Rad Campaign Blog

Presentation: Best Tactics to Drive Elections Using Online Fundraising and Social Media

rad_admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:53:15 +0000

Allyson Kapin

Last week, Care2 held a terrific https://care2.webex.com/care2/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=EC&rID=4824652&rKey=f87a9... ">webinar on the latest killer tactics to drive elections using online fundraising and social media. Panelists Alex Stanton of Blue State Digital and Taryn Rosenkranz of New Blue Interactive discussed the best ways to reinforce fundraising messaging from your fundraising campaigns into your social media messaging.

Stanton suggested that at the very least organizations can repurpose their main message on social media with a link back to their fundraising donation form, but even better would be to focus your social media engagement on interacting with donors on social media so that you can foster more personal relationships with them. “The most successful organizations using social media focus on engagement rather than broadcast, said Stanton. “Ask your people for their opinions. Thank a donor directly on Twitter when they contribute money to your organization. And tell them how their donation will be used to support your organization’s programs.”

Rosenkranz reminded nonprofits and political campaigns that 90% of their donations comes in via direct mail and through email fundraising. “Email is one of your biggest assets and it boils down to having a good list,” said Rosenkranz.

To https://care2.webex.com/care2/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=EC&rID=4824652&rKey=f87a9... ">listen and view webinar click here. You can also check out the slides below.

eCampaign 2012 - Killer Tactics to Drive Elections Using Online Fundraising & Social Media

View more PowerPoint from Care2Team

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/2/21/presentation-best-tactics-to-drive-elections-using-online-fu.html

Veganism is no Excuse for Violence

rad_admin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:50:00 +0000

This post is co-written by Avi Kaplan and Justyn Hintze.

We've been upset recently by the callous attitude we've seen people adopt toward violence against women. Domestic violence is a serious issue that shouldn't be taken lightly. It's scary to see the dismissive way it's often addressed.

"Chris Brown Can Beat Me"

At the Grammy Awards last Sunday night, Chris Brown, who physically assaulted his girlfriend Rihanna just before the 2009 Grammy Awards, performed twice and won an award for best R&B album. Some people criticized the Grammys for hosting Brown on stage and many celebrities and musicians voiced their dissatisfaction.

However you feel about the preferential legal treatment that celebrities often receive, however you feel about giving public figures second chances, domestic violence is incredibly serious. The mixed reaction to the Grammys' seeming embrace of Brown is understandable given that it's only been three years and there is still a restraining order against him to keep him from coming within 10 yards of Rihanna. How can you perform at the same event as the person you have a restraining order against, and have it feel like a safe space?

What's more surprising are the reactions that his Grammy appearance received on Twitter. Here's a sampling of the Tweets:

"I don't know why Rihanna complained. Chris Brown could beat me anytime he wanted to."

"Dude, Chris brown can punch me in the face as much as wants to, just as long as he kisses it (:"

"Not gonna lie.. I think I'd let Chris Brown beat me #sosexy #lovehim #awkwardtweet #dontevencare"

"Everyone shut up about Chris brown being a woman beater... Shiiiit he can beat me up all night if he wants."

We draw a few conclusions from these Tweets:

1) People don't really understand domestic violence, or they wouldn't be saying these things. What is domestic violence, you ask? Check out The Hotline's description.

2) People think domestic violence is sexy.

3) People don't comprehend that by talking about Chris Brown beating them, but only if he kisses it afterward, they are only perpetuating the Cycle of Violence.

4) People don't realize how much of what they say can trigger someone. It generally isn't public information when someone is a victim/survivor of domestic violence, and since a woman in the U.S. is assaulted or beaten every 9 seconds, it's likely someone you know has experienced violence.

5) People must confuse the definition of "complain" with lifesaving. Rihanna wasn't complaining, she was saving her life and being tremendously brave by doing so.

We are absolutely outraged by these ignorant reactions. Domestic violence is not a joke, and no one should ever have to experience that pain or trauma. Does there need to be a more widespread domestic violence awareness and education? What do you think about these reactions? What should be done?

While you contemplate this, we hope that you'll sign the Change.org petition demanding that the Grammy's apologize to Domestic Viollence Victims. The petition reveals that "almost 50% of Boston teenagers believed Rihanna was to blame for her beating." This sickening statistic exemplifies the victim blaming that is so prevalent in our society. You can check out what's happening on Tumblr around people rallying to stop victim blaming.

Which brings us to our next, similar concern:

Veganism is no Excuse for Violence

Over the years PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has definitely earned it's reputation for provocative campaigns (See meat eating comparisons to the Holocaust, references to the American Kennel Club as a branch of the Ku Klux Klan, George Clooney flavored tofu, or any other number of outlandish campaigns).

Despite the fact that it's cliche at this point to get ruffled over anything PETA does, we're disturbed by the tacit approval of sexual violence that PETA gives in a new campaign. BWVAKTBOOM, or "Boyfriend Went Vegan and Knocked the Bottom out of Me," is a campaign that plays on the sexual health benefits of a vegan diet by warning visitors about the risk of injuries and "erotic consequences" that can result from "your boyfriend" adopting a vegan diet.

All over the world, regular guys are choosing a vegan diet, unaware of the erotic consequences. As a result, an epidemic is spreading among their 'loved' ones: BWVAKTBOOM, 'Boyfriend Went Vegan and Knocked the Bottom out of Me.'

For years, women have been open to the physical, emotional, and karmic benefits of veganism. But now, more and more men are discovering the perks of a plant-based diet. More specifically, a dramatic increase in their wang power and sexual stamina.

Unfortunately, the consequences of all this mind-blowing intercourse can often lead to sex injuries such as whiplash, pulled muscles, rug burn, and even a dislocated hip.

Here's the main campaign video. The People's Stories videos take this even further.

The messages and assumptions in this kind of humor make us really uncomfortable. Where to start?

Be careful encouraging your man to become vegan, because veganism can make your sex life violent. It's only a neckbrace, no big deal.
A violent sex life is great! (*wink wink)
The video implies without context that Jessica has been involved in some sort of violent act in the beginning of the video: she is walking home in her underwear with a jacket, and is wearing a neckbrace. Who goes to the store for celery in their underwear? Is it necessary to sexualize someone who is in pain, presumably from abuse initially?
Her boyfriend asks if she's feeling better--if she was feeling so bad, why did he stay home in his underwear while she went to the store in pain with a neckbrace? Of course PETA decides to go back to the sexist gender-binary, with women in charge of the groceries no matter the pain they're in; come on- the job has to be done...right?
Being sore from great sex is one thing, going blind? Quite another.
All women love rough sex, so it's ok to be violent. In fact, she'll thank you for it!
Learning to go vegan safely is more important than learning to have potentially rough sex safely.
You should be pleased by the surprise-BDSM that you've never had a conversation about before.
It's implied that these "broken" women are vegan, as well, and yet they are weak and unable to have the same high stamina, energy, and strength as their man.
We assume your sex life is heterosexual (except for the one video with the gay men, but lesbians don't exist...this is about your partner's "newfound stamina, desire, and penile strength").

Maybe this will backfire with women more than PETA's other campaigns have, but unfortunately we're not holding our breath. There does not seem to be a great amount of backlash against PETA's overtly sexist, objectifying, anti-woman campaigns of the past, sadly enough.

Which leads us to inevitably conclude that this is seriously:

A Cultural Problem

This is really a culture issue. Many people just don't understand or acknowledge that Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault are real problems that need to be taken seriously. Instead, they're talked about as sexy, nothing to whine about, easily forgiven, and fodder for jokes. Jokes about domestic violence, sexual assault, and rape are not funny; simply enough, they aren't jokes.

We've got a problem, and something has got to be done.

What You Can Do

In the short term, sign the Change.org petition demanding that the Grammy's apologize to Domestic Viollence Victims and Survivors.
Check out what one blogger has to say about why rape jokes are not something to joke about.
Call people, campaigns, and orgs out. Speak up! When something inappropriate is said about Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, etc., let them know that it is not okay. You don't have to attack people when they may just not be educated, but educate them. People are generally open to listening when approached correctly.
Participate in Feminist Majority's RAPE is RAPE: No More Excuses campaign.
Write letters to PETA - create counter-videos, tweet them: @PETA, or write on their Facebook wall. A potential Tweet: "Implied domestic violence or sexual assault is not okay, @PETA. #DVisNoJoke."
Since February is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month, take this time to create a particular awareness this month that overflows into the rest of the year. SafePlace is right on when the say, "Love has many definitions, but abuse isn't one of them."

For immediate help, call: National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). It's a free, confidential, 24 hour hotline.

Six Social Media Week Events to Check Out

rad_admin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:18:34 +0000

Allyson Kapin

Social Media Week is happening in DC this week. While there are so many great panels to choose from, here are top six choices that we think will be the most valuable for nonprofit practitioners.

The Secret Sauce to Social Media Fundraising: DC’s Give to the Max Day Story

Hosted by: Razoo and AARP

Category: Social & Environmental Change

Location: AARP

Thursday, February 16 at 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM

Give to the Max Day: Greater Washington raised $2,017,196 with 17,838 donations for over 1,000 nonprofits in the DC, suburban Maryland, and northern Virginia areas. In social media, this event generated over 8,000 tweets using the #give2max hashtag and daylong trending in the Washington region. The Give to the Max Day Facebook page had a 99.4% talking about rate (1,716 of the total 1,726) rolling into days after the event.

So what’s the secret to this event’s success? Join us for the discussion with players of last November’s giving day to see how they were able to leverage social media for fundraising and doing good. And why not treat yourself to a nice breakfast while you’re at it?

Tickets are $18/person early bird (register by February 9th). All attendees will receive a $10 Razoo Giving Card.

If you’re unable to attend, you can still be part of the discussion by catching the event on LiveStream at this link starting at 8AM (EST) on Feb. 16.

U.S. National Archives 2.0: Citizen Archivist Dashboard Demo

Hosted by: National Archives and Records Administration

Category: Politics & Government

Location: The William G. McGowan Theater, National Archives Building

Thursday, February 16 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

The U.S. National Archives launched its Citizen Archivist Dashboard in December 2011. The dashboard is a hub for the Archives’ crowdsourcing initiatives, including tagging, transcription, digitization of records and more. Citizen archivists, staff archivists, students and researchers together share insights and manpower to make the records and America’s history more accessible to all.

Join us for a demonstration of the various collaboration tools in the dashboard and discussion of how the dashboard fits into the Archives’ online strategy.

Using Facebook for your Advocacy Campaign

Hosted by: Facebook and Edelman

Category: Politics & Government

Location: Edelman DC

Thursday, February 16 at 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Learn how you can harness the power of Facebook to help take your advocacy campaigns to the next level. We’ll talk about pages and ads but also about the new things Facebook is working on such as Timeline applications.

How One Microgiving Campaign Produced Macro Results

Hosted by: Alli Houseworth

Category: Art & Culture

Location: Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Thursday, February 16 at 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

It was the fall of 2010. Two unlikely freinemies made a simple bet in the kitchen of a non-profit arts organization. Their co-workers looked on. Opponent One, from the marketing department, bet Opponent Two, from the development department, that she could *actually* use only social media (and only social media) to raise as much money as the organization had Facebook friends. If she won, he would be publicly humiliated. If he won, she would just be, well, wrong. 10 days later the results were in.

Join us for a casual conversation about how what started as a simple social media bet turned into a wildly successful fundraising campaign, but not for the reasons you would expect.

Over cheap beers we’ll discuss how social media blurs lines between marketing and development departments, the power of your in-person network, and how a little bit of ridiculous behavior and risk-taking can change the way a non-profit operates.

Perfect for non-profit employees, social media newbies, fundraising pros, and cool people that want to hang out with other cool people.

Election 2012 and the fight for the Internet

Hosted by: The Washington Post

Category: Politics & Government

Location: The Washington Post

Friday, February 17 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Over the last decade, the Internet has transformed the presidential campaign into a realtime hearts-and-minds game, where a candidate’s ability to mobilize a web audience is yet another indicator of his or her viability. The rise of search engine optimization and social media marketing has also put campaigns on the same playing field as mainstream media organizations, with both sides employing the same tactics to win audience and drive the campaign narrative. How does such competition impact political journalism, discourse and democracy?

Another Social Network? How to Combat Social Media Fatigue in Your Business

Hosted by: APCO Worldwide

Category: Business & Innovation

Location: APCO Worldwide

Friday, February 17 at 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

As more and more social networks are introduced or evolve to mimic other platforms, will social interaction around new social tools and networks continue to rise or will consumer engagement level off?

Social media experts from APCO Worldwide, SBNation.com and GetBetterHealth.com will help you:

1) Uncover the realities of social media fatigue
2) Identify the sectors in which social media fatigue is occurring and discuss how to avoid contributing to social media fatigue in your business efforts.
3) Gain best practices to combat social media fatigue and discover implementable tactics for using it to your competitive business advantage.

Join us for drinks, hors d’oeuvres and open dialogue!

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/2/15/six-social-media-week-events-to-check-out.html

Submit Your Awesome Nonprofit Videos

Avi — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

It's that time of the year. Time for nonprofits to submit their videos to the 2012 DoGooder NonProfit Video Awards.

I love these awards because the videos from the finalists and winners are always thought provoking and beautiful and I am inevitably sucked in to the site watching all the finalist submissions. Seriously, check out last year's winners.

Video is a great way for organizations to tell their story and communicate their vision in a compelling way. Online video is also growing quickly. According to Social Times, online video views grew 97% year-over-year from Q3, 2010 to Q3, 2011.

There's some nice prize money and the top videos will be featured on YouTube’s homepage on April 5th when the winners are announced. That's a big deal. As it says on the contest site:

(The YouTube part is sort of like having your nonprofit video seen during the Super Bowl - last year's winners enjoyed over 1 MILLION new views after being featured here for just one day.)

If nothing else, the awards are a great excuse for your organization to join the YouTube Nonprofit Program since membership is a required to submit a video. The YouTube Nonprofit Program has some great benefits for organizations including:

Premium branding capabilities and increased uploading capacity

The option to drive fundraising through a Google Checkout "Donate" button

Listing on the Nonprofit videos page

Ability to place a Call to Action overlay on your videos to raise money or find volunteers

Submissions are open until February 29th and public voting will open on March 14th. There are awards for BEST Small Organization, Medium Organization, and Large Organization Videos, and a new award category for BEST Storytelling Video.

If your organization has a great video, submit it now. Otherwise, this might be a good time to start thinking about what stories you can tell through video in the coming year.

Infographic: Measuring the Impact of Social Media

rad_admin — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:51:15 +0000

Allyson Kapin

Ever since social media was deemed the coolest communications channel on the block, nonprofits are continuing to question what kind of impact social media has on their bottom line. Wildfire, a social marketing platform surveyed a variety of marketers and found that marketers believe that social media is valuable to increase brand awareness and dialogue but will soon begin to measure ROI from a more traditional perspective – attributable sales and costs.

Survey results also showed that:

97% of marketers believe that social media marketing benefits their business
75% of marketers plan to increase media spending this year
58% of marketers said they have seen an increase in sales and partnerships
41% say that is has reduced costs

I think most nonprofits will agree social media has helped market their organization and their programs and that they plan on investing more resources into their social media next year. But the majority of nonprofits aren’t raising money on social media. And the ones that are raising money, it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to what they raise through other channels. For example, 46% of nonprofits have raised between $1K and $10K on Facebook, according to the 2011 Nonprofits Social Network Report. And 52% are not fundraising at all. Out of five popular social networks (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Flickr) only .7% have raised more than $100K.

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/2/11/infographic-measuring-the-impact-of-social-media.html

Rebooting Valentine’s Day

Avi — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:17:00 +0000

Valentine's Day is often criticised for being a Hallmark holiday. All the candy and hearts can seem cliche and some people question the message that our loved ones are more deserving of appreciation on some days than they are on others. After all, don't I deserve flowers every day of the year?

This year, the community is rebooting Valentines Day as Generosity Day.

"one day of sharing love with everyone, of being generous to everyone, to see how it feels and to practice saying “Yes.” Let’s make the day about love, action and human connection – because we can do better than smarmy greeting cards, overpriced roses, and stressed-out couples trying to create romantic meals on the fly."

Generosity Day is inspired by a an experiment by Sacha Dichter, a leader at Acumen Fund, ran in 2009. Last year, Sacha asked the community to celebrate #generosityday together to practice saying yes and being more generous.

Practice Saying Yes

I love this idea and Hope you'll join me in taking the Generosity Day Pledge this year. #GenerosityDay is on Causes, on Facebook, and Twitter if you want to follow along there.

How are you going to practice saying yes?

What other Valentines Day for good campaigns have you enjoyed? Take the pledge. Say yes.

Top 10 Most Generous Cities in the U.S.

rad_admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:12:00 +0000

Allyson Kapin

Ever wonder how charitable your city is? You’re in luck because Convio recently released their report on the 273 most generous cities across the United States. Convio analyzed cities with total population of more than 100,000 based on per capita online giving and the total amount donated through the Convio platform.

The average gift size remained steady in 2011 at about $65 with more than $435M donated to charities. The donors in the most generous cities increased their total online contributions by more than 11 percent over 2010, which is pretty impressive considering the tough economy.

To 10 Most Generous Cities

Seattle, WA
Alexandria, VA
Washington, DC
Arlington, VA
Cambridge, MA
Ann Arbor, MI
Berkeley, CA
San Francisco, CA
Bellevue, WA
St. Louis, MO

The biggest movers in the top ten from the 2010 annual ranking are Seattle rising three spaces to number one; Cambridge, MA falling three spaces from number two to number five; and Ann Arbor, MI moving up three spaces from number nine to number six, said Convio.

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/2/8/top-10-most-generous-cities-in-the-us.html

Webinar: eCampaign 2012 - Killer Tactics to Drive Elections with Online Fundraising And Social Media

rad_admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:46:15 +0000

Allyson Kapin

Electoral campaigns are important incubators of new techniques and tactics in online fundraising and organizing.

From Barack Obama's campaign to the thousands of state and local races across the country, campaigners are relentlessly testing new approaches and refining proven tactics in online fundraising and social media to gain an edge over their rivals -- and in some cases to make history.

Join us on February 16, 2012 at 2:00 PM ET for "eCampaign 2012 - Killer Tactics to Drive Elections Using Online Fundraising & Social Media" and hear from two experts who are working in the heart of Campaign 2012.

In this webinar you will learn:

New tactics for acquiring and converting online donor leads
How the role of email is changing in online outreach and fundraising
Best practices in social media engagement

This expert webinar is FREE, but space is limited, so please register now!

About the presenters:

Alex Stanton - Client Manager, Blue State Digital

With experience in integrated online and traditional communications, political and issue campaign management, media planning, and message development, Alex joined Blue State Digital's New York office in 2010. As a Client Manager, he works to develop and execute innovative strategies for a range of BSD clients, including Communications Workers of America, Congressman Jared Polis’ Fearless Campaign, United Way Worldwide, and text4baby.

Prior to joining BSD, Alex spent three years at GMMB, a political, issue and cause communications agency based in Washington, DC. There he worked to develop award-winning advertising and outreach efforts for a cross-section of clients including Obama for America, Senators Harry Reid, Ron Wyden and Mark Warner, the DSCC and DCCC, as well as the American Medical Association, and the U.S. Climate Action Partnership.

Previously, he served as Campaign Manager for Mayor James Fiorentini's successful re-election effort in Haverhill, MA and spent a year as a fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency.

A native of Sudbury, MA, Alex graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in Political Science. He currently resides in Manhattan.

Taryn Rosenkranz - Principal, New Blue Interactive, LLC

Taryn Rosenkranz is the founding partner and principal of New Blue Interactive, a boutique digital strategy and online fundraising firm that specializes in cutting edge new media and social networking campaigns.

Taryn mostly recently served as the managing director of finance and new media programs at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) where she helps to elect more Democrats to the U.S. House by developing cutting-edge new media and fundraising activities. During her tenure, she increased the DCCC’s email list by over 400% and raised over a $110 million dollars for the committee through grassroots outreach (mail, phone and email). She also provides individual strategic new media counsel to DCCC candidates and incumbents. Her work has been recognized with a 2008 Golden Dot award for Online Dream Team and two prestigious Pollie awards.

Taryn has both her BA and MA in political science from American University.

Eric Rardin - Senior Director of Nonprofit Services, Care2

Eric is senior director of nonprofit services at Care2.com where he helps hundreds of nonprofits connect with donors and supporters online. At Care2 Eric advises nonprofits on email acquisition and multichannel conversion strategies. He has contributed to integrated conversion efforts on behalf of nonprofits in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Eric serves on the board of directors of two national nonprofit organizations. Prior to joining Care2 Eric designed and executed integrated advocacy campaigns for environmental nonprofits for more than seven years.

Eric has an MBA from the Carey School of Business at Johns Hopkins University, an MA in Government and International Studies from the University of South Carolina and a BS in Political Science from the University of Wyoming. In addition to his work in the environmental advocacy arena, Eric has extensive experience working on political and issue campaigns from Wyoming to South Africa.

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/2/5/webinar-ecampaign-2012-killer-tactics-to-drive-elections-wit.html

Lessons Learned When Your Community Revolts

rad_admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:40:00 +0000

Allyson Kapin

There are three pillars to building an online community and engaging on social media channels:

1. Honesty, transparency, and being upfront

2. Listening and being responsive to members of the community no matter how lame or silly you find the questions or feedback

3. Thanking your community for their support, feedback and guidance.

If you don’t practice these principals every single day somewhere along the way your community is going to revolt. And it won’t be pretty.

For example, yesterday, Planned Parenthood released a statement saying that the Susan G. Komen Foundation would not be renewing grants to support 19 local Planned Parenthood affiliates, which provided 170,000 clinical breast exams and 6,400 mammogram referrals to women in low-income communities through the Komen grant. According to Jessica Pieklo on the Care2 Cause Channel, last year’s grant totaled about $680,000.

Komen said that they cut their funding because Rep. Cliff Sterns (R-FL) launched a congressional investigation into whether or not Planned Parenthood was using public money on abortions. Since Komen has implemented more stringent eligibility standards to safeguard donor dollars “consequently, some organizations are no longer eligible to receive Komen grants,” said Komen in a press release yesterday.

How did the women’s community including many of Komen’s donors, Facebook fans, and followers on Twitter and Race for the Cure team leaders react?

They revolted.

Once the news began to spread, women and men of all ages flocked to Komen’s page on Twitter and Facebook and posted emotional and heart felt and messages, expressing their sadness and anger over Komen’s decision to take away funding for breast cancer screening services.

What's more telling than this communal reaction is Komen's response to its own community's revolt. They went dark for 24 hours. Not a peep on Twitter or Facebook even as supporters continued to post thousands of messages on social networks and let's not forget the buzz that grew offline, around dinner tables, and office water coolers. Some members of Komen’s Facebook page even said that their comments were deleted.

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/2/2/lessons-learned-when-your-community-revolts.html

Email: Still Not Dead!

rad_admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:02:00 +0000

Allyson Kapin

Mark Zuckerberg is a pioneer of the social web. Over the last eight years he’s led Facebook from a scrappy startup to one of the most powerful and influential companies. But when Zuckerberg says that email is going to die because young people prefer to text, you can’t help but laugh at the irony since providing your email address is actually how you register for a Facebook account. Despite how the web has transformed over the years, email is the one constant that has remained and is not going away anytime soon.

For example: Looking to sign up for more information about your favorite nonprofit? You need to provide an email address to sign up for their enewsletter. Looking to purchase an item on the web? You usually need an email address to check out and buy the item. Looking to make a donation? You need to provide an email address. Want to send a document to a colleague; chances are you are going to email it at some point unless everyone who you do business with is on Dropbox or Google Docs (which by the way you also need an email address to sign up for).

Email continues to grow and to be the dominant communications tool. And despite what Zuckerberg and some others think, email is not dying because social media is taking over. Both channels are important and should be a part an integrated communications strategy to reach activists and donors.

"Social media is a great additional engagement channel, but we find the level of commitment and responsiveness much stronger in email. Email is still king in the demographic groups that are most likely to become donors," said Joe Baker, Vice President of Causes and Advocacy for Care2, a social action network which serves more than 700 nonprofit clients, across the spectrum of cause verticals.

Check out these email stats:

There are an estimated 2.9 billion email addresses. In comparison there are 750 million Facebook accounts and 300 million Twitter accounts.

By 2014 there will be over 3.8 billion email accounts.

188 billion emails are sent daily, though granted a portion of those are spam. Over on Facebook, 60 million Facebook updates are made and 140 million tweets are sent through Twitter (and many of those could be considered spam too!).

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/1/24/email-still-not-dead.html

Six Tips To Kick-Start Your 2012 Fundraising

rad_admin — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:39:00 +0000

Allyson Kapin

Nonprofits receive up to 40% of their online donations at the end of the year since the holidays have people feeling generous, and donors also want to maximize those tax deductions before year’s end. But this doesn’t happen by magic – people donate money to your organization because they feel a connection to your organization and the issues you work on. They believe in what you do. That takes staying in touch with your donors all year, cultivating and deepening your relationships with them, and making sure your supporters have the information that inspires them to donate.

So how did you do in 2011? Is it time to make some resolutions for 2012, so you can raise more money in 2012? Here are some online marketing strategies Convio recently outlined in their whitepaper “Utilize Your Year-End Momentum” that you can start working on right now, so that when “that time” rolls around again, you’ll be better positioned to reach your online fundraising goals.

Build Your List

Make sure you’re capturing email addresses whenever and wherever you can. There are a few key ways to build your list. Paid acquisition is one of the fastest ways to build you list. Social action networks like Care2 and the Petition Site which has about 12 million unique site visitors per month, and is the 140th (on average) highest traffic website in the U.S does paid acquisition campaigns for hundreds of nonprofits. Their petition site has attracted 40,000 new citizen petitions this year alone.

Utilize your Google Adwords grants. As a 501C3 you can get between $10K and $40K worth of free Google Advertising.

Encourage those who respond to your postal mail, telephone appeals, and special events to sign up for your email list – offer incentives like special content, matching gifts, and online premiums.

Use Multiple Channels

Don’t be shy about reaching out to people across multiple channels. “Savvy organizations are adopting a multi-channel approach to convert online acquired prospects, using email first, followed up by mail, then telemarketing to maximize conversion rates. In your direct mail, incentivize supporters to give online with benefi ts like getting an email tax receipt, a matching gift from a major donor, or a drawing or giveaway. Our research shows that direct mail donors who also receive email give two times as much and renew at 10% higher rates than those just receiving email,” Convio said.

Segment Your List

The key to building relationships with your supporters is to know more about them. For example, what issue were they first recruited on? What campaigns have they taken action on or donated money to? Use that information to deliver the content most relevant to them. Consider sending different welcome messages to different groups, providing paths to deeper engagement with your mission. A sustainer or pledge program for active donors is a great way to develop a loyal following and stabilize donation income year-round.

Stay in Touch

Once you have segmented your lists, it will be easier to use your newsletters, action alerts, and donation appeals to engage subscribers in the topics they care about most. Be sure to let you supporters know throughout the year how they have made a difference – let them know when goals are reached, show how funds are spent, and share inspiring stories.

Optimize Your Website

Your homepage and website content should make it crystal clear how best to support your mission and get involved. Place action items, ways to donate, and easy list sign-up information above the fold and make them stand out. Don’t make people search for these important items. Your content should also be relevant to your target audiences and consistently updated which will keep them coming back.

Leverage Social Media

Your active supporters are some of your best spokespeople and recruiters. Integrate social share buttons such as Facebook Like, the Twitter Button, Google's +1 on you campaign landing pages and blogs posts that will make it easy for people to share your content.

With all these strategies to start building on now, you’ll be well on your way to a successful year in fundraising. Let us know what you try, and how it works for you!

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/1/21/six-tips-to-kick-start-your-2012-fundraising.html

Steal these 42 Creative Pinterest Ideas for Nonprofits

rad_admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:03:00 +0000

Avi Kaplan

We’re about to see Pinterest use among nonprofit organizations explode. Pinterest has a lot of potential, especially for organizations whose stories lend themselved to visual storytelling.

Pinterest is a new(ish) and growing a image based social network and the newest darling of social media marketers. I’m always intrigued to see how nonprofits find creative ways to use new social media tools, but I didn’t think seriously about Pinterest’s potential for nonprofits until I read Joe Waters and Beth Kanter’s thoughts. Now I’m excited to see how cause communities embrace this emerging network to create value and mission impact.

A Matter of Demographics

Part of Pinterest’s potential is it’s unique demographic user-base. Joe explains the what makes Pinterest demographically unique in his recent Huffington Post piece, Why and How Causes Should Use Pinterest:

“The heavy presence of women 25-44 on Pinterest is what distinguishes it from other new social media platforms, which are generally populated by men 18-24. Here's a site that already has the audience everyone wants: women and moms who make most of the household buying decisions.”

Those buying decisions include donation and charitable decisions, and with women bringing in over half the income in 55% of US households, nonprofits should think about how they can engage Pinterest’s largely female audience.

Pinterest Guidelines

Beth explains that much of her attraction to Pinterest is due to her visual learning style and role as a content curator. Beth summarized some of the guidelines Joe shared for using Pinterest:

Be useful

Pinterest users are looking for ideas and inspiration.

Create categories that reflect what users are looking for.

Give the job to someone who has an eye for aesthetics.

Learn from these 15 Pinterest superusers.

Don’t just pin, repin.

Let your supporters pin for you.

Add “pin it” buttons to your blog or web site so your visitors and supporters can create their own pin boards that highlight your cause.

A Creative Opportunity

Joe also shared some great Pinterest use-cases for nonprofits to experiment with including a Pinboards of fashionable used clothes available in Goodwill stores and beautiful images endangered frogs Conservation International is working to save.

Check out Joe’s full thoughts on Pinterest – his perspective is worth reading in full.

I thought I’d take the examples Joe as a challenge and see how many creative nonprofit Pinterest Board ideas and use-cases I can come up with. Here goes...

Steal these 42 Creative Pinterest Ideas for Nonprofits

If you're an animal shelter or animal rights organization:

Credit to Flickr user: Dennis from Atlanta1. Pin pictures of animals who need homes. Share the story of each animal in the Pin Description. Where where was Scruffie found? Did she need medical care? Were you able to find a home for her?

2. Pin pictures of families who adopt animals from your shelter. Many animal adoption sevices send representatives out to do a home visit before the family can be approved to adopt their new pet, or even to drop the pet off once an adoption is finalized. Use that opportunity to get a picture with the family.

3. Create an archive of your favorite pet toys! Bonus for pictures of your furry friends in action chasing and playing with them.

4. Create a shared Board for families who adopt animals to share updates with pics showing how their happy pet is doing. Set up a system to reach out asking for a Pinterest update a few months after the adoption.

Pro tip: You can create communal Pinterest Boards in the Board settings. Set "Who can pin items?" to "Me + Contributors".

If you're a church, synagogue, or other religious organization:

Credit to Flickr user: evilpeacock5. Scour the web for yummy recipes your congregants can prepare for the holidays, then pin images of all the yummy dishes that link through to the full recipes. Bonus if you convince members to pin their own recipes posted on their own blogs. Food can offer great visuals and this can be a great community building exercise.

6. Pin pictures of people in their costumes at your holiday party carnival. Cute ninja turtle and princess costumed toddlers show up in droves at my synagogue to hear the Scroll of Esther read every year for Purim. Hold a Santa-Con celebration to get in the Christmas spirit, get pictures of people's paint-smeared faces at Holi, take advantage of when neighborhood kids show up to trick-or-treat at your door.

7. Pin animated and cartooon bible stories.

If you're a school:

8. Pin things that your kindergarteners bring in for Show-and-Tell.

9. Pin your students science fair projects.

Credit to Flickr user: Aberdeen Proving Ground10. Pin athletic awards and trophies before putting them in your display case.

11. Pin masterpieces from the budding artists in your arts classes.

12. Pin useful school-supplies you need with links to Amazon product pages that parents can buy for the school.

13. Book covers of books on your school librararians wish list.

14. Better yet, book covers of books your 5th graders have done book reports on. If you are able to get parental permission to post their work, post the reports on your blog and link the pins to the related reports.

15. Have each homeroom teacher set up a Board with fun pins from their class and share the Boards by email with parents so they can follow along and repin they are proud of and want to share with their child's family and friends. Be prepared to field some teacher questions.

If you're an environmental organization:

16. Pin images of endangered species. If you pin images from where they are embeded in your blog posts, your pins will be linked to the research and context you've written already. Then Pinterest users can click through and learn more about what they can do to help and how they can support your mission.

17. Pin pics of unique beach trash your volunteer teams clean up.

18. Build a collection of innovative recycling in your community. Think about the tire-swing at the park, the basketball court made from old sneaker rubber, the community garden using the snow from an organic office paper shredder as insulation, the kids art project made from old bottle caps, etc.

If you're a museum, zoo, or aquarium:

19. Create a shared Board for visitors to pin their favorite works of art or to share shots of themselves feeding their favorite animals. (In exhibits and galleries where photography is permitted, of course!) To pull this off well you'll want to print up some effective signage to orient people to what Pinterest is about and how the museum is using it. Include a QR code that visitors can scan to get to the Pinterest mobile download page.

20. Pin images your share in blog posts you invite your docents, art-historians, visiting faculty, guest speakers, and other experts educators to write for you. Pinning images within your blog posts and articles is a great way to share the context, significance, and larger story behind the visuals. People definitely browse Pinterest for visual eye-candy, but bring in your mission and educate people when you can, it's your mission after all!

21. Create boards of animal or fish pics by color. Pinterest users looking for design inspiration often search for things by color, plus it's a fun way to surprise people with the visual variety of your furry and flippered residents.

If you're a veterans organization:

Credit to Flickr user: Official U.S. Navy Imagery22. Pin pics of returning vets - ships coming into port with sailors on deck in dress uniform, army rangers meeting their families for the first time in months, happy kids hugging dad - all of those images have powerful and deeply personal stories behind them. Use those visual stories to show what the sacrifice troops make means in real-life terms and why your work supporting the veterans community is so important.

23. Pin images of different kinds of military awards and metals. Some of them are beautiful. Each pin can recognize a servicemember who has earned the award with a link to their story.

24. Build a collection of military uniforms - every branch of the service has a wide variety. Tons of uniforms are utilitarian and directly suited to the wearer responsibility. Think flight-deck suits, coast-gaurd swimmer gear, navy-divers in scuba gear, dozens of different kinds of helmets and the vehicle or unit each is unique to, pilot's headsets and masks.

If you're a foundation:

25. Pin images from your grantees' projects.

26. Collect images that demonastrate the problem your are trying to solve.

27. Community foundations can pin things they want to celebrate in the community. That might mean the new school opening, the elder-care center, the new hospital wing, or the playground you funded to help revitalize the neighborhood.

If you're a health organization or hospital:

28. Show the kinds of toys that are helpful for people to donate to your hospital for the holidays.

Credit to Flickr user: Tropic~729. Pin images of recovered people leaving the hospital.

30. Pin images from medical journals and magazines highlghting the research your medical teams are working on.

31. Build a Board of images modeling healthy food choices.

32. Curate a Board of quick, easy to learn exercises.

If you're a women’s organization:

33. Pin campaign buttons and stickers from the political campaigns of women candidates.

34. Create a Board of "community superwomen" and invite your supporters to pin images of women who inspire them and why. You can also use this to pin pics of your most active volunteers, board members, honorees, etc.

35. Pin images showing the achievements of women you want to show as role-models in your community.

36. Pin examples of discrimination in the workplace from articles you find or stories your members submit.

Ideas from the community:

Beth Kanter shared a Storify of nonprofits on Pinterest that she put together. Here are some of the ideas from organizations already experimenting that Beth and others in the community shared with me.

37. The Archives of American Art has pinboards for notable artists journals and Facial hair of note - "Misplace your paintbrush? Just use your beard!"

38. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has a Pinterest Board with items for sale in the museum store. Many of the Pins include links to the product page in the online store. They've also got a fun Board of square and cubed objects in the collection called It's Hip to Be Square.

39. AARP has a fun board called 50+ Style - "Who says only 20 year olds can be fashion icons?". Another creative board they've curated is for Saving Tips they've found around the web.

40. charity:water has a Photo of the Day Pinterest Board showing images from the field that tell the story of their water work on the ground.

41. In addition to Pinterest Boards of wildlife and nature photography that you would expect, National Wildlife Federation has a board sharing ways to Explore and Get Outdoors

42. Amnesty International USA has a Board with a recommended Human Rights Reading List for supporters to check out to learn more about the issue.

This is just a beginning.

Organizations can run with Pinterest in many more creative ways. I’m sure we can expand on this together in the comments.

Avi Kaplan is a Senior Strategist at Rad Campaign, a firm that provides web design, web development, online marketing, and strategy to nonprofit organizations and political campaigns.

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/1/13/steal-these-42-creative-pinterest-ideas-for-nonprofits.html

Infographic: A Peek Inside Donation Trends and Why We Support Charities

rad_admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:02:03 +0000

Allyson Kapin

If you’re like most nonprofits, one of your top priorities is to raise money to support your cause and programs. To raise money, you need to craft strategies to cultivate donors and move them up the engagement ladder. To do this effectively though, you need to understand what motivates donors to contribute money to charity.

The infographic “Where and Why People Donated their Time and Money in 2010/2011 Trends” provides some great data that is worth noting as you craft your fundraising strategies for 2012.

Donors said that the top five reasons that motivated an individual to fundraise were:

69% felt a personal or emotional connection.
50% said a friend or family member asked them to participate.
37% said it was a physical challenge (like a marathon to support a charity).
35% said it was to benefit the local community.
32% said they wanted to be part of a company or group team.

What channels are people donating through?

52% said that they donate money when they check out such at a grocery store.
49% said by check.
32% said through a gift soup.
31% said through a website.
27% said through a fundraising event.

The biggest U.S charities people donated to were:

The United Way with $3.9B
Salvation Army with $1.81B
Feeding America with $1.5B
American Red Cross with $1.08B
Food for the Poor with $1.04B

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/1/12/infographic-a-peek-inside-donation-trends-and-why-we-support.html

Infographic: A Peak Inside Donation Trends and Why We Support Charities

rad_admin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:02:00 +0000

Allyson Kapin

The infographic “Where and Why People Donated their Time and Money in 2010/2011 Trends” provides some great data that is worth noting as you craft your fundraising strategies for 2012.

Donors said that the top five reasons that motivated an individual to fundraise were:

69% felt a personal or emotional connection.
50% said a friend or family member asked them to participate.
37% said it was a physical challenge (like a marathon to support a charity).
35% said it was to benefit the local community.
32% said they wanted to be part of a company or group team.

What channels are people donating through?

52% said that they donate money when they check out such at a grocery store.
49% said by check.
32% said through a gift soup.
31% said through a website.
27% said through a fundraising event.

The biggest U.S charities people donated to were:

The United Way with $3.9B
Salvation Army with $1.81B
Feeding America with $1.5B
American Red Cross with $1.08B
Food for the Poor with $1.04B

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/1/12/infographic-a-peak-inside-donation-trends-and-why-we-support.html

Three Upcoming Nonprofit Events and Conferences to Check Out

rad_admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:29:00 +0000

Allyson Kapin

Advocacy Rising In 2012: What this Means for your Organization?

From "Arab Spring" to rallies and movements bubbling up across the US, people around the world are organizing and demanding change. Whether your organization is local or national, with the right tools and techniques, you can tap into the rising tide of advocacy and make your voice heard.

This moderated discussion hosted Jeanette Russel of Salsa Labs and featuring Colin Delany founder editor of Epolitics.com and myself (Allyson Kapin) will explore how activists can harness this unprecedented energy to move policy while strengthening our organizations during this heated presidential election year.

When: January 19^th from 4PM to 5:30PM.

Click Here to Register. It’s free.

Social Media Strategy Summit, Las Vegas

The Social Media Strategy Summit is packed with some great sessions where attendees will learn how to:

Optimize your organization’s Facebook presence
Utilize Twitter to communicate with customers
Increase search engine optimization
Use social media promotions to engage
Leverage word of mouth marketing
Engage brand loyalists and dissatisfied customers
Take advantage of the many social media platforms

Care2’s Eric Rardin will be speaking on the panel “Cause Marketing and High Level Engagement” which will discuss how brands can leverage social networks and achieve high level engagement to grow their reputations and business.

Frogloop has a 15% discount code for nonprofits. The code is Mike15

When: February 7-9, 2012

Click Here to Register

Rootscamp

This year marks the 6th anniversary of the Rootscamp “Unconference” where organizers set the agenda, share lessons learned and drive the conversation about best practices in organizing. This year’s RootsCamp will debrief and celebrate the tremendous work organizers did in 2011, regardless if they won or lost and start preparing for the work ahead of us in the progressive movement in 2012.

Session ideas that attendees have already posted range from “New Media Techniques in 2012” and a public narrative training around storytelling to build movements.

When: February 18-19

Click Here to Register

What nonprofits events coming up are you excited about?

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/1/10/three-upcoming-nonprofit-events-and-conferences-to-check-out.html

Best Practices to Kickoff 2012 Online Fundraising

rad_admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:30:00 +0000

Allyson Kapin

When is the last time you sat down and analyzed your donation page completion rates - meaning the number of people who clicked to your donate page from an online fundraising appeal but did not complete the donation? And when you looked at the results was the abandonment rate high or low? High incompletion rates is a big clue that something is wrong your donation-landing page.

During the Care2 webinar https://care2.webex.com/care2/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=EC&rID=4647147&rKey=02aef... ">The Overachiever’s Guide to Online Fundraising panelists Alia Mckee of Sea Change Strategies, Dionna Humphrey of Greenpeace International and Eric Rardin of Care2 discussed nine steps to kick start your 2012 online fundraising. The steps include:

Testing and optimizing your donation forms to include only the essential you information you need to process the donation. You should also consider suppressing your global navigation. Adding pertinent information such as your address, phone number, and privacy policy is important too, because it demonstrates that you are a legitimate nonprofit.

Send new donors a special welcome message.
Thank your donors multiple ways – by email, phone and handwritten letters.
Review and optimize your traffic. How are donors finding your organization online when you look at your Google Analytics?
Get to know your supporters and show them that you really understand whom they are. Your donors are special people and they should be treated as VIP’s.
Tell good stories that appeal to your donors emotions.
Grow your list to keep ahead of the average unsubscribe rates which are 0.23%, according to the 2011 eNonprofit Benchmark Study.

You can listen to the webinar https://care2.webex.com/care2/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=EC&rID=4647147&rKey=02aef... ">here and check out the slides below

The Overachiever's Guide to Online Fundraising: 9 Steps to Kick Start 2012

View more presentations from Care2Team

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/1/6/best-practices-to-kickoff-2012-online-fundraising.html

Infographic: Why People Use Social Media

rad_admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:29:00 +0000

Allyson Kapin

NM Incite, a Nielsen McKinsey company surveyed 1,865 adult (18+) social media users about what motivates them to friend people on social networks, and what causes them to dump their friends. As nonprofits invest more time into cultivating people on Facebook and followers on Twitter, this is helpful data to review. According to NM Incite's research, the majority of social media users (82%) friend someone because they know them in real life - meaning real life friendships drive online relationships. I would not be surprised to see if this correlated similarly to social media users who friend organizations that they feel conntected to and are active donors or activists. Why do people unfriend or unfollow? 55% said that they dump Facbook friends because of offensive comments. 20% remove friends due to lack of interactions, so be sure you update your Facebook page regularly with engaging content and that you spend time interacting with your members on Facebook. Don’t just use it to post items and then walk away and not engage in conversation. Another 14% says that they remove friends due to political content.

Another set of survey questions had to do with what people are using social media for. While there was not a category related to getting involved with charitable organizations, it was interesting to note that 60% of people use social media to learn more about consumer products and over 60% read consumer feedback. 54% use social media to provide positive feedback and 51% use it to provide negative feedback.

How do people that follow your nonprofit on social media use it for commentary? Are you getting an equal amount of positive and negative commentary or is the majority positive?

Other interesting data of social media activity includes:

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/1/4/infographic-why-people-use-social-media.html

Save the .NGO Domain for Nonprofits

rad_admin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:58:00 +0000

Allyson Kapin

If you work at a nonprofit, serve on a board of a nonprofit, or have nonprofit clients, you need to hear about this. Next year, the Internet is opening up to allow for thousands of new Internet extensions. Companies, individuals and organizations can register almost anything behind the primary Internet address. (Think .cocacola, .party, .anything).

The one that is most important to the nonprofit community is the .ngo domain, short for non-governmental organization. It is critical that the right organization be chosen to run this new domain.

Public Interest Registry (PIR) is the nonprofit organization that currently manages .org, the domain which has served the nonprofit community for more than 25 years. And it would be beneficial to the nonprofit community if this nonprofit managed the .ngo domain rather then a corporate entity.

But time is running out. Applications are due January 11, 2012, and PIR is up against venture capital and other for-profit groups that would like to gain control of the .ngo domain.

However, the nonprofit community can make sure that doesn’t happen by signing a petition supporting PIR’s bid. Note: Only nonprofits should sign this form. Any one employee for any one nonprofit can sign, you don’t have to be the executive director.

By signing the petition, it doesn’t mean that you’re committing to buy the .ngo domain once it’s out; you’re simply showing support for the fact that this particular domain should be used exclusively by nonprofits and should be administered by a nonprofit.

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/1/2/save-the-ngo-domain-for-nonprofits.html

Why Social Media Can Suck

rad_admin — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 16:31:00 +0000

Allyson Kapin

In the past 10-15 years the Internet and mobile devices have truly transformed the way we communicate with people both professionally and socially. We don’t send people letters via postal carrier much anymore. We email them, text them, tweet them and tag them on Facebook. It has also changed the way we do business. Organizations aren’t just raising money through direct mail and phone banking – they are raising money through email fundraising appeals, their websites, and, to an extent, through text-to-give campaigns. Businesses aren’t just sending households coupons anymore, they are offering daily deals on sites like LivingSocial or sending out discount codes on social networks after you “like” them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.

And while a gazillion blogs ranging from Mashable to news networks like CNN are writing about how awesome social media is as a marketing vehicle and social connector (and yes there are some great case studies), are people paying the price by giving up their personal data without blinking an eye? Does anyone have a problem with Facebook dictating what they think that we think is important through secret algorithms? What about proprietary algorithms like Klout that provide social scores to show brands or people’s “influence”? As organizations continue to invest more and more staff and resources into them, they should understand that social media is not all pretty rainbows that lead to a pot of gold. Social media can totally suck too. Here’s why.

Copyright: Who Really Owns Your Photos, Video and Media?

A lot of organizations and people maybe surprised to learn that when you post media such as videos, songs, and photos to social networks like Facebook and YouTube, you grant them (and sometimes their partners) a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license, to use your work, reproduce it and distribute it including for promotional purposes. And guess what? Because it’s royalty-free they don’t have to pay you a dime even if they used footage of that awesome video you directed in one of their TV ads. Check out YouTube’s terms on section 6C (similar clauses can be found on many network's terms of service). And guess what, they don’t even have to notify you that they used it.

Your Brand Or Profile Photo Could Be Used For Product Endorsements Without Consent

It seems that Facebook maybe thinking about giving third party apps or networks the right to use your name or pictures in ads in the future. If you dig into their Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, it contains a tiny clause and a link about your right not to appear in third party ads. It then leads you to another link and after a while you finally see a clause that says “Facebook does not give third party applications or ad networks the right to use your name or picture in ads. If we allow this in the future, the [privacy] setting you choose will determine how your information is used.” This could have a huge impact on nonprofits, brands, and people who could potentially be used in ads; serving as endorsements without ever realizing or granting the company or even political campaign permission. Check your settings now!

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2011/12/26/why-social-media-can-suck.html

10 Steps to Kick Start 2012 Online Fundraising

rad_admin — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:42:00 +0000

Allyson Kapin

Think it's too soon to start preparing for 2012 fundraising? Think again!

Earn your overachiever’s gold star and get cracking with ten steps you can use now to raise more money throughout the year.

You might know that 40 percent of all online donations come in during December. If so you probably also know you have to start early to make sure your year-end efforts pay off. It takes months of list building, inspiring donors, cultivating them, testing, and analyzing metrics to make the absolute most of year-end opportunities.

Join Alia McKee of Sea Change Strategies, Eric Rardin of Care2 and Dionna Humphrey of Greenpeace for a free webinar on concrete ways you can maximize your strategy and tactics in the New Year.

Click here to sign up for the January 5 at 2PM ET "The Overachiever's Guide to Online Fundraising: 10 Steps to Kick Start 2012!"

Participants will learn the most successful fundraising strategies including:

How to create compelling fundraising campaigns that motivate web visitors to make a donation on your website.
Which easy fixes you can make to your donation page, so that donors complete the donation process.
How to communicate with donors before, during, and after they donate money online to your nonprofit and build long lasting relationships.

We have a limited number of teleconference lines available so please take a moment to sign up now. It’s FREE.

http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2011/12/23/10-steps-to-kick-start-2012-online-fundraising.html