Nonprofit Tech 2.0 Blog :: A Social Media Guide for Nonprofits

Support [Your Organization] on Valley Gives Day on December 12, 2013

Nonprofit Tech for Good — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 16:13:04 +0000

Name of Organization is one of the hundreds of nonprofits participating in the second annual
Valley Gives day, scheduled for December 12, 2013. Hosted by the Community Foundation of Western
Massachusetts in partnership with the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts, the Jewish
Endowment Foundation, the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts, the Pioneer Valley
United Way, the The Davis Foundation, the United Way of Franklin County, the United Way of
Hampshire County, and The Beveridge Foundation, Valley Gives is an innovative online
fundraising event that encourages individuals to donate as much money as possible in support of their
favorite charities in just twenty-four hours.
“Name of Organization makes a difference every day through [insert mission here],” said Your Name,
Position of Name of Organization. “We are excited to partner with other nonprofits across [region] to see
how much we can raise to serve our communities.”
Beginning at midnight EST on December 12 and continuing until 11:59pm EST, residents of western
Massachusetts will go online to http://www.valleygivesday.org, connect with causes like Name of Organization
and make tax-deductible donations to support the important work of our region’s charities. All online
donations for Name of Organization made on valleygives.razoo.com during Valley Gives day will go
directly to support your organization’s mission. (If you have secured a matching grant, please include the
information here).
[Personalized quotes], for example: “Valley Gives day has proven to be a successful model for inspiring
philanthropy in our region” said Kristin Leutz, VP of Philanthropic Services at the Community Foundation
of Western Massachusetts. “We are thrilled to be able to host an event that showcases the collective
power of philan

Nonprofit Tech 2.0 has moved…

Nonprofit Tech for Good — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 16:20:47 +0000

Nonprofit Tech 2.0 has been renamed Nonprofit Tech for Good, has been upgraded to the WordPress.org platform, and is now hosted at nptechforgood.com. Thanks for your support over the years!

Five Nonprofits Maximizing YouTube’s Nonprofit Program

Nonprofit Tech for Good — Sun, 07 Jul 2013 14:30:06 +0000

Launched in 2007, YouTube’s Nonprofit Program has gone through multiple changes over the last six years. Initially the program was only offered to qualified U.S. nonprofits and the benefits were limited to premium branding functionality and the ability to add a Google Checkout donate button to nonprofit YouTube channels.

Today, however, the program has been expanded to Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, and the United Kingdom and it offers some very powerful free tools to nonprofits:

Google Wallet donate button
Call-to-action overlays
Live streaming
Video annotations

Google is shutting down Google Checkout worldwide and replacing it with Google Wallet on November 20, so at the very least those nonprofits taking advantage of YouTube’s Nonprofit Program who also take the necessary steps to accept donations through Google Wallet and YouTube, will be the best positioned when wallets go mainstream and transform online and mobile fundraising. That said, for your inspiration, below are five nonprofits maximizing YouTube’s Nonprofit Program and YouTube’s new channel design:

1. ASPCA: youtube.com/aspca

2. Nature Conservancy: youtube.com/natureconservancy

3. OXFAM: youtube.com/user/OxfamGreatBritain

4. SOS Children’s Villages: youtube.com/SOSChildrensVillages

5. WITNESS: youtube.com/witness

Now Through August 31: All Recorded Social and Mobile Media Webinars for Nonprofits Half Off!

Nonprofit Tech for Good — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 13:36:27 +0000

All recorded webinars offered by Nonprofit Tech 2.0 are now only $25 each through August 31 on Vimeo – and then on September 1 the Vimeo channel will be deleted and Nonprofit Tech 2.0 will no longer offer recorded versions of their live webinars. Ideal for training communications and fundraising staff and volunteers and interns, please note that webinars purchased on Vimeo have a viewing period of one week.

November 12 Webinar: Facebook Page Best Practices for Nonprofits

Nonprofit Tech for Good — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 15:17:00 +0000

Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Time: 1pm-2:30 EDT
Cost: $50 or Webinar Special
How to Register: Sign up!
Presented By: Heather Mansfield
View: All Webinars for Nonprofits

This webinar covers 25 Facebook Page best practices most of which are at an intermediate to advanced level. Click-by-click, attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of the Facebook Page tool set and learn tips and tricks unknown to many nonprofit admins as well as gain a larger understanding of using Facebook to raise funds and create cause and brand awareness for your nonprofit. Topics include:

Content strategies for increasing engagement on your page
A click-by click tour of the Admin Panel
How to create custom tabs on your page
How to tap into the power of Facebook Milestones
How to add Facebook Location to your page
How to claim and merge Facebook Places Pages
How to claim and merge Facebook Community Pages
How to track your Facebook Insights
How to grow your Facebook community
The power of Facebook for fundraising
The functionality of Facebook Groups

Five Ways to Build Your Nonprofit’s Mobile Subscriber List

Nonprofit Tech for Good — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 15:58:42 +0000

A well-promoted mobile alert campaign is hard to find in the nonprofit sector. If a nonprofit is going to invest in mobile alerts, then mobile opt-ins and short code and keyword pitches should be integrated into multiple communication channels such as print, web, email, and social and mobile media. Yet strangely, it rarely happens. Mobile alerts and text-to-give campaigns seem to be managed, implemented, and promoted completely in isolation from an organization’s primary communications and fundraising strategies. The disconnect is profound and has been for years.

The good news is that some nonprofits are getting more creative and strategic about building their mobile lists and leading the way in discovering new best practices for building mobile subscriber lists.

1. Add a mobile opt-in to your e-newsletter.
Subscribe UNICEF USA

2. Add a mobile opt-in to your website and blog.
Subscribe Salvation Army

3. Add a mobile opt-in to your e-newsletter opt-in.
Subscribe Peta

4. Add a mobile opt-in to your mobile website.
Subscribe Humane Society of the United States

5. Promote your short code and keyword pitch on social media.
Subscribe Text4Baby.org

Four Facebook Status Functions Your Nonprofit May Not Know About

Nonprofit Tech for Good — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:32:18 +0000

Some of your best learning on social media occurs when you just start clicking around and see what happens. That’s how I discovered three of the four functions below and when I give in-person trainings on Facebook and demonstrate these functions (with the exception of hashtags since the functionality was just launched last week), there are usually quite a few oohs, ahhs, and “I didn’t know that” in the room. So, just in case you may not be aware either, below are four Facebook Status functions that can help your nonprofit increase engagement and reach out to fans on a 24-hour basis:

1. You can edit link titles.
Hover and click link titles to edit.

2. You can edit link descriptions.
Hover and click link descriptions to edit.

3. You can schedule status updates in advance.
Select the “Schedule” icon in the lower left.

4. You can can use hashtags.
Once posted, click on the hashtag to view its activity on Facebook.

November 5 Webinar: 33 Online Fundraising and e-Newsletter Best Practices for Nonprofits

Nonprofit Tech for Good — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:10:39 +0000

Date: Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Time: 1pm-2:45 EDT
Cost: $50 or Webinar Special
How to Register: Sign up!
Presented By: Heather Mansfield
View: All Webinars for Nonprofits

This webinar covers 33 online fundraising and e-newsletter best practices most of which are at an intermediate to advanced level. Incorporating 15 years of knowledge about proven online fundraising and e-newsletter best practices, this webinar also looks forward to trends and tools that will transform online fundraising and e-newsletter campaigns over the coming half decade. Topics include:

Services and functionality to look for a “Donate Now” vendor
How to use social media to increase your online donations
How to launch a sustainer program
How to utilize peer-to-peer fundraising
How to build your e-newsletter list
How to design your e-newsletter for smartphones and tablets
How to integrate social and mobile media into your online fundraising campaignsAn exploration of social and mobile fundraising apps
How mobile wallets could transform online fundraising

[RESEARCH] Is Your Nonprofit Utilizing Text Alerts?

Nonprofit Tech for Good — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:16:42 +0000

For my next book due to be released in the Spring of 2014, I’m currently researching nonprofits that utilize text alert campaigns to mobilize supporters and donors. If your nonprofit is experimenting with text alerts, please post your short code and keyword pitch [such as, text HRC to 30644] – or a link to your website where potential subscribers can enter their mobile phone number – in blog comment below. I’m looking for nonprofits that excel in their use of group text messaging to be featured on this blog and in the book. I’ll subscribe to your text alerts and for those nonprofits interested in utilizing text messaging, I’d highly recommend that you subscribe as well so you can learn from those nonprofits that are pioneering text alert campaigns. Thank you.

[RESEARCH] How Has Social and Mobile Media Changed the Way You Donate to Nonprofits?

Nonprofit Tech for Good — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:31:37 +0000

This blog post officially launches the research stage of writing my second book which will be published and shipped in Spring 2014. A follow-up to Social Media for Social Good: A How-To Guide for Nonprofits, this book will place much more emphasis on using social media and mobile technology for fundraising. That said, I am very curious how social and mobile media is changing the way donors give to nonprofits and if you are a donor, I’d love your feedback in a blog comment below – and I’m sure nonprofits would appreciate it as well.

Below are just a few questions I have ruminating in mind these days. Answer one or answer them all. All comments are appreciated. Finally, if you are comfortable with me using your quote in the book, please say so in your blog comment and tell me how to contact you. Thanks.

Do you give more or less as a result of the rise of social media? Are your donations made more often and smaller? Or more often and larger? What impact has of millions of nonprofits telling their stories through social media had upon your giving?
Have you donated through text messaging? How do you feel about the process?
Have you ever received a text message from a nonprofit that inspired you to make a donation? How was the donation made? Do you find text alerts from nonprofits annoying or useful and inspirational?
Have you ever donated using a smartphone app or on a mobile-optimized donate page?
If a nonprofit uses PayPal or Google Checkout for donation processing, do you hesitate to donate or are you comfortable donating through PayPal or Google Checkout?
Have you fundraised for a nonprofit online? If so, did the nonprofit train you on how to be a good fundraiser? What motivated you to fundraise? What tool did you use for fundraising? Facebook Causes, Razoo, a tool offered by the nonprofit?
What online messaging tool inspires you most often to give? An email, a Facebook Status Update, a Tweet, a blog post, a slideshow?
When is the last time your wrote a check and mailed it to a nonprofit? Do you open the fundraising appeals sent to you in the mail?
If you are a major donor, what is your preferred method of giving?
Have you ever donated to a nonprofit using a mobile wallet? If so, which service and to what nonprofit?
Age tends to have a big impact on how donors give. If comfortable, please let us know your age and how your giving has evolved over the last 10 years – if at all?