Guide and Engaging Donors through Social Media . Here’s a sampling of what I learned:

why it’s critical to have a strong case for support to present to constituents, and to make sure all staff understand it (not just development)
the importance of integrating fundraising with an organization’s overall planning process
use social media for stewardship; use email, direct mail and telemarketing to deliver a strong ask
figure out your main objectives before starting a Facebook presence – is your main goal to:
- encourage feedback / discussion
- drive traffic to website
- build email list
- attract event attendees
plan to spend at least two hours / week per channel on social media, but you will need to devote more time in the getting started phase
Facebook will soon be making available more functionality within tabs, so visitors may have less reason to go to main organization web site
when communicating with constituents:
- send fewer words more often
- talk about the future, not mainly about past events
- write more about them, less about your nonprofit

I also raised this issue during the AFP event: how can an organization find a balance between aggressively pursuing its mission with the hope of ‘putting itself out of business’ within a specified time, e.g. Michael J. Fox Foundation, versus long term nonprofits which has been seeking a cure for a disease for a very long time, but still have much ground to cover? My suggestion: keep reminding donors what their help has allowed your organization to accomplish, relating specific examples of how you’ve been able to help your target audience. And keep saying ‘thank you’ – not just when you are seeking another contribution.

Please vote on which sessions you’d like to see at Nten’s 2011 Nonprofit Technology Conference and pick your favorite slogan in the Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards.

For an example of how powerful video can be in communications, watch this incredibly touching one minute video by ALS Society of Canada.

Can You Afford to Ignore Facebook?

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Norman Reiss

In addition to having long maintained this blog as a way to share my ideas with the nonprofit community, I’ve also used LinkedIn to keep in touch with my professional network and my Twitter feed as a way to share thoughts and resources that I learn about in between by (usually) weekly blog posts. But I haven’t paid as much attention to my Facebook page, figuring that this is more of a ‘personal’ site and doesn’t specifically relate to my ephilanthropy work. (I’ve also been concerned about the occasional privacy issues that have come up with sites such as Facebook, addressed in a recent Nten webinar.)

But in ignoring Facebook, I’ve made the same mistake as many nonprofits that are beginning to use social networking tools – not going where the constituents are. Facebook is approaching the 500 million user mark, and is expected to go much higher. Clearly, it is fulfilling the need that our supporters have to be connected to each other. I’ve also noticed more of an overlap between personal and professional posts, an issue that my friend Farra Trompeter of Big Duck has often spoken about. While I’m not suggesting that you share details of your personal life for the world to see and comment upon, it is a good idea to show more than one dimension of your personality.

What does this mean for nonprofits? The more you can get to know about your constituents, the better you can develop your relationship. You can find out by analyzing which of your web pages are most popular with Google Analytics, by taking surveys or polls with tools such as SurveyMonkey, or by simply asking what their most important priorities are. You can also learn from listening and by using simple tools such as Google Alerts.

Even if you don’t fully understand why it’s become such a phenomenon, you can’t afford to ignore Facebook. But make sure you review your privacy settings so you understand how your information will be shared. For a detailed description of Facebook’s brief but remarkable history, read David Kirkpatrick’s The Facebook Effect. For help on deciding what to put on Facebook vs. Twitter vs. other social networking sites, see my post earlier this year, What Content to Post in Each Channel.

Addendum 7/15/10 – I will be featured today on Nten’s Facebook page.

What Content to Post in Each Channel?

Posted on February 12, 2010 by Norman Reiss

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:

Web content and email marketing still come first. If using other channels, make sure the messaging and images are consistent.
Update blog content at least weekly; include links to information you’ve already published on Twitter or Facebook
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.
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.
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.
Listen before you speak. You may have heard this advice when speaking with colleagues or with your spouse; the same applies online
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.

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What’s New in ePhilanthropy