Not all nonprofits who have a presence on Facebook have been able to harness its full potential, however.  A successful fundraising strategy requires: 1)  a cause that people care deeply for and can get passionate about; 2) a legion of highly engaged fans willing to advocate for the cause; 3) a well-coordinated fundraising campaign; and 4) some creativity.  It also takes time– time to build a critical mass of fans,  and time to build loyalty through regular and genuine communication.

But the justification for nonprofits to invest time and resources in Facebook has just become much more compelling.

JP Morgan Chase recently launched the Chase Community Giving Competition, which relies on Facebook crowdsourcing to choose which charities will receive a portion of the $5 million that Chase is giving away this year.  The competition started in December of 2009, with the top 100 charities (voted by Facebook users) winning $25,000 each and advancing to the second round, where another vote will determine which organizationwill receive the $1 million grand prize or $100,000 prizes for the final runners-up. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this competition is that it levels the playing field– some small organizations made it to the top 100 list and may even be awarded $100,000.

With this competition JP Morgan Chase joins the likes of the Case Foundation and W.K. Kellogg Foundation, who have been using Facebook since 2007 to manage America’s Giving Challenge, which awards both daily and end-of-competition cash prizes to the nonprofits who can leverage the most donations from their fans.  More more than $2 million from Facebook users was donated through the competition in 2009.

So if you’re still thinking about building a presence on Facebook, it’s time to get started– both the competition and the rewards this fall will likely be better than ever!

Even if you don’t end up bringing in some of the big prizes from Facebook, the time you’ve spent raising awareness of your cause, engaging your constituents and building relationships creates valuable capital that will boost your broader online fundraising and help you reach your longer-term fundraising objectives.

Posted by Elizabeth Beachy, Upleaf Co-Founder

What follows is an excerpt of the article by Cadie Thompson:

Advocacy organizations are mounting a mobile marketing push to promote more responsible shopping with apps that give consumers the scoop on how a corporation’s policies and actions align with the shopper’s own views on issues like sustainability and human rights. The apps encourage consumers to only buy products and shop at retailers that share the same moral pillars as the shopper.

“Smartphones are changing the way people are living their lives. They (apps) influence spending decisions and this is the next evolution of that,” Scott Ellison, mobile retail analyst for IDC, said. “Make an app easy, intuitive and fun and people will begin to change their behavior.”

Tapping into the App World for Change

The Human Rights Campaign launched their Buying for Equality app last Tuesday. The app rates companies using its 2010 Corporate Equality Index, an annual report that scores companies on a scale from 1 to 100 based on how well their policies support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Such policies include anti-discrimination protections, domestic partner benefits and diversity training.

Corporations in the app are color-coded based on their score either green, yellow or red. Green (score: 80-100) means the company supports the cause, yellow (score: 46-79) represents companies working towards supporting the cause and red (score: 0-45) indicating the company has not taken many steps to supporting the cause.

Although the app was initiated to help its core supporters — a loyal group of consumers whose buying power was projected to be about $712 billion in 2008, according to the marketing firm Whiteck-Combs Communications — HRC sees the app becoming a tool for any shopper looking to be more conscious. The app has gained over 4,000 users in its first week, Eric Bloem, the deputy director for the Workplace Project for HRC.

Read full article

Source:  www.cnbc.com

Now nonprofit organizations can reach more people and decrease their cost per beneficiary thanks to online communities.  Here’s how:

1. Create an online support group. This can be a tremendously powerful tool for organizations that work with populations who are stigmatized, in danger, or dealing with addictions.  It offers built-in confidentiality (participants can select any screen names), safety (no need to leave home), and support from peers who are facing similar issues.

The organization can moderate discussions and screen for abuses, but by and large this strategy requires little time investment from the sponsoring agency as the value is found in interaction with people with shared experiences.  Online support groups have been effective for reaching:

• Victims of domestic violence
• People diagnosed with potentially terminal illness like cancer or HIV
• Smokers seeking to quit
• People with certain types of mental illness

An online support group would usually be custom-built, and hosted within the organization’s website.  It should be built to include an administrative function (someone who can delete or block inappropriate comments, offer advice, and monitor traffic and trending topics), and if necessary, password-protected areas for users.  A great way to launch an online support group is to simply move existing support groups online, and offer some initial incentives for beneficiaries to participate.  From then on it will likely take wings and grow on its own.

2. Move peer education networks online. Peer education is a powerful strategy for behavior change.  As more youth interact with their peers online, traditional interpersonal communication strategies must follow suit. As they do, the cost per beneficiary can drop tremendously.  Peer educators can use their Facebook or MySpace accounts to share their thoughts about key topics with peers, email and SMS text messaging to have confidential conversations, and YouTube to share creative and motivational messages.  The cost of these tools is next to nothing– and they can reach many more youth than traditional door-to-door or face-to-face models. The impact on behavior may even be similar to traditional models, because youth are now so comfortable interacting in these ways.

3. Build interactive online forums for discussion. If your organization’s work relates to civil rights, political issues or advocacy, interactive online forums are a great way to get people involved with your cause and motivated toward action. You could develop a dedicated discussion forum, or simply create dynamic content (allow the public to contribute to your blog or citizen news sections) and encourage people to comment on what they read. By getting people involved with your issues through genuine two-way (or multi-directional) communication, they are more likely to become loyal activists or followers– measures valued by your donors.

In short there are many tools nonprofits can use to build community online, and by doing so decrease the ratio of staff to beneficiaries and cost per beneficiary.  Most beneficiaries are seeking community anyway, not just advice from professionals.

Community is what keeps people coming back– it builds loyalty, creates a sense of belonging, reinforces positive social norms, and ultimately helps create lasting impact on the lives of beneficiaries.

Posted by Elizabeth Beachy, Upleaf Co-Founder

The petition tool is free, easy to use, and the directions are simple.  Change.org walks you through the process of setting up your target (elected officials, business leaders, etc), your messaging, and your promotion strategy.

The tool includes some great features to increase visibility:

• Integration with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter
• Embeddable widgets to promote the petition on other sites
• A ‘leaderboard’ to show how many people each reporter has recruited to sign the petition
• Visibility through Change.org, whose top petitions are sent weekly to half a million activists
• Capacity to send follow-up emails to everyone who has signed the petition
• Allows petition signers to opt in to your email list (great way to grow your list quickly!)

To get started, visit www.change.org/petition and start making changes today!

Posted by Elizabeth Beachy, Upleaf Co-Founder

This workshop is designed to help participants envision and plan realistic online strategies to increase fundraising and better reach beneficiaries and other stakeholders. The full-day workshop will cover new technologies, best practices from other nonprofits, and a series of exercises tailored to the needs of workshop participants. Participants should emerge from the workshop with an online communications plan to increase their organization’s impact.

Topics to be covered:

• Website Strategy – Messages that make or break your site
• Constituent Relationship Management Systems – Making the most of your pool of contacts
• Reaching out – Using social media and online marketing tools to attract and engage constituencies
• Online fundraising – The strategy that supports your online giving page

Presented by Elizabeth Beachy and Osvaldo Gomez of Upleaf LLC.

Upleaf is an Albuquerque-based consulting firm dedicated to empowering nonprofits to increase their impact through strategic online communications.

Fees: $50

Where: Center for Nonprofit Excellence at United Way of Central New Mexico
2340 Alamo SE, 2nd Floor
Albuquerque, NM 87106
United States
Contact Phone: 505-247-3671
Email: info@centerfornonprofitexcellence.org

REGISTER NOW

This free webinar offers an overview of online communication strategies and supporting technologies designed to better reach constituents and leverage new sources of funding. The one-hour session proposes an integrated strategy that can turn a small development team into a fundraising powerhouse, and help nonprofits build and make the most of online communities.

Presented by Elizabeth Beachy, Upleaf Co-Founder

Upleaf LLC is a consulting firm dedicated to helping nonprofits increase their social impact through strategic online communication.

REGISTER NOW

There are tools available to nonprofits that can turn a small team of three employees into a fundraising powerhouse.  The key is to synchronize and automate as many activities as possible, which helps maximize the efficiency of each team member and multiply the impact of every message.

At Upleaf we promote a four-part strategy, where each strategy builds upon the previous one:

1. Constituent Relationship Management System. The foundation of any online strategy is a CRM system—i.e. the technologies and processes that help an organization manage its constituents (donors, members, stakeholders, volunteers, and even beneficiaries).  Most CRM tools can help you:

• Segment target audiences for tailored messaging
• Automate thank-you notes, membership renewal reminders, end-of-year IRS letters for donors
• Consolidate contacts across an organization and track interactions with all contacts
• Automatically upload contact info from online donors, Facebook fans, newsletter subscribers, and other constituents your organization interacts with online
• Monitor results with detailed custom reports

2. Build an Online Community. By “Online Community” we mean creating a space where people associated with your cause or your organization can interact with you and also with each other. Creating an open forum helps build long-term loyalty, attract new constituents, increase your impact, and learn more about your supporters and how they feel about your issues.  It also builds powerful allies and partners in promotion, who can spread your messages to their own social networks.  Some of the most effective ways to build an online community include:

• An interactive website. This means creating space for people to comment on your content, participate in a discussion forum, submit a guest blog post, or share content with friends through social networks at the click of a button.
• Social media applications.  Here Facebook, YouTube, Change.org, Twitter, or even custom social media applications can be highly effective ways to build your interactive community quickly.
• Advocacy.  Action alerts, petitions, or other online advocacy tools get people involved with your cause.  Systems like Democracy in Action make advocacy campaigns easy to manage.
• Online support groups. Many nonprofits serve people who would benefit from being able to interact with each other online. This strategy can increase the number of people reached without increasing staff or overhead.

3. Launch a Targeted Campaign. Once you have established a robust online community and CRM to manage your relationships, you can embark on a targeted campaign.  This requires clear and compelling messaging based on best practices of writing for the web, an appropriate mix of fundraising pitches and showcasing of results, and of course, some creativity.  You’ll want to launch coordinated messages through a strategic mix of:

• Your website (make sure your campaign messages are front and center)
• Email blasts (one of your most powerful tools to call for quick action)
• Social media (get your online community to join in, and also endorse your cause to their friends)
• Google Ads (free to nonprofits through a Google Grant—can bring in new supporters)
• Public Relations (there are some great online PR agencies that can help reach your audiences)

4. Collect Your Revenue. Now that you’ve done the work to get your message out and convince people to donate to your cause, become a member, or buy a ticket to your big event—you have to make sure that it is as easy as possible for them to do so. A couple of tips can go a long way:

• Put a “Donate Now” or “Become a Member” button on your home page and on every single page of your online presence (website, email blast, Facebook cause, etc)
• Enable one-time and recurrent donations
• Encourage donations to specific programs, and clarify what $ amount can make a difference
• Recognize your donors, members or contributors, to keep them coming back

Finally, you’ll want to capitalize on your reach and get creative with your fundraising—set up contests with prizes for your biggest fundraisers, an online store, online auctions, or a Facebook or Twitter challenge.  And most importantly, get your online community involved.  Often they have fresh, new, powerful ideas that a development department would never think of!

If you haven’t yet launched your online communication strategy or need some help sharpening it up, Upleaf offers free initial consultations to nonprofit organizations.  Contact us to set up your free consultation now!

Posted by Elizabeth Beachy, Upleaf Co-Founder

Segmenting allows you to effectively target your message, to appeal directly to the specific concerns or aspirations of your audience.

While many nonprofits know a lot about their offline target audiences (including donors and top contributors), many don’t know as much about the people interacting with them online.

People react and interact differently online.  The segment of your donors that goes online may be very different from the segment that doesn’t.  Here are a few interesting statistics to get you thinking about online audiences and online donors in particular:

Who is giving online?[1]

• Less than 15% of all online donations are from older generations of 70 years or above.  They usually give offline, and prefer to give offline;
• 50% of online donations are made by baby boomers.  They are active web users, and often give both online and offline;
• 30% of online gifts are made by Generation X’ers.  They rarely give offline.  This is a great generation to tap into now, and cultivate relationships for the future.

What are the preferences of online donors?

• According to the “Wired Wealthy”[2] study, most wealthy donors prefer just to receive email a few times per year from an organization they donate to;
• Almost all online donors want to see a tax summary report at the end of the year to know that their donation was well spent; they also want to receive a tax-deductible donation letter from the organization at the end of each year for their own tax purposes;
• Some online donors are interested in receiving action alerts or success stories (as long as they don’t arrive too frequently).

If you want to learn more about your online audience here are a few ideas:

1. Develop a short email survey to send to a randomly selected sample of your email list, with a few key questions that will help you craft your next campaign.  You could use an online survey application that tabulates answers for you, or you may even be able to administer the survey through your constituent relationship management tool.
2. Set up a poll on your website.  This can be fun and interactive—most people like being able to see the results right away.  Many content management systems have this feature built-in or available through a plug-in.
3. If you’re on Facebook causes, take advantage of the tools available to you. You can view your best donors or fundraisers in the “Hall of Fame”, and build a personal relationship with them to learn more about what motivates them.
4. Use your Analytics! Google Analytics can give you lots of great information.  How are people finding your site? What geographic region of the country generates the most visits? How often are they viewing your mission or your donation page? What are the most trafficked sections of your website?

Posted by Elizabeth Beachy, Upleaf Co-Founder

[2] The Wired Wealthy: Using the Internet to Connect with your Middle and Major Donors. Convio, Sea Change Strategies, and Edge Research. March 2008

Several generous companies have made their world-class technologies available for free to nonprofits with 501c3 status in the U.S.  These technologies can completely transform the way we do business, and increase our impact exponentially.  They include:

1. Salesforce. Salesforce is a powerful constituent relationship management (CRM) tool that can help nonprofits organize, track and evaluate all interactions with donors, partners, media, and even project beneficiaries.  It is an excellent tool for fundraising, project management, monitoring and evaluation. The Salesforce Foundation typically donates 10 licenses per organization for an annual value of $15,000.  The application is hosted by Salesforce for free, and only requires some customization.

2. Vertical Response. One of the most popular mass email tools on the market, Vertical Response offers user-friendly templates and powerful evaluation tools to measure the impact of email messaging. Vertical Response integrates seamlessly with Salesforce, and is free for qualifying nonprofits for up to 10,000 mass emails per month.

3. Google Apps. The Google App package includes email, calendars, word processing, spreadsheet and collaboration programs, among other features.  Google Apps is designed to replace the costly Microsoft Office package and is free to nonprofits with less than 3,000 users.  Organizations can establish their own email addresses (name@organization.org) with almost unlimited storage.  It is all hosted by Google which means HUGE cost savings:  internal servers are no longer needed so you can say goodbye to server maintenance fees and email downtime caused by internal server problems.

4.  Google Ads. Google Grants is an in-kind donation program that offers free AdWords advertising to qualified 501c3 organizations. The program helps nonprofits promote websites or campaigns through advertising on Google, at a value of up to $10,000 per month.

With so many remotely hosted state-of-the-art technologies available for free, nonprofits can slash IT costs and upgrade to powerful packages that increase productivity, efficiency and visibility.

To learn more about free or affordable technologies and services available to nonprofits, contact Upleaf.

New technologies offer opportunities for online fundraising, publicity, participation in policy debate, and perhaps most importantly—and opportunity to deepen community engagement and social impact.

A new Hatcher Group report surveyed 30 organizations to see how they’re using social media and what their experiences have been.  All respondents reported currently using some form of social media, and most intend to ramp up their efforts next year.

Key findings:

Blogs. Blogs have offered a good ROI for nonprofits.  Nearly 100 million Americans read blogs at least once a month, and effective outreach can take less than 2 hours per week.

• 83% of the organizations reach out to bloggers, but only 30% do so frequently
• 88% reported being cited in blogs as a result of their outreach
• 16% of organizations were invited to submit guest posts
• 93% of the organizations monitor references to their organization or issues in the blogosphere

Facebook. Facebook is popular among nonprofits and with good reason: More than 200 million users, 50% of whom sign in every day; users become fans of causes (4 million per day) offering free visibility and endorsements for nonprofits; nonprofits have collectively raised more than $10 million through Facebook.

• 60% of the groups are currently on Facebook
• Facebook was used by respondents to generate record event turnout using Facebook’s event invites, raise money, and promote fundraising events

Twitter. Twitter was less popular among nonprofits, used by only 24% of respondents.  Those who did use it found it effective for disseminating news, promoting reports, and building connections with other organizations.

Conclusions? While we know that social media offers excellent opportunities for nonprofits, many are still not using it to its full capacity.  Those who are using it are ahead of the curve and already seeing the returns.  For those who aren’t—it’s time to start!

For tips on how to develop effective social media outreach, view our strategic communications blog posts and tweets.

Posted by Elizabeth Beachy, Upleaf Co-Founder