nptech.info

pAuthor: Lacey Kruger/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/lacey_kruger-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pWhile reviewing some new wireframes with a client the other day, we began to compare their own, nonprofit website with some other, commercial sites. In a way, commercial websites have it easy. Typically, they have tangible products orimg height="214" src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/relationship_matured_cash_it_in_237155.jpg" style="float: right; vertical-align: top;" width="300" alt="Selling the Relationship" / services to sell, making it really clear what they want users to do on the site (buy, buy, buy!). /p pNonprofit websites donrsquo;t usually sell something tangible. Sure, you may have an eCommerce store or even a Virtual Gift store, but there is always a bigger message than just ldquo;buy, buy, buyrdquo; or even ldquo;donate, donate, donaterdquo;. /p pMy clientrsquo;s feedback on their new wireframe was something along the lines of, ldquo;When I visit a site like Convio.com, I immediately know what you want me to do. Here, itrsquo;s not as clear. What is it we want people to do on our site?rdquo; I responded that itrsquo;s more challenging for nonprofits because yoursquo;re trying to sell a relationship, which can be defined differently for each organization. For some organizations, a relationship may mean that users rely on your site as a source for news on a specific topic. For others, it may mean that they care about your cause and simply want to keep up with what yoursquo;re doing to make a difference. Sure, donating and possibly buying something should be part of that relationship, but not likely at first. It takes time to cultivate relationships and your website should provide something valuable for users and offer a positive experience so that theyrsquo;ll ultimately value your organization./p pTake some time to consider your online goals with respect to your relationship with a constituent. I can bet that your goals may include ldquo;increase donationsrdquo; or ldquo;build our house filerdquo;. What are you offering in return? Yoursquo;ve got to sell a relationship, so what does that look like for you?/p pnbsp;/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=_u_r3j9PjPo:idtljN1czC4:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=_u_r3j9PjPo:idtljN1czC4:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=_u_r3j9PjPo:idtljN1czC4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=_u_r3j9PjPo:idtljN1czC4:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=_u_r3j9PjPo:idtljN1czC4:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=_u_r3j9PjPo:idtljN1czC4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=_u_r3j9PjPo:idtljN1czC4:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=_u_r3j9PjPo:idtljN1czC4:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Josh Shepherd/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/josh-shepherd-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pI understand that it's August, but I can't stop thinking about March.nbsp; It's cooler outside andnbsp;March Madness is going on.nbsp; It's also the month that hasnbsp;the best week and a half of my year.nbsp; It's a href="http://sxsw.com/" target="_blank"SXSW/a.nbsp; I started going to SXSW music events and showsnbsp;in 1996 and I have not stopped.nbsp; I recently started going to the Interactive part of thenbsp;conference and itnbsp;has been an exciting learning experience every time.nbsp;nbsp;I love the fact I can talk about emerging technologies, social media, video games and new innovations with people just as excitednbsp;about it as I am!nbsp; One great piece of this experience is the ability to votenbsp;and comment on proposed panels.nbsp; Thenbsp;a href="http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/" target="_blank"panel picker/a is out and there are some great choices in the nonprofit realm.nbsp; Definitely check out all thenbsp;a href="http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/" target="_blank"panel possibilities/a, but here are 5 nonprofit panel proposalsnbsp;to consider!/p p1.nbsp; Our own Jordan Viatornbsp;(a href="http://twitter.com/jordanv" target="_blank"@jordanv/a) has submitted a panel proposalnbsp;on getting advanced withnbsp;social media for social good.nbsp;nbsp;Hear from technologists and nonprofits on how to define and implement the ideal strategy and get advanced with metrics to make social a key component of online fundraising and advocacy campaigns.nbsp;nbsp;Here's the a href="http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/8073?return=%2Fideas%2Findex%2F7%2Fcompany%3Aconvio" target="_blank"panel description/a for more infonbsp;and to vote./p p2.nbsp; Staying within the social media world and nonprofits, there is another greatnbsp;panel on how social networking is changing advocacy.nbsp;nbsp;The panel hopes tonbsp;present how innovative nonprofit organizations are paving the way for driving social change through the use of social technologies andnbsp;how tonbsp;use those same strategies.nbsp; Here's the a href="http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/8074?return=%2Fideas%2Findex%2F7%2Fcompany%3Aconvio" target="_blank"panel description/a for more info and to vote./p pimg height="137" src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/pp_voting_open.jpg" style="float: right;" width="171" alt="Panel Picker 2011 SXSW" //p p3.nbsp;Beth Kanter (a href="http://twitter.com/KANTER" target="_blank"@kanter/a) hasnbsp;a session proposed based onnbsp;emThe Networked Nonprofit/em, a book she co-authored with Allison Fine.nbsp; It should be a fantastic discussion about nonprofits changingnbsp;from stand-alone institutions tonbsp;energized networks.nbsp; Here's the a href="http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/5847" target="_blank"panel description/a for more info and to vote.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;/p p4. Nonprofits + Facebook = Awesome.nbsp; It's an equation I think most would agree with.nbsp; Thisnbsp;discussion proposal explores how nonprofits are using Facebook and how to integratenbsp;the platformnbsp;into nonprofit fundraising and advocacy programs. Here's the a href="http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/5425?return=%2Fideas%2Findex%2F7%2Fcompany%3Aconvio" target="_blank"panel description/a for more info and to vote./p p5.nbsp;This panel proposal from Andy Carvin (a href="http://twitter.com/acarvin" target="_blank"@acarvin/a)nbsp;on putting the public back in Public Media looksnbsp;intriguing.nbsp;nbsp;Looking at the waysnbsp;NPR and PBS are working with the public and how the public can get involved are the two main points of the panel.nbsp; Here's the a href="http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/6547?return=%2Fideas%2Findex%2F7%2Fdescription%3APBS%2Fcategory%3ANon-Profits" target="_blank"panel description/a for more info and to vote.nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; /pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=bYy5Wzxy-mk:WyA7WXi4S3U:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=bYy5Wzxy-mk:WyA7WXi4S3U:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=bYy5Wzxy-mk:WyA7WXi4S3U:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=bYy5Wzxy-mk:WyA7WXi4S3U:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=bYy5Wzxy-mk:WyA7WXi4S3U:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=bYy5Wzxy-mk:WyA7WXi4S3U:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=bYy5Wzxy-mk:WyA7WXi4S3U:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=bYy5Wzxy-mk:WyA7WXi4S3U:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Noel Beebe/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/noel-beebe-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"span style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"Holy guacamole, is it mid-August already?nbsp; You bet it is, and you know what that meanshellip; THON season!nbsp; Not sure what a THON is?nbsp; Think: marathons, jog-a-thons, walk-a-thons, run-a-thons, tri-athalons, climb-a-thons, jump-a-thons, bounce-a-thons, swim-a-thons.nbsp; Yep.nbsp; Thons./span/span/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"span style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"The bulk of nonprofit thon events occur from September through November each year, which means there is a LOT of competition out there if you host a fundraising event in the upcoming months.nbsp; For those of you responsible for managing a fall thon event, I thought it might be an appropriate time to remind you about a few best practices to help boost your event's registration and fundraising results.nbsp;nbsp; /span/span/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"span style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"strong1.nbsp; /strong/span/span/spanspan style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"strongPERSONALITY/strong ndash; Give your event a face and a voice.nbsp; Recruit a volunteer (or set of volunteers) who embodies your mission and ask them to share their voice and their story in your e-mail communications and/or tweet throughout the season on your behalf ndash; it will help remind people what your event is all about, and where their dollars are going.nbsp; /span/span/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"span style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"strong2.nbsp; GOALS amp; METRICS/strong ndash; Last year seems like an eternity ago, I know, but take an hour to go back, run reports and review how you did last year.nbsp; Then work forward into your goals for this yearrsquo;s event.nbsp; A few very important metrics to watch/goals to set: /span/span/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="padding-left: 30px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"span style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"/span/span/spanspan style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"- Number of Participantsbr //span/span/spanspan style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"- Amount Raisedbr //span/span/spanspan style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"- Number/Percent of Team Participants (teams consistently out-fundraise individuals)br //span/span/spanspan style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"- Number/Percent of Participants who Raise Moneybr //span/span/spanspan style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"- Average Gift Amountbr //span/span/spanspan style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"- Average Amount Raised per Fundraiser/span/span/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"span style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"Keep an eye on these metrics each week, so you can correct your communications and tactics as needed. Are teams down?nbsp; Host a team contest ndash; whoever recruits the most members by the end of the week wins a prize!nbsp; Is fundraising slow to pick up?nbsp; Promote a drawing ndash; everyone who raises over $100 by the end of the month will be entered to win.nbsp; Be sure to watch your trends and respond as appropriate./span/span/spanspan style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp;/span/span/span/p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"span style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"strong3.nbsp; CONTENT/strong ndash; Make it easy for participants to understand that you'd like them to begin fundraising on behalf of your event, and how to start fundraising.nbsp; /span/span/span/p ul li div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"span style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"nbsp;/span/span/spanspan style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"Wherever your participants land once they've registered online, add a big button that says ldquo;Start Fundraising Now!rdquo; that takes them right to their Participant Center. /span/span/span/div /li li div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"span style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"On your Participant Center Homepage, give your users 1 ndash; 2 ndash; 3 instructions on setting up their personal page and sending out e-mails.nbsp;nbsp;/span/span/span/div /li li div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"span style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"Be sure you have provided your participants with stock personal page content and several fundraising e-mail templates they can work from.nbsp; /span/span/span/div /li li div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"span style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"Donrsquo;t forget to add a link back to the Participant Center in each of your autoresponders and coaching e-mails. /span/span/span/div /li /ul divspan style="font-size: small;"span style="font-family: Calibri;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"strong4.nbsp; LOGINS/strong - Oh the logins.nbsp; Every online registration and fundraising system provides the user with a "login" that they use to access their online fundraising tools and monitor their progress.nbsp; As volunteer for a local race, I know how many calls you get about people who donrsquo;t remember their login information from last year.nbsp; My recommendation is to include username and password in every single coaching e-mail and autpresponder you send ndash; you can even add it to the stationery.nbsp; This should cut down on the number of frustrated calls you receive, although yoursquo;ll still get an irate call from at least one person who uses the same password for your site as they do for their online banking site or the vault that houses the next generation iPhone.nbsp; Itrsquo;s not your fault.nbsp; Really.nbsp; Tell them to log in and change their password immediately (just be sure you can direct them to where they can update their password). /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"strong5.nbsp; COACHING/strong ndash; Before your event launches, you should make sure to define all of the different audiences you will want to communicate with about the event, so you can use these groups as the audience for each e-mail you send.nbsp; At the very least, you should have audience groups for: /p p class="MsoNormal" style="padding-left: 30px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"- Participantsbr /- Non-Participantsbr /- Team Captains/p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"If yoursquo;re ready for the next step, you should consider: /p p class="MsoNormal" style="padding-left: 30px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"- Past Participantsbr /- Fundraisersbr /- Non-Fundraisers/p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"And if yoursquo;re an expert, yoursquo;ll likely have more groups, including: /p p class="MsoNormal" style="padding-left: 30px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"- Past participants not yet registeredbr /- Past fundraisers not yet fundraisingbr /- Participants who have not made a self-donationbr /- Fundraisers over $X (whatever your goal or minimum is)br /- Fundraisers under $X (whatever your goal or minimum is)/p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"Each of these groups should receive different messages from you, based on the next action yoursquo;d like them to take.nbsp; Take a moment and chart out your communication plan for each audience./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"That should get you started as we head into the fall THON-a-thon season.nbsp; I wish you the best of luckhellip; see you on the other side!nbsp; /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"nbsp;/p /span/span/span/divdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=JfAqEpFb42A:za5hzkYW47M:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=JfAqEpFb42A:za5hzkYW47M:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=JfAqEpFb42A:za5hzkYW47M:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=JfAqEpFb42A:za5hzkYW47M:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=JfAqEpFb42A:za5hzkYW47M:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=JfAqEpFb42A:za5hzkYW47M:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=JfAqEpFb42A:za5hzkYW47M:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=JfAqEpFb42A:za5hzkYW47M:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Jordan Viator/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/jordan-viator-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pLast week I had the pleasure of attending the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of DC second annual Social Summit and sharing some information on a href="http://www.slideshare.net/jordanev/abcs-of-social-media-roi-and-measurement"social media ROI and metrics/a. Earlier this summer I posted on a href="http://www.connectioncafe.com/posts/2010/06-june/social-media-roi-strategic-data.html"top tips for measuring ROI and getting strategic with data/a, touching on the idea and importance of actionable data, or rather, data that helps draw meaningful conclusions and future actions to optimize programs.br /br /At the Social Summit, I wanted to take this concept further and share memorable, easy suggestions for measuring ROI that were actionable and scalable for any organization ndash; things as easy to remember as your ABCs./p pThe full length presentation is included below and a href="http://www.slideshare.net/jordanev/abcs-of-social-media-roi-and-measurement"posted on SlideShare/a for download, but here were the three, simple areas I shared for all organizations to remember when embarking on measuring social media ROI:/p pnbsp;/p pstrongspan style="font-size: medium;"img src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/letter-block-a.bmp" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-left: 30px;" alt="Letter A" //span/strongstrongspan style="font-size: small;"span style="font-size: medium;"Analytics/span - /span/strongmeasuring the right data/p p1.nbsp; Analyze goals of you social media and decide what metrics to measure based on those goals /p p2. Allot the right tools to help collect the data and make the process simple/p p3.nbsp; Assign the right resources to collect the data on an ongoing basis/p pnbsp;/p pstrongspan style="font-size: small;"img src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/letter-block-b.bmp" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-left: 30px;" alt="Letter B" //span/strongstrongspan style="font-size: medium;"Benchmarks/span/strong - Taking raw data and reporting in a comparable way/p p1.nbsp; Begin making a master report that serves as the central repository for all social metrics/p p2.nbsp; Baseline your activity metrics to provide a starting point for reference when comparing data in the future/p p3.nbsp; Broaden benchmark metrics once you feel comfortable with reporting, ongoing activity and preliminary success/p pspan style="font-size: small;"strongnbsp;/strong/span/p pspan style="font-size: small;"strongimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/letter-block-c.bmp" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-left: 30px;" alt="Letter C" //strong/spanspan style="font-size: small;"span style="font-size: medium;"strongConclusions/strongnbsp;/span- /spanTaking the analytics, benchmarks and trends and drawing meaningful conclusions/p p1.nbsp; Compare anomalies, spikes in engagement and other data to the content and/or events that drive the result (see presentation for example charts)/p p2.nbsp; Cluster together similar tactics such as Tweets, blog posts, mentions, Facebook posts to determine trends (examples in presentation below)/p p3.nbsp; Continue the evolution of your programs by gathering as much actionable data as possible/p pnbsp;/p div id="item-164989117" style="display: inline;" div style="width:425px" id="__ss_4912828"strong style="display:block;margin:12px 0 4px"a href="http://www.slideshare.net/jordanev/abcs-of-social-media-roi-and-measurement" title="ABCs of Social Media ROI and Measurement"ABCs of Social Media ROI and Measurement/a/strongobject id="__sse4912828" width="425" height="355"param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=abcs-social-roi-100806064249-phpapp01stripped_title=abcs-of-social-media-roi-and-measurement" /param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/embed name="__sse4912828" src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=abcs-social-roi-100806064249-phpapp01stripped_title=abcs-of-social-media-roi-and-measurement" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="355"/embed/objectdiv style="padding:5px 0 12px"View more a href="http://www.slideshare.net/"presentations/a from a href="http://www.slideshare.net/jordanev"Jordan Viator/a./div/div /div pHave any tips yourself for measuring social ROI? Maybe some ideas on integrating these metrics with website reporting for maximum efficienc? Share here - bonus points for keeping with the alliteration theme! script src="https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js?c1=7amp;c2=7400849amp;c3=1amp;c4=amp;c5=amp;c6="/script /p script defer="0" src="https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js?c1=7amp;c2=7400849amp;c3=1amp;c4=amp;c5=amp;c6="/scriptdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=3JFs-rCT-vI:7UjfkgVDDCU:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=3JFs-rCT-vI:7UjfkgVDDCU:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=3JFs-rCT-vI:7UjfkgVDDCU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=3JFs-rCT-vI:7UjfkgVDDCU:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=3JFs-rCT-vI:7UjfkgVDDCU:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=3JFs-rCT-vI:7UjfkgVDDCU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=3JFs-rCT-vI:7UjfkgVDDCU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=3JFs-rCT-vI:7UjfkgVDDCU:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Jennifer Darrouzet/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/jennifer-darrouzet-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pI recently stood at the a href="http://www.national911memorial.org/site/PageServer?pagename=New_Visit_Preview" target="_blank"9/11 Memorial Preview Site/anbsp;near Ground Zero, looking up to read the timeline on the wall. I was shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers, and it didnrsquo;t matter that many of us were quietly crying. It certainly didnrsquo;t feel like nearly 9 years had passed. Instead, the memory of each minute came back with almost tactile clarity. Three minutes here, 15 minutes there, and the layers of the tragedy unfolded again./p pMaybe itrsquo;s because I spent so many of the dark hours that followed cut-off from my community ndash; so disconnected from friends amp; family, on a business trip that mutated into a frantic 2-day race home through the desert Southwest ndash; that I started to consider what it would have been like if wersquo;d had Twitter on 9/11.nbsp; /p pBecause I can imagine how Irsquo;d have instinctively, obsessively pulled up my feed, to check the pulse of the planet again and again and again. /p pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/fail-whale.jpg" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;" alt="Fail Whale" /Yes, I know that this wasnrsquo;t possible: no iPhone could have been on the hotel nightstand, and Twitter didnrsquo;t exist. And even if they had, most likely Twitterrsquo;s over-capacity fail-whale would have been my first, frustrated experience. Bandwidth was a problem then, too.nbsp; International phone lines were jammed amp; I couldnrsquo;t reach my husband where he was working in France, to let him know Irsquo;d flown to LA, and Irsquo;d made it. I sent him an email because we didnrsquo;t have texting yet./p pI can imagine that, if wersquo;d had Twitter in that first few hours, Irsquo;d have seen an almost infinite list of short messages, of exclamation, of disbelief, of confusion, of fear, of rage, and sudden panic as friends could not be reached, did not reply as expected. Irsquo;d have echoed the grief of others. But then Irsquo;d have needed to get down to business. And Irsquo;d have used Twitter that morning and in the surreal days to come./p pMy coworker prompted me to call my Mom at once. And my Mom says shersquo;ll never forget that her first knowledge of the events of the day came through my voice, whole and well, telling her to turn on the television.nbsp; I bet I would have repeated my coworkerrsquo;s advice in a tweet: ldquo;Get word to your parents if you can. Tell them where you are. Wake them if you must. Let them hear it from you.rdquo;nbsp; /p pMy coworker and I were lucky enough to have rented a car upon arrival in LA on the 10th. Once we learned all flights were grounded, we quickly arrived at the decision to abandon our plans and drive back to Austin at once.nbsp; I imagine Irsquo;d have tweeted our intentions, and queried my network to determine whether anyone needed a ride on our backseat. /p pIrsquo;m sure wersquo;d have had to put limits on the offer. For one, Irsquo;d already exchanged emails with a friend in Oregon whorsquo;d wanted us to come get him. It just seemed too far, and he found another carpool.nbsp; /p pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/twitter-bird.jpg" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;" alt="Twitter bird" /Also, we were two women undertaking a long journey through some pretty uninhabited area. I donrsquo;t know if wersquo;d have welcomed a male passenger we only knew through social networking. Wersquo;d have needed to establish a certain level of trust with whomever we invited to share our car. And we would have needed to make that judgment call quickly, because we needed to get home. By now we both travel with a weekrsquo;s worth of any medicines we need, and have back-up plans for our families and pets, but we were both pretty young and unprepared, and we needed to get home./p pWe ate quickly, and did get calls from a couple coworkers. My boss gave maternal advice. So many colleagues were stranded all over, in a situation repeated all over the world. Some took a wait-and-see approach, some were on the road already. I wonder if wersquo;d have used a hashtag (like #ConvioWhereRU) to keep tabs on the diaspora./p pSoon, from the vantage point of an overpass, I could see that we were alone on the highways of LA. Though it should have been rush hour, there was no traffic, no helicopters reporting on stalled cars or construction. A very unnatural calm had descended on a city that was missing an airplane full of its own. I guess it was a self-imposed lock-down, because nobody stopped us as we sped away. If wersquo;d had Twitter, anxiety and nervous energy would have made obsessive tweeters out of many of us. It wasnrsquo;t yet my turn to drive, and Irsquo;d have been broadcasting observations all morning, with nothing better to contribute. Instead, all I could do was fidget over the tuner as radio stations faded in and out. No satellite radio yet./p pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/google-map-locator.jpg" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;" alt="Google Map location" /I still hadnrsquo;t been able to talk to my husband, but my mother-in-law had gotten word to him that we were headed East on I-10, and he was able to track my progress via our online, real-time credit card statement. Now we are friends on Google Maps, and I can see his dot throughoutnbsp; his evening commute. Back then, he took comfort when he saw a small charge at a RadioShack in Phoenix, and rightly guessed wersquo;d stopped to pick up cell-phone chargers. Without mobile email or a service like Twitter, I had no idea if, unknown to us, coworkers sat stranded at the Phoenix airport. /p pWe came across an expanse of parked airplanes in the desert, where these machines suffer least from the elements when not in use. All grounded. Irsquo;d have taken a picture and figured out a href="http://www/twitpic.com/" target="_blank"TwitPic/a. We frequently had no radio stations. There was nothing else to do./p pSo essentially we were lonely, and desperate for connection in a world of upheaval. Not knowing if some of our connections were severed forever. Not knowing what wersquo;d find over the horizon. We were surprised when we reached a roadblock just West of El Paso. We were interrogated by soldiers with automatic weapons. If Irsquo;d tweeted that, would it have tipped off the terrorists to take a side road?/p pI was also surprised that El Paso, TX is only the half-way point between LA and Austin. Another full day of being cut-off and numb. I felt starved for information like Irsquo;ve NEVER felt since./p pThinking about my experience now, and how it could have been so different just a few years later, Irsquo;m reminded of a story most adults know. I think of Star Wars. I picture Yoda stumbling as he experiences ldquo;a disturbance in the forcerdquo; when an entire, populated planet is destroyed by the Death Star.nbsp; Or, more recently, how the native population in Avatar are connected to one another through a planetary-wide nervous system. /p pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/yoda.jpg" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;" alt="Yoda" /I think wersquo;ve come to a point where ldquo;extrasensory perceptionrdquo; isnrsquo;t just some kind of magic or myth anymore.nbsp; /p pBecause things have changed. I remember the chair I was sitting in when I first scrolled through my Twitter feed and learned of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. I didnrsquo;t even think to turn on a TV or radio, because the people I follow ndash; the people I trust - posted real-time updates. Pictures. Questions. And, so quickly, ways to help. Suddenly, it was odd to see a single update that wasnrsquo;t related to Haiti. They stuck out like a sore thumb. Like the one remote person on a conference call, jabbering on about some insignificant detail while everyone in the room reacts to a coworker passing out cold./p pBut if Twitter and other social networks actually provide us this kind of life-force-like sensitivity to each other now, is that good, or bad?/p pa href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/07/contagious-emotions/?utm_source=feedburneramp;utm_medium=feedamp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29amp;utm_content=Twitter;" target="_blank"Emotions are contagious, after all/a. And I canrsquo;t think of another time in MY lifetime when the worldrsquo;s emotions would have run hotter. Maybe to a Babynbsp;Boomer, itrsquo;d be like asking what it would have been like if theyrsquo;d had Facebook when JFK was shot. Or for my grandparents, access to email when the bombs dropped on Pearl Harbor. /p pI remember the fear amp; suspicion. Who could be trusted? Only the people you knew. Of course we relied on the kindness of strangers. Stories of heroes were everywhere. But there was an under-current of backlash, of lynch-mob mentality that grew for weeks in the wake of the 9/11. Rocks and worse hurled at mosques, and my friends who attended them. I think of some of the foul emails I got forwarded, and it makes me shiver. In a world with Twitter, Irsquo;m wary that our fight-or-flight, reflex-like reactions, passed as signals ndash; uncensored - through our collective synapses, could be a very frightening thing. /p pAt least it could be, in the absence of leadership. /p pTo me, this isnrsquo;t just a mental exercise. To me, it illustrates a great societal need. Because even though I may hope that wersquo;ll never face something like 9/11 again, I know that communities face intense, desperate challenges far too often. We NEED leadership that is present, day-in amp; day-out, interacting in our real lives where we live and breathe, commute amp; learn amp; work amp; rest. I do more than half of that via computer most days. And so I want constant reminders of our common goals where Irsquo;m at - online. /p pTwitterrsquo;s co-founder Jack Dorsey (a href="http://twitter.com/JACK" target="_blank"@JACK/a) a href="http://philanthropy.com/blogPost/Audio-Why-Twitter-Matters-to/25497/?utm_source=twitterfeedamp;utm_medium=twitter" target="_blank"recently said/a that social media strongemis just the right technology to surface awareness of what needs to be done, what you are doing, and how/em/strong. He specifies that these communications would be missing something if you include just the facts, but should also include the VALUES and SPIRIT behind what yoursquo;re doing. /p pAnd so Irsquo;m hoping that community leaders wonrsquo;t dismiss social media as ldquo;just for funrdquo; or optional. Most of the time, I do think of social media as fun. A place to listen amp; learn, and share what I can contribute. But now that Irsquo;ve thought about it, I add my encouragement to the voices of others (like Beth Kanter - a href="http://www.twitter.com/kanter" target="_blank"@kanter/a ndash; whom 350,000 of your peers follow for guidance in this area). Because nonprofit leaders and board members and volunteers who earn and keep the attention of their communities via social media are just a click away from leading me when my involvement is needed. In case of emergency, myself and many others will turn to those we trust to check the pulse of our world. I hope yoursquo;ll be there. I know Irsquo;ll need your reassurance, your caring diagnosis, and soon your call to wise action.nbsp;/p pAnd if you want an early warning system in place, one that might alert you to an issue or event that could require your skills without much notice, consider a href="http://www.economist.com/node/16103882?story_id=16103882" target="_blank"that social networks have been shown to predict the spread of contagion/a in our populace. Yes, that study and also Googlersquo;s Flu Trends are all about physical illness. But what about societal illness, like prejudice, hate or violence? If people who are more socially-linked are truly faster to catch an infection, perhaps the most socially-linked leaders would be fastest to identify amp; respond to destructive impulses in our now more collective brain. Such leaders would be quick to remind us of what underlies our basic links to each other in a civil society./p pListen, Irsquo;m not just a worst-case-scenario person. I do remember good things in the days following 9/11. Our brave protectors, doing their jobs without knowing the fate of their own families. Neighbors and co-workers covering for each other, helping everyone cope. The line to donate blood. The candlelight services. The calls for calm. If wersquo;d had Twitter on 9/11, I imagine therersquo;d have been many sincere, thoughtful, helpful messages from trusted leaders amp; organizations, like a href="http://www.twitter.com/RedCross" target="_blank"@RedCross/a, a href="http://www.twitter.com/NotInOurTown" target="_blank"@NotInOurTown/a, a href="http://www.twitter.com/ACLU" target="_blank"@ACLU/a, a href="http://www.twitter.com/NationalGuard" target="_blank"@NationalGuard/a. I like to think that many would have provided messages of comfort, and guidance, realtime monitoring, and clear calls to action that would have strengthened our communities in the face of the attack./p pThink back, if you can: what kind of leadership could/did your organization share, through the media, through your supporters, or through direct services? Did you offer medical care? Did you help the displaced or the separated? Aid the newly unemployed? Comfort the scared amp; the grieving? I know we owe many of you our thanks, for knitting us back together./p pNow think: if you needed to tomorrow, could/would you be able to do what you do best, given todayrsquo;s technological and demographic trends? Would you be able to stand up for those scape-goated without cause? Could you illustrate your expertise amp; readiness regarding housing, nutrition, mobility, or animal care in the face of disaster? Would you have earned amp; cultivated an audience that could pass along your message? Could/would you communicate what needed to be done, and why amp; how? NOT forgetting to emphasize the VALUES behind your actions, in a clear amp; concise way? (One key reason I value Twitter is the 140 character limit ndash; forcing ideas to coalesce in brief, omitting superfluous words. If yoursquo;ve read this far, you can see how Twitter constrains me.)/p pIf you want to be there for us, but you donrsquo;t know how to proceed, strongemthere are many free amp; low-cost resources available/em/strong. Just yesterday, I ate my lunch while reviewing the remarks shared freely on Twitter during a live Young Nonprofit Professionals chat (#ynpchat) featuring Rosetta Thurman (a href="http://www.twitter.com/rosettathurman" target="_blank"@rosettathurman/a). There are also many ongoing conversations under #nptweet focused on nonprofits and technology. Beth Kanterrsquo;s a href="http://www.amazon.com/Networked-Nonprofit-Connecting-Social-Change/dp/0470547979/ref=sr_1_1?s=booksamp;ie=UTF8amp;qid=1280965687amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank"just published a new book/a that everyonersquo;s devouring. Social Media is the topic at a href="http://www.afpaustin.org/site/Calendar?view=Detailamp;id=4723" target="_blank"AFP meetings/a, free live a href="http://my.convio.com/forms/SocMed_v2-Twitter" target="_blank"webinars/a, and a href="http://www.connectioncafe.com/posts/2010/07-july/nonprofit-technology-tweetup.html" target="_blank"tweet-ups/anbsp;(face-to-face meetings)./p pSo if your organization is present on Twitter, and yoursquo;d be willing and able to provide leadership in dire circumstances, for your local community or even the wider world, please list your Twitter handle in the comments section. Irsquo;d like to follow you, and Irsquo;d like others to follow you, too.nbsp; Irsquo;m creating a Twitter List, called ldquo;InCaseOfEmergencyrdquo; and I hope itrsquo;s never needed. Yet I hope that, if needed, it could be of help. I thank you in advance for your preparedness, and your willingness to care for and lead us./p pOh, and hey, @twitter, wersquo;re counting on you, too. You know yoursquo;re part of the fabric of our lives now, so donrsquo;t unravel on us, ok? Thanks for enabling so many new connections. Long may they strengthen us./pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=HnG9mnbQSg0:S_vpxSe2yFU:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=HnG9mnbQSg0:S_vpxSe2yFU:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=HnG9mnbQSg0:S_vpxSe2yFU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=HnG9mnbQSg0:S_vpxSe2yFU:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=HnG9mnbQSg0:S_vpxSe2yFU:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=HnG9mnbQSg0:S_vpxSe2yFU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=HnG9mnbQSg0:S_vpxSe2yFU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=HnG9mnbQSg0:S_vpxSe2yFU:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Sally Heaven/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/sally_heaven-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pimg align="right" src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/megaphone.png" alt="Advocacy hearts fundraising 4-ever" /I was talking with my pal Michelle Shefter the other day about online advocacy and fundraising.nbsp; She mentioned a a href="http://www.convio.com/summit-2010" target="_blank"Convio summit/a session about raising money from your grassroots activists. I said: /p pldquo;Thatrsquo;s so old school.nbsp; Does anyone really keep their lists separate anymore?rdquo; /p pMichelle assured me that there are still many nonprofits where the Development Department keeps the donor list from the grassroots organizing department because they donrsquo;t want the grubby activists bothering the members. And that there are also lots of grassroots departments that jealously keep their list away from Development, because they donrsquo;t want the greedy fundraising asks to burn out the activists and cause them to unsubscribe. /p pIrsquo;m here to tell you to stop that! nbsp;And right now. /p pIrsquo;m looking at YOU, grassroots organizers, and YOU, annual giving directors. /p pThere are two reasons why and both of them are good ones. /p pFirst, itrsquo;s a win-win for both departments. nbsp;Your activists are people who are engaged in the work of your organization and will want to support your work financially. Your donors are also engaged in the work and will want to support your work with their voices and actions. Simply put, your donors will take action, and your activists will donate.nbsp; And a href="http://www.convio.com/our-research/newsletter/strengthening-your-online-presence-now-is-the-time.html"research shows that donors who are also activists give more/a, and activists who donate are more loyal./p pSecond, people out in the worldnbsp;donrsquo;t really see your organization in terms of ldquo;the development departmentrdquo; and ldquo;the grassroots organizing department.rdquo;nbsp; They just see you as your organization, writ large. So it behooves you to make sure yoursquo;re speaking to your constituents with a unified voice. nbsp;That requires coordination and list-sharing between the departments.nbsp; It's actually beyond list-sharing - having a holistic view of the entire online community. nbsp;Thatrsquo;s not always easy ndash; but itrsquo;s necessary! /p pSo go forth and integrate.nbsp; And while yoursquo;re at it, how about making sure your organization isnrsquo;t managing any other rogue lists of constituents?nbsp; I'll bet your event attendees and volunteers will be just as excited about the rest of your fans to take action and donate to support your cause./pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=4L_W4rwEpDs:h1zcvFwDceg:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=4L_W4rwEpDs:h1zcvFwDceg:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=4L_W4rwEpDs:h1zcvFwDceg:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=4L_W4rwEpDs:h1zcvFwDceg:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=4L_W4rwEpDs:h1zcvFwDceg:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=4L_W4rwEpDs:h1zcvFwDceg:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=4L_W4rwEpDs:h1zcvFwDceg:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=4L_W4rwEpDs:h1zcvFwDceg:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Jordan Viator/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/jordan-viator-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pYou and your nonprofit organization probably already ldquo;getrdquo; that social media can help you drive programs and online results.nbsp; But quick and easy tips always make getting started or optimizing programs easier./p pa href="http://my.convio.com/forms/SocMed_v1?referrer=blog" target="_blank"img src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/social-promo.jpg" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;" alt="Social Media for Nonprofits Ask the Experts Series" //aThatrsquo;s why wersquo;ve been working on putting together a social media a href="http://my.convio.com/forms/SocMed_v1?referrer=blog" target="_blank"Ask The Experts series/anbsp;with tipsheets on four of the most popular social platforms over at a href="http://www.convio.com" target="_blank"Convio/a.br /nbsp;br /For the next three Wednesdays, Irsquo;m a href="http://my.convio.com/forms/SocMed_v1?referrer=blog" target="_blank"hosting Office Hours/anbsp;with some incredible nonprofit experts to help present these tips and answer your questions about a different platform each week./p pThis week is a href="http://my.convio.com/forms/SocMed_v1?referrer=blog" target="_blank"covering Blogging and YouTube/a and our special guest is a href="http://twitter.com/daveiam" target="_blank"David J. Neff/a, Director of a href="http://lightscamerahelp.org/" target="_blank"Lights. Camera. Help/a.nbsp; /p pCheck out the tipsheets for this week available below and then bring your burning questions about blogging and YouTube for nonprofits to us! /p pHave questions you want to send for the Office Hours? Send me a tweet a href="http://www.twitter.com/jordanv" target="_blank"@jordanv/a or into a href="http://www.twitter.com/convio" target="_blank"@convio/a. Or,nbsp;if you can't make the event, tune into the feedback with the hashtag #NPTWEET and see what your peers discuss. /p pa href="http://www.convio.com/blogging" target="_blank"img src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/blogging-nonprofits-image.jpg" alt="Tipsheet for Nonprofits: Blogging" //anbsp;a href="http://www.convio.com/youtube" target="_blank"img src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/youtube-nonprofits-image.jpg" alt="Tipsheet for Nonprofits: YouTube" //a/p pGet a sneak peek of the next two weeks' Office Hours topics on our a href="http://www.convio.com/facebook" target="_blank"Facebook for Nonprofits Tipsheet/anbsp;and a href="http://www.convio.com/twitter" target="_blank"Twitter for Nonprofits Tipsheet/a./pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=tpOhcl5nb5E:ZQqS1HJEDsY:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=tpOhcl5nb5E:ZQqS1HJEDsY:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=tpOhcl5nb5E:ZQqS1HJEDsY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=tpOhcl5nb5E:ZQqS1HJEDsY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=tpOhcl5nb5E:ZQqS1HJEDsY:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=tpOhcl5nb5E:ZQqS1HJEDsY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=tpOhcl5nb5E:ZQqS1HJEDsY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=tpOhcl5nb5E:ZQqS1HJEDsY:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Jordan Viator/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/jordan-viator-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pstrongGuest post by Emily Goodstein, Account Manager at Convio/strong/p pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/emily-goodstein.jpg" alt="Emily Goodstein" //p pLast week a href="http://www.ombwatch.org/adoptawonk" target="_blank"I adopted a wonk/a. His name is Matt and he loves skinny ties, cooking non-hippy meals, and enjoying televised sporting events.nbsp; /p pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/wonk-matt.jpg" alt="Wonk Matt" //p pNo, I didnrsquo;t welcome a new member to my family, but I made a donation to a href="http://www.ombwatch.org/" target="_blank"OMB Watch/anbsp;(a Convio client doing amazing work to promote open government, accountability, and citizen participation) as part of their ldquo;a href="http://www.ombwatch.org/adoptawonk" target="_blank"Adopt a Wonk/ardquo; campaign.nbsp; The campaign, which puts a personal face on a set of very ldquo;inside the beltwayrdquo; issues, uses a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/OMBWatch" target="_blank"short YouTube videos/a and Convio donation pages to allow constituents to get to know the people behind this government oversight group.nbsp; Because of me, Matt is now able to spend time posting a blog entry on a href="http://www.ombwatch.org/" target="_blank"OMBWatch.org/a about the lack of government oversight that lead to the BP Oil Spill (yoursquo;re welcome, Matt)./p pThe campaign may be a good fit for your organization if yoursquo;re looking for ways for constituents to learn more about you, your staff, and the issues you work on (and then feel compelled to make a donation and support you)!/p pHerersquo;s how OMB Watch did it:/p pstrongShort Video Interviews/strongbr /The organization created a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/OMBWatch" target="_blank"short videos/anbsp;of their program staff and posted them to their website.nbsp; br /bull;nbsp;The videos are accompanied by little pieces of personal and organization specific information. br /bull;nbsp;You may consider using an inexpensive a href="http://www.theflip.com/en-us/?gclid=CNC00ZSXiqMCFSFN5Qod3CrVZA" target="_blank"Flip video camera/anbsp;(which uploads directly to your computer and comes with very easy-to-use editing software, too) to create these types of little video clips. /p pstrongCheeky and Informative Text/strongbr /The little blurbs about each staff person include humorous anecdotes and important content related specifics.nbsp; Here are some examples: br /bull;nbsp;ldquo;When hersquo;s not complaining about the heat, yoursquo;re likely to find him cooking up non-hippie meals or aggressively enjoying televised sporting events.rdquo;br /bull;nbsp;ldquo;Lee's job is to expand the rights of nonprofits nationwide so that American citizens have the power to advocate on their own behalf.rdquo;/p pstrongConcrete Use of Donationsbr //strongMy favorite part of the campaign is the different activities that one can support when choosing donations of different sizes.nbsp; br /bull;nbsp;For $25, a donor is able to support an OMBW staffer writing a blog post about workplace safety or the a href="http://www.ombwatch.org/bpoilspill" target="_blank"BP oil spill/a. br /bull;nbsp;A gift of $250 allows a member of the OMBW team to a href="http://www.ombwatch.org/files/budget/therkildsentestimonydeficitcommission063010.pdf" target="_blank"testify/anbsp;before Congress about fiscal responsibility.nbsp; /p pI really like the way OMBW included links to several of their advocacy campaigns in the donation options for each wonk up for adoption.nbsp; This way, a fundraising ask is also leveraging constituents to action, as well./p pOther organizations have used similar tactics to put a personal face on sometimes wonky, technical, or super scientific issues.nbsp; Check out these great examples:br /bull;nbsp;Oklahoma Medical Research Foundationrsquo;s ldquo;a href="http://omrf.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=1241.0amp;dlv_id=0" target="_blank"Geekhellip;Itrsquo;s The New Chic/ardquo;br /bull;nbsp;Environmental Defense Fundrsquo;s ldquo;a href="http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=52992" target="_blank"Adopt a Nerd/ardquo; /p pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/wonk-nerd.jpg" alt="Wonk Nerd" //pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=XseN-NzIe7w:i4Zxbjy_zsM:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=XseN-NzIe7w:i4Zxbjy_zsM:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=XseN-NzIe7w:i4Zxbjy_zsM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=XseN-NzIe7w:i4Zxbjy_zsM:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=XseN-NzIe7w:i4Zxbjy_zsM:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=XseN-NzIe7w:i4Zxbjy_zsM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=XseN-NzIe7w:i4Zxbjy_zsM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=XseN-NzIe7w:i4Zxbjy_zsM:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Jordan Viator/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/jordan-viator-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pIn its second year,a href="http://www.lightscamerahelp.org/" target="_blank"Lights.Camera.Help./a is once again bringing the worlds of philanthropy and video together to inspire and move people through multimedia. /p pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/lightscamerahelpbanner.jpg" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;" alt="Lights Camera Help banner" /If you arenrsquo;t already familiar with LCH, itrsquo;s a nonprofit organization that works to help other nonprofits use film to spread awareness and action for their causes through volunteer matching, education and its annual nonprofit film festival./p pThe second annual, three-day film fest is taking place this weekend in Austin, Texas and itrsquo;s not too late to get involved and be a part of the fun. You can do three main things to help the growth of this great cause and experience the event for yourself: /p p1. strongWatch the amazing videos from this year/strong. Submissions came in from around the world and LCH received more than 100 more submissions in 2010 than in 2009. 33 videos were chosen and a href="http://www.lightscamerahelp.com/blog/393-festival/303-official-selections-for-2010-announced" target="_blank"are available for viewing online/a./p p2. strongAttend any or all of the three days of film screenings this weekend/strong. Day screenings are taking place: Thursday, July 29, 7 to 10 p.m. at the Mexican American Cultural Center; Friday, July 30, 7 to 10 p.m., at the Millennium Youth Complex; and Saturday July 31, 2 to 5 p.m. at Space 12 with the closing party from 7 to 10 p.m. following the screening. Tickets are available at a href="http://lch2010.eventbrite.com"http://lch2010.eventbrite.com/a.nbsp;em(Note that all proceeds go to the winners)/em /p p3. strongDonate to the winners of this yearrsquo;s festival/strong. Canrsquo;t make the live event or want to do more to support the winners of the festival? a href="http://www.lightscamerahelp.org/donate" target="_blank"Make a donation/anbsp;to for your nonprofit peersrsquo; amazing work. /p pAdded bonus: as if LCH wasnrsquo;t fun enough, this year a href="http://gowalla.com/blog/2010/07/lights-camera-help-gowalla-goes-to-the-nonprofit-film-festival/comment-page-1/#comment-4189" target="_blank"Gowalla is helping support the cause/a. Thatrsquo;s right, you can get a brand new, shiny badge to show your support and involvement at the event when you attend any of the film festival days this weekend. Props to our hometown geolocation leader, a href="http://gowalla.com/" target="_blank"Gowalla/a!/p pHope to see the Austin community out in full force this weekend at the event!/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=9sKi4mMTlRo:TMYc1C6UOJM:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=9sKi4mMTlRo:TMYc1C6UOJM:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=9sKi4mMTlRo:TMYc1C6UOJM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=9sKi4mMTlRo:TMYc1C6UOJM:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=9sKi4mMTlRo:TMYc1C6UOJM:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=9sKi4mMTlRo:TMYc1C6UOJM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=9sKi4mMTlRo:TMYc1C6UOJM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=9sKi4mMTlRo:TMYc1C6UOJM:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Jill Ward/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/jill-ward-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pRecession, market turmoil, troubled economy mdash; these words got a lot of air time in 2009. And rightfully so! We have all felt the impact of the economy over the past year, especially nonprofit organizations that worried about their ability toa href="http://www.givingusa2010.org/free.php" target="_blank"img src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/givingusa.png" style="margin-top: 5px; float: right; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 5px;" alt="Giving USA 2009" //a fundraise in such challenging times. After all, could people afford to give when there was so much uncertainty in their lives and the world around them? /p pWell, according to the data that appeared in the recently published report, a href="http://www.givingusa2010.org/free.php" target="_blank"Giving USA 2010: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2009/a, nonprofits overall did a very good job at weathering the storm. So what can we learn from this report thatrsquo;s chock full of dollar figures and percentages? Some valuable nuggets of information: /p p- strongTotal charitable giving was down 3.6 percent in 2009/strong. Although this is noted as the ldquo;steepest decline in current dollar terms since Giving USA began its annual reports in 1956,rdquo; most people will likely see this outcome as favorable because they were expecting much worse./p p- strongIndividual giving was down a mere 0.4 percent/strong. Individuals surprised us with their generosity, opening up their wallets to help others. Sure, the dollar amount of individualsrsquo; donations might have been lower than in the past, but the philanthropic mindset of donors remained intact, even in the face of economic instability./p p- strongNonprofits in several verticals experienced increases in giving/strong. Health, human services, international affairs and environment/animal-related organizations all noted slight boosts in giving. Some of these higher number could be attributed to donors who wanted to help support those who were most impacted by the recession. /p p- strongGiving to education, foundations, public-society benefit organizations, and arts, culture and humanities organizations dropped/strong. The most notable decline was the 8.0 percent drop in giving to foundations. /p pOf course, it would have been great to have had more favorable results overall, but there is a silver lining to the grey cloud known as 2009. With a a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPsf-GQOofE" target="_blank"brighter outlook ahead/a, nonprofits - especially those with organized fundraising programs - can hope to bring in even more dollars in 2010. /p pThe data from Giving USArsquo;s report can be used as a benchmark against which nonprofits compare their past performance and as a guide to set goals for the future. When examined in combination with the information provided by the annual a href="http://my.convio.com/forms/2010ConvioOnlineNonprofitBenchmarkStudyGuide" target="_blank"Convio Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmark Index Study/a, we can gain valuable insight into online giving, which rose 14 percent in 2009./p pSo, how did your nonprofit stack up to your peers in 2009? And howrsquo;s it looking for 2010? /p pnbsp;/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=DO8JUh5mjJs:OmGvfP83khw:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=DO8JUh5mjJs:OmGvfP83khw:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=DO8JUh5mjJs:OmGvfP83khw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=DO8JUh5mjJs:OmGvfP83khw:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=DO8JUh5mjJs:OmGvfP83khw:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=DO8JUh5mjJs:OmGvfP83khw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=DO8JUh5mjJs:OmGvfP83khw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=DO8JUh5mjJs:OmGvfP83khw:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Jordan Viator/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/jordan-viator-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pWhatrsquo;s better than a local, happy hour Tweetup? Why, a Tweetup bringing together the tech and nonprofit communities to discuss and live-tweet ways to leverage the power of the social web to do good, of course! /p pIf yoursquo;re in the DC area, be sure not to miss a href="http://twtvite.com/kveibc" target="_blank"this weekrsquo;s Nonprofit amp; Technology Tweetup/a hosted by a href="http://www.convio.com" target="_blank"Convio/a(@a href="http://www.twitter.com/convio" target="_blank"convio/a) and a href="http://www.nasdaq.com/" target="_blank"Nasdaq/a(@a href="http://www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx" target="_blank"nasdaqomx/a) partnering with local organizations and professionals committed to advancing civic engagement and bringing change through social media technologies.nbsp;br /nbsp;br /a href="http://twtvite.com/nasdaqomx" target="_blank"img src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/tweetup-img.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px; float: right; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 15px;" alt="Nonprofit and Technology Tweetup" //aa href="http://twtvite.com/kveibc" target="_blank"Register to attend the event live/a, this Thursday July 22 at the Convio office at 1255 23rd Street, NW, Ste. 650, Washington, DC. The fun starts at 6pm. /p pAlong with lots of live social networking and refreshments, an informal panel will offer insights into the topic of social media for social good from the perspective of the following speakers:/p p-nbsp;Geoff Handy, Vice President, Media and Online Communications at a href="http://www.humanesociety.org/" target="_blank"The Humane Society of the United States/abr /br /-nbsp;Jordan Viator @a href="http://www.twitter.com/jordanv" target="_blank"jordanv/a (thatrsquo;s me), Interactive Communications Manager at a href="http://www.convio.com/" target="_blank"Convio Inc./abr /br /-nbsp;Danielle Brigida @a href="http://www.twitter.com/starfocus" target="_blank"starfocus/a, Digital Marketing Manager at the a href="http://www.nwf.org/" target="_blank"National Wildlife Federation/abr /br /-nbsp;Wendy Harman @a href="http://www.twitter.com/wharman" target="_blank"wharman/a, Social Media Manager at a href="http://www.redcross.org" target="_blank"American Red Cross/abr /br /-nbsp;Frank Gruber @a href="http://www.twitter.com/frankgruber" target="_blank"frankgruber/a, Founder of a href="http://techcocktail.com" target="_blank"TECH cocktail/a/p pBe sure to follow us for live coverage from the event using the hashtag #nptweet./p pAnd if you can be there, send us your questions and feedback via Twitter and wersquo;ll work to include your comments into the live discussion. /p pHappy tweeting!/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=RfMERWLgHHI:Htg4m4l_xeM:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=RfMERWLgHHI:Htg4m4l_xeM:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=RfMERWLgHHI:Htg4m4l_xeM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=RfMERWLgHHI:Htg4m4l_xeM:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=RfMERWLgHHI:Htg4m4l_xeM:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=RfMERWLgHHI:Htg4m4l_xeM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=RfMERWLgHHI:Htg4m4l_xeM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=RfMERWLgHHI:Htg4m4l_xeM:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Jordan Viator/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/jordan-viator-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pEverybody loves a great best practices guide, especially when itrsquo;s one that can help you do your job better and more effectively. And with such impressive growth in the world on online fundraising, nonprofit organizations are realizing the power of the Internet more and more with each passing day and looking for best practices to help leverage the Internet to raise funds./p pa href="http://www.convio.com/signup/fr-guide-2010.html?referrer=blog" target="_blank"img src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/convio-nonprofit-fundraising-guide-thumb.jpg" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 15px;" alt="Convio Nonprofit Online Fundraising Guide" //aA new a href="http://www.convio.com/signup/fr-guide-2010.html?referrer=blog" target="_blank"strongnonprofit online fundraising guide from Convio/strong/anbsp;does just that.nbsp; With 40 pages chock full of best practices, tips for success and examples from other nonprofits exemplifying online success, the guide covers basic concepts for taking advantage of the Internet for your fundraising programs. /p pThe guide is a ldquo;must readrdquo; for any organization eager to learn how to better harness the Internet, or for organizations looking for a good refresher and update on newer tactics. Here are a few central tips and takeaways I had after reading the guide:/p p1.nbsp;strongBuilding an Email Address File/strong: The first step you need to take is building your list of constituent email addresses.nbsp; By building your list, you are developing online relationships with the people who care about your cause. /p p2.strongnbsp;Developing Online Relationships with Supporters/strong: The Internet is a fast and cost-effective communication channel to engage with your constituents.nbsp; You can build relationships through proper engagement and, in turn, build on your online campaigns./p p3.nbsp;strongRaising Funds Through Run/Walk/Ride Events and Personal Fundraising Sites/strong: Peer-to peer fundraising does more than just raise money for your cause.nbsp; Many organizations have discovered the effectiveness and efficiency of tapping their biggest ldquo;fansrdquo; for fundraising events such as walks, runs and rides.nbsp; Personal fundraising websites are also a way to tap into supporters throughout the year outside of run/walk/ride events, as well. /p p4.strongnbsp;Key Metrics/strong: Therersquo;s no use in running a campaign if you canrsquo;t figure out its level of success.nbsp; Your organization must define its goals and track metrics to determine how successful your campaign has been./p p5.nbsp;strongOnline Constituent Relationship Management/strong: Itrsquo;s time to involve your donors, your volunteers and your supporters in more than just one activity.nbsp; Get them involved in multiple ways to help benefit your organization./p p6.nbsp;strongSocial media/strong: Social technologies are becoming an increasingly important part of an integrated strategy for nonprofit organizations to list build and raise awareness and funds in online campaigns./p p7.strongnbsp;Examples, examples, examples/strong:nbsp; The guide includes tons of examples from nonprofit organizations of all shapes and sizes. Different case studies of all of the different tips provided in the guide help provide a more robust framework and understanding of how anyone looking to raise more funds online can optimize their programs. /p pThe above 7 only hit the tip of the iceberg of what a href="http://www.convio.com/signup/fr-guide-2010.html?referrer=blog" target="_blank"strongthe nonprofit online fundraising guide/strong/a offers. /p pThink something else in the guide should be higher on the list of takeaways? Have a great example you don't see in the guide? Share here after reading!/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=R1wp0Pjh7SI:YBxip_WwzqE:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=R1wp0Pjh7SI:YBxip_WwzqE:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=R1wp0Pjh7SI:YBxip_WwzqE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=R1wp0Pjh7SI:YBxip_WwzqE:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=R1wp0Pjh7SI:YBxip_WwzqE:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=R1wp0Pjh7SI:YBxip_WwzqE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=R1wp0Pjh7SI:YBxip_WwzqE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=R1wp0Pjh7SI:YBxip_WwzqE:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Lacey Kruger/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/lacey_kruger-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pYou may have heard that back in April, Convio released our 2010 report on nonprofit fundraising. We publish these reports annually and they are powerful tools to help you evaluate how your nonprofit stacks up against other, similar organizations. /p ul lia href="http://www.convio.com/our-research/newsletter/fundraising-data-and-benchmarks.html" target="_blank"Watch an interview with Vinay about the report here/a /li lia href="http://www.connectioncafe.com/posts/2010/april/convio-nonprofit-benchmarks.html" target="_blank"See a high-level overview of the report in Quinnrsquo;s blog post here/a /li /ul pFollowing up on a href="http://www.connectioncafe.com/posts/2010/07-july/its-ok-to-be-wrong-sometimes.html" target="_blank"Amberrsquo;s post yesterday/a, yoursquo;ll want to start by monitoring your web site traffic and fundraising statistics. Then, use the benchmarking report to identify some areas where you may be able to improve. One of the greatest benefits of a web site is that you can change it at a momentrsquo;s notice, so try making some changes on your site to improve your stats. Lather, rinse, repeat./pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=h9JF6UdlglY:h0lpnrLu_Ok:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=h9JF6UdlglY:h0lpnrLu_Ok:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=h9JF6UdlglY:h0lpnrLu_Ok:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=h9JF6UdlglY:h0lpnrLu_Ok:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=h9JF6UdlglY:h0lpnrLu_Ok:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=h9JF6UdlglY:h0lpnrLu_Ok:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=h9JF6UdlglY:h0lpnrLu_Ok:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=h9JF6UdlglY:h0lpnrLu_Ok:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Amber Wobschall/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/amber-wobschall-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pspan style="font-size: small;"Irsquo;m a huge /spana href="http://www.npr.org" target="_blank"span style="font-size: small;"NPR/span/aspan style="font-size: small;" fan and not afraid to admit it. What I am often afraid to admit is when I am wrong - just ask my friends and family. Perhaps you are like me and are wondering if the /spana href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hCe1I7J1665pcsrBlEzhN9a85k_gD9GRIGDO0" target="_blank"span style="font-size: small;"Paul the oracle octopus/span/aspan style="font-size: small;"nbsp; will be right on his prediction for Spain to win the World Cup. Hersquo;s been right on so far. But he could be wrong.img src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/wrong-way-sign-higher-res.jpg" style="margin-top: 5px; float: right; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-left: 1px; vertical-align: middle; border: blue 1px solid;" alt="Wrong Way" /br /br /So when I read /spana href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/thewrongstuff/archive/2010/06/07/on-air-and-on-error-this-american-life-s-ira-glass-on-being-wrong.aspx" target="_blank"span style="font-size: small;"this interview/span/aspan style="font-size: small;" with Ira Glass yesterday ndash; which has a lot about being wrong, this piece really stuck out for me:br /br /emldquo;One of the reasons I was interested in doing this interview is because I feel like being wrong is really important to doing decent work. To do any kind of creative work well, you have to run at stuff knowing that it's usually going to fail. You have to take that into account and you have to make peace with it.rdquo;/embr /br /It got me thinking about our work online. You canrsquo;t really learn about what is tried and true without trying different things and being wrong from time to time. There are a lot of great innovators online and itrsquo;s likely what we donrsquo;t hear about is all the things they tried that failed, in order to get them where they are today.br /br /A few thoughts about being wrong online:br /bull;nbsp;Monitor your statistics. Your intuitions may be right on. But sometimes they are not. Itrsquo;s ok. Use the data to help you learn.br /bull;nbsp;Remember, you donrsquo;t have to test new things on everyone. Pick specific smaller segments of your file to test new messages, ideas, programs, etc.br /bull;nbsp;Technology changes, housefiles change, hot button issues change. Just because itrsquo;s tried and true, doesnrsquo;t mean it canrsquo;t change. Retest those assumptions from time to time. What was once right might now be wrong.br /bull;nbsp;Be honest about when you were wrong. Donrsquo;t hide it, share with your colleagues, learn and move on.br /br /I know, itrsquo;s easier said than done.nbsp; Therersquo;s a great example /spana href="http://www.mobilecommons.com/resources/case-studies/hsus/"span style="font-size: small;"here/span/aspan style="font-size: small;" where the Humane Society of the United States tried something new and failed, but found a silver lining in an unexpected donations boost. Letrsquo;s all keep trying new things, being wrong,nbsp;examining our datanbsp;and learning./span/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=aHIfnBK0qvk:kcC7T1X4pLw:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=aHIfnBK0qvk:kcC7T1X4pLw:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=aHIfnBK0qvk:kcC7T1X4pLw:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=aHIfnBK0qvk:kcC7T1X4pLw:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=aHIfnBK0qvk:kcC7T1X4pLw:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=aHIfnBK0qvk:kcC7T1X4pLw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=aHIfnBK0qvk:kcC7T1X4pLw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=aHIfnBK0qvk:kcC7T1X4pLw:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Sally Heaven/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/sally_heaven-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/iphone-wikipedia.png" style="float: right;" alt="iPhone wikipedia" /Continuing the a href="http://www.connectioncafe.com/posts/2010/06-june/i-dont-have-time-to-read.html"theme of "busy mom" from last month/a, I wanted to take a moment to talk about the need for organizations to optimize their sites for use with mobile devices./p pI'm not going to tell you HOW to do it - the nuts and bolts are for others to discuss.nbsp; Rather, I want to convince you of the NEED to do it./p pFirst - some stats.nbsp; a href="http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/iphone-vs-android/" target="_blank"Nielsen reports that as of Q1 2010/a, 23% of people with mobile devices now have a smartphone instead of a regular old boring/dumb cell phone.nbsp; (Boring/dumb isnbsp;what I currently have, by the way - early adopter I'm not.)nbsp; Compare that to Q2 2009, when just 16% of consumers had a smartphone.nbsp; This is a trend that's only going to grow./p pWhat that means is that more and more people are going to be viewing your website with a mobile device.nbsp; And while I don't have a smartphone myself, I do have an iPod touch that I used to access websites while on maternity leave.nbsp; If you've never viewed a site using a mobile device, and you're in charge of your organization's web presence, then I implore you to borrow someone's smartphone so you can see for yourself.nbsp; After viewing a couple of sites, you'll be convinced./p pFirst, go to one of my favorite sites - Wikipedia.nbsp; Wikipedia will sense that you are using a mobile device and will automatically display the version of the site that is optimized for mobile.nbsp; It makes the browsing experience a lot better.nbsp; Then, click on the link that says "View this page on regular Wikipedia."nbsp; You'll see the difference./p pOkay, so what does this mean for nonprofits?nbsp; You'll want to view this through the lens of how you want people to be interacting with your site using mobile devices.nbsp; Wikipedia wanted to make it a better experience for people to look up information and then to easily read/consume what they found./p pNonprofits might have different goals.nbsp; Do you want people to donate?nbsp; Then you'll need to create mobile-optimized donation pages.nbsp; Are you running a big campaign around a piece of legislation?nbsp; A mobile action center might be right for you.nbsp; Does your organization publish researchnbsp;to whichnbsp;reporters and professionals need ready access?nbsp; You might consider optimizing those pages.nbsp; /p pAnd since people will generally just go to the URL for your main website, instead of the mobile version, you'll want to put something in place to detect whether people are using a mobile device.nbsp; And then,nbsp;the $64,000 question - what to feature on that mobile homepage./p pMaking these decisions will certainly be a big deal - perhaps almost as much of a big deal as what to display on the main website, since there will be less real estate available.nbsp; But don't let that be a deterrent - rather, think of it as a challenge and an opportunity to test what works best.nbsp; First impressions are everything - and let me tell you, I'm much less likely to go back to a homepage that isn't optimized for mobile.nbsp; So do something - anything - and then build on it./p pDoesnbsp;your organization have a mobile version of your homepage?nbsp; How did you decide what to feature on the homepage?nbsp; Share the answers to these questions - and the URL for your mobile site - in the comments./pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=wxAHovcAUDI:nf1heBIqPhs:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=wxAHovcAUDI:nf1heBIqPhs:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=wxAHovcAUDI:nf1heBIqPhs:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=wxAHovcAUDI:nf1heBIqPhs:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=wxAHovcAUDI:nf1heBIqPhs:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=wxAHovcAUDI:nf1heBIqPhs:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=wxAHovcAUDI:nf1heBIqPhs:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=wxAHovcAUDI:nf1heBIqPhs:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Jordan Viator/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/jordan-viator-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pMeasuring the return on investment for any organizational effort is a standard of doing business. Was the recent direct mail you sent worth the investment? How much is your online fundraising augmenting offline efforts? Was the social media plan you implemented worth the time you spent running it?br /br /a href="http://www.slideshare.net/jordanev/getting-strategic-with-social-media-approach-integration-and-measurement"img src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/metrics-cloud.png" style="margin-top: 10px; float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;" alt="Metrics Word Cloud" //aIn a rapidly changing media landscape it can be overwhelming for organizations to know how to properly measure the various types of impact being made, especially when it comes to social media efforts. And analyzing this data for meaningful takeaways is something many organizations havenrsquo;t even considered at this point. br /br /While the area of social metrics continues to evolve and grow, there are five main tips all organizations should follow when measuring social media activity for ROI:br /br /strong1.nbsp;Define success metrics before starting campaigns.br //strongHow will you know what campaigns are successful if you donrsquo;t know what success looks like? In the same way key performance indicators are outlined for website metrics, fundraising goals or advocacy efforts, define successful outcomes from social media and keep these top-of-mind while building a social presence and/or campaign. For example: define goals such as raising certain amount of funds on a specific social fundraising campaign or set a goal of getting a pre-defined number of people to take action. Specific and easy to assess./p pstrong2.nbsp;Keep an ongoing dashboard of metrics updated regularly. br //strongTo properly highlight positive trends and insights pertaining to social media metrics, a regularly updated dashboard containing key metrics over time helps maintain reporting in a scalable fashion. In starting, define what metrics should be measured per social media tactic employed and ensure all meaningful elements are measured. For instance, if you are using Twitter as a key tool in your strategy Twitter followers, references to your organization and number of new followers each week demonstrate awareness growth. Retweets, referrals to website and donations sourced from Twitter illustrate engagement. Go through what metrics are meaningful to you (and no, these are not universal for every organization) and define them per channel/tactic. /p pstrong3.nbsp;Be realistic in what you want to track - donrsquo;t get lost in the data! br //strongHave you ever found yourself overwhelmed in Google Analytics? Similar to your website, the metrics to potentially measure are endless, and social metrics multiply each passing day as new tools are introduced. Rather than trying to measure everything, start small. Begin with measuring the top 10 - 15 metrics and grow this number as applicable for the number of tools used and the complexity of your campaigns. This makes measuring less overwhelming and analysis much more realistic. It also ensures that you donrsquo;t put yourself into analysis paralysis and increases the likelihood you can realistically keep up with reporting over time./p pstrong4.nbsp;Measure actionable items. br //strongAll the metrics in the world wonrsquo;t do any good if you canrsquo;t derive actionable meaning from them.nbsp; A number of basic metrics like number of Twitter followers or Facebook ldquo;likesrdquo; are not truly actionable.nbsp; But, analyzing trends for noteworthy incidents helps for future optimization. For instance, if you see a spike in followers, you can reflect on the activity that helped create the boost. If you experience a surge in donations or web traffic, find what messaging was effective and replicate it in the future. If you discover top influencers and advocates, reach out to them to help in future campaign outreach and grassroots communications. In the same way you analyze and test email marketing and website activity ndash; follow a similar approach with social. /p pstrong5.nbsp;Leverage existing online tools to easily track metrics in a scalable manner. br //strongWith so many metrics, finding each granular metric can be a time-consuming task. Where can you find number of retweets, who your influencers are, when you are being mentioned on Twitter, trending topics in your industry, etchellip;? With a little insight into readily-available online tools, managing you social media reporting can be built into your ongoing information gathering process. Tools such as a href="http://spredfast.com/" target="_blank"Spredfast/a, a href="http://www.socialmention.com/" target="_blank"Social Mention/a, a href="http://bit.ly/" target="_blank"Bit.ly/a and a href="http://www.twitalyzer.com/" target="_blank"Twitalyzer/anbsp;can respectively help manage your social campaign calendar, send daily reports of activity, track click-throughs of URLs and highlight potential influencers to help spread your cause.nbsp; Donrsquo;t track each metric individually, use existing tools to help streamline this part of your work. It will save you time, and also help ensure that you can actually manage measuring and reporting with all the other work on your plate. /p pRegardless of your specific social media strategy or tactics, ensuring the right ROI metrics are properly tracked and utilized is a crucial key to success. It proves success, helps you learn how to optimize programs for the future and helps make a case for a place in your communications strategy. /p pFor more ideas on tracking, as well as a sample reporting dashboard, list of metrics to consider and a complete list of tools to help you get started, see the below ldquo;Getting Strategic With Social Mediardquo; presentation with examples of the above, and strategy information from the a href="http://twitter.com/wharman" target="_blank"Wendy Harman/anbsp;of the a href="http://www.redcross.org/" target="_blank"Red Cross/anbsp;and a href="http://twitter.com/jaimealexis" target="_blank"Jaime-Alexis Fowler/anbsp;of a href="http://www.pathfind.org/" target="_blank"Pathfinder International/a. br /br /Have your own pearls of wisdom for social media ROI measurement? Sharing is caring ndash; leave me a comment to add to the list above!/p div id="item-155719009" style="display: inline;" div style="width:425px" id="__ss_4518346"strong style="display:block;margin:12px 0 4px"a href="http://www.slideshare.net/jordanev/getting-strategic-with-social-media-approach-integration-and-measurement" title="Getting Strategic With Social Media: Approach, Integration and Measurement"Getting Strategic With Social Media: Approach, Integration and Measurement/a/strongobject id="__sse4518346" width="425" height="355"param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=dcweekfinal-100616113441-phpapp01stripped_title=getting-strategic-with-social-media-approach-integration-and-measurement" /param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/embed name="__sse4518346" src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=dcweekfinal-100616113441-phpapp01stripped_title=getting-strategic-with-social-media-approach-integration-and-measurement" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="355"/embed/objectdiv style="padding:5px 0 12px"View more a href="http://www.slideshare.net/"presentations/a from a href="http://www.slideshare.net/jordanev"Jordan Viator/a./div/div /div script src="https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js?c1=7amp;c2=7400849amp;c3=1amp;c4=amp;c5=amp;c6="/script script src="https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js?c1=7amp;c2=7400849amp;c3=1amp;c4=amp;c5=amp;c6="/script script defer="0" src="https://sb.scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js?c1=7amp;c2=7400849amp;c3=1amp;c4=amp;c5=amp;c6="/scriptdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=gt_uwgYx1FU:CjCbqSwW8YU:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=gt_uwgYx1FU:CjCbqSwW8YU:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=gt_uwgYx1FU:CjCbqSwW8YU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=gt_uwgYx1FU:CjCbqSwW8YU:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=gt_uwgYx1FU:CjCbqSwW8YU:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=gt_uwgYx1FU:CjCbqSwW8YU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=gt_uwgYx1FU:CjCbqSwW8YU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=gt_uwgYx1FU:CjCbqSwW8YU:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Joey Martin/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/joey-martin-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pThe year is almost halfway over and it is never too soon to begin planning and executing your end of year fundraising strategy.nbsp; Here are some questions to get you started and a suggested timeline to follow in the coming months./p pstrongQuestions/strong/p ul liHow are we going to ask for end of year gifts?/li liWho are we going to ask for end of year gifts?/li liWhat is our budget for an end of year campaign(s)?/li liHow are we going to thank our donors for giving to us in 2010?/li liHow does end of year fundraising fit in with our overall communication plan, other campaigns and/or events?/li /ul pstrongTimeline/strong/p pemJuly: Analysis amp; Planning br //em1. Review amp; analyze campaigns from years past - What worked and what didn't? br /2. Create or review your budgetbr /3. Determine your top three priorities for this years' end of year campaign(s)br /4. Decide what methods you will use both online and offline - mobile, direct mail, email, social media etc.br /5. Create a task list and timelinebr /6. Begin gathering contentbr /7. Determine if you need graphic design, web production, printing etc. work that will require going outside your organization - identify what vendors you will need and notify them of your plans.br /em/em/p pemAugust: Audience amp; Content/embr /1. Outline your approach for this year by audience (Event Participants, Major Donors, Frequent Donors etc.) and method (direct mail, email etc.)br /2. Craft your message(s)br /3. Scope work with vendorsbr /3. Purchase any URLs, keywords, Google Ads etc. /p pemSeptember: Finalize Content/em br /1. Complete all copy and graphicsbr /2. Create online donation form(s)br /3. Create email(s)br /4. Post content onlinebr /5. Test, test and re-test all online forms and emailsbr /5. Finalize offline materials/p pemOctober:nbsp;Special Invitesnbsp;br //em1. Get your board and volunteers involved - send them emails/information they can easily forward alongbr /2. Let your frequent donors in early by asking them to start the ball rolling to meet your end of year goalsbr /3. Start using social media to create buzz about your campaign(s)/p pemNovember amp; December:nbsp;Monitor amp; Maintain/emnbsp;br /1. Update online content often so it is fresh br /2. Monitor your progress and change your tactics as neededbr /3. Plan for a big end of year push between Christmas and New Yearsbr /4. Have a place (like Google Docs) where you and your team can record thoughts for next year - what to change and what to keep/p pFor further reading check out a href="http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2009/12/4/2009-year-end-fundraising-guide.html" target="_blank"A Procrastinatorrsquo;s Guide to Year-End Fundraising/anbsp;created by Sea Change Strategies and Care2./pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=0DKrrFlyTIc:rKU5ckDCN_8:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=0DKrrFlyTIc:rKU5ckDCN_8:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=0DKrrFlyTIc:rKU5ckDCN_8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=0DKrrFlyTIc:rKU5ckDCN_8:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=0DKrrFlyTIc:rKU5ckDCN_8:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=0DKrrFlyTIc:rKU5ckDCN_8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=0DKrrFlyTIc:rKU5ckDCN_8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=0DKrrFlyTIc:rKU5ckDCN_8:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Noel Beebe/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/noel-beebe-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pI got depressed about my job last week.nbsp; Usually, I brag about the fact that I get to help organizations raise money to support awesome missions like curing cancer and feeding the hungry; but last week, I caught a case of the Eeyores.nbsp; Mope mope mope.img height="198" src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/eeyore.jpg" style="float: right; vertical-align: top;" width="310" alt="Eeyore" //p pIt all started when I decided to take an informal survey of some friends to see who participates in fundraising events and why, and found that only one in ten has participated in the last 2 years.nbsp; Since itrsquo;s my job to help promote fundraising events, this bit of news got me down./p pSo I started wondering, not what motivates people to participate (my usual day-to-day), but what motivates them NOT to.nbsp; I asked my friends, and herersquo;s what I heard.nbsp; /p pTop 3 reasons they donrsquo;t participate:/p ol liPeople are busy.nbsp; They work, they raise kids, they have busy social calendars.nbsp; They are not likely to participate in an event unless it directly impacts them or their immediate circle of family and friends./li liEvents are a hassle.nbsp; The frustration of traffic, parking, standing, and waiting are not worth the social capital.nbsp; /li liToo many events.nbsp; There are events for almost every cause these days, so the event doesnrsquo;t feel ldquo;specialrdquo; unless the person is directly affected by the specific cause./li /ol pI heard clearly that no matter what you do, there will always be people who do not want to participate in your ndash; or any ndash; event.nbsp; But challenges like these are what force us to evolve and become more creative ndash; and thatrsquo;s the best part of my job.nbsp; So, I thought about the good news I had heard:/p ul liEven though they arenrsquo;t interested in participating in an event, every person said that they would donate if a friend asked them to, or if the cause hit close to home./li liEven though they donrsquo;t participate, most are getting involved in different ways ndash; like donating, serving on committees, or volunteering in other capacities./li liEven those who do not participate believe there is value in fundraising events ndash; they spread awareness of the cause and the organization, and they help organizations reach new audiences./li /ul pIt seems that in any given event, yoursquo;ve got your Tiggers and your Eeyores (and likely a sliding scale in between).nbsp; The Tiggers are motivated to participate, spread the word, and raise funds for you.nbsp; The Eeyores want stay home and away from the crowd, but they are still writing checks and supporting your cause in other ways.nbsp; Irsquo;ve spent so much time focusing on the Tiggers, I think itrsquo;s time to offer some best practices to engage all the Eeyores out there.nbsp; When yoursquo;re planning your next event, remember to: /p ul liProvide a virtual participation option so people can participate on their own terms.nbsp; My favorite virtual participation type is ldquo;Sleep in for the Cure.rdquo;nbsp; /li liBe sure to include non-participants in your communication plan ndash; craft a message specifically for those who have never participated, providing them with other ways to get involved./li liMotivate your ldquo;Tiggersrdquo; to reach out to the ldquo;Eeyoresrdquo; in their networks and ask, ask, ask!nbsp; Conditionalize and target messages to those who have not yet raised any money, and thank those who have.nbsp; /li liCreate a personal connection ndash; give your event communication a voice, a face, and a name of someone directly impacted by your cause.nbsp; For those who may not have a direct connection to your cause, a personal story can help them understand your mission in a more personal way. /li liBrainstorm ways to make your event unique and fun ndash; strive to rise above all of the other events out there and do something different.nbsp; Zombie costumes, gorilla suits, and lingerie have all been used to help ldquo;spice uprdquo; events.nbsp; What can you do to make your event unique?/li /ul pAs much as wersquo;d like to, we canrsquo;t always convince everyone to participate in our fundraising events.nbsp; The best way to engage with people who donrsquo;t want to participate is to give them other options, and let them know that itlsquo;s ok to be an Eeyore, so long as they find their own way to express their support.nbsp;nbsp; /pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=IxGIEnidVHM:9dpfN69k7QM:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=IxGIEnidVHM:9dpfN69k7QM:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=IxGIEnidVHM:9dpfN69k7QM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=IxGIEnidVHM:9dpfN69k7QM:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=IxGIEnidVHM:9dpfN69k7QM:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=IxGIEnidVHM:9dpfN69k7QM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=IxGIEnidVHM:9dpfN69k7QM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=IxGIEnidVHM:9dpfN69k7QM:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Josh Shepherd/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/josh-shepherd-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pI love sharing the wisdom of others.nbsp; Mark Horvath and Chris Brogan recently spoke about the importance of social media for nonprofits.nbsp; A nonprofit needs to be able to communicate to their audience, but they also need to be able to speak above the white noise.nbsp; Tons ofnbsp;messages get lost in the noisenbsp;and it's important that a nonprofit not only finds their voice, but also finds a way for everyone to hear it.nbsp; This is a great video to start the communication conversation./p pnbsp;/p div id="item-154698099" style="display: inline;" object width="400" height="265"param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12632253amp;server=vimeo.comamp;show_title=1amp;show_byline=1amp;show_portrait=0amp;color=amp;fullscreen=1" /embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12632253amp;server=vimeo.comamp;show_title=1amp;show_byline=1amp;show_portrait=0amp;color=amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="265"/embed/objectpa href="http://vimeo.com/12632253"Mark Horvath and Chris Brogan at SxSW 2010/a from a href="http://vimeo.com/whatgives"What Gives/a on a href="http://vimeo.com"Vimeo/a./p /div pnbsp;/p pnbsp;/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=jd9fXFcFO5E:y8lwldkA5FY:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=jd9fXFcFO5E:y8lwldkA5FY:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=jd9fXFcFO5E:y8lwldkA5FY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=jd9fXFcFO5E:y8lwldkA5FY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=jd9fXFcFO5E:y8lwldkA5FY:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=jd9fXFcFO5E:y8lwldkA5FY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=jd9fXFcFO5E:y8lwldkA5FY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=jd9fXFcFO5E:y8lwldkA5FY:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div

pAuthor: Sally Heaven/pimg src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/author-photos/sally_heaven-thumb.jpg" style="float:left; margin:5px;" alt="" / pimg align="right" src="http://www.connectioncafe.com/assets/blog-images/lilyhenry.jpg" alt="twins" /I've always been a busy person, but 16 weeks ago my life got anbsp;LOT busier when I gave birth to twins.nbsp; Here's a picture of them on the right, because what's a blog post without an image?nbsp; Anyway, after life settled back down into some semblance of normalcy, I started looking at my email again.nbsp; And I came away from maternity leave with some ideas and tips that I wanted to share as an end user who cares about your issues, but is also super-crunched for time./p p style="padding-left: 30px;"strongKeep it short./strongnbsp; Most emails that I received are too long and have too much detail, and most people skim emails anyway.nbsp; People who edit and approve your emails maynbsp;want to add more bulk to the message - history about the issue, details about the legislation, whatever.nbsp; But when a message is in the editing cycle, you should be thinking about how you can make the message shorter, not longer.nbsp; That doesn't mean that you shouldn't add history and perspective, just that you need to keep it concise.nbsp; Less is more!/p p style="padding-left: 30px;"strongTell me what I need to do in the first paragraph./strongnbsp; Don't make me search your entire email for the action.nbsp; Do you want me to donate?nbsp; Email Congress?nbsp; Make a phone call?nbsp; Fine, I will do it, at least some of the time.nbsp; But tell me up front - if I have to search through your message for what you want me to do, that means I'm going to be deleting it./p p style="padding-left: 30px;"strongKeep it non-wonky./strongnbsp; This used to happen to me all the time in my previous jobnbsp;- I'd send an advocacy email about legislation to the policy department for proofreading and editing, and they would send it back with all kinds of extra details -nbsp;like the bill number, the main sponsor, every single torturous twist and turn the bill took in committee, etc.nbsp; Then I'd have to convince them that people on our list did not want to read all of this stuff.nbsp; (Of course, there are some people on your list who are interested in wonky stuff, but they are far outnumbered by people like me, who are going to give up on the message if it's too wonky.)nbsp; /p p style="padding-left: 30px;"strongStyle is as importance as substance./strongnbsp; I like strongbullet points/strongnbsp;and strongbold font./strongnbsp; It's an easy visual cue that tells me what I need to focus on, since I'm a skimmer./p pI think I'm like the majority of people who make up thenbsp;bulk of nonprofit email lists:nbsp; I care, that's why I joined your list.nbsp;nbsp;I just don't have time to read emWar and Peace/em.nbsp; So when you'renbsp;putting your fundraising or advocacy email together,nbsp;keepnbsp;me in mind and benbsp;thinking about how you can make it easy for me.nbsp; If you do, chances are that I will actually do what you want me to!/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=1O_bNXqyOeA:PwMwx34lRKg:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=1O_bNXqyOeA:PwMwx34lRKg:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=1O_bNXqyOeA:PwMwx34lRKg:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=1O_bNXqyOeA:PwMwx34lRKg:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=1O_bNXqyOeA:PwMwx34lRKg:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=1O_bNXqyOeA:PwMwx34lRKg:gIN9vFwOqvQ"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?i=1O_bNXqyOeA:PwMwx34lRKg:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?a=1O_bNXqyOeA:PwMwx34lRKg:qj6IDK7rITs"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/ConnectionCafe?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"/img/a /div