A big highlight of my one-day at the 2012 Nonprofit Technology Conference was getting a chance to meet and chat at length with Chad Norman (@chadnorman) and Melanie Mathos (@melmatho), Blackbaud’s Internet Marketing dude and PR gal, respectively and authors of “101 Social Media Tactics for Nonprofits“.
Here’s a snippet of the wisdom this team had to offer at the conference today:
Fantastic video by Nedra Weinreich. Three minutes LOADED with wisdom to be heard and adopted:
I have been wondering for some time now why doesn’t Facebook does what Google has been doing for a while now through their Google Grants program: offer in-kind advertising for non-profit organizations.
A cursory Google search (had to do this on Google, clearly!) of “Facebook Ads for nonprofits” revealed that my question had been shared by many already. There was even a Facebook page called “Call to Action: Launch an Ads Grants Program for Nonprofits” (too sad that the original admins were not able to keep up with it -I don’t blame them, considering how tough it is to get Facebook to answer any inquiries)
What do Google Grants do for the nonprofit sector?
I will let this screenshot from our Google AdWords Dashboard speak (Google basically offers the same interface that they offer for their paying advertisers to their nonprofit beneficiaries):
Nearly 66,000 clicks in the course of a little more than 6 months, for a click-through rate of of 2.48%… best of all, at no cost to the Diabetes Hands Foundation. All of it, thanks to a charitable program that Google offers. See what I mean? Those $42,656.34 is how much they would have earned had they sold these ads (we clearly have nowhere near that kind of advertising budget, so it’s not like they would have otherwise have made that kind of money from us…)
The point is: Facebook, with their reach (they now have more than 500 million users) can do A LOT of good! FAR more than a single donation to a single cause by Mark Zuckerberg.
So what do you say, Facebook? Facebook Grants? It’s about time!
This is not SPAM! If you are a woman entrepreneur (or know one) in the Bay Area, read about a great cause and an even better opportunity for you!
In recent weeks, I have been working with my friends at the Madera Group to support Make Mine a Million $ Business, a program of the non-profit Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence.
I am taking the liberty to share below a post from the Madera Group blog, so you may get a feel as to WHY this is such an important cause and all women entrepreneurs in the Bay Area should be apply to make theirs a million dollar business!
Are you a female entrepreneur struggling to find innovative ideas to market your business? Or perhaps you are in search of some extra finances to take your business to the next level. Then look no further than Make Mine A Million $ Business Award! This competition, a program of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence, is geared towards woman business owners who dream of expanding their revenues to $1 million. Winners of the award will receive specialized business coaching to make their business successful, as well as increases visibility to potential customers. 20 finalists will be selected to present their business model at The Make Mine A Million $ Business San Francisco Event from November 7-9, 2010. The deadline to apply is October 15th, 2010.
Don’t wait, apply today at http://application.makemineamillion.org!
Nell Merlino, founder and CEO of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence
Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence is a non-profit company that strives propel economic growth by giving female entrepreneurs the resources and capital necessary to achieve success. Nell Merlino, the founder and CEO of Count Me In, seeks to empower women so they “realize that there is a path for business growth.”
She points out in an article in Icosa Magazine, “that women tend to be less aggressive than their male counterparts when it comes to networking, and sometimes they don’t believe in their power as the majority in the business world.” By giving women the tools and knowledge that they can, in fact, succeed, Merlino hopes to increase the percentage of female entrepreneurs who earn over $1 million in revenue, thus increasing the number of jobs in the economy and boosting the overall community development.
If you work in the nonprofit space and are anywhere near technology, you HAVE heard of Beth Kanter and Allison Fine. Well, now they’ve come together to write an amazing book that you absolutely must read, titled “The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change.”
The book is packed with brilliant concepts from cover to cover: social capital, network weaving, social culture, the ladder of engagement, do what you do best and network the rest and microplanning, just to name a few. But The Networked Nonprofit is not about tactics (though there’s lots of great examples in it). Fine and Kanter take you through the basics and the thought process you need to be in, in order to have your nonprofit successfully enter the social media space and thrive in it.
From listening to sharing, from fundraising to affecting change on- and offline, The Networked Nonprofit looks at social media for nonprofits as part of your multichannel strategy, also taking into account the stories others share about your organization, the way you communicate over email, your web site presence, your Google ads, your media outreach and most definitely your offline presence (face-to-face events).
Being a hound for books that overlap nonprofits and social media, I can tell you The Networked Nonprofit is the best out there today!
Open letter to Jason Rosenthal, CEO of Ning and Marc Andreesen, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Ning
Jason, Marc:
I am directing this post at the two of you not in a personal way but as the visible heads leading Ning, a platform that has given network creators the tools to create and maintain millions of niche social networks.
Yesterday some of us learned of the announcement made by Ning about the 40% staff reduction and the elimination of free networks. In my case, I learned about this important decision through a tweet posted by a colleague network creator that linked to the TechCrunch article breaking the news.
I could dwell on how surprising it was to learn of such important news through others (not from Ning directly), especially after more than 3 years of using and telling others about the platform and its benefits; after having written Ning For Dummies; and being an active part of the recently created Network Creator Council program.
But I want to focus on what I think is most critical about this announcement. Two groups that I deeply care about that will be affected significantly by the decision to eliminate free networks are nonprofit networks in general and, more specifically, education networks. I was glad an update was posted addressing the concern voiced by many network creators in Education. But I am not clear yet as to what this will mean for all types of nonprofits.
It appears that nonprofits that currently pay for premium services will not have to worry too much about the change in Ning’s strategy. But I am wondering how many (thousands, perhaps) small nonprofits and grassroots groups will be unable to stick with Ning on the basis of cost. I am thinking of groups that run networks that fall in the “long tail”, well outside the 75% of your monthly US traffic generated by the tens of thousands “Premium Ning Networks” alluded to by Jason on his email to Ning employees.
Jason’s message went on to say “… those Network Creators need and will pay for many more services and features from us. So, we are going to change our strategy to devote 100% of our resources to building the winning product to capture this big opportunity.”
This language speaks of a service that is different from the concept that I first learned of three years ago: a service that empowered all people to create and discover social networks for their interests and passions. This language speaks of monetizing alone and leaves out the small groups trying to do good through Ning.
Just because something CAN be done (both, technically and legally) and because it makes business sense, doesn’t make it the RIGHT thing to do in the big scheme of things.
I know you have a fiduciary obligation to make the company profitable for the shareholders and you want to make sure the 98 employees remaining on staff can continue to keep their jobs for a long time. But I urge you to consider the impact your decision will have on the nonprofit space and ask you explore options comparable to initiatives like Google Grants, YouTube’s Nonprofit Program and the Salesforce Foundation so that the nonprofit groups that have been increasingly adopting Ning (while possibly buried in the long tail) will not be left to fend for themselves.
Don’t hesitate to let me know if you want any input in the coming weeks, as you prepare a more detailed plan to move forward.
This was part of an interview put together by our friends from AIDS.gov at the recent 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference in Atlanta.
The NTEN Community Rhapsody. Enjoy!
Made possible thanks to The Extraordinaires!
