Change.org's Nonprofits 2.0 Blog

Top Ten Change.org Best Practices for Nonprofit Admins

Heather Mansfield — 2009-09-21T13:14:00-07:00

Please Note: All nonprofits in the United States that have an entry in GuideStar.org are also on Change.org. You can access your nonprofit's profile and the Change.org tool set by signing up for a Nonprofit Admin account. Now on to the best practices:

1. Brand your organization's profile on Change.org.

Nonprofits can easily design their profile to match their website and other social networking sites. Once you brand your profile, then your actions, fundraising projects, fundraising pages, etc. are also branded which definitely results in more donations and action participants. Learn More: Nonprofits can now brand their own profiles on Change.org!

2. Send "Thank You Compliments" to all your donors and fundraisers on Change.org.

Donors on Change.org love receiving compliments and they often result in repeat donations. It's especially important that you compliment your donors that have opted out of providing their contact information to your organization. It's the only way to further engage them! [See Compliments]

3. Ask your supporters to create a fundraising page for your organization.

The number one reason people donate to nonprofit organizations is because they were asked to by either a friend or family member, or the nonprofit organization itself. The same is true of fundraisers. They need to be asked. There are hundreds of thousands of kind-hearted, generous individuals out there on the Web. Your role is to empower them to fundraise on behalf of your organization.

That said, promote your "Start A Fundraising Page" link [View Example] on your website, in your email newsletter, on your MySpace profile, your Facebook Page, and your blog. Imagine if you had 100 fundraisers out there on the Web asking their friends and family to donate to your organization! Fundraisers on Change.org usually raise between $50 and $2,500 for their favorite organization and numerous new donors. All you need to is ask them to fundraise for your organization and your core supporters will be more than happy to oblige. Fundraising pages have the most success during the holidays, so now is good time to be thinking about asking your supporters to create fundraising pages for your organization this holiday season.

4. Create an E-mail Petition.

E-mail petitions are by far the fastest an easiest way to build your Change.org community. Unlike other online petitions, Change.org e-mail petitions send an e-mail to the target each time someone signs on. When people sign on, they also become members of your Change.org community and 10% of those will also provide your organization their e-mail when then sign on (which can be downloaded to an Excel spreadsheet from your Admin Dashboard). Learn More: 15 Steps to Launching a Successful E-mail Petition Campaign on Change.org

5. Get active in our Cause communities!

Change.org has numerous Cause Communities and each one is guided by a blogger who is an expert in their field. Send each blogger a Supporter Request and let them know about your organization and the actions your organization is creating on Change.org. As you may have noticed, each Cause community has featured actions and nonprofits. Building relationships with our bloggers and participating in their Cause Communities is an way to possibly receive extra promotion on Change.org. And of course, bloggers love compliments and blog comments and it's a great way to get your nonprofit exposure on Causes.

6. Post at least 2 "Asks" a week.

A little bit like a Tweet with a call-to-action, Asks are an easy way to keep your profile current on Change.org. Asks also show up on our Nonprofits Page and will be soon integrated into Cause communities!

7. Use our "Take Action" and Fundraising Widgets.

After you create an e-mail petition, you can grab a "Take Action" widget that you can post on Blogs, MySpace, etc. Fundraising widgets are located in your Admin Dashboard. To see an example, of the widgets live, please visit the Nonprofit Organizations MySpace.

8. Grab Web 2.0 icons from your Admin Dashboard and post them on your Web site, Blog, Facebook Page, etc.

Not only can you link to all your social networking profiles on your Change.org profile, but we have also created a tool that will allow you to grab the html for these icons to post them on other social networking sites. Learn More: Need Web 2.0 icons for your Website, Facebook page, MySpace profile? Just copy and paste!

9. Put a Change.org "Donate Now" button on your Facebook Page, Blog, Website

Many nonprofits limit their Facebook fundraising to using Causes, but not everyone wants to donate via Causes. Using the Static FMBL App on Facebook, you can very easily add our "Donate Now" buttons to your Facebook Page. Learn More: HOW TO: Add a Donate Now Button to Your Facebook Page, Blog, Website

10. Post fundraising projects that are $10,000 or less.

Individuals are very unlikely to donate to fundraising projects with large dollar amounts because they want to contribute to a project that they known has a good chance of being fully funded. In addition to your General Fund fundraising project, post at least one or two more projects, but keep them at $10,000 or less. [View Example]

New YouTube Channels: What Nonprofits Need to Know

Heather Mansfield — 2009-09-09T12:16:00-07:00

YouTube has been testing a new channel design since July. Nonprofits that already have a channel can easily upgrade to the new design and tool set under Account > Edit Channel > Channel Information > Upgrade My Channel. For nonprofits that have yet to create a channel on YouTube, you are automatically given the new channel design when you sign up for your new YouTube account. The fact that new accounts automatically come with the new design make it pretty clear that at some point soon all channels will have the new design, so rather than being caught off guard, I would suggest that you go ahead and upgrade your channel to the new design if you haven't already.

Now let's compare the two designs. The Born Free Foundation has not yet upgraded their channel while Big Cat Rescue [an early adopter of using YouTube] upgraded their channel almost as soon as the Beta channels were launched. Visually, the look and feel of the two is strikingly different. Like all new designs, it takes awhile to get used to the new, but after working with the new channel layout and tool set for a couple of months now, I am a strong advocate for nonprofits upgrading to the new design.

One thing to keep in mind is that the ability to add a banner at the top of your channel is only available to nonprofits that have applied for and been accepted to YouTube's Nonprofit Program. If your organization has been in operation for longer than a year and listed in GuideStar, then you should be accepted. Just make sure that before you apply, you have designed the basics of your channel (colors and and the "Profile" section) and uploaded a couple of videos.

Once you have upgraded your channel, the design process is incredibly easy. See Mashable's HOW TO: Customize Your YouTube Channel. If you need more help, take my webinar on How Nonprofit Organizations Can Successfully Use Facebook and YouTube. Please also make sure that you friend me on YouTube at www.youtube.com/nonprofitorgs.

I am going to leave you with some pretty amazing stats aimed mostly at those nonprofits that have yet to get a YouTube channel... hoping to convince you that you must. Video is the future:

1) YouTube receives 120 million unique visitors from the United States each month. Compare that to Facebook's 72 million, MySpace's 71 million and Twitter's 21 million.

2) An impressive 79% of the total U.S. Internet audience view online video each month, moving to 88% by 2012.

3) Consumption is high across all demographics: 76% of children and 44% of seniors watched online video. Issues of race and class do not play themselves out on YouTube like they do on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

HOW TO: Add a Donate Now Button to Your Facebook Page, Blog, Website

Heather Mansfield — 2009-09-01T06:51:00-07:00

Nonprofits that sign up for a Nonprofit Admin Account can get access to a "Donate Now" button in 24 hours or less. The button comes in eight different colors and can easily be embedded onto your Facebook Page, Blog, or website by simply copying and pasting a small piece of html code. Some answers to FAQs:

1. There is no set-up fee for the button.
2. All donations made to nonprofits on Change.org are processed by Network for Good. They take out 4.75% of your donation to cover bank and credit card processing fees, and to be able to hire a staff that can mail your organization a check and donor report each month. It's worth noting that Network for Good is also a nonprofit organization.
3. Your check is mailed to the address in your organization's GuideStar entry, so make sure your contact and organizational information is current in GuideStar.
4. Your nonprofit must be a 501c3 or 501c4 and have an entry in GuideStar to be able to use Change.org, or if you are a fiscally sponsored project, then your fiscal sponsor must be in GuideStar. You can get into GuideStar by simply faxing them your IRS Letter of Determination [More Information].

Once you have been approved for a Change.org Nonprofit Admin Account, then simply login > Go to the Admin Dashboard > Click "Get a Donate Now Button > Copy the code of the button with the color of your choice. Then you can embed the button on your website, blog, Facebook Page, MySpace profile, etc.

As an example, the Center for Democracy in the Americas recently dropped their PayPal button and replaced it with a Change.org "Donate Now" button on their website, and using Static FMBL App they were also able to add the "Donate Now" button on their Facebook Page.

HOW TO: Add Twitter and YouTube Tabs to Your Organization's Facebook Page

Heather Mansfield — 2009-08-23T07:02:00-07:00

Involver is a new start-up that has some pretty amazing Apps that you can add to your organization's Facebook Page. Your first two Apps are free to install and if you want to later upgrade they do offer nonprofit and multi-account discounts. I recently added the Twitter and YouTube Apps to the Nonprofit Organizations Facebook Page. The Apps allow you to then create Twitter" and "YouTube" Tabs on your Facebook Page that pull in and nicely display all your Tweets and videos from Twitter and YouTube.

HOW TO: Add a Twitter Tab

Make sure you are logged into Facebook and designated as an Admin for your organization's Facebook Page. Go to the App Gallery. Click the Facebook Install button for Twitter. It will ask you to choose which Facebook Page you want to install the App. Select your page and then click the "Add Twitter for Pages" button. You will then be prompted to enter your name, email address, phone number, and Twitter User Name. All four fields are required.

Click "Save & Continue" and then "Continue to Fan Page". The final step is to click "+ Add a new tab" on your Facebook Page, then Select "Twitter". The Twitter Tab will automatically appear. You can then drag and drop your Tabs in the order you think it most important for your Facebook Strategy. Keep in mind that the default settings are that the "Wall" Tab is first, the "Info" Tab is second. [See the Involver Twitter App live]

HOW TO: Add a YouTube Tab

Simply repeat the steps above! You will not be prompted to enter your contact information again, however you will be asked to enter your YouTube User Name (www.youtube.com/username) and whether you want only your uploaded videos or your favorited video displayed, or both. That depends on how you use your YouTube channel. Most organizations would likely only want their uploaded videos displayed. [See the Involver YouTube App live]

Pretty amazing, eh? It takes less than 5 minutes and it's free. If you want to learn more about how to transform your Facebook Page and strategy to the next level, I cover Involver and many other Facebook Apps, tools, and strategies in my Webinar, How Nonprofit Organizations Can Successfully Use Facebook and YouTube.

#FollowFriday, #FanFriday and #FriendFriday Explained

Heather Mansfield — 2009-08-14T08:42:00-07:00

#FollowFriday, #FanFriday and #FriendFriday are hashtags. #FollowFriday has long been used by the Twitter community to suggest Twitter profiles to one another that are worthy of being followed.

Yesterday, as I was browsing through Tweets by nonprofits, I saw so many "Check us out on Facebook!" and "Become a friend on MySpace!" Tweets that I thought the law of diminishing returns must be kicking in by now. So, today I started experimenting with two new Twitter hashtags:

#FanFriday: A simple way to ask followers to fan a nonprofit on Facebook. Example Tweet:

#FanFriday Please help Gorilla Doctors achieve 100 fans on Facebook! http://bit.ly/fYP8H

#FriendFriday: A hashtag used to ask followers to friend a nonprofit on MySpace, YouTube, FriendFeed, etc. Example Tweet:

#FriendFriday Please help the Wild Dolphin Foundation achieve 46,000 friends on MySpace! http://bit.ly/42YdEm

These hashtags can also be used on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Change.org, etc. For example, on the Nonprofit Organizations Facebook Page and my personal profile, I just posted this Status Update:

#FanFriday Please help Gorilla Doctors reach 100 fans! A great organization that provides medical care to the world's remaining 740 mountain gorillas: http://bit.ly/fYP8H

Some hashtags take off, most don't. We'll see.

Celebs, Rock Stars and Nonprofits Are Not Friends (or Friendly) on Facebook, MySpace or Twitter!

Heather Mansfield — 2009-08-12T07:40:00-07:00

MySpace is the social networking site to all things pop culture. Launched originally as a social network for bands and musicians, there are now over 8,000,000 Music profiles on MySpace. I use MySpace to check out and find new music, but I mostly use it to promote nonprofit organizations and their causes to the MySpace community. The Nonprofit Organizations MySpace is a great community of mostly friendly people that has grown to over 40,000 friends over the last three years, but had any of the Top Artists on MySpace put the Nonprofit Organizations MySpace in their Top Friends, I have no doubt that the NPO MySpace would be well over 1,000,000 strong. But they didn't... not once.

It's a pet peeve of mine. If I had to guess there are well over 25,000 nonprofits on MySpace, but you'll find less than 10 of them in the Top Friends of Top Artists on MySpace. Beyonce? No. Jack Johnson? No. Katy Perry? No. John Legend? Sadly, again. No. Most of these musicians have over a million friends on MySpace. Something as simple as putting a nonprofit organization - any nonprofit organization - in their Top Friends would transform that nonprofit's brand on MySpace. I have spent hours and hours emailing hundreds of celebrities and rock stars on MySpace asking them to put their favorite nonprofit in their Top Friends. I only got one response ever... from Annie Lennox. She is the one exception in all of MySpace and has only nonprofits in her Top Friends. Thank you very much, Annie. Quite simply, you rock.

It's not that these musicians don't care. Most of them do quite a bit if charity work. It's more that there is just a huge disconnect between the entertainment industry and the nonprofit sector on MySpace. The example I always use to demonstrate how significant this disconnect actually is: Bono doesn't even have The One Campaign in his own Top Friends... his own nonprofit! What a missed opportunity. It takes less than 10 seconds. It's almost tragic when you consider how much time nonprofits are investing in just getting 1,000 friends on MySpace (or Facebook and Twitter). I wonder sometimes is it just a disconnect or are they afraid of losing fans/sales because they put the Humane Society, Amnesty International, or St. Jude's Children's Hospital in their Top friends? Hmm... does making any kind of statement at all hurt record/CD sales?

It's not just MySpace either. Celebrities and rock stars have hundreds of thousands of fans and followers on Facebook and Twitter, but the super vast majority don't use that power to promote nonprofits or causes one little bit. Despite the tens of thousands on nonprofit pages on Facebook, you'd have to search for hours for a famous celebrity or musician that "favorites" a nonprofit page on their page (I have never actually found one).... much less posts them as a link in Status Update. Can you imagine the power of the Black Eyes Peas posting the Facebook page for Save the Children as a status update to their 400,000 fans?

The same is true of celebrities and rock stars on Twitter. I have browsed around quite a few celebrity Twitter profiles, and the honest truth is most of their Tweets are vain, lack in substance, and just pretty much a complete waste of Twitter. Even Ashton Kutcher who has the most followers of any profile on Twitter - over 3,000,000 - and who rose to fame on Twitter by promoting Malaria No More's Twitter profile, doesn't even follow @malarianomore anymore - or any nonprofit on Twitter! Guess he can't be bothered... too busy being famous on Twitter.

Yes... celebrities and rock stars need to make a living just like the rest of us and use social media sites to sell their CDs and movies to make their millions. But personally, I think asking for 10 seconds of their time for a status update or tweet and one tiny top friend spot for their favorite nonprofit is very little to ask in return for seeing their movies and buying their music. In fact, it would most likely help their brand on social media sites. So nonprofits, if you have any connections with celebrtities and rock stars, make sure you send them a friend request! Then harass them endlessly until they give you 10 seconds of their social media fame.

5 Fun and Fabulous Twitter Tools for Nonprofit Organizations and Activists

Heather Mansfield — 2009-08-04T07:45:00-07:00

The number of third-party Twitter Apps has exploded over the last year. Twtbase currently lists over 500 of them, and I have highlighted five of my favorites for nonprofit organizations and activists below:

1) Twitter Mosaic: Twitter Mosaic allows you to generate html code of your Twitter Followers or Friends that you can then embed on a blog or Web site. CarbonFund.org used it to celebrate reaching 1,000 Followers. See their Twitter Mosaic.

2) Twibbon: Twibbon allows your followers to embed ribbons, icons, etc. on their Twitter avatars, and then spread them throughout the Twitterverse. It's an easy and effective first step for launching an awareness campaign on Twitter. Love146 is effectively using Twibbon. See their Twibbon campaign.

3) BubbleTweet: BubbleTweet allows to embed a video directly on your Twitter profile. We all know how annoying it is to go to a website and video starts playing right away, so BubbleTweet can be an effective tool, but I would suggest you use it only on special occasions. If you are a global health organization, then add a BubbleTweet to your profile on World Malaria Day. Or if your organization is doing a special campaign to push to get folks to call Congress, then add a BubbleTweet on that day asking them to call and telling them the phone number. I don't know of any nonprofits using BubbleTweet yet, but click here to view an example of an individual using BubbleTweet on Twitter.

4) TipJoy: TipJoy allows nonprofits to accept micropayments from individuals on Twitter. Both the nonprofit and the individual needs to have a PayPal account. See TipJoy's FAQ for more information. Charity:Water's Twestival is probably the best know TipJoy success story.

5) Twititions: Twitition helps you create, sign, and share petitions on Twitter. I like the idea, and the functionality of the Twititions themselves, but I personally don't sign them because it automatically posts to my Twitter profile that I signed the petition. The idea is a good one, but the agressive marketing component could be annoying to your supporters. Hopefully a service like this will come the nonprofit sector soon!

In my Webinar covering Twitter and Flickr, I cover all five of these tools... as well as 15 more that are useful to the nonprofit sector. Tweeting and ReTweeting is powerful in and of itself (that's been my experience), but using some of these third party tools can really transform your Twitter strategy!

10 Insights Gained from Spending 7,280 Hours on Social Media Websites

Heather Mansfield — 2009-07-27T13:02:00-07:00

This week marks my 3 and half year anniversary of launching the Nonprofit Organizations MySpace. That decision changed the course of my life and my career. Today, I am now the Nonprofit Community Manager at Change.org, run "Nonprofit Organizations" profiles on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn, and have my own business, DIOSA Communications, which specializes in Web 2.0 marketing and social media trainings and webinars for nonprofit organizations, higher education, and small businesses.

I spend an average 40 hours a week utilizing social networking sites (2,080 hours a year!) and during that time have gained numerous insights, but the following 10 are what I consider the most timely for utilizing social media today:

1. Early adopters get the most glory and tend to be the best a social media.

Early adopters like The Humane Society of the United States and the National Wildlife Federation had epiphanies about social media and its potential long before the blogosphere caught on. That "A-ha!" moment fueled their passion to get past early blocks to their success, like convincing fearful executives and staff that these sites were not dangerous, that these sites were not just for narcissistic teens that want to be famous, and that indeed utilizing these sites was not a colossal waste of time, rather essential because social media was the future of the Web.

Early adopters began utilizing MySpace and Facebook mostly in 2006 and 2007 respectively, and now more than three years later, these nonprofits are recognized leaders in the field. They have received countless mentions by adoring bloggers and reporters and been the focus of numerous case studies which over time has translated to significant Web buzz and increased numbers of supporters and new donors. Being pioneers and risk-takers paid off. This is a lesson every nonprofit, business, or college or university should keep in mind. Reward your forward thinkers, empower them, and don't be afraid to try something new.

2. Approaching social media with fear and trepidation can harm your brand.

It's so obvious when a nonprofit has been given permission to tip-toe into social media, but with instructions to be cautious and careful. Their Tweets or Status Updates are a little too uptight, more akin to Marketing 1.0, and do very little to inspire conversation. They close off their wall or put their profiles on private. They miss the big picture and do exactly what they are not supposed to do... try to control social media. Social media is all about letting go of control and being open, provoking conversations, and building community through vibrant and sometimes controversial opinions. Calculated exercising of caution actually works against your nonprofit on social media sites.

Nonprofits that are fearful of social media, or being open, but engage in it anyway because everyone else is doing it can actually do harm to their brand because they come off as boring and/or old-fashioned. People expect you to be open on social media sites. They expect more than the traditional glossy, perfectly crafted Web content. They want personality. The want to be inspired. They want to be impressed. They don't want rules and they don't want to be told how they can participate on your profiles. Any attempt to do so, and they just won't participate.

3. People who are mean and grumpy online are likely mean and grumpy in real life too.

The fear that cripples so many nonprofits even still today usually comes from the fear that someone will post a negative comment on their wall, or blog, or in the Twitterverse. Well, after spending over 7,280 hours on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Change.org, and more recently Twitter, I have received more than 20,000 wall comments and @mentions, and have had to delete less than 10 of them because they were rude and derogatory.

Most people who use social networking sites are very friendly, especially in the nonprofit sector. Those few that do post something grumpy or downright rude and inappropriate tend be that way in real life too. Nothing you say or do can please them. They are just difficult, mean and grumpy people in general. So, don't worry so much about these folks. They are tiny in number and can easily be blocked from participating in your profiles. Don't give them a second thought or that much power! I learned that the hard way. At first, I tried to engage them, but over time, I realized indulging in their negativity was a big waste of my time and mentally draining. I now ignore them completely and delete or block them without a second thought. They are exceptionally rare.

Of course, some nonprofits that work on controversial issues are more likely to have to deal with naysayers or extremists that are not respectful of others opinions in the online commons. In these cases, let them post. It's nothing your nonprofit hasn't heard before. They are going to say it anyway someplace else on the Web, and 9 times out of 10 your supporters are going to to come to your defense. That's social media at its best. Over time, you'll get a sense of when to let it ride and when to delete and block.

4. Some schmoozing is required.

I am terrible at schmoozing, but those that are good it can transform your nonprofit's online brand in a matter of months. Building friendships with complete strangers online, chatting up bloggers and flattering their work, and doing cold calls/emails/friend requests to nonprofit experts is essential to getting mass exposure for your nonprofit in the era of Web 2.0.

There is a fine line though. Come on too strong and these folks can get annoyed and lose respect, so be subtle about it. But yes, some schmoozing is required in your social media strategy. One of the easiest ways to effectively schmooze is to Retweet their articles, blogs, etc. just make sure they are mentioned in the Tweet so they know you did it!

5. Good community builders are optimistic, friendly, and obviously enjoy using social media.

Nothing is worse than whiny Twitterer, a cranky MySpacer, or an ungrateful Facebook Admin. Again, most nonprofit folks are pretty friendly and just all around good people, but still to this day, I am sometimes just astounded that the person running a nonprofit's social media profiles got the job. They are negative, consistently post bummer content, never responded to questions posted on walls or blogs, and just give the all around impression that they completely resent having social media added to their job description.

Good community builders are optimistic about even the most depressing of realities. They understand their mission is to empower folks to create change on social media sites, not to overwhelm them into apathy with depressing stats and information. They are friendly. They provide good customer service. They have a good grasp of emoticons and exclamation points. They don't ignore their friends, followers, and fans. They engage them, and most importantly, they thank them for their support.

Good community builders love social media. They don't need to be real tech saavy, but they do need to enjoy being on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Change.org, and MySpace. Otherwise, your social media strategy won't work. It's not the profiles or sites themselves that are powerful, it's the human being behind your organization's social networking profiles that will make or break your social media success.

Your communications director with 20 years of experience who doesn't get social media may not be the person to run these profiles. It may be your new office manager who loves to Tweet on their iPhone on their lunch break. Find the person or people at your organization who enjoy social media, and give them the green light to embrace and experiment... and find their voice on social networking sites.

6. Race and class divisions are played out on social networking sites and must be considered in your social media strategy.

I must confess, I think the nonprofit sector has been very slow to acknowledge, accept, or even realize how race and class play a role in social media. I don't know of any nonprofits that have a group on BlackPlanet.com and very few utilize Hi5.com which is increasingly becoming popular here in the United States with some Asian American communities.

Most nonprofits live in Facebook/Twitter bubble. While these sites are becoming more diverse as they grow larger, it's clear to anyone who uses MySpace regularly that there is much more diversity in age, race, and class on MySpace than Facebook or Twitter, yet the nonprofit blogosphere is pretty much silent, or even antagonistic towards MySpace, despite its popularity. The Facebook vs. MySpace War runs deep and permeates throughout the primarily white, middle-class blogosphere.

It's a complicated subject. It's hard to quantify. It can be inflammatory. Nothing is absolute when it comes to discussing race and class, but I do think the nonprofit sector has failed terribly in understanding how race and class play a role in social media. If you are an organization trying to reach low-income youth in Houston or a labor union trying to organize busboys and dishwashers in Los Angeles County, then my first advice to your organization would be to get on MySpace. That's advice that's rare and hard to find, and still sadly, mostly ignored.

One of my heroines is Danah Boyd, one of the lone voices out there speaking about and studying how class and race divisions are played out on social networking sites. Please become familiar with her work and plan your social media strategy accordingly!

7. You have to be persistent and give your social media strategy time to produce results.

Most nonprofits are disappointed with their initial results from utilizing social media sites. There is a lot of hype out there that pretty much gives the impression that if you have a Facebook Page and a Twitter profile you'll have a million new fans and followers within a few months. The reality is your lucky if your nonprofit breaks 1,000 fans/followers within three months (especially if you are small organization) and fundraising on social networking sites has produced mediocre results at best. A lot of nonprofits at this point abandon their social media campaigns as failed strategies.

Don't do that! It's going to take you 6 months just to find your voice. Developing the skill set of a good community builder and social networker is learned through trial and error. You know you are doing well if your wall is getting "Thumbs Up" and comments, or that your getting Retweeted, or in many folks' Top friends on MySpace. Most nonprofits aren't getting this kind of action at all. They approach social media from a marketing point of view, or just to engage in fundraising. That's not where the power is. It's in storytelling and community building around your organization's mission and programs. If you can learn how to do that well, the ROI from marketing and fundraising will follow... later.

Personally, I don't even think we have begun to see the potential of social media. In terms of fundraising and utilizing social media on mobile devices, the best it yet to be. That's why you need to be persistent and continue to slowly build your profiles and social media skills set. Your organization's investment in social media today is laying a foundation for, dare I say... Web 3.0 tomorrow.

8. Training is essential to a successful social media strategy.

Knowing how to use Facebook to stay in touch with friends is quite different from using it as marketing tool for your nonprofit. Tweeting for fun is not the same as Tweeting for work. MySpace is huge and complicated and requires basic HTML knowledge. A common mistake that nonprofits make is that they think because they know how to use these sites in their personal lives, then they also now know to use them professionally. Wrong. Get training!

Most Facebook pages I see from nonprofits are a shell of what they could be. MySpace pages are a disaster. Only a fraction a YouTube functionality is utilized. Twitter is not as simple at it appears and nonprofits could be using it much better than they are. All of these sites require basic HTML knowledge, but less that 5% of nonprofit admins seem to even know the HTML code to link their organization's website. Get training!

DIOSA Communications gives detailed, how-to webinars on social media, as well as TechSoup and Idealware. Training will transform you social media strategy. Those that have taken webinars and been properly trained are outperforming those that haven't 10-to-1.

9. The Web evolving faster than you can imagine. To stay competitive, you have to keep up.

I have a hard time keeping up! I have been working with nonprofits with 15 years now, and a good 10 years of that time spent solely on online communications and development. I thought websites, email marketing, and Donate Now buttons and their potential were mind-boggling in 2001. That's nothing compared to what's happening now. The Web is opening up and evolving so quickly, in many ways truly beginning to reach it potential to democratize the global community, and there is seemingly a hundred new third-party Twitter tools and Facebook Apps launched every day. And who knows what is coming next week, next month, next year?

The fittest will survive... the early adopters will thrive... and some just won't be able to compete. Your nonprofit is only going to be able to allocate your social media strategy to volunteers and interns for so long folks. At some point, your nonprofit is going to have to invest in a new media communications and development position if you really want to remain timely and relevant five years from now. What's coming next will happen faster than either you or I can imagine, and you will need someone on staff who can dedicate their time and focus completely on understanding and embracing the next evolution of the Internet. Now is the time to be looking ahead. If you are just now getting on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Change.org and MySpace... I hate to break it you, but you have a lot of catching up to do!

10. Social media is going mobile.

Where is all this leading? What's the next Big Thing? Why put all this energy into building your organization's profiles on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Change.org, and MySpace? The simple answer is social media is going mobile. If you would have told me 3 years ago that I would be checking my MySpace profile in airport on an iPhone, I would have thought you were some crazy SciFi conspiracy theorist. Not only that, I would have thought... "What a pain in @ss! Who wants to do that? Have their computer with them at all times? How [George Orwell's] 1984!"

I didn't see it coming, but now that it's here... I love it. My iPhone is well-deserved of the honor of being named Time Magazine's 2007 Invention of the Year. I enjoy Facebook more on my iPhone than on my laptop. And Twitter is ideal for mobile technology and advocacy. Don't believe me? Ponder these stats for a moment:

* There are 271 million cell phone subscribers in the United States. 88.5% of the population.

* Today, 74% of all mobile phone users send/receive text messages.

* There are 4X as many mobile phones in the United States as there are PCs.

* The number of U.S. cell phone users who accessed the mobile Internet in January 2009 reached 22 million, doubled that of one year earlier.

* The number of U.S. cell phone users who access social networking sites via the mobile Internet has quadrupled in the last year.

Make no mistake about it. The mobile Web is the future, and social media sites will be the backbone of the coming mobile Web. The time for early adoption is now. If your organization was a little late adopting social media, now is your time to be an early adopter, get the glory, and be the best. Learn more at MobileActive.org and DIOSA Communications.

Ask, and Ye Shall Receive: Donations, Volunteers, Supporters on Social Networks!

Heather Mansfield — 2009-07-06T11:43:00-07:00

After ten years of working with nonprofits and helping them learn how to utilize the Internet to further their mission, there is absolutely one best practice that has stood the test of time... nothing happens online until you "Ask". It's rare that an individual donates through your Web site without you asking them to first in an e-mail newsletter or funding appeal. People usually don't subscribe to your e-mail newsletter unless you ask them to at events, on your Web site, or on social networking sites. And volunteers don't generally tend to show up at your front door without you asking for their support.

Of course, there are exceptions and some donations and volunteers do seemingly fall from the sky, but in general, this best practice is one that I verbalize in Webinars and public speaking events over and over. Nothing happens online until you ask. Ask your donors to visit your Web site and make a donation. Ask your supporters to create a fundraising page for your nonprofit on Change.org. Ask your Facebook Fans, Twitter Followers, and MySpace friends to sign your online petitions. If you want results online, then ask often and ask politely.

Change.org took this best practice of asking for support online and launched "Asks" with our new nonprofit profile design. Asks are featured front and center on your profile, and are integrated throughout our site (on our Nonprofits page for example).

So, make sure you login to your nonprofit admin account [sign up if you don't have one) and post at least 2-3 Asks a week. You can post these Asks to your Twitter profile with one click and people can "Like" your Ask as well as comment directly on your "Ask". It takes less than 30 seconds to post an Ask and something so simple has increased traffic to nonprofit profiles over 200% in just the last few months!

Change.org launches "Take Action" widgets for e-mail petitions!

Heather Mansfield — 2009-06-18T14:42:00-07:00

E-mail advocacy just got a little more exciting! Now when nonprofits create e-mail petitions on Change.org, they can also grab "Take Action" widgets that they can embed on their website, blog, and social networking profiles. Individuals who sign on to your e-mail petitions can also grab these widgets and help promote your campaign throughout the Web.

For example, the Ocean Conservancy recently created an e-mail petition to "Stop Shark Finning" (View E-mail Petition). I signed the petition and then was able to grab a "Take Action" widget and put it on the "Nonprofit Organizations MySpace"... see left here.

So simple, yet so powerful and once again, Change.org is innovating and providing incredibly powerful tools to the nonprofit sector for free! Just got say... I am very proud of how Change.org and nonprofit toolset has evolved over the last 12 months. Nonprofits and their needs really are at the top of our list. Thanks to all of you early adopters of our site. We couldn't have done it without you. :)

Is your nonprofit on Twitter AND Change.org?

Heather Mansfield — 2009-06-12T05:48:00-07:00

If so, please login to your Change.org Nonprofit Admin account and add your Twitter link to your Change.org profile. See the lower right of the Nature Conservancy's profile for an example.

The reason I ask is that I run twitter.com/nonprofitorgs and I donate 10% of the gross proceeds from my Web 2.0 Webinars to nonprofits. I am now only donating to nonprofits that are on both Twitter and Change.org because I like to "Tweet" the donations. Example:

Just donated to @wildlifesos @campsoaringeagl @nature_org @seashepherd @smiletrain on Change!

But if you don't have your organization's Twitter account posted on your Change.org profile, then I usually can't find you on Twitter in order to make the donation. I tend to donate $10 to lots of nonprofits on Change.org, rather larger sums to fewer organizations.

It's also helpful if you post your organizations's Twitter URL in the comments below. It might get you a few new followers too. Thanks.

15 Steps to Launching a Successful E-mail Petition Campaign on Change.org

Heather Mansfield — 2009-06-03T12:07:00-07:00

If you follow the 15 steps below, your nonprofit can use e-mail petitions on Change.org to recruit thousands of new supporters to your Change.org profile, and in the process, secure hundreds of new e-mail addresses to add to your database… often in just a few weeks. You’ll be astounded by the ROI (Return on Investment), especially if your petition wins our weekly contest where the top three petitions are featured on our Action Center and in our weekly e-mail newsletter sent to almost 500,000 changemakers!

Please Note: Change.org e-mail petitions are very unique from other online petition services in that they also generate e-mails to "targets". That's why I call them "e-mail petitions"!

1) Make sure you are logged into your Nonprofit Admin Account when you create the e-mail petition.

For signatories of your petition to become “Supporters” of your nonprofit on Change.org, make sure that you create the petition in your Admin Dashboard under “Post an Action”. This also ensures that your nonprofit name is hyperlinked on the petition, and that it shows up in all nonprofit feeds on Change.org. Some nonprofits mistakenly create petitions while logged in to their individual accounts on Change.org.

2) Brand your Change.org profile so your e-mail petitions are also branded.

Nonprofits on Change.org can brand their own profiles in the Admin Dashboard > Edit Profile Branding. You can upload a banner and customize the colors of your profile to match your organization’s Web site. Branding your nonprofit profile also brands all your petitions. Petitions often go viral and having your organization’s branding ensures higher opt-in rates.

3) Limit your e-mail petition description to two paragraphs.

A short and succinct description not only looks better on your petitions, but it is also easier on the eyes for Web readers. A lot of text can easily overwhelm your readers. Also, make sure you use the chainlink tool in your description to link to your Web site at least once.

4) Select a target(s).

Whether it is President Obama, an elected official, your local supermarket, or a CEO of fortune 500 company, the Change.org petition tool allows you to virtually target any individual or institution in the world. The word “target” often gives the impression an of an aggressive attack, but you can also use petitions to thank a target, such as Thank President Obama for Easing Travel Restrictions to Cuba.

5) Keep your letter short, respectful, and include a clear call to action.

The is especially true when creating petitions that target elected officials. Use words like “Dear, Sincerely, Sir, Madam, Respectfully Yours, Please, etc.” Individuals in general will not sign on to petitions that are not respectful and courteous. Also, make sure the letter is short and to the point, and always include a clear call to action, such as Call on Investors to Stand up for Human Rights in Darfur.

6) Use a video over a photo if possible.

If you have a good video related to the subject of your petition, definitely feature the video on your petition. Video consumption on the Internet is high all across all demographics, and videos are much more engaging than one photo. You can’t upload videos to Change.org, but you can grab the embed code of your video on YouTube. Each time someone watches the video on your petition it also increases your “Video Views” on Change.org and your YouTube channel which is very important if you are using YouTube’s Nonprofit Program.

7) Set your e-mail petition goal at 1,000.

That’s a fairly easily target to reach and individuals are more likely to sign on if you have an attainable goal. When you get close to reaching your goal, you can always login, edit your petition, and increase the goal number.

8) Send “Supporter Requests” to our Top Activists and Recruiters, then invite them to sign on to your e-mail petition.

Now that the Change.org premium service is free, all nonprofits can now send “Supporter Requests” to top recruiters and activists on Change.org. Login in to your Nonprofit Admin account, visit their profiles, and you will see a “Send a Supporter Request” button just under their photos. Recruiters and activists can bring in hundreds of new signatories for your organization within a few days.

9) Subscribe your signatories to your e-mail newsletter list.

Petitions on Change.org have an average opt-in rate of about 10%. So for every 100 people that sign on to your petition, you can download approximately 10 e-mail addresses into an Excel spreadsheet from your Admin Dashboard, and subscribe them to your e-mail newsletter. Sponsored petitions on Change.org have an opt-in rate of 75-90%. Contact Ben, our CEO, at ben@change.org for more information about sponsored petitions.

10) Message your supporters at least twice a month.

Since individuals that sign on to your petitions also become “Supporters” of your nonprofit on Change.org, you can send them bulk messages in your Admin Dashboard > Message Supporters. As a general best practice, don’t use this function more than twice a month and don’t always use it to ask for donations.

11) Tweet your e-mail petition.

An ideal Tweet: Take Action :: Put a stop to the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel!: http://bit.ly/iQhUM Please RT!

12) Post your action as an “Ask”.

After you have sent your Tweet, copy, paste and post it as an “Ask” on Change.org. Asks show up on your nonprofit profile and in nonprofit feeds.

13) Post your e-mail petition as a “link” on Facebook.

Posting “Links” is the secret to getting your nonprofit to show up in feeds on Facebook. Post the link of your petition on your Facebook Page so your fans can sign on and take action.

14) Create an Action Center on your Web site.

Be like the Natural Resources Defense Council and create an “Action Center” on your Web site. It’s a great way to engage your supporters. An “Action of the Month” on your Web site and in your e-mail newsletter is usually pretty popular with supporters as well.

15) Send compliments to your recruiters and signatories.

Individuals on Change.org love receiving “Compliments”. It’s absolutely necessary that you send compliments to donors, but sending compliments to your recruiters and signatures also makes a great impression. It pretty much assures that they will continue to recruit for your organization, and participate in future petition campaigns.

Change.org Upgrade: Nonprofit "Jobs" Now Featured on Nonprofit Profiles

Heather Mansfield — 2009-06-03T06:29:00-07:00

Job postings by nonprofit organizations on Jobs for Change are now featured on nonprofit profiles under a new tab called "Jobs". See Amnesty International's profile as an example:

change.org/amnestyusa

In addition, job postings are now also featured in the lower right of nonprofit profiles, and the nonprofit's name is now hyperlinked on the job posting itself to the nonprofit's profile on Change.org. This will allow and encourage job applicants not only to become supporters of your nonprofit on Change.org, but active participants on your profile. Pretty exciting stuff. Social networking meets human resources meets job seeking with a twist of online activism.

Job postings cost $50 and appear for 30 days. Post a Job!

HOW TO: Use Change.org as an Online Giving Portfolio

Heather Mansfield — 2009-05-28T09:40:00-07:00

Thanks to Change.org's partnership with GuideStar.org, individuals can donate to any nonprofit in the United States on Change.org and use their individual profile to create and manage an "Online Giving Portfolio." The benefits are:

1) Individuals can download annual reports that summarize all their donations made over a year for filing taxes. No more managing numerous receipts from numerous nonprofits to file your taxes! Click, print, and you are done.

2) You can opt-out of providing the organization your snail mail address. No more print materials cluttering your mail box! Most Web 2.0 donors happily opt-in to provide their e-mail address when donating on Change.org, but the vast majority do not want the nonprofit to waste valuable natural and financial resources sending print newsletters, funding appeals, calendars, etc.

3) Donors on Change.org do receive a "Thank You" email from Change.org with every donation made for tax reasons as well, but nonprofits on Change.org also post "Thank You" comments on your wall and "Thank You" compliments. It's fun. It's different. It's Web 2.0 at its best, and its a great way for donors and nonprofits to interact and build relationships online.

4) In addition to being able to manage all your donations in one place on the Web, donors can also use their Change.org profiles to participate in e-mail advocacy, gift giving, fundraising for their favorite nonprofits, participate in causes, find a job, and stay in contact with friends.

On Change.org, online philanthropy meets social networking meets online activism meets socially responsible gift giving. There is nothing else like it on the Web!

I started using Change.org as an online giving portfolio before I started working with them. I am the classic Web 2.0 donor. I don't want print materials from nonprofits - thus do not donate on nonprofit's Web sites and my check writing days are long gone - and I am a big fan of social networking. Change.org is my hub for all things nonprofit, especially online giving. See my profile as an example.

To sign up for your own profile and to begin your online giving portfolio, just sign up and make sure you send me a friend request!

Need Web 2.0 icons for your Website, Facebook page, MySpace profile? Just copy and paste!

Heather Mansfield — 2009-05-07T08:41:00-07:00

This is so exciting and does not exist anywhere else on the Web! Now thanks to our awesome programmer here at Change.org, nonprofits can simply copy the HTML code for our Web 2.0 icons and paste them on their Web site, their blog, Facebook Page, MySpace profile, etc.

This new feature can be found on the Admin Dashboard > Get HTML for Web 2.0 Icons.

Now not only can you link to your various social networking profiles on Change.org... see lower right:

http://www.change.org/nature

But you can now also copy and paste the code for these icons and embed them on your Facebook Page and/or Myspace profile:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nonprofit-Organizations/27795452714
http://www.myspace.com/nonprofitorganizations

So simple, but so necessary! A Tip: You need to use the FMBL App on Facebook.

The available icons are: Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, and LinkedIn.

If you do not yet have a Nonprofit Admin account on Change.org, just sign up!

Finally, if you do post these icons on your Web site, Facebook Page, or MySpace profile, please post a comment and link on this blog. I would love to see them live!

Change.org Upgrade: Flickr and LinkedIn Icons Added to Nonprofit Profiles

Heather Mansfield — 2009-05-04T13:23:00-07:00

Change.org recently added new Web 2.0 icons to nonprofit profiles and now nonprofits can also link to their group on LinkedIn and profile or group on Flickr! See lower right:

www.change.org/self

Not only that, very soon you will be able to grab the html code to populate these icons all over the Web. Check back in a few days! Lots of exciting upgrades occuring on Change.org.

Change.org Upgrade: Nonprofits can now brand their own profiles on Change.org!

Heather Mansfield — 2009-05-01T06:29:00-07:00

Nonprofits can now brand their own profiles in their Admin Dashboard > Edit Profile Branding. You can upload a banner for the top of your profile and select the colors for sidebars, headers, and links. See Amnesty International and Greenpeace as examples.

If you brand your own channel, please post here! I want to see examples and feature branded channels on the Nonprofits Page. Thanks!

Navigation and Sidebar: This is the background color used for your community navigation bar and the right-hand sidebar. It should be a very light/faint color, otherwise it will overwhelm your text.

Nav & Sidebar Edges: This is the border color used on your navigation to separate the tabs, and as the outside edge on the sidebar. It should be a similar color to the background, but a darker shade.

Sidebar Header Bg: This is the background color for the horizontal section headers on your sidebars. It should be a dark color as the header font will be in white.

Links and Headers: This is the color that is used for your links and headers in the main column of your pages. It is also used for your organization's name in your banner if you don't upload a custom banner. It should be a dark/bold color.

Banner: This is the color that will be used for the background of your organization's banner if you do not upload a custom banner.

Change.org Nonprofit Admin Accounts Explained :: The Premium Service is now free for all nonprofits!

Heather Mansfield — 2009-04-13T12:12:00-07:00

First, it is important to understand that through our partnership with GuideStar.org every nonprofit that is inside of GuideStar.org is also inside of Change.org. So when you are signing up for a Nonprofit Admin Account on Change.org, you are not signing up to create a new profile. Rather, you are signing up to access a profile your nonprofit already has on Change.org. The exception is nonprofit organizations that are located outside the United States. When you sign up for a Nonprofit Admin account you are creating a new profile on Change.org, but because your organization is not in GuideStar.org, you will not be able to use our fundraising tools.

Second, Change.org is an incredible value and an important asset to nonprofit organizations. The tool set is extensive and free for all nonprofits. There is no other place on the Web where nonprofits can go to get all of these tools in one place... and at the same time tap into an online community of almost a half million online donors and activists.

Third, Change.org has partnered with Network for Good to process the donations made on the Change.org. They send you a check and a donor report once a month. They charge 4.75% to cover the bank and credit card fees, postage, and the staff time necessary to process millions of dollars in donations.

Fourth, Change.org has discontinued our premium service which was $20 month. Rather, the premium service tool set is now free for all nonprofits on Change.org!

When you sign up for a Nonprofit Admin account on Change.org, within 24 hours you have access to:

1. Access to your organization's profile on Change.org (View Example)
2. Calls to Action: You can immediately "Ask" your supporters to take action on pressing issues. (View Feed of "Asks")
3. Email Petitions (View Example)
4. Pledges (View Example)
5. A Blog: (View Example)
6. An e-Newsletter Sign Up Box (View Example- Lower Right)
7. Ability to link to your profiles on other social networking sites (View Example - Lower Right)
8. Gift Donations (View Example - Lower Right)
9. "Donate Now" buttons for your Web site, Facebook Page, etc. (View Example)
10. Ability to send "Supporter Requests"
11. Ability to bulk email your supporters on Change.org
12. MySpace Fundraising Widgets and App (View Example)
13. Community badges for your Web site, Facebook Page, etc. (View Example)
14. Ability to download donor and supporter contact data
15. The ability to upload videos, view supporters on a Google map, and much more.

This is just the beginning of all the tools available to nonprofit organizations on Change.org. You can learn more by taking one of our free weekly Webinars. Times and dates listed on the right here!

Fourth and finally, after you sign up for a Nonprofit Admin account, you then get access to your Admin Dashboard. View Example:

10 Twitter Tips for Nonprofit Organizations

Heather Mansfield — 2009-03-11T06:42:00-07:00

Newsweek said it best: "Suddenly, all the world is a-Twitter." Simple and powerful, Twitter is a must for nonprofit organizations. I created and manage a portal to nonprofits on Twitter @nonprofitorgs and based on my experience using site, I have crafted ten of my favorite Twitter Tips for beginners:

1. Authenticity before marketing. Have personality. Build community.

Those nonprofits who are most successful at utilizing social networking Web sites like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace know from trial, error, and experience that a “marketing and development approach” on social networking sites does not work. Simply put, it comes across as lame. Traditional marketing and development content is perfectly fine for your Web site and e-mail newsletters, but Web 2.0 is much more about having personality, inspiring conversation, and building online community. Nowhere is this more true than on Twitter. Relax, experiment, let go a bit… find your voice. Be authentic.

2. Be nice. Be thankful. Reply and Retweet!

Twitter functions much like Karma. The nicer you are to people in the Twitterverse, they nicer they are to you in return. The more you ReTweet (RT) others, the more they will RT your Tweets in return. And whether it’s Twitter, MySpace, Facebook or YouTube, if someone does something nice for you in the public commons of Web 2.0, it is always a good practice to send them a message of “Thanks… much appreciated!”. Kindness and appreciation will make you stand out from the others and makes an excellent impression.

3. Follow everyone who follows you.

This is a hard one for a lot of nonprofits. They want to keep their “Home” view clutter free and controlled and only follow a select few. Honestly, they only want to follow those whose Tweets that they are really interested in reading. But I say this often… “This time it is not about you, it is about them.” Web 1.0 communications is all about us and our messaging i.e, your Web site and e-mail newsletter. Web 2.0 is all about your supporters and their messaging. It’s better to create a personal Twitter profile in order to only follow those select few you are interested in reading, but if you are going out on Twitter behind your organization’s logo a.k.a. avatar, it is a mistake to not follow all your followers in return. Why?

1) Twitter is about conversation. You can’t have a conversation on Twitter if you are not following your followers. It is a one-sided relationship.

2) They can’t message you on Twitter if you are not following them.

3) It’s a snub. Let’s face it… people on Twitter want to be followed. That’s what the site is about! How can you build community on Twitter if you won’t even participate with your followers?

Have a look around Twitter… you will see the most successful, ReTweeted nonprofits follow everyone who follows them.

4. Use “Favorites” to organize the chaos and feature your most important Tweets!

So, if you are going to follow everyone who follows your organization (which is hopefully thousands of people) then “favorite” Tweets by those who you are most interested in reading and favorite your most important Tweets. The favorites option on Twitter is a simple, excellent tool to help you organize the chaos.

5. Don’t tweet about your coffee (unless it is fair trade), the weather, or how tired you are. Provide value to your followers, not chit-chat!

It’s one thing to chit-chat about the weather, your headache, or how you need coffee to wake up in the morning on your personal profile on Twitter, but it’s quite another if you are active on the Twitterverse via your organizational profile. The messages you send reflect upon your organization. Example of what not to Tweet: “Such-and-such Nonprofit got stuck in traffic this morning. Ugh! I need coffee and a vacation… and I think I am getting a headache!” No one likes a whiner and this just makes it sound like Such-and-Such Nonprofit is not a fun place to work. People follow you because they want good content from your organization on subjects relevant to your mission. Make sure your Tweets provide value and are Re-Tweetable.

6. Don’t only Tweet your own content.

Twitter is a news source. Participate in news. Tweet articles or blog posts by your favorite newspapers, bloggers, or other nonprofits (yes... other nonprofits! Find allies, build relationships). If it is a good read or a good resource, it reflects well upon your organization that you Tweeted it. There is also a good chance you might get ReTweeted if the article is deemed timely and worthy by the Twitterverse.

7. Send messages, but not via auto-responders.

There are tools out there that will automatically message your new followers. Don’t use them. It’s Spam. It’s not authentic. It’s not human. It's lazy marketing. I think this cartoon sums up auto-responders perfectly.

8. Don’t worry about those that “unfollow” you.

It’s easy to feel slighted when someone stops following you. What did I say? Did I do something wrong? Let it go. Who knows why they followed you in the first place. Give it no more than 3 seconds thought and then move on.

9. Limit your Tweets to 5 per day, and no more than 6!

I have been polling on Twitter and the Twitterverse has revealed that less is more when it comes to Tweeting. See poll results.

10. Twitter is what you make of it. You get out of Twitter what you put into it. This is the same of all Web 2.0 social networking sites.

Twitter is a fun, valuable tool that can drive significant traffic to your Web site (start watching your Web site referral logs!) and help build and strengthen your brand in the online world of Web 2.0, but just like Facebook and MySpace, Twitter requires time and energy to produce results. You get out of it what you put into it. If you do one Tweet a week, you will get the results of one Tweet. But if you Tweet 4 times daily Monday through Friday… you will get the results of 20 Tweets weekly.

Again, it’s about community building around your mission and programs. Just having profile on Twitter (or MySpace, or Facebook) does not magically produce any results. You have to work these profiles. Find the person on your staff who loves Web 2.0 and enjoys working the sites and/or find a marketing/pr intern from your local university that needs to do a senior project! If they are getting college credit, then you know they have to stay around for at least a semester. :)

Change.org is on Twitter @changedotorg

Five Things Your Nonprofit Needs to Know About Web 2.0 Donors

Heather Mansfield — 2009-02-08T06:57:00-08:00

Over the last few years we've heard a lot of discussion about nonprofits and their use "Web 2.0" and social media. Much of the focus has been on the fundraising tools themselves [namely "Apps" and "widgets"]... What are they? How do they work? Do they work? But very little analysis has been made about how Web 2.0 donors are different.

I am on Change.org, MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter a minimum of 50 hours a week and I have been noticing and pondering some distinct characteristics of Web 2.0 donors:

1) The vast majority are in their 20's and 30's and are very comfortable with Web 2.0 technology. Once they start giving on sites like Change.org, they don't go back to Web 1.0 giving (your website).

2) Most Web 2.0 donors also don't want to receive your print materials. They want you to save the resources used to print the materials and the postage necessary to mail them. And they definitely don't want a print thank you letter for the $10 donation they gave you on Change.org! They have come of age in an era where environmental sustainability and frugality is much discussed and increasingly prioritized in their personal lives. This worldview directly affects they way they give and they way the want to be approached by the nonprofits that they support.

3) They want "Thank You" wall comments and compliments! They donate in a public commons like Change.org, therefore the vast majority also appreciate being thanked in the public commons.

4) On average, when they donate they will provide you their e-mail address 75% of the time. I believe, despite much talk lately of e-mail "dying", that in fact the opposite is true. Your nonprofit needs to focus more on your e-mail newsletter than ever before because e-mail may be the only way you can contact and nurture your Web 2.0 donors (outside of Change.org).

5) They give in smaller amounts, more often, and to many nonprofits that they have never heard of before until they saw them on Change.org, Facebook, MySpace, etc. In short, if your organization isn't on these sites, then your organization is not on their radar screen. In most cases, they will only become repeat donors if you nurture and interact with them where they live online.

I am a classic Web 2.0 donor. In 2008, I gave almost $1,200 to 90 nonprofits on Change.org. In the backend of my individual account, I can see a running list and total of all the donations I have made since joining Change.org in February of 2007... and print out a tax-receipts for 2007, 2008, 2009, etc. I never would have give made 90 separate donations on 90 different websites... not only because it takes time, but think of all the paper and postage that would have been wasted! My contact info would have been bought, sold, and traded many times over... this is why I won't donate on an organization's website. On Change.org and other Web 2.0 giving sites, I have the control over my giving and contact information.

Web 2.0 giving is addictive. I only gave $300 in 2007. Giving on sites like Change.org is fun... and I earn frequent flyer miles (to which I am addicted) by using my credit card.

Is your organization ready for the Web 2.0 donor? Whether your organization is ready or not, the Web 2.0 is donor is going to grow quickly over the next few years. So, get ready! Focus on your email efforts and learn how to use Change.org. Take my Webinar! Less than 10% of the nonprofits I gave to in 2008 gave me a "Thank You" comment or compliment... breaking the Golden Rule of Fundraising... "Thank your donors and thank them often."

And finally, understand that your organization will continue to have your check writers and your Web 1.0 Donors, but there is third group of donors out there now that is entirely different. Your approach to them, how you thank them, and engage and inspire them to give again needs to be entirely different as well.