Category: technology

Is your agency like Goldilocks when it comes to online content?

technology

goldilocksI’ve been blogging regularly since May 2011, which makes DonorDreams blog three years old next month. As with everything in life, there have been ups and there have been downs with things such as readership, content, and tech issues. I’m sure those of you who know me well, won’t be surprised to read that I tend to obsess over questions such as:

  • Is the post is too long or too short? Will people read it?
  • Is the headline going to capture readers’ attention and result in a click-through?
  • Is the email subject line going to result in a higher open rate?
  • Is the tweet too long or too short? Will it result in a RT?
  • Are my sentences too long? What about my paragraphs?

I know some of you are rolling your eyes and chalking these questions up to my obsessive personality. While this reaction is well deserved, the reality is that there is a science to how you compose your non-profit organization’s emails, tweets, blog posts, etc. And since you’re not emailing, tweeting and blogging just for the heck of it, I think it is important to understand the science behind these things, especially if you want people to read your stuff.
internet content infographicLast week, an old friend of mine from high school poked me on Facebook and posted an article from Kevan Lee at the Buffer blog. He does an awesome job of untangling the facts and figures while sharing some really great charts and graphs on this subject.
If you want your donors to read your Facebook posts, tweets, website and blog content, then this link is worth the click. Kevan even developed a wonderful little infographic to help you remember and use the content in his post. I’ve included it in this post for your review.
When it comes to evaluation strategies for DonorDreams blog, I have not been very fancy because I don’t have any money budgeted for those types of activities. The blog is just a labor of love. So, when I’ve wanted to know something (e.g. whether or not the theme formatting of the blog is attractive, etc), I’ve simply asked readers and friends for feedback. How did I do this? I went on Facebook and Twitter and asked.
Does your agency evaluate and play with content, length of content, and promotion strategies? If so, what have you found? What measurement strategies did you use? What did you do with what you learned? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comment box below. We can all learn from each other!
Here’s to your health!
Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

How does your non-profit organization use SEM?

technology

An effective way to market your agency’s website

By Rose Reinert
Guest blogger
rose1For those of you who are new to the DonorDreams blog, I’m going chapter by chapter through Lon Safko’s book, The Social Media Bible,  on Mondays and applying his thoughts to the non-profit sector. We continue this lovely Monday with Chapter 19, “Marketing Yourself (Search Engine Marketing)”. Last week we began exploring SEO, and this week we dig a little deeper into marketing yourself through SEM — Search Engine Marketing.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is one of the most effective strategies to market and advertise your website; however, there is a cost. In this chapter, Safko unpacks the idea of the idea of CPC (aka Cost Per Click) or PPC (aka Pay Per Click).
At first glance, this entire chapter seemed difficult to apply to our non-profit world. Many budgets are tight and marketing generally does not have a lot of wiggle room. However, after some additional research, I found an awesome manual that will help us explore how to apply SEM to our non-profit world.
The Non-profit’s Guide to Search Engine Marketing  is a free online manual to help your non-profit organization spread its message, cheaply and effectively, with the help of SEM. It gives great examples from real non-profits that effectively apply SEM to increase visibility, attract supporters and donations, and create awareness for their cause.
pay per clickOne great suggestion I found in this resource was to think about ways to turn your charity projects into brands (e.g. the Tap Project). It helps if the brand is descriptive, as opposed to abstract, because people tend to search for generic terms. For example, “CureBlindnessNow” could be both a brand and a search term i.e. “cure for blindness”, “how to cure blindness”, etc.
This online manual doesn’t just explore SEM, but it also provides the reader with even more topics addressing overall online presence, social media, etc.
It is a great read (as is Safko’s Social Media Bible) and worth the click!
I am interested in hearing how your agency utilizes SEM for your organization. Please share your experiences.
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When should your non-profit board NOT vote by email?

Board governance, technology

email votingIn a recent conversation with a friend about their non-profit board, it came to light that board members used email to take an important vote because scheduling a special board meeting was too difficult with everyone’s busy schedules.
After hanging up the phone, I couldn’t get this conversation out of my head because the issue this board had voted on was really contentious and there had not been very much consensus coming out of the previous board meeting. The question that kept zipping around my head was:

“When is it not appropriate for a non-profit board to use email to vote?“

So, I went to Google and started clicking around. The answers I found might surprise you!
The first article I found in The Nonprofit Quarterly was titled “E-mail voting: A Simple Trap for Nonprofit Boards” immediately raised red flags for me, especially when I read:

“The busy schedules of nonprofit board members make face-to-face meetings seem like a luxury. Consequently, a new trend has surfaced that may run afoul of the law—the vote by e-mail option.”

The words “RUN AFOUL OF THE LAW” jumped off the page.
As I continued reading, I learned another interesting fact. Many states prohibit non-profit boards from voting by proxy and email is seen by courts as being akin to a proxy vote. The Nonprofit Quarterly does a nice job of explaining why:

“The theory behind this prohibition is that the discussion and interchange of ideas that occur at board meetings are essential to the informed exercise of the directors’ fiduciary duty to the corporation.”

In other words, the government doesn’t want to enable busy people to take an easy way of meeting in-person to discuss important issues and perform their governance and oversight responsibilities. Huh? That makes sense to me!
Since I am a resident of the great (and bankrupt) State of Illinois, I started clicking around Google to see if my friend’s board had just broke the law. I quickly found that they had not because the state recent changed the law. Here is an excerpt from a publication on Venable LLC explaining the change:

The new law, which becomes effective on January 1, 2010, amends the General Not For Profit Corporation Act. Regarding the use of electronic means of communication, the bill:

* States explicitly that notices to members and directors may be delivered by electronic means to an email address, fax number, or other appropriate contact listed in the records of the corporation or approved by the organization’s articles of incorporation or bylaws.

* Allows members to act without a meeting by voting through mail, email, or other electronic means, where the old Act only permitted members to act without a meeting through the written consent of all members entitled to vote.

* Removes certain notice requirements associated with actions taken by the members through unanimous written consent.

* Provides that any action required to be “in writing”—by either the members or the board of directors—may be taken by electronic means, unless actions by electronic means are explicitly prohibited by a corporation’s articles of incorporation or bylaws.

So, do I have you concerned yet? If you’re outside of Illinois, do you find yourself wondering if your agency has been breaking the law? Are you starting to wonder — like I did — when is it and when is it not appropriate to use email to record a board vote?
If you are asking these questions, then GOOD . . . my job here is almost done.  😉
board discussionThe following are just a few suggestions you may want to consider:

  1. Do some research on Google (or ask an attorney) if email voting is legal in your state.
  2. If it is legal and you want to add this governance tool to your toolbox, add language to your bylaws specifically authorizing email voting.
  3. Engage the entire board in a governance discussion about when email voting is appropriate and when it is not appropriate . . . build consensus and codify these decisions in your bylaws.
  4. Use email voting sparingly . . . don’t get in the habit of using it.
  5. Discourage the board from using an email vote for issues that aren’t routine and lack consensus (in other words, issues that need to be discussed and where consensus needs to be built).

Has your board ever taken an email vote where it felt wrong to do so? Please use the comment box below to share when this has happened. Why? Because we can all learn from each other.
Here’s to your health!
Erik Anderson
Founder & President, The Healthy Non-Profit LLC
www.thehealthynonprofit.com
erik@thehealthynonprofit.com
http://twitter.com/#!/eanderson847
http://www.facebook.com/eanderson847
http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikanderson847

Three letters that will change your non-profit website — SEO

technology

How visible is your agency’s website?

By Rose Reinert
Guest blogger
rose1Happy Monday, everyone! This week, we look at Chapter 18 of Lon Safko’s “The Social Media Bible” focusing on Search Engine Optimization. This week’s chapter resonated with me greatly because I had just dealt with it at work!
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a complicated practice, but a very simple concept. In a nutshell, SEO is the way to impact the visibility of a website or webpage in a search engine, in a natural, unpaid way. The benefits are obvious . . . when someone searches for you or what you do, you want to be on the list and on the first page.
I experienced this first-hand!
Over a year ago, I started as the Community Outreach Liaison for an area non-profit serving the medical and dental needs of all, regardless of the ability to pay. Our website had a lot of heart behind it, but it was clear we could use a make-over!
So, we did just that.
We discovered, if you jumped on Google or Yahoo and typed in, “pediatric dental Medicaid” that our site we would not pop up! Why? Because we had not a one page dedicated to our dental clinic.
It is still an ongoing process as we continue to focus on our content (e.g. the words we use and how we would want to have people find us).
If you want people to find your website, start by looking at your website and seeing what is in the content. Include key phrases that describe your organization and what you do. The best way to impact your SEO is to pay attention to your content and ensure it is current.
If you want to learn more about SEO, you will want to pick-up a copy of  The Social Media Bible and devour chapter 18. Here are a few additional resources I suggest checking out online:

What has been your non-profit experience with SEO? What phrases do you use to optimize your SEO? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comment box below.
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How do you use RSS?

technology

Is your website donor-centered? If so, then you better offer RSS to users.

By Rose Reinert
Guest blogger
rssOK, Erik is back from baseball Spring Training, today is Opening Day and DonorDreams blog is back. Since it is Monday, we’re looking at Chapter 17 of Lon Safko’s “The Social Media Bible,” which is all about “RSS-Really Simple Syndication Made Simple”.

RSS- or Real Simple Syndication- is a one click solution that allows your readers to subscribe to your content and receive updates the moment you publish it.

Like many topics I’ve covered since Thanksgiving, RSS can again work both ways. You can . . .

  1. add this option to your agency’s website
  2. utilize it yourself to stay up-to-date on a variety of topics including those that are relevant to your sector, agency or mission.

The first step is easy — get an RSS reader. There are several options out there including:

After choosing your RSS reader, you can navigate to the news area of the RSS and add the link from the “Subscribe to RSS” of the site you wish to follow. Then it is set. You can review up to date information as it pulls from those sites.
Pretty simple!
So, one of the first steps is to add the “Subscribe to RSS” icon to your website. Normally, people look for these near your Facebook and Twitter icons.
I am very curious as to how you are using RSS on your site. What are you following using RSS? What benefits do you see to encouraging donors or volunteers to follow you with RSS?
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A quick recap of our Social Media Bible posts

technology

It is halftime for our “Social Media Bible” blog series

By Rose Reinert
Guest blogger
rose1Just over three months ago, I was excited to join the DonorDreams community as a guest blogger. For those that have seen the movie Julia & Julia, Julie Powell takes on the challenge of cooking every recipe in Julia Child’s first cookbook and blogs about it. In the spirit of that movie, I agreed to take on the challenge of reading “The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools & Strategies for Business Success,” by Lon Safko and blog about the things that I find.
As we hit the half way point of the book, I thought I would take this time to revisit our journey.
Non-profit social media strategy? Quality not quantity!
In the first chapter, we began with very fundamental questions about how often an organization should post to social media and proposed a paradigm shift in regards to how we think about marketing through social media.
Are your non-profit agency’s social media posts relevant?
It was in the second chapter that I uncovered focuses on the bittersweet fact that social media is a two-way street of communication. Despite how terrifying that is, there are opportunities to learn more about how to better engage donors, volunteers and supporters.
Does your agency use email effectively as a marketing tool?
The third chapter tackles utilizing e-news, and proposed the biggest question of how to avoid the trash can before even getting your message across. Ultimately, the message focuses on ensuring that your content grabs and engages your reader.
Is your non-profit’s website changing with the times?
Chapter four dives into websites, and how they can either draw people in or turn them off. Taking a look at how user-friendly, and mobile friendly, your website is can greatly impact how you share your mission and message.
Pre-blog technology might be helpful to your agency’s fundraising program
Internet forums are highlighted in Chapter 5, and we looked at how to engage donors through these forums. Also, we discovered that there are several forums currently that could offer benefit.
Why your non-profit agency should be blogging
This next chapter looked at blogging, and we considered the potential benefits of writing a blog. We also looked at the potential for reading various blogs that could build professional development.
Non-profits are engaging and collaborating using wiki
Here we unwrapped the tool — Wiki. This was a difficult read for me as I tried to wrap my head around what Wiki was and how it could benefit non-profits. I did find some great ways, however to utilize wiki!
Your non-profit needs to learn how to say “Cheese!”
Chapter eight highlighted the impact of utilizing pictures! There is no doubt that pictures can share so much more than words many times, and beyond this, we highlighted statistics that indeed supported utilizing pictures in posts to catch your donor, volunteer or prospects’ eye.
Coming next week we will continue to explore diverse ways to engage donors, volunteers and potential supporters. Here are a few additional articles from previous weeks that I didn’t summarize in today’s post. Enjoy!

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What is your non-profit agency doing in virtual environments like Second Life?

technology

To Infinity and Beyond: Non-Profits setting up shop in Second Life

By Rose Reinert
Guest blogger
rose1Happy Monday and welcome back to our weekly blog series! As we dig deeper into Lon Safko’s book, “The Social Media Bible,” we explore more unique forms of social media. In chapter fifteen, “Virtual Worlds- Real Impact,” cracks open a unique and impactful way to engage supporters, volunteers and build community.
First, to understand the basics, a virtual world is an Internet-based simulated environment. Second Life, founded by Philip Rosedale, launched on June 23, 2003. This virtual world includes avatars and was designed to encourage personal, one-on-one communication. The NonProfit Commons project (NPC), managed by TechSoup Global, is a virtual community of practice for non-profits to explore the opportunities and benefits of Second Life.
This chapter was beyond challenging for me.
Virtual worlds are beyond my normal realm. Despite this challenge, in my exploration, I found some cool ways virtual worlds are being utilized by our non-profit sector.
American Cancer Society Relay for Life
Second City has hosted the American Cancer Society Relay for Life since 2005 and has raised over $650,000. Supporters can choose an avatar and complete the race. This community also has engaged more than 100 cancer survivors.
WeeWorld: Partnership for a Drug Free America
The Partnership for a Drug Free America (PDFA) has just announced the successful completion of its WeeWorld campaign to educate young people about substance abuse prevention and the consequences of drug and alcohol abuse. With over 55 million registered users, the showpiece of this initiative was the real-life recovering teen JT whose WeeMee avatar reached 20,000 friends by the end of the campaign.
These are just a few examples! Explore more at Second City and share some of your experiences.
Here are a few additional links you may want to explore:

How have you seen virtual worlds utilized n the non-profit sector? How could virtual worlds be utilized to engage donors or volunteers?
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Engaging others with webinars and online radio

technology

Trainings, virtual meetings, advocacy!

By Rose Reinert
Guest blogger
So, in the first 13 chapters of Lon Safko’s book — The Social Media Bible — he establishes that social media is about so much more than just Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.  Safko continues expanding our understanding in chapter 14 when he writes about webinars and online radio.
Of course, webinars are seminars and trainings conducted over the internet; whereas, online radio is an audio program (or music) transmitted over the internet.
One of the pillars of a good board development / board governance plan is a training program. Unfortunately, this is a lot easier said than done.
When I was an executive director, I tried really hard to get board members to attend conferences. I brought trainers to town, and I even tried to integrate small training nuggets into our board meetings. The reality is that board volunteers are busy people and breaking away is always difficult.
Thanks to the magic of social media (and specifically webinars and online radio), non-profit professionals now have additional tools in their toolbox to engage board volunteers and other stakeholder groups.
Webinars
webinarAt my previous agency, their national office made tremendous investments in webinars (aka distance learning). The following are just a few of the training titles I saw them offering:

  • Creating a Committee Work Plan
  • Holiday Mailings
  • Implementing a Resource Development Plan
  • Managing Donor Relationships: Using a Donor Database
  • Board Development 101
  • How to Create a Board Development Plan

If you really wanted, there is nothing stopping you from designing your own trainings and using webinar services to facilitate those distance learning events.
In addition to trainings, I also see some agencies use tools like GoToMeeting and Adobe Connect combined with conference call technology to host virtual meetings.
In my experience, there are some important things to keep in mind when it comes to webinars:

  1. Participants have many distractions from the home and office (e.g. email, phone calls, interruptions), and it is easy to lose your audience if your presentation isn’t highly interactive with lots of questions, polls and surveys. Ask questions of participants in advance of the webinar and answer them during the webinar.
  2. Distance learning is not the same as in-person trainings and meetings. Keep these sessions short and sweet (e.g. 30 to 45 minutes).
  3. Participants need to be reminded to show up because (for whatever reason) these virtual events are easier to not show up for compared to real-time events.

If you are looking for FREE webinars or pre-recorded webinars to use with your board members and fundraising volunteers, check out some of these resources:

Online radio
online radioMany people have discovered Slacker radio, but online radio isn’t just about streaming music while you workout.
Many decades ago, radio was a mainstay in our grandparent’s living rooms (before the advent of television). Once television squeezed radios out of the picture, many of us just listened in our cars as we drove from place-to-place.
Online radio has liberated radio from our cars and enables music and talk shows to be heard on our work and home computers. This, of course, opens up lots of possibilities for non-profit organizations.
The most obvious possibility was already cover by Erik Anderson on October 21, 2013 right here on the DonorDreams blog in a post titled “Have you discovered non-profit radio yet?“. In that post, Erik introduced us to the Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio.
If you haven’t checked out Tony’s online radio show about the non-profit sector yet, it is definitely worth it.
Of course, your non-profit organization can start its own online radio station. Why? Because it is another opportunity to get your message out there. It is marketing. It is prospect cultivation. It is donor stewardship. It can even be something you integrate into your agency’s programming with clients.
If you want to learn more, I suggest you go pick-up a copy of Lon Safko’s book — The Social Media Bible.
The Houston Chronicle also published an online article with a number of excellent links relevant to this topic. Click here to check it out.
How is your agency using webinars and online radio? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comment box below.
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Your agency can use Twitter to engage donors and supporters

Fundraising, technology

Tweet this!

By Rose Reinert
Guest blogger
rose1I think the morning after the “big game” is a great time to unwrap the impact of utilizing Twitter. It was hard to watch the game without seeing a ton of hashtags encouraging viewers to follow the excitement or learn more about a company or product by following it on Twitter. Lon Safko, author of The Social Media writes about “microblogging” in chapter 13, which begs the question: “What is microblogging and what does it have to do with Twitter?”
Simply stated, microblogging can be described as the act of sending a text message or sharing videos, photos, or  audio. It allows you to make friends, give and receive advice, and most of all, get up to the minute news. Of course, the most familiar microblogging tool is Twitter, which is something your non-profit should be using.
There are many benefits to Twitter, but to maximize those benefits it is important to first cultivate a strong community of supporters, and even more importantly, remain relevant. Twitter is not meant to set and forget. You need to provide real-time updates (e.g.  photos, videos and engaging questions are all great ways to attract attention).
Another way to utilize Twitter is as a fundraising tool. There are countless stories of successful fundraising through the power of Twitter. In my local community, Community Crisis Center, a domestic violence shelter raised over $150,000 in two weeks using Twitter and social media. This was unheard of in our community, but is possible with the right formula.
As I took a deeper dive into other organizations that have successfully raised funds utilizing Twitter, I stumbled on Twestival. Twestival describes themselves as, “The largest grassroots social media fundraising initiative in the world.”
twestivalHow does Twestival work?
Twestival is a movement that uses social media for social good by connecting communities offline on a single day to highlight a great cause. All local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of the ticket sales and donations go directly to local non-profits who organizers identified as having an incredible impact.
What I loved about this group was that: 1) a volunteer had to register an organization . . .  a non-profit could not register themselves and 2) you receive a mentor to help make your “event” a success. This is a great way to gather support for your organization, but you need to  be careful. More likely than not, supporters will not be sustainable for the long term (e.g. donor turnover is very high among people who contribute to your twestival). However, it is possible these individuals might continue to follow you on Twitter or Facebook and become loyal investors if you work hard at engaging them.
If you plan on adding Twitter as one of your agency’s fundraising strategies, like any effort, it must be intentional, strategic and consistent. Maximize your efforts by highlighting volunteers, special events, and educating about your mission and how you are meeting your mission.
How have you used Twitter to engage donors or share your mission? Please share your experiences with raising money utilizing social media or specifically Twitter.
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Does your agency's technology plan depend on 12-year-olds?

organizational development, technology

The School Bus Won’t Wait

By John Greco
Originally published on May 21, 2012
Re-posted with permission from johnponders blog
Pensive Businessman Using LaptopDavid was a tenured college professor.  While an expert in his field, he knew very little about computers; just enough in fact to get on a network and ask for help.  Fortunately, a more experienced user came to his aid, never failing to give just the right advice.
One morning, when a vexing problem was plaguing him, his expert advisor who had been on-line with him for over an hour, said, “I’ve got to go.”  David pleaded with him, “You can’t leave me, we’ve almost found the solution.”
Across the electron world came the next sentence:  “You don’t understand, my school bus won’t wait for me.” 
David thought for a moment, his curiosity mounting, “How old are you?” he asked.
“I’m twelve,” was the response on his screen, “and I’ll talk to you later.”
Source:  Community Building:  Renewing Spirit and Learning, Edited by Kazimierz Gozdz, (c) 1995.

tech2A few short years ago, we couldn’t have even imagined such a scenario.  In the past, proximity and commonality brought us together.  We had family and close friends; help came from familiar places.
Today, help can come from anywhere, from anyone, at any time, on anything.  Help can come from the most unlikely people.  And from the most unlikely places.
A twelve year old across the globe can help a college professor.
There is great potential in the invisible network of an electronic community, no?   Technology is enabling us to connect like never before, opening up possibilities like never before.
We can pretty clearly see the upside for problem solving and innovation, speed and progress, quality and quantity of work.
But just think of the possibilities for changing our attitudes; our prejudices and biases; of slowly dissolving bigotry, and discrimination; and racism, sexism,ageism …
Even the possibilities for relationships!  Today, my son can play an on line, real time game with like-minded people from all across the world, and in so doing, develop a friendship with a girl a thousand miles away that has real meaning.
Gives new meaning to “the girl next door” doesn’t it?  She can now be here, there, anywhere!
I can imagine a lot, but I can’t imagine what life will be like 100 years from now.  You and I will never know.  Even my mom’s upcoming fourth great-grandchild may not know.
I wonder who my mom’s fourth great-grandchild will have as friends and family?  It certainly does suggest a different slant on “extended family” …
And I wonder who will be helping my mom’s fourth great-grandchild when she is an aging professional seeking help with the emerging technology of that time?
Technology.  Adapting to change.  And possibility.
As I age, and as technology advances, it is likely I will start falling behind.  It is already happening.  I have a cell phone that I only use to make telephone calls.  :-)
tech3And I already see that I’m not adapting fast enough to keep pace with the innovations.  The technology school bus isn’t waiting for me!
But, as I age, I hope I can keep seeing the possibility.  I will likely need help with this.  I hope I can stay open-minded and aware enough to know that my mom’s fourth great-grandchild’s help will only be a click or two away.
Here’s hoping she can help me before she needs to leave for school!
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