Tag Archive for 'marketing'

Link round up

Published
by
amysampleward
on April 1, 2008
in roundup
. 0 Comments

Here is a quick list of a few things on my radar, that I think should also be on yours! :)
Mapping - The Wild Apricot blog has a great post featuring three ways nonprofits are using maps.

Marketing - The Nonprofit Communications blog tells you about a five-step strategy to market your nonprofit online.

ROI - Have you checked out Care2’s Frogloop blog’s Social Network ROI calculator before? If you haven’t, you should!

Case Studies - Beth keeps a great wiki and shares case studies of nonprofits using social media.

Fundraising - Peter Deitz has picked up on a disparaging mood about peer-to-peer fundraising, what are your thoughts?

For-profits using your cause for marketing?

Published
by
amysampleward
on November 19, 2007
in marketing and reports
. 1 Comment

As more organizations in the for-profit sector take on the causes of nonprofits, reports like the one from PRWeek and Barkley Public Relations emerge. This survey of the field shows the view growing importance of cause marketing in the for-profit sector, from Whirlpool and KitchenAid to Newman’s Own. More consumers are basing their decisions of where to put their money on where a corporation is putting its money.

Corporations enjoy the benefit of giving back to a cause that aligns with their established brand and “heart,” as well as the attraction and retention of consumers drawn to the same cause. Nonprofits targeted through these cause marketing campaigns gain added financial support and recognition.

But what about the millions of nonprofits that are working throughout the country but are either too small to gain the attention of potential corporations or are working in the same field as a much larger organization with more visibility? If your organization provides special meetings and events for children with life threatening diseases but serve only those patients in your local county’s hospitals, a corporation may choose to market with Make-A-Wish Foundation instead because there is a much larger consumer base that already knows that organization and its work.

Cause marketing can really benefit all three parties involved: The corporation, the cause/nonprofit, and the consumers. Everyone can feel good for being a part of positive social activism.

But back to those very small nonprofits…Contact local corporations and discuss how they could sponsor an annual event, fundraiser, or even commit to a 5 or 10-year cause campaign. Be sure that the corporation is one that your nonprofit feels comfortable aligning with, has a mission and public presence that is similar enough to align with your organization, and you are ready and willing to commit to the partnership on your end, too.

What do you think about corporate cause marketing? Is it an entirely different kind of philanthropy?

Say “Cheese!” You may be in the picture!

Published
by
amysampleward
on November 15, 2007
in webtools
. 0 Comments

Is your nonprofit holding any fundraisers or special holiday events? Whether you are raising money for the organization or for families using your services, raising awareness of your communities needs or the needs your organization can serve, the chances that a camera is present are quite high.

You can harness the photo snapping power of your volunteers, members, and visitors. Encourage the photo-takers to upload their files to Flickr, a free (or paid) online photo storage and sharing service. When your supporters upload photos from your event, they can “tag,” or label, the photos with your organization’s name. That way, you can put a link on your site to all of the photos with that tag. So, all photos with that tag, regardless of who took them, are grouped together without you doing any work to find them! You can even pull those photos in to your website so you feature new and interesting photos taken by your supporters, with minimal work on the organization’s part.

Be sure to communicate to your supporters that they can use Flickr and tag the photos of your organization, staff, events, etc. (for example, a tag like “socialventurepartners” for pictures of events and supporters of Social Venture Partners International).

You can also create a group (either private or public) in Flickr to easily share and group photos related to your organization. Setting up a group is easy and you will not have to do any work to maintain it once it is ready. Again, you can link to these photos from your website or pull them in to feature your supporters and events right on your own site.

Search for your organization on Flickr and see what comes up! Did you find that photos already exist of your organization? Have you already set up a group or linked to flickr photos of your organization that were taken by volunteers, members, or even strangers?

More on ethics - Thanks, Amy Gahran!

Published
by
amysampleward
on November 13, 2007
in issues
. 1 Comment

A great comment from Amy Gahran at www.contentious.com to my post on ethical standards last week brings up great issues. The best questions really bring up more questions and not specific answers. The only way to truly answer the questions Amy poses is to sit down with your organization and discuss as a group where the comfort level is with the tools, the community, and service area you provide.

1. What ethical standards should nonprofits have when using new media tools, like blogs?

Amy also says that, “many nonprofits have the self-identified standard of working for the good and not for the man,” which can be applied to focus on the answer. As a nonprofit, working for the good, what elements of new media tools stand taller than the rest for ethical standards? How about: Raising community awareness and involvement. To do so would mean that your nonprofit’s website, blog, even videos are shared in a way that is available to the public and include features for commenting and connecting with you and others interested in your organization. Providing a safe environment for people seeking out information and services from your organization. This would require that your organization decides what kind of language and content is allowed in comments and other user generated content areas of your website, blog, etc. If you are an organization that deals with children, your guidelines for appropriate content could much more strict than an organization dealing with single adults. The limits are fine, wherever they fall, so long as they meet the goal of creating a quality environment for community.

2. Is the community you’re serving proud of the way it is represented online?

Terrific question! How best do you identify if you are serving your community well or not: Ask them, of course! There is a plethora of free surveying tools online that your organization could use to build a survey to send to your volunteers, clients, funders, etc. You can ask questions to identify if people know about your website, blog, forums, videos, online fundraising, or any other new media tool currently at use; ask about the current state of those tools and the frequency that the users reads or participates; most importantly, ask what can be done to improve services and community online both by improving the tools already in use and implementing new needed tools. Investigate what other organizations in your field are doing online. There are many organization working toward the same end; find an organization in another part of the state, the country, or even the world and talk about how it is using new media tools to connect and represent the service community online. You should also talk to organizations in your local physical community about how to better represent and serve the groups online, maybe even by connecting the organizations’ tools online. If an organization is having trouble successfully representing its service community online, getting the support of other area organizations can help bring its standards and tools up to a more appropriate level to garner more support and quality for its users.

These were two great questions, but I’m sure there are many more. What do you think?

Who’s standards are yours?

Published
by
amysampleward
on November 8, 2007
in Uncategorized and issues
. 2 Comments

I’m here at the blogworld & new media expo and just participated in the breakout session on blogging ethics. There was some lively conversation between panel members and audience members about experiences and thoughts on the ethics field for bloggers, mostly asking questions and not answering them.

Should bloggers align with journalists and the standards they (are supposed to) adhere to in order to gain the reputation that journalists have in the media and news realm? I think it can be a slippery slope in trying to answer questions like this one definitely for bloggers because the sphere covers such dynamic areas and niches that can’t be grouped together.

One of the greatest features of blogs is the ability for citizens to be journalists, organizations to have a voice, and people interested in similar things to connect. Blogging has opened up the communications avenues for nonprofits, especially small grassroots organizations, to garner supporters that are outside of the physical service area or who can help the organization grow and succeed who may have never found the group.

All right, so let’s really get to the nonprofit issue here: what standards should nonprofits have when using new media tools, like blogs?

Many nonprofits have the self-identified standard of working for the good and not for the man. The answer to the standards/ethics questions is pretty much summed up in that. Nonprofits, in blog posts, videos, and social networking profiles should always keep the community they are serving in mind. Is that community proud to be served by your organization by the way it is represented online? Are the issues you raise in posts, news you write about, and stories you relate to the world at large representative of the mission of the community and the community served (and often featured in that material)?

When creating your new media plan for your nonprofit organization, answers to those questions are important to consider. AND, if you are ever scrounging for material for a blog entry or video story for compelling new funders and supporters, staying true to your mission is an easy and ethical source for material!

Nonprofits using Nintendo Wii? At least as an example!

Published
by
amysampleward
on November 7, 2007
in fundraising
. 0 Comments

As we enter the “giving season” and marketers are ramping up their online presence in social networking sites and new media tools such as videos, user feedback forums, and the like, nonprofits should start leveraging the tools available to consumers of social change and garner holiday gifts as well.

Nonprofits can learn from for-profits this time of year. We see companies such as Nintendo, taking advantage of many engagement tools for those interested in the Wii gaming system. What did Nintendo do and how can nonprofits do the same thing?

1. Video: There are few media forms as compelling and engaging as video. On Nintendo’s Wii website (www.wii.nintendo.com), visitors can watch videos on how to use the system and see others playing games.

Nonprofits can post short videos on blogs, news sections of their sites, and on YouTube (OR, on their own YouTube for Nonprofits page). Posting videos online lets a wider audience hear your story, learn about your services and spread your message throughout their networks without you needing to know each viewer or their friends.

2. Blog: Blogging is a terrific way for organizations—for or nonprofit—to communicate with their audience of supporters, interested citizens, news media, and potential consumers (whether of a product, a service, or even of information). Nintendo used a blog an its website months before the Wii system was even available to purchase to keep visitors up-to-date on product news and developments.

Nonprofits should incorporate a blog into the website in order to create a space for visitors to find out news, information about events, and stories about services. Creating a blog and allowing visitors to subscribe via RSS means the potential to drive in more visitors to the website and more supporters of the organization. Even if nonprofits have a blog already, this is the perfect time of year to create a “ways to give this season” blog that is either within the existing blog or an additional one. Post stories about volunteers, ideas for contributing to the organization, and even profile people or communities your organization is helping this season. Many people want to give in other ways than writing a check, so keep them updated on other ways they can help you out!

3. Forums: Providing an avenue for users to connect with each other about your organization, service or product helps to create content that other visitors find useful and trusted. Nintendo included discussion forms on the Wii website months prior to the product release which helped build buzz about the system and allowed potential users to connect online, asking questions and sharing opinions.

Nonprofits don’t need to feel overwhelmed by the prospect of building out a discussion feature to their websites; instead, make sure the website includes feedback areas, like on a blog, so that visitors can read what others have to say. Ask questions in your blog about what people are doing this holiday season to engage with local nonprofits, or other specific questions based on the subject of the blog entry. Even though it is somewhat static, an easy way to facilitate conversation between visitors to your site.

Lesson learned: For-profit organizations are engaging with audiences and creating a buzz around products for the holidays. Nonprofits should be doing the same thing and “gifts” of volunteer time, financial support, and even potential future partners in the field.