So What Can a Nonprofit Do With Social Networking?

Social networking is one of the most popular ways constituents connect and meet people.

Nonprofits can parlay social networking into fundraising and awareness campaigns.

Ways nonprofits can use social networking and fulfill their missions.




1. Set up group pages and individual profile (more is better; be everywhere): develop a presence on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. Link them to each other and link back to the nonprofit's website.

2. Use gadgets: such as a fundraising thermometer or the honor roll tracking tool, to create a visual representation of how well the organization is meeting its goal(s). Solicit supporters to post your gadgets themselves that create viral momentum.

3. Post bulletins: announce new tools available for use on personal webpages, such as promotional banners and news clippings. Againg, be sure reciprocal links are in place.

4. Recruit volunteers: to be social networking "ambassadors" so they can act as an additional hand reaching out to more people and enabling those people to reach out to even more potential supporters.

5. Promote: use social networking pages as another medium to communicate and promote the organization, events, campaigns, etc. and add ways that constituents can promote on their individual pages.

Consistency is key here. Share the same "face"(images, messages, etc.) in all online interactions.

LinkedIn Questions and Answers

I don't answer many LinkedIn Questions, but this one prompted my response:

Promoting a website to a specific demographic

My Wife runs a Mother, Father and Baby Website and is different from the usual Free Hosted sites, plastered in adverts. Her site is free and for Mums and Dads only, no dating customers etc. Its free from Advertising etc at present. It receives approximately 3m page views per month.

Can anyone advise me on the best way to promote her site to new mums etc over the world apart from using the normal Google search...

Richard Foleher, Siemens Senior Account Manager within the Rocom Group

My Answer (deemed #1, Winning, Expert)

So little time and so much content, especially on the web! For free placements and fast attention, I always suggest creating and posting a video (keep it short, entertaining and relevant). You can upload the video to YouTube, embed it on your website and make it part of your viral and press release marketing. Be sure to tell people that if they like what they see, you want them as "Ambassadors" or "Evangelists" and to "pass it on".

Also, if you have some marketing budget to work with, you can rent email lists from most of the major magazines in your target market. Find them on your favorite newstand (or google them, if you prefer), contact them. Some may even work with you on a trade basis. Use a simple email program like ConstantContact and promote your site directly to your target audience.

Another thought: if you want to remain FREE and free from advertising, there are plenty of consumer goods manufacturers out there looking for product placement to elevate their brand. Find relevant products, contact the mfg'er and see if they'd like to work with you. (Example: Think of the car nameplates and soda can labels you see in TV shows now!)

Hope this helps...I write about this stuff on my blog, too.

Manufacturers are Putting More Emphasis on E-Business

A healthy majority (77%) of US manufacturing companies surveyed, believe that e-business (defined as web sites, email, online marketing, intranets and extranets) is “extremely” or “very” important to their company’s goals. And, 90% agreed or strongly agreed that e-business is “essential to the long-term success” of their companies.

When asked to identify their key e-business objectives, the response was:
to give information about the company (88%)
produce sales leads (70%)
bolster brand awareness (66%) and
complement customer service (55%).

The trend now seems to be to provide a more interactive web site experience rather than a static “brochure”.

Source www.btobonline.com

The Million Dollar Homepage -- Internet Marketing Phenomenon

The Million Dollar Homepage is a website conceived by Alex Tew, a 21 year old student from Wiltshire, England to help raise money for his university education. Launched on August 26, 2005, the website generated a gross income of $1,037,100 USD and has a Google PageRank of 7. The site's Alexa ranking as of January 14, 2006 is 127.


The index page of the site consists of a 1000 x 1000 pixel grid (one million pixels), on which he sells image-based links for US $1 per pixel, in minimum ten by ten blocks. A person who buys one or more of these pixelblocks can design a tiny image which will be displayed on them, and also decide a URL which he or she wants them to link to, as well as a slogan displayed when hovering the cursor over the link. The aim of the site was to sell all of the pixels in the image, thus generating one million dollars of income for the creator, which has been accomplished.

On January 1, 2006, the final 1,000 pixels left were put up for auction on ebay.co.uk. [1]. The auction closed on January 11 with the winning bid of $38,100.00. This brought the final tally to $1,037,100 USD in gross income.

Compliments of:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Dollar_Homepage

Thinking of starting your own Million Dollar Homepage? Check out:
http://www.pixelprofitsecrets.com/

Especially check out Testimonials of marketing successes for the $1,000,000 Homepage:
http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/testimonials.php

Help Drive More Traffic to YOUR Web Site, Direct Mail + Web = SUCCESS

Send Catalogs! Southwest Indian Foundation is one of my favorite examples of a direct mail SUCCESS story, starting out with a one-page flyer and growing to an over 100-page catalog and webstore...check them out! They combine catalog sales and their mission for an awesome combination of superior customer/donor relations.

Catalog recipients account for 22% of web site traffic and 37% of e-commerce dollars.

Online consumers who received a catalog from any given retailer were TWICE AS LIKELY to make an online purchase at that retailer's web site. They made 15% more transactions than those who did not receive catalogs, and their spending was 16% higher. Catalog recipients made 16% more web site visits, viewed 22% more web pages and spent 15% MORE TIME at the retailer's site.

Catalogs lift sales! Catalogs play a decisive role in driving conversion (which is the % of catalog recipients who visited the cataloger's web site and made a purchase) for BOTH prospects and existing customers. In fact, the conversion rate was 260% higher from catalog versus non-catalog recipients for NEW customers and 67% higher from existing customers. Catalogs transcend deomographic groups, too. Catalog recipients across the board were more likely to buy from the retailer's web site -- regardless of household income, geography or education factors.

Based on this study, 1 million web site consumers who recieved catalogs (spent an average of $260 per transaction) versus those same number of visitors did not receive catalogs (spent an average of $224) would result in a revenue "lift" (or increase) of $21.1Million more in sales.

Direct Mail and the Web are on online partnership for tomorrow!

Source: USPS and comScore