Social Media can be time-consuming and confusing, so what is the best way to make effective use of your limited resources? Have a plan!

Join me on Wednesday March 31st in San Rafael, CA for my workshop Social Media 201 from 9am to noon. 

This workshop is presented in two parts – a theoretical and best practices piece followed by an interactive session where you will learn to build and implement your organization's social media plan.

PART 1: What Works? 
Learn how nonprofits are diving deeper into social media with specific examples of successful uses of social media tools. What combinations of strategy and tools produce results? Includes a review of several successful social media/person-to-person fundraising campaigns, including their results and lessons learned.

 Takeaways include:
• Six Strategic Goals for Implementing Social Media 
• Real World Approaches and their Results 
• Specific Examples from Nonprofits

PART 2: Creating and Implementing A Social Media Plan
Building on the examples from morning we will look into what is required to make these campaigns and strategies work. We will explore an example of an organizations social media plan that includes priorities, schedules and staffing. How do you decide what your priorities should be and where to spend your time effectively? Participants will be encouraged to discuss their ideas so they can benefit from feedback and suggestions. The last third of the session will be set aside for starting work on your own plan, so bring your questions and ideas.

Takeaways include:
• Elements of a Social Media Plan 
• Social Media plan example 
• Suggestions on your ideas/plans

This workshop is most appropriate for those with a basic understanding of social media who are ready to take those activities to the next level.

For more information and registration CLICK HERE.

Whenever I do a training on effective websites, I always talk about constantly updated content and how testimonials are some of the best content you can have. 

I love testimonials because they are real people speaking in their own voice about why they like your organization and its work. It is one thing to hear from an employee about the work they do or what they have accomplished, but it is almost always more powerful to have a person who is not an employee speaking from their heart. It also provides an opportunity to showcase the diversity of supporters and stakeholders that like the organization. People don't just relate to concepts – people relate to people.

I often use the example of having someone with a digital camera that records video go around at an event and ask volunteers, board members and even donors "why do you donate your time/money to this organization?" "what do you love about this organization" . Once collected, these testimonials can be uploaded to YouTube and integrated in a variety of ways to your online presence. 

Last November Nancy Schwartz on her Getting Attention! blog, posted a great article "The Most Powerful Marketing Copy in the World – Testimonials" which provides examples, gives advice on getting testimonials and in part 2 of the article gives her "Seven Steps to Compelling Testimonials".

Here are some video examples I have run across lately from both small and large organizations using testimonials in various ways:

Autism Speaks:  On YouTube

Bishop O'Dowd High School: On their website (scroll down) ; On YouTube

Duke University: Video about annual giving on their website

Performing Arts Workshop: On their website ; On YouTube

Student Conservation Association: On their website  ; On YouTube

Texas Organ Sharing Alliance: On YouTube

Even the smallest organizations can benefit from using these in their marketing materials and in their online presence. They can even be included in social media plans, uploaded to YouTube or Facebook, linked to from Twitter, etc. I encourage all nonprofit organizations to read Nancy's articles and work on collecting testimonials. It is an effective and inexpensive way to augment your marketing and online presence.

 "Effective Online Communications" is the chapter I wrote in the book from The Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission (2009, Jossey-Bass/Wiley), released today.

In this chapter I cover planning for and executing strategies to support an effective website and email communications in nonprofit organizations.

An organization's online communications via their website and email form the foundation of an effective online presence. In order to take advantage of social media and web 2.0 technologies, organizations first need a solid foundation. I cover planning, elements of engaging websites, using email to drive traffic to the site and tracking results to improve results.

There are a host of distinguished nonprofit writers that also contributed great chapters to the book covering the spectrum of technology management:

PART ONE: PLANNING AND PEOPLE.

Chapter 1: Mission First: Achieving IT Alignment (Steve Heye)
Chapter 2: Managing Technology Change (Dahna Goldstein)
Chapter 3: Measuring the Return on Investment of Technology (Beth Kanter)
Chapter 4: How to Decide: IT Planning and Prioritizing (Peter Campbell)
Chapter 5: Finding and Keeping the Right People (James Weinberg, and Cassie Scarano)
Chapter 6: Budgeting for and Funding Technology (Scott McCallum and Keith R. Thode)

PART TWO: THE TOOLS.

Chapter 7: The Foundation: Introduction to IT and Systems (Kevin Lo and Willow Cook)
Chapter 8: Where Are Your Stakeholders, and What Are They Doing Online (Michael Cervino)
Chapter 9: Effective Online Communications (John Kenyon)
Chapter 10: Donate Now: Online Fundraising (Madeline Stanionis)
Chapter 11: Where Will We Be Tomorrow (Edward Granger-Happ)

The Editors

Purchasers of the book have access to premium content available online, which includes bonus materials and posts from the authors.

The book is available on the Jossey Bass/Wiley site and on Amazon.com