Seems like lots of nonprofits are talking about social media these days, but not many are doing it well.  If you are thinking about uing Facebook or Twitter or email campaigns or any other tools, here are some tips for success.

• Know your purpose.  Be very clear about what you want to achieve by using social media.  Too many nonprofits jump into it without clear goals then get frustrated when they don’t raise boatloads of money.  It’s not a “build it and they will come” situation.
• Be warm and friendly in your communications.  Social media is about building relationships and the key to good ones is communication.
• Communicate from one person on staff, not from the organization itself.  We know that there’s a real person actually writing the blog posts or the tweets, so let us see who they are.
• Share interesting stuff.  Leave the boring junk out. 
• Share photos and video.  A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

I’m a big believer in finding a good example to go by and I have a good one to share with you. One nonprofit organization that I think is doing a great job of communicating with social media is the Asheville Humane Society.  Now, it’s a given that kittens and puppies are cute and guaranteed to be interesting.  But the folks there do a great job of sharing photos of adoptable animals, animals being adopted, and updates on animals that have passed through their care.  They always have something interesting going on and I just love the photos they share.  Check them out on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Asheville-Humane-Society/48648647067.

I’d love to hear if you have other examples of nonprofits doing socal media or other online communications well.  Leave a comment and share your favorites.

As we approach the deep fundraising season, many folks are asking about online fundraising, so I wanted to share a few things.

Remember that the internet is a tool you can use to raise money.  Just like any other tool, it’s the your skill in using the tool that will determine success – not the tool itself.

It’s definitely NOT a “build it and they will come” model.  Just because you have a website or a Facebook page does not mean people will flock to it and give you money.

Lots of people have asked me how to raise money online and I get the sense that they think it’s something hard or mystical. Actually, it’s not anything magical at all.  It’s simply fundraising using the Internet as a tool.

To make it really easy, I’ve got seven simple steps you can take to get started or crank up your online fundraising efforts.

1. Collect email addresses at every opportunity. Since email will be your primary communications mechanism, ask every chance you get, both online and off.  Make sure you have a sign-up box on your website for people to enter their name and email.
2. Communicate. Send regular, consistent newsletters and updates. You can send a once-monthly newsletter or a twice-monthly update. The key is to send regular information that your audience will be interested in.
3. Have a big, easy-to-see “Donate Now” button on your website. Put it toward the top of the page and make sure it shows up on every page. Make it easy for your website visitors to find the button and respond to it.
4. Tell your story on your website. Make sure your website clearly states who your organization is and the need your organization is working to fill. Don’t make your website visitors wonder who you are or what you’re trying to do. Be sure to include some compelling photos to illustrate your work.
5. Be concise. People are impatient online so keep the text short and to the point. This is not the time to share everything you know!
6. Thank donors electronically. Be prepared to thank people via email when they give online. You’ll likely want to invest in a software or service that can do this for you.
7. Leverage your social media. Use your Facebook and Twitter accounts to encourage people to visit your website and sign up for your email newsletter. This is known as “driving traffic” and helps build awareness for your cause.

Implement these simple tips and your online fundraising efforts will pay off in dollars and time.

Lots of people have asked me how to raise money online and I get the sense that they think it’s something hard or mystical. Actually, it’s not anything magical at all.  It’s simply fundraising using the internet as a tool.

To make it really easy, I’ve got 7 simple steps you can take to get started or crank up your online fundraising efforts.

1.  Collect email addresses at every opportunity. Since email will be your primary communications mechanism, focus on collecting them.  Ask every chance you get, both online and off.  Make sure you have a sign-up box on your website for people to enter their name and email.

2.  Communicate. Send regular, consistent newsletters and updates.  You can send a once-monthly newsletter or a twice-monthly update.  The key is to send regular information that your audience will be interested in.

3.  Have a big, easy-to-see “Donate” button on your website. Put it toward the top of the page and make sure it shows up on every page.  Make it easy for your website visitors to find the button and respond to it.

4.  Tell your story on your website. Make sure your website clearly states who your organization is and the need your organization is working to fill.  Don’t make your web visitors wonder who you are or what you’re trying to do.  be sure to include some compelling photos to illustrate your work.

5.  Be concise. People are impatient online so keep the text short and to the point.  This is not the time to share everything you know!

6. Thank donors electronically. Be prepared to thank people via email when they give online.  You’ll likely want to invest in a software or service that can do this for you.

7. Leverage your social media. Use your Facebook and Twitter accounts to encourage people to visit your website and sign up for your email newsletter.  This is known as “driving traffic” and helps build awareness for your cause.

Hello from sunny Baltimore!  I’m here for the AFP Conference (which starts today!) and will be speaking on Tuesday about fundraising with blogs.  I’ve been looking for good examples of nonprofit blogs to share in my presentation and along the way, I’ve noticed something that I want to share with you.

I’ve seen lots of different blogs representing a variety of organizations, but I’ve seen something conspicuously absent from many – an easily-seen “Donate Now” button.

Why go to all the trouble to write a blog and have a wonderful site if you aren’t going to ask folks for a gift? 

On a few blogs, I found a link to donate, but it was hidden at the bottom of the page or on a different page.  You need to make it prominent toward the top of at least the front page.  Ideally, it should be in the navigation structure so that it can be seen from any page or post on your blog.

So, if you’re a nonprofit blogger, go now and have a look at your blog.  Can you find a “Donate Now” button?  If not, make plans to get one.  Quick!

If you’re on Twitter and looking for fundraising gurus to follow, I offer my Top Ten Tweeps list.  (These are in no particular order.)

1. @PamelaGrow  Pam always has good info to share!

2. @BTalisman  Barb is an experienced fundraising consultant and offers a great blog and weekly blog-talk radio show.

3. @FundraisingNews  Stay in the know about all things fundraising and nonprofit.

4. @impactmax  Always a good source of info.

5. @rjleaman  Another great source of info.

6. @LJacobwith  Yet another great source of info!

7.  @nonprofitorgs And one more great info source.

8. @AuctionExpert Sherry posts about charity auctions.

9. @Philanthropy This is the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

10. @VolunteerSpot Awesome org that helps recruit and manage volunteers online.  Great tweets!

VolunteerSpot named it’s top 29 nonprofit bloggers to follow on Twitter this week and guess who made the list?  You’ll find me in the #8 spot!  Woohoo!  I’m so flattered that folks find my blog ramblings helpful and worthwhile.  Check out the whole list at http://ow.ly/vlqe.

And if you’re not following me on Twitter, you can find me at www.Twitter.com/SandyRees.  I post inspiration, information, and links to resources, similar to what you’ll find here on my blog, but slightly different.  After all, on Twitter, it’s only 140 characters long!

If you are blogging, you need to participate in Blog Action Day on October 15.  It’s a way for us to all join our voices together to bring awareness to this year’s topic (climate control), but it’s also a way to bring awareness to nonprofit blogging in general.

Currently, nearly 2,000 blogs are registered to participate.  I think that’s pretty good, but more are needed.

Go to www.blogactionday.com to register and get ideas about what you can post on Blog Action Day.

I just stepped out of a workshop where I taught a room full of Habitat for Humanity folks about using social media tools.  One of the things I talked about was blogging.

For a nonprofit, a blog is an inexpensive way to communicate with lots of people and open up dialog with supporters.  It offers a quick way to provide timely and regularly updated information and to answer any questions your readers may have.

Here are some of the benefits of blogging:

• Blogging is a great way to get attention for your cause and share information about your organization and your mission. You can link your blog to lots of other sites on the web and you can share a link to your blog in emails you send to your regular supporters.
• Blogging can be a team sport: you can get lots of people involved (staff, Board, and volunteers can all participate) in writing material for your blog. This can be a tremendous help if you don’t like writing or don’t have lots of time to write.
• Blogging is easy to do and doesn’t require a technological genius to get started.
• Blogging allows you to not only share stories about your work, but post photos, video, and audio fairly easily. This gives your readers a multimedia experience with you! If your mission has an emotional edge to it (saving the environment for example), it gives supporters a place to voice their concerns and opinions.
• Best of all, blogging gives you a new tool for cultivating donors and supporters.

If you do a good job of posting about your activities in your blog, creating an Annual Report is a breeze.  You simply go back through your blog posts to gather information.

I’m interviewing Social Media Expert Terri Brooks today at 3 pm eastern to get her best tips on using Social Media.  It’s a free call and you can register at http://getfullyfunded.com/socialmediafreecall.html.

Here are a couple of articles I’ve written about social media:

A Beginner’s Guide to Facebook – 4 Simple Steps to Get Started http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Beginners-Guide-to-Fundraising-on-Facebook—4-Simple-Steps&id=2176868

How to Use Twitter to Support Nonprofit Fundraising http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Use-Twitter-to-Support-Nonprofit-Fundraising&id=2505675

In the latest issue of Fundraising Success magazine, Editor Margaret Battistelli has a good column on using social media.  One point particularly sticks out at me and I wanted to share it with you.

She writes “The people who connect to your organization’s pages certainly don’t need to know what kind of potato chip you would be. But I’d bet they wouldn’t mind hearing from you more, rather than just from your organization.  It might just be in the language or tone of your messages – “we” or “I” vs. “the ABC Organization.”

This is such a valid point.  Sometimes we get so focused on make our organizations appear professional that we strip the personal touch right out.  When connecting with people through social media, it’s the personal connection that counts. Be yourself and share about your nonprofit’s work through your eyes.

Got a success story to share about how you’ve connected with people using social media?  Let’s hear it!  Click on the ‘comment’ link below and tell us what’s working for you.