Facebook Timeline Apps: New Way to Engage?
The introduction of timeline apps are the next iteration of Facebook's strategy to know everything you like on the web and what you're doing right now. Besides giving Facebook a lot of information about what you like to do, the new open graph timeline apps will also give application developers a lot of information about what you like to do. The potential benefit for organizations that develop timeline apps is two-fold: offer greater exposure within Facebook to potential supporters, and accrue valuable personal information about supporters that use the application. I think this is a potential game-changer for how brands and organizations will use Facebook. In this blog post, we review what is a Timeline app, how it works, who has developed them already, and the potential of Timeline apps for engagement. I'm personally a bit doubtful about whether or not it will deepen online engagement, which I consider at the end of this blog post.
Continue ReadingUsing Twitter for Volunteer Recruitment: Jersey Cares
How can Twitter work for you? Do you need more volunteers? Jersey Cares recruited over 1,000 new volunteers using Twitter in just one month. Last year, Jersey Cares doubled our volunteer participation in MLK Day of Service with the extraordinary work of a few AmeriCorps members. When MLK Day of Service finally arrived, Jersey Cares had a record turnout of over 2,000 volunteers – over 1,000 of which were new volunteers to the organization! In this guest post. Jersey Cares staff Sherry Lynn Fazio and Siobhan Tiernan offer a step-by-step blueprint of how they moved their twitter following from 800 to 1,600 and brough 1,000 new volunteers to their MLK Day of Service 2011.
Continue Readingstorytelling, video sharing, website innovation
Rethinking the Annual Report for Video
Three things I know about the nonprofit annual report: it takes a ton of time to put together beautifully, few people actually read it, but funders require it. The annual report is one of those pieces of communication and collateral that executive directors and development directors dread putting together because it is such a costly endeavor with relatively little return and short shelf life. It doesn't have to be that way in the age of social. We've socialized constituent communication, websites, fundraising, and events...why not rethink the annual report into a social communication? Several nonprofit organizations have done just that, transforming the paper annual report into a video report, and reinventing it in the process.
Continue ReadingGoogle Plus, search engine optimization
Google+ Ripples: The Promise of Shared Intelligence
Google+ rolled out its Ripples feature on October 27, with just a hint of data potential within Google+ for marketing and engagement. Google+ Ripples is really the first set of metrics we've seen from Google around Google+. Ripples gives Google+ users relevant information about the use of circles, G+ influence, and how data is spread. Google+ Ripples has a lot of potential, including knowing your influencers, finding new influencers, knowing what others want to share, and of course implications for the future of online search and Google SEO. Why is Ripples really relevant for nonprofits? It can help nonprofits understand how to move connections on G+ (and elsewhere) to action. Read the full post for more.
Continue Readingcase studies, engagement, technology
Grinspoon Annual Conference: Sharing the Bright Spots of Effective Technology Use
presented at this year's Grinspoon Institute for Jewish Philanthropy's annual conference November 13-14 in Springfield, MA, and walked away impressed with some of interesting things that camps are doing with technology. Kevin Martone, the Institute's Technology Program Manger, wrote this guest post highlighting how three camps used technology creatively to meet their goals: online/offline relationship building through blogging and Facebook, engaging current families with an unique iPad/iPhone app, and social fundraising through livestreaming a phone-a-thon. As Kevin writes, "These camps evoke incredibly strong emotions in their alumni, campers, and parents. They need to use the tools available to harness these emotions and connect them to the real world.
Continue ReadingBig Blue Test 2011: More focused and successful than ever before
Every November leading up to World Diabetes Day on Nov. 14, the Diabetes Hands Foundation, (DHF) runs an online campaign, called the Big Blue Test. Diabetes Hands Foundation is one of the nimblest online organizations around. They are not afraid to experiment with social media, as I've written about previously. The success of Big Blue Test speaks to their belief in the potential of social media as much more than tools for socializing. They have time and time again leveraged Facebook, Twitter, Ning and YouTube to help people with diabetes connect with others like themselves, raise diabetes awareness and lately...help others in the process. All of this is possible when you align goals with participation paths, and you are not afraid to try new things. I spoke with Manny Hernandez, President of DHF, to understand how he leveraged the DHF community and social media in this online campaign, and why the Big Blue Test 2012 was the most successful yet.
Continue Readingguest posts, social media etiquette, Twitter
Three Simple Rules on Twitter: Guest Post by Susan Perri
Our social media experiences often boils down to one question: Do you want engagement? On Twitter, it’s going to require a two-way relationship, with communication that addresses questions and comments from your followers. Guest post author Susan Perri sees a lot of self-promotion and lack of common courtesy lately on Twitter. She offers examples of tweeps using Twitter expertly for real engagement, and three simple rules for using Twitter well. Ultimately, it’s quality, not quantity, and the same rules from your childhood playground still apply. Make friends, be nice, take turns, say please and thank you. Oh, yes, and have fun while you’re at it.
Continue ReadingThe Power of Dedicated Thanks and Followership
I cannot think of another organization that better exemplifies the concept of "followership" than Epic Change. They listen, include, incorporate, and respect followers. This year's Epic Thanks is a result of good followership. This Thanksgiving season, as in years past, Epic Change is raising money to support the Shepherds School in Arusha, Tanzania.
Continue ReadingSummarizing Google+ Pages: The Good, The Bad, The Possible
Google+ launched Pages this week, a move many of us have been looking forward to since the launch of Google+ itself. Within days, stories of unintentional G+ personal posting, problems sharing admin oversight, and issues with merged profiles were shared on the web. However, during that same time frame, hundreds of nonprofit organizations worldwide created and launched Google+ brand pages. Two nonprofit motivations are apparent. A primary motivation seems to be related to search engine optimization: Google is the largest search engine by far, and Google Pages will certainly benefit from Google's search algorithm (see why here). I wrote that Google's+1 button will change search, and so will Google+ Pages. The second unstated story is that everyone knows about the potential value in a Facebook Page, and everyone wants to get in on Google+ Pages early enough to start figuring out the medium. And maybe get a head start. I think two critical elements may be missing from nonprofit Google+ Pages: strategy and people.
Continue Readingengagement, Facebook, social media strategy, Twitter
Own the Conversation
What is your organization's primary topic of conversation online? If you don't know the answer to that, you may find that is the crux of the issue with your online strategy. Without knowing and owning the online conversation topic, your organization is doomed to wander aimlessly about in the online desert. To get at this, I often ask this simple question: "What about your industry or issue is so interesting that you want to have a conversation about it?" Taking this simple question a step further, I'll often ask: what topic of conversation is interesting to potential fans, can define your organization, but isn't about the organization itself? Knowing your conversation, then owning it, offers a map through the online desert to real engagement, trust-building, and advocacy. This post includes three examples of nonprofits who really know what their conversations are about, and execute them superbly.
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