Strategic Online Communication for Nonprofits

Posts Tagged ‘social media’

On November 16, 2010, Upleaf will be offering a new workshop in Alamosa, CO on strategic use of social media for nonprofits.

Specific skills/learning that participants will take away from the training are:

• How to use social media tools to mobilize a community for social change
• Best practices in community engagement
• How to set up and use the following online tools:
  • Facebook Pages, Groups and Causes
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • Change.org
  • Digg
• How to monitor and evaluate social media strategies
• The importance of interactive websites/blogs and e-newsletters in a comprehensive online communication strategy
• Overview of online fundraising tools

For more information or to join the workshop, please contact us!

Most nonprofits know of Facebook’s tremendous potential as a fundraising tool.  Facebook Causes offers some great tools that nonprofits can use to learn more about their constituencies, manage fundraising campaigns, and mobilize their online communities.

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

Faced with the reality of shrinking budgets and fewer grant opportunities, many nonprofits– rather “social profits”– are turning to new web-based technologies to help out.

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