What's Woody Doing Now

Congo Could Use $25,000

I really enjoyed the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference (#10NTC) in April.  The name says it all, techies making the world a better place.  I met a lot of great people. 

One of the great ones was Estrella Rosenberg (@charityestrella).  I participated in her #100X100 campaign on foursquare.  She raised $25,000! 

Since I am a foursquare user, that's exciting news.

The Keys to Fundraising on foursquare | Network for Good Learning Center - Learn how to raise money online for your nonprofit.

Estrella Rosenberg, who founded Big Love Little Hearts, which works to provide life-saving surgery to children with congenital heart defects in developing countries, has been using foursquare for advocacy as well as to raise money and connect with constituents and volunteers.

“I recently did an advocacy, awareness and fundraising campaign called #100X100 using foursquare that raised $25,000 in 24 hours and prompted more than 800 supporters to call their Congressmen,” said Rosenberg.

While Rosenberg may not have raised buckets of money, generating $25K in 24 hours and getting 800 people to call their Congressperson is not insignificant.

What was some of Rosenberg’s key tactics? “We levied the power of check-ins connected to Twitter and Facebook and got a donor to contribute $1 for every time someone checked-in (or tweeted) with the hashtag #100X100 on a specific day,” said Rosenberg.

Also “the ability to leave tips with embedded links and the shout-out feature [made] foursquare a great medium for promoting [our] advocacy efforts,” said Rosenberg.

10 Things Facing Nonprofits

Three things were worth noting for my nonprofit, Congo Helping Hands.

#1. "Fund-raising's gone viral." Social Media, a form of electronic communication, is important for any nonprofit.  It helps you save operating cost to stay connected with your community.

#2. "Even we are cutting back on donations." Reduced investment income and losses has affected every nonprofit.  Everybody is cutting back.  But the needs have in many cases increased.

#3. "Giving globally can sting locally." I think it is the other way.  Giving locally can cost global efforts.  Global giving was reduced by everyone, individuals to governments.

10 Things Nonprofits Won't Tell You (Page 2 of 2) at SmartMoney.com.

8. “Giving globally can sting locally.” IN THE WAKE of Hurricane Katrina, more than $5 billion was donated toward relief for the city of New Orleans and its citizens, according to Giving USA Foundation. A worthy cause if ever there was one. And yet, as often happens when donors respond to a major disaster, other kinds of charities felt the pinch as giving dropped, says Margaret Linnane, executive director of the Rollins College Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership Center. “Individuals simply have a finite amount they can donate. A disaster somewhere in the world will have an impact on local communities,” she says. How to decide where to send your money when there are so many good charities to choose from?

Seth's Blog: The reason social media is so difficult for most organizations

Because social media is a PROCESS and not an event, it takes TIME.

Time is needed to tweak and design your social media landscape.  Time is needed to experiment and explore what works for you.

Even more time is needed to interact and engage with your audience.  This is the critical component for social media. 

"Build It, and They Will Come" only works in the movies.  Social media is a "build it, nuture it, engage them, and they may come and stay".

Seth's Blog: The reason social media is so difficult for most organizations.

It's a process, not an event.

Dating is a process. So is losing weight, being a public company and building a brand. On the other hand, putting up a trade show booth is an event. So are going public and having surgery.

Events are easier to manage, pay for and get excited about. Processes build results for the long haul.

READING: How Much Time Should I Spend On Social Media

To be successful at ANYTHING, you have to spend time at it.  Some of hang-out on social media platforms for personal only, for business only, and for business and personal interests. 

I totally agreed that social media applies to religious institutions and nonprofits.  But the "Build it, and they will come" practice does not work in today's world.  You have to spend time at it.

How Much Time Should I Spend On Social Media.

How much time should you spend on social media? In some ways, the answer is: “how long is a piece of string?” And yet, you can set up some simple guidelines. They might be a bit different than you think.

By the way, I’m writing these from a business perspective, but remember that I think of religion and nonprofits and all kinds of other applications as business-related, too.

Here’s how I look at it:

Social Media Is Like A "Digital Water Cooler"

I think social media is like the "Digital Water Cooler".  But today's "Digital Water Cooler" make or break a company's repetition in a matter of hours.

The more followers a company has, then the more time it should devote to monitoring Twitter and other social media. 

Social media like Twitter change customer service - USATODAY.com.

"Social media is not a panacea," says Blackshaw. "It is a catalyst for fresh thinking on how companies can improve customer service in the digital age."

"Companies go in with expectations too high, and they risk disappointing customers who don't get prompt replies," says Lloyd Trufelman, president of Trylon SMR, a public relations firm for media companies.

Twitter should augment customer service, not be some magic bullet, he says. "If a company's DNA is not truly dedicated to listening and responding to customers in a genuine and timely manner, no technology will provide a solution."