Back to basics is a theme I’ve seen with many nonprofit organizations over the past couple of years. With the economy slow to rebound, many NPOs have found that investing money in new ideas and new platforms isn’t really the right move for right now. This also means that many NPOs have avoided jumping into social media or expanding on their use of it. The basics are good – it’s what put most large NPOs on the map. The problem is that in the ever changing landscape of business and technology, even the basics have to change a little. NPOs …
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The holiday decorations are put away and the New Year’s Eve ball has dropped. January is here and it’s traditionally a rough month for non-profit organizations. With the holidays just wrapping up, volunteers have started to down-shift and take a little time off to relax. The annual appeal gifts have tapered off and donations are trickling in at best this month. Staff may have started preparing for spring events, but corporations and personal donors won’t start thinking about contributions for another 30 days. These things make January the perfect month to get your social media plan in place for 2012. …
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Annual appeals are a staple for nonprofit organizations. We count on them to beef up our bottom line come December and use them as an avenue to stay in touch with the donors we know we can count on year after year. Unfortunately, many NPOs have become too reliant on the low lying fruit of donors and are no longer producing an annual campaign that is appealing to anyone. NPOs need an annual appeal makeover and taking your campaign online is a great place to start. Social media is one way to breathe some new life into annual campaigns. I’m …
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I recently wrote a blog for Idea Girl Media about building a strong board and what areas nonprofits should address when structuring their board. While “Non-Profit Essentials: Blocks For Building Strong Boards” addresses the “what” when building Boards, one reader commented that it’s finding the “who” that can be troublesome for small nonprofit organizations. NPOs should be striving to recruit C-level Boards (CEOs, COOs and other high ranking executives from local companies), but how do you break into that elite circle? “Recruiting high end board members is no different than cultivating potential major donors. The key is building relationships, and …
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Video may have killed the radio star, but technology hasn’t killed customer service. As non-profit organizations (NPOs) slowly begin to embrace social networking, there are still those who feel that using technology to interact with customers is impersonal and diminishes the level of service offered. Strictly relying on auto-generated responses when dealing with customers online is a bad idea, but used properly, social media can actually improve your interaction with clients. Social media opens a new door for contact with donors and volunteers. While more traditional methods of direct mail, email marketing campaigns and face to face meetings aren’t going …
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As social media takes the world by storm, many small non-profit organizations (NPOs) are being left behind in the digital realm. Despite the fact that 88% of NPOs are experimenting with social media, ask small shops why they aren’t diving into the social media feeding frenzy and the answer is often the same – they don’t have the staff resources or budget to pull it off. While the fear of how much time and money a social media campaign requires is understandable, the reality is that any NPO can join the frenzy. The first step is to be realistic. As …
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Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) across the country support just about any and every cause imaginable. While their missions may differ, the need to raise money is a constant. As more and more entities join the chase for the mighty dollar, many are turning to social media to fundraise. What most NPOs don’t realize is they’re headed down a dead end street. Social media is the latest and greatest buzz word in the non-profit industry. Organizations of all sizes seem to be racing to the Web to create profiles, post blogs, tweet messages and ask the public to like them – all …
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I had a chance this week to speak at an event in front of several different local Orange County nonprofit organizations. While nonprofits are beginning to understand the potential for social media engagement, my sense during the meeting was that efforts seemed to be centered around Facebook for the objective of merely gaining awareness for their organization in the community. While utilizing Facebook to help in raising awareness for a nonprofit and its cause is a necessity to any social media strategy for nonprofits, there are many other things that nonprofits can be using social media for. Similarly, there are …
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Image via Wikipedia Social media provides the perfect platform for nonprofits to engage with the public and raise awareness for their cause. There are many successful case studies of nonprofits utilizing social media to help raise public awareness, and in doing so successfully fundraising without the large advertising budget that might be necessary in traditional marketing. I am one of the founding members of a social media group here in Orange County, California, #ConnectOC, that hosts events for the dual purpose of connecting professionals and raising awareness (combined with fundraising) for nonprofits. Is there anything in this picture that the …
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