April 16, 2013

Nonprofits, online giving & secrets from the Obama campaign

Highlights of 2013 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study (infographic)

This is the second of two articles on NTC 2013. Also see:
• Highlights of 2013 Nonprofit Technology Conference

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, educators, journalists, general public.

Every year, Socialbrite takes a look at the annual study of online nonprofit trends put out by the communications firm M+R Strategic Services and the Nonprofit Technology Network. This year, we waited a couple of weeks after the report’s release to hear directly from Madeline Stanionis, creative director of M+R, who dissected the annual survey of the nonprofit sector at last week’s Nonprofit Technology Conference in Minneapolis.

The 2013 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study offers the sector’s only in-depth look at how nonprofits fared with email marketing, online fundraising and nonprofit advocacy over the past year. The report studied data from 55 generally large nonprofits in the environmental, health, human rights, international and wildlife and animal welfare sectors. As I’ve said in the past, a study of 55 large organizations — which sent 1.6 billion emails to 45 million list subscribers and raked in more than $438 million online donations during 2012 — is hardly representative of the 1.5 million mostly small nonprofits in the United States. Still, the trend lines are worth examining. Continue reading →

March 18, 2013

How nonprofits can build better relationships

Chris Brogan offers three big rules for your online presence

In the 8-minute video above, marketing icon Chris Brogan, co-author of “The Impact Equation,” “Google+ For Business” and “Trust Agents”, talks about three rules of the road that nonprofits should keep in mind when thinking about their online presence:

• How nonprofits can make good first impressions online – for instance, how do you get people to notice what you’re doing? how do people interact with the information you provide?

• How nonprofits can make donating, subscribing and volunteering easier for people (Chris says, “I am forever baffled by people who create a donation site and make it really hard to find the donate button.”

• How nonprofits can focus on two metrics that really matter.

Chris gives some insight into the business of nonprofits, why trust is a critical component in relationship building, and the importance of your organization’s online storefront.

February 26, 2013

6 things nonprofits should know about Facebook ads

Make scarce marketing dollars go further with targeted, tested ads

Editor’s note: We’ve combined John Haydon’s 3-minute video tutorial above on how to use Facebook Insights to target Facebook ads more effectively with the following guest post that dissects the different kinds of Facebook ads.

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, marketing pros, Facebook administrators, anyone with a Facebook page.

Guest post by Taryn Degnan

If you build it, they will come … but what if they don’t? What if you’ve done everything to build a strong Facebook community, consistently post quality content and do your very best to engage with users, but you (or, in some cases, your executive director or CEO) still want more? Continue reading →

January 15, 2013

5 nonprofit apps that make a difference

Photo courtesy of Daniel Y. Go via Creative Commons

5 organizations with apps worth downloading

Guest post by Kerry Butters

There is an app for pretty much everything these days, whether you want help with yoga, looking at the stars, getting to sleep or maybe you just need to keep all your affairs in order.

However, not every app is in it for the money. There are nonprofit apps out there that are worth more than a passing glance. With this in mind, we’ve put together a list of some of the best nonprofit apps available today.

First Aid App by American Red Cross
1I don’t know about you, but when it comes to first aid, I’m clueless. Anything that involves more than a Band-Aid and I have to look online for advice. This cool app can help you along the way by teaching you first aid, giving you quizzes to improve your knowledge. With its built-in content, you won’t have to worry about finding a signal in a moment of peril. iTunes and Android Continue reading →

November 5, 2012

Which is more important: Social media or email marketing?

Why social media & email marketing are key to your nonprofit’s success

If you work for a small nonprofit, chances are you feel the pain of limited staff, limited budgets and the limited hours in your busy schedule. On top of that, no one seems to understand these challenges. They expect miracles.

So it’s natural that at some point you’d ask, Which is more important: social media or email marketing?

Alas, you need both.

In the 2-minute video above, I briefly explain the difference between social media and email marketing and why both are critical components in your marketing arsenal. Continue reading →

October 25, 2012

How to create high-quality Web video interviews

Creative Commons image on Flickr by Reflection Films

5 steps to get you soaring on Skype or Google Hangout

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, educators, journalists, video producers.

Guest post by Derek Singleton
Software Advice

These days, recording a professional-looking Web video interview is becoming easier and cheaper. However, it’s still easy to get things like lighting, studio set-up and the background wrong.

It’s now easier than ever to conduct video interviews or conversations over Skype or Google Hangout. If you want to interview a thought leader in your sector, or if you want to have your executive director or CEO sit down for an Internet interview, take the right steps to make it look good.

You have a lot of software options. For Skype, the Evaer Skype video recorder and Pamela for Skype both work on PCs and ecamm‘s Call Recorder for Skype is a good option for Macs. VIDBlaster is another solid choice. With Google Hangout, every Hangout On Air is automatically saved to your YouTube account.

At Software Advice we shoot a lot of Web video, and we wanted to share tips we’ve learned from trial and error along the way.

Here are five key areas to focus on to help you create great Web videos. Continue reading →