Friday
19Mar2010

What Social Media Strategy Looks like for Safe Place

DateFriday, March 19, 2010 at 06:12PM | by AuthorJill Foster
It was a sunny SxSW Saturday last week where people came together for Zoetica Media's brunch and brainstorm session -- with one nonprofit in mind:  Safe Place.

Community and a Strategic Starting Point
The goal was to look at Safe Place's community, internally and externally, and offer a strategic starting point for this nonprofit's social media plan.

They are doing vital work in the Austin area. Their team provides shelter, a 24 hour hotline, and educational services to those impacted by sexual violence and domestic abuse.  

I haven't discussed this topic very much, especially in a brainstorm setting like this. Despite that discomfort, I was motivated by just how compelling a discussion group can be in the face of greater community impact.

Key Questions: A Social Media Plan Takes Shape
Who really is a community partner? 
How do they engage with eachother?

These questions were at the heart of discussion.  And Narissa Johnson, Safe Place's communications director, observed some interesting results from the conversations.  

In this onsite video interview, we talk about what most stood out strategically for taking her social media plan to the next level.

What do you think about these ideas? What would you add for moving her social media plan forward?

 

Jill Foster blogs at Live Your Talk, on resources and stories to help professional women be excellent communicators through social media and public speech. She is co-founder of DC Media Makers and founding editor of Women Grow Business.

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Thursday
18Mar2010

Crowdsourcing and Community Building: The Big Buzz at SXSW

DateThursday, March 18, 2010 at 01:56PM | by AuthorAllyson Kapin

SXSW was a total whirlwind filled with some of the biggest thought leaders discussing social media (of course) but also about the power of online fundraising and crowdsourcing. While many nonprofit campaigners didn't make SXSW this year, we at Care2's Frogloop and some of our guest writers attended several sessions. What were the key take-aways at this years conference?

When building a fundraising campaign via crowsourcing:

  • Build personal relationships with people first.
  • Don't treat potential donors like an ATM machine.
  • Keep expections simple. (Editors Note: This was part of a live discussion between Beth Kanter and Mark Horvath of the Invisible People project).

Check out more nonprofit campaigner take-aways below.

Michael Cervino, Beaconfire: For online campaigning, a whole new world of tools and tactics is opening up for nonprofits as the commercial sector invests in social media, social networking and more sophisticated UI experiences. I saw dozens of new services and tools at SXSWi of which nonprofits could take advantage. But at the core of whether any of them will make a difference was a pervasive question by many in the sessions: What is your nonprofit’s story and why should constituents care? If we can’t answer this question in spades, no new tool in the world is going to help you build your base, improve your advocacy and raise money for your cause. Be authentic, be transparent, and be relevant before you start worrying about being “cool” or “edgy.”

Michaela Hackner, Forum One: Community is king - both online and offline. It's the way we not only identify ourselves, but most importantly a true vehicle for change. Our communities vet good ideas, apply the "trust" layer, and motivate us to take action. It is the groundswell of communities that provides the momentum and sustainability for social change. This week has reminded me that the power and benefits of getting communities together in person shouldn't be overlooked. Human contact leverages passion that sometimes gets lost online. It re-energizes and inspires. It reminds us why we do what we do.  For me, I'm excited to get more involved with my local community when I get home, and apply those local lessons on a global scale.

Clint O'Brien, Care2: It was a scary revelation that both AOL and Demand Media are using the same mechanized approach to creating content. As I understand it, first they use an algorithm to detect what people are already talking about a lot on the Interwebs, then they assign writers to blog about those matters. Talk about an echo chamber!

Click to read more ...

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Wednesday
17Mar2010

Tweetlytics: Monitor Your Organization's Impact on Twitter

DateWednesday, March 17, 2010 at 06:34PM | by AuthorAllyson Kapin

Has your nonprofit been frustrated with the lack of comprehensive analytic tools for Twitter? How can organizations on a budget be expected to truly measure their impact and engagement using social media, if they don’t have the tools to properly analyze it? Thanks to Shana Glickfield of the BeeKeeper Group, I discovered a great new tool called tweetlytics that provides detailed analytics and slick graphical renderings of data then many of the other budget oriented Twitter analytic tools don’t have. Here’s how it works.

Organizations can sign-up to monitor between five and fifteen campaigns at a time that they are promoting on Twitter. Campaign Managers tag multiple keywords for each of the campaigns that they want to analyze. For example, if I were setting Tweetlytics up for a group like Planned Parenthood, a campaign would be Save Roe. Some keywords I would tag and track for the Save Roe campaign within Tweetlytics would be prochoice, Roe Vs Wade, Planned Parenthood, as well as opposition keywords like anti-choice, prolife, etc.

Once the campaign is up and running, Campaign Managers login and generate reports. Reports can also be delivered to your inbox daily and include:

  • Total tweets and links about campaigns.
  • Top Twitter users who mention your campaigns. Campaign Managers can also click on the link and see the actual tweets.
  • Top hashtags

Click to read more ...

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Wednesday
10Mar2010

SXSW Nonprofit Picks

DateWednesday, March 10, 2010 at 10:47AM | by AuthorAllyson Kapin

SXSW is just around the corner. For five days nonprofit campaigners, techies, and social media enthusiasts will gather for one of the largest and most anticipated conferences of the year. But with over 3K+ attendees and hundreds of panels, core conversations, workshops and parties, it can be overwhelming to get the most out of SXSW. No worries though. Frogloop has put together a short list of the best nonprofit and political campaign related panels as well as parties and gatherings for the nonprofit community. Read on!

Panels

Debunking the Myth of Social Media Fundraising
March 13 at 12:30 PM

This panel will discuss several case studies showing successful fundraising strategies that incorporate Social Media sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. The panel will review results from a recently completed research project investigating social media fundraising strategies specifically supporting events.

PRESENTERS
Brooke McMillan, Stacey Monk, Frank Barry, Donna Wilkins and Jodie Kolkowski

2009 Iran Election: Women's Revolution? Twitter Revolution?
March 14 at 11:00 AM

By campaigning and protesting Iranian women surprised onlookers through their sociopolitical participation during the 2009 Iranian election. What led to the sudden appearance of an invisible part of Iranian society, and what role did emerging media play? This panel will discuss online political activity during and prior to the election.

PRESENTERS
Roja Bandari, Mona Kasra, Shireen Mitchell and Dr. David Parry

Not Just for Obama: New Media Gets Local
March 14 at 12:30 PM

Local political campaigns have adopted many of the tools of national campaigns but with varied success. This panel will examine the tools now being used in local races and by local activists (Facebook, Wordpress, Drupal, Twitter, SMS, etc) and give specific examples of success and failures.

PRESENTERS
Julie Blitzer and David Parmet

Crowd Sourcing Innovative Social Change
March 14 at 3:30 PM

Click to read more ...

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Monday
08Mar2010

Top Nonprofit Leaders to Follow on Twitter

DateMonday, March 8, 2010 at 04:46PM | by AuthorAllyson Kapin

In the past year, registered Twitter accounts have grown more than 1,500%, according to Biz Stone, Co-Founder of Twitter. With such an explosion of new voices, that’s a lot of tweets and noise for nonprofit campaigners to filter through.  So if you can only carve out 20 minutes a day to follow nonprofit leaders and thinkers discussing nonprofit issues on Twitter, who would they be? Tough question, right? There are so many smart folks. Here’s my top 10. Feel free to add your top picks too in the comments section.  Note: I have kept the list to only include one person per organization. And don’t forget to follow @Care2frogloop – Frogloop’s very own Twitter feed.

@jocelynharmon – Jocelyn, who has been working in the nonprofit sector for over a decade tweets about online fundraising and how to connect with donors, email marketing, and online advocacy. Jocelyn is also the Director of Nonprofit Services for Care2.com, the company who runs the Care2Frogloop blog.

@kanter – The go-to expert on social media for nonprofits.

 

@mobileactive – One of the best sources for information on integrating mobile into campaigns.



@NancySchwartz – As a nonprofit marketer, Nancy tweets about online and offline communications including email copywriting, fundraising strategy, and nonprofit resources she discovers.

 

@nptechblogs – Tweets about the latest articles from the top nonprofit blogs.

 

Click to read more ...

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Wednesday
03Mar2010

Homer Simpson for Nonprofits: The Truth about How People Really Think and What It Means for Promoting Your Cause  

DateWednesday, March 3, 2010 at 04:18PM | by AuthorAlia Mckee

What does Homer Simpson have to do with your cause? More than you probably think.  

People including your activists, donors and prospects share a lot in common with Homer Simpson. And I don’t just mean they love bacon.  

We might not want to admit it, but people make irrational, Homer-like decisions every day. We cave to social norms. We opt for small, immediate satisfaction, rather than big long-term gain. We buckle to authority.  

The list of illogic is long. And it adds up to making decisions that are often contrary to our own best interests. 

But while we may be irrational, we are not unpredictable.  

Enter in behavioral economics.  

A reaction to “rationality”— the concept that people use logic and reason to make the best choices for themselves — behavioral economics identifies social, cognitive, and emotional factors that influence decisions. 

The big takeaway? People make decisions like Homer Simpson, not Spock.  

What’s more, in the nonprofit space these irrational decisions have high stakes. We’re not asking people to buy a Coke. We’re asking them to change the world. Their decisions matter — a lot.   

So what’s a nonprofit marketer and fundraiser to do?  

Click to read more ...

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Tuesday
02Mar2010

Online Fundraising Strategies Conference 

DateTuesday, March 2, 2010 at 10:30AM | by AuthorAllyson Kapin

Mark your calendar for March 30, 2010 where some of the top minds in online fundraising and social media will gather in DC at the Newseum for the Online Fundraising Strategies Conference hosted by Artez Interactive. Join Care2's Jocelyn Harmon and Eric Rardin who will be leading the soup to nuts panel, Nonprofits and New Blood: An Overview of Online Acquisition Tactics and Strategies.

The workshop will discuss why recruiting new donors, advocates, and members are critical to nonprofit's growth. There are numerous tactics for online acquisition including Search Engine Marketing, Co-Registration, Email List Rental and Lead Generation. Nonprofits will also learn ways to evaluate the performance of online acquisition programs so that they can improve their return on investment. Finally, nonprofits will hear about best practices in converting new subscribers into donors through direct appeals, multichannel conversions, and peer-to-peer fundraising.
  
Don't miss this opportunity to learn from the top thinkers in the industry and network with your peers at the Online Fundraising Strategies Conference.
  
Click here to see the full agenda and register.



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