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Protecting Nonprofit Clients While Telling Their Stories

2012-05-22T01:05:59Z

When I wrote about the touching stories in a thank you letter and DVD from an animal sanctuary recently, it raised some questions for one reader. She said:

We help teenagers in foster care find adoptive families and make lifelong connections. [We] Cannot use their actual names or any details for purposes other than finding them families. We're also a small program and teen adoption is more complicated and takes longer than pet adoption....Most of our donors...do meet the teens and/or volunteer with us (or are friends of those people). How do we more effectively move beyond that group, which requires that we convey [through stories] the incredible impact and importance of donations to us?

Confidentiality for at-risk clients is just as important as telling their stories to your donors. How do you do both?

I asked two nonprofit experts who often run into this problem. Here are their suggestions...Read More...

Photo: Getty Images

Protecting Nonprofit Clients While Telling Their Stories originally appeared on About.com Nonprofit Charitable Orgs on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012 at 01:05:59.

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What Social Media Can Do For Your Fundraiser

2012-05-21T01:05:46Z

I'm happy to welcome Ifdy Perez as a guest! Ifdy is the community manager at Razoo, an online fundraising platform that empowers individuals and nonprofits to meet their fundraising goals through online giving campaigns. She's also editor of Inspiring Generosity, a blog that gives nonprofits helpful resources on online community management and social media tools.

A lot of nonprofits are on the fence about social media. Social media can help your nonprofit. In fact, there are several reasons to adopt a social strategy for your fundraising efforts. But let's discuss commonly asked questions first.

Will it really help my organization? Is it going to take up more time I already don't have? How complicated is it? And is it as effective as they say?

Although these are good questions, they're not necessarily the right ones to ask when you're considering adopting a social media strategy for your nonprofit. Just like any initiative your organization undertakes, the mission, planning, and execution have considerable weight in a successful outcome.

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What Social Media Can Do For Your Fundraiser originally appeared on About.com Nonprofit Charitable Orgs on Monday, May 21st, 2012 at 01:05:46.

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Get Skinny (With Your Content) for Mobile

2012-05-17T01:55:46Z

We have an obesity epidemic, but it isn't just in our waistlines and on our hips.

It is also in our content, on our websites, in our emails, and our social media.

Accustomed to all the space in the world up until now, we have not yet adjusted to the new world of mobile.

That's despite the fact that Pew Research reports half of all adults in the US now use smartphones, and many of those also use tablets.

Most people already may be reading our content (or perhaps, not reading it) on their mobile devices, where skinny copy pays off in better readability, more attention, and more action taken.

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Get Skinny (With Your Content) for Mobile originally appeared on About.com Nonprofit Charitable Orgs on Thursday, May 17th, 2012 at 01:55:46.

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Social Media? How Even Small Nonprofits Can Get Started

2012-05-14T12:23:24Z

I know one small nonprofit that has a small staff, a one-person development department, and no marketing staff. But they want to get started with social media, and they should. It will help with communicating with their volunteers, raising funds, building their community, publicizing their events, and building their brand.

What they don't realize though is that their website is the place to start. Then adding even one social network could make a difference. The staffing problem can be solved with a tech savvy volunteer and/or having several staff (think the development person, the Executive Director, and the Volunteer Coordinator) participate. Keep it simple and don't be distracted by trying to do too much.

Guest author Marissa Garza explains several social media networks and suggests how your nonprofit can get started in Getting Started with Social Media: Where Do Nonprofits Begin?

Photo: Getty Images

Social Media? How Even Small Nonprofits Can Get Started originally appeared on About.com Nonprofit Charitable Orgs on Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 12:23:24.

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Older People Rule in May

2012-05-09T01:00:22Z

Older Americans Month takes place every year in May, and it is a great time to both celebrate our elders and remember just how important they are to the charitable world.

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Older People Rule in May originally appeared on About.com Nonprofit Charitable Orgs on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 at 01:00:22.

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Help Me Share Your Content on Social Media

2012-05-08T01:30:33Z

I'm a content hunter. And I'm after yours. It's the only way I can keep my social media well fed.

I was late to the social media party but, once there, I fell in love with it. Twitter was my first fav, but once the new Facebook design appeared, I became an avid poster. I update my FB page frequently and even groom my Facebook updates so they look nice and read well.

The cardinal rule of social media is share and then share some more. So I do.

Brian Murray, blogging at PRDaily, made that point recently in his excellent 6 warning signs that you're doing social media wrong. Murray says that if all the links you're sharing on social media lead back to your own website, you're doing something wrong.

Whatever social media I'm using, I find that I'm sharing 1) information from nonprofit organizations, especially when they have examples of actual campaigns or good practices; and 2) information from the many fabulous consultants working in the nonprofit space.

So I scan my RSS feed and my social media streams constantly, looking for material that my nonprofit audience can use. That material could be from you.

But, here's the thing. Some of you don't make it easy to share your content.

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Help Me Share Your Content on Social Media originally appeared on About.com Nonprofit Charitable Orgs on Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 at 01:30:33.

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Animal Charity Keeps Recurring Donors With a Great Thank You

2012-05-07T15:50:22Z

Recurring donations are so important to any charity. Thus, it is worth the effort to engage as often as possible with recurring donors and thank them well.

One organization that does just that is Best Friends Animal Society. I'm a recurring donor and was blown away by the end-of-year thank you package that I received earlier this year.

I've had the letter right next to my computer for months now, planning to add it to my collection of thank you letters here on my site.

I finally got around to it and share it here: A Thank You Letter (Plus DVD) Makes Best Friends Stand Out.

Photo: Best Friends Animal Society

Animal Charity Keeps Recurring Donors With a Great Thank You originally appeared on About.com Nonprofit Charitable Orgs on Monday, May 7th, 2012 at 15:50:22.

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Incorporate Endowment Fundraising into Your Charity's Calendar

2012-05-07T01:00:15Z

Building an endowment for your nonprofit is way too important to put on the back burner.

Guest author Scott Stevenson has come up with 25 Ways to Market Endowment Gifts for Your Charity. These are strategies that can be worked into all aspects of your organization's work and year-round calendar without breaking a sweat.

Which ones are you doing already? Which can you add this year? Are there any that we forgot? Just let us know in the comments.

Photo: Getty Images

Incorporate Endowment Fundraising into Your Charity's Calendar originally appeared on About.com Nonprofit Charitable Orgs on Monday, May 7th, 2012 at 01:00:15.

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Most Moving Mom's Day Campaigns - Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday and Born Too Soon

2012-05-06T01:00:17Z

Last week, I wrote about the March of Dimes' imbornto, the cutest Mother's day campaign.

This week I'm declaring these campaigns the most moving charitable appeals for Mother's Day.

Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday

CARE, teaming with USAID, has mounted its Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday.

The sad fact is that more than 7 million children across the globe die before they reach five. Most of these children live in poor countries, and most of the deaths are preventable at very low cost.

CARE has a lovely video at its site, a donate now page that continues to propel one's interest, and an array of facts and stories that are bound to capture your heart. The charity urges you to donate in honor of your Mom. There is an ecard that you can send too.

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Most Moving Mom's Day Campaigns - Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday and Born Too Soon originally appeared on About.com Nonprofit Charitable Orgs on Sunday, May 6th, 2012 at 01:00:17.

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Best Links: Social Fundraising, Content Marketing, Facebook Lurkers

2012-05-01T01:00:27Z

Nonprofit Blog Carnival

Allyson Kapin, at Rad Campaign, pulled together Social Fundraising Tips and Best Practices from a variety of experts for the April Nonprofit Blog Carnival. Great inspiration here for your own campaigns.

For May, Carnival host Lori Halley, of Wild Apricot, will be collecting your submissions about Mobile-izing-supporters. Could any topic be hotter?

Fundraising

Do you need to measure everything? Is everything even measurable? Erik Anderson of Donor Dreams explores these questions in his Non-profits under fire: Measure this! Measure that!. Before you measure another thing, read Erik's post. It is stuffed with links to other resources too.

Mark Phillips of Queer Ideas parses a recent UK study of what donors like and don't like in his Why donors don't want to hear from you . Could you be communicating too much?

If you don't think "shopping cart abandonment" is a problem for nonprofits, just read Mike Snusz's post at NetWitThinkTank. 6 Ways to Stop Your Website from Leaking Potential Online Donors has such good tips that you'll want to start revising your website today.

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Best Links: Social Fundraising, Content Marketing, Facebook Lurkers originally appeared on About.com Nonprofit Charitable Orgs on Tuesday, May 1st, 2012 at 01:00:27.

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