In an international survey of social network users, InSites Consulting found that social network users trust brands' social sites for information about the brand itself, second to peer information. Is this astonishing? In the article, I also think about how nonprofits can utilize this information for their brands.

Have you ever received a request to connect with someone on a social network, but you have no idea who this person is? Or why he or she wants to connect? In this post, I suggest the best practices for trying to connect with someone you don't know on Linkedin, and why.

Nonprofit organizations constantly need to raise funds, and many are turning to social media to raise funds online. Organizations ask, "when does social media lead to more money?" The real question to think about is, "when does engagement lead to more money." Using social media to engage, listen and learn from stakeholders is the first requirement for a successful online fundraising strategy.

Why don't organizations create meaningful, strategic taglines? A tagline represents the mission of the organization, distilled into less than eight carefully chosen words. Company taglines, and professional taglines, should move the mission forward in all social media updates, and make networking more strategic and informative.

Social Media tips from Affilicon Israel 2009.

Facebook Causes is one of those conundrums in the nonprofit world - it seems like a perfectly wonderful tool for gaining attention for a cause, but there are significant barriers to adopting Causes as an online giving mechanism. The biggest barrier is cultural: people are used to socializing on social networking sites, not giving. But they will...it's just a matter of time. This post explores the barriers to online social giving.

A new set of data shows that Twitter drives one in every five visitors to social networks, and more visitors to blogs than the search engines do. How can you take advantage of this knowledge? This post analyzes the data and offers suggestions for better Twitter usage to take advantage of this information.

What metric do you use to find where your stakeholders are most social online? Time spent online on social networks, cross-referenced with good demographics are the key.

Why do people join online communities and social networks? A new report talks about what it takes to befriend someone in a social network.