Using the News

Many nonprofits don’t take advantage of what’s going on around them in the news media.  It is a golden opportunity to promote their work based on hot topics in the media. 

Lately women’s health issues have dominated everything from social media to print to the airwaves.  If your nonprofit serves women, particularly women’s reproductive health issues, it is the perfect time to promote your work to donors as well as the news media.

You don’t have to take sides – just tell your story and include your return on investment messaging to let your supporters and interested parties make their own conclusions about continued support.

If nonprofits could run on coffee

Nonprofits have faced some strong challenges over the past several years. Donations have been down while requests for assistance have been up and recent articles point to a trend that shows many nonprofit executive directors will be retiring in the next few years.

What’s a nonprofit to do? The critical element to any situation is communication. So Cause to Communicate is having some fun by offering a giveaway of coffee (and delicious things to dunk in coffee!) through our Facebook page.

Bold Bean Coffee has roasted an organic Cause to Communicate blend to please your palate and get the conversation going.

Seriously, if nonprofits could run on coffee wouldn’t the world be a better place! So go to our Facebook page and “Like” us for a chance to make your nonprofit run on coffee.

 

How to make your party the biggest in town

Blackbaud is reporting that since 1999, online donations for events have grown an average of 50% annually and now account for 30% of most major US events. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube all make it easier for people to connect and they are connecting for nonprofit events.

A Nielsen Online Global Index Survey from Dec. 2007 to Dec. 2008 reported that people now spend more time on social networking sites than they do on email.

So what is the bottom line on social media and events? It’s all about friends asking friends to participate. Look for more on Cause to Communicate about social marketing and events.

The next big idea

A friend steered me to an article about the next big idea. It’s currently in design phase but the purpose is to connect individuals and organizations in the areas of philanthropy, volunteerism and social networking. It is being designed by Chris Hughes, one of the founders of Facebook, who left the company to design the social media network site my.barackobama.com that revolutionized presidential campaigning.

Why am I excited about Jumo.com without really knowing what it will do?  Chris Hughes has a great track record. And I see the possibilities that this will have for the Millennial generation’s involvement in the nonprofit area. They are already the generation that is more socially aware, more digitally linked, and more concerned about others than any other generation in American history.

So check it out. Wish I had invented it!

More on social media

The Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project is a great snapshot of the use of social media by young adults. This is particularly important for nonprofits seeking to reach this population.

The study shows a decline in blogging among teens and young adults but a small rise in adults 30+. This decline was related to the growth of social media network sites with 72% of young adults using them.

Though the Idealware survey talks about Twitter, be aware that teens and young adults are not big users of the site. Facebook is the king of social networks for adults.

Cause to Communicate loves reading these market research studies. There are gems in there if you look hard enough that will make your fundraising efforts more successful.

Twittering for dollars

Idealware just published a survey on using social media to meet nonprofit goals. Not surprisingly, the study showed that social media helped enhance relationships with existing supporters and build relationships with new supporters. Those new supporters might not be giving a lot of money but there was opportunity to establish that relationship.

LinkedIn and MySpace were the least used social media channels. Again, not surprising since LinkedIn’s focus is on business relationships and MySpace seems to be for tweens.

The most surprising answer was that respondents felt that Twitter was considered as the most-effective channel for reaching potential new supporters.

What this all really means is that nonprofits need to be more aggressive about their role within the social media network. You can’t afford not to participate.