When Mashable first started buzzing about Pinterest in December 2011, I took a quick look at the site and thought to myself, “Shopping, crafters, and foodies. Not relevant to the vast majority of nonprofits and (whew!) not another site I need to pay attention to.” Now, just two weeks into January, I am completely addicted to pinning boards for...
There’s no shortage of year-end-and-beginning blog posts about social media, but I thought I’d throw mine into the mix as well. I took some much-needed time off in December and was able to spend some down time reflecting on the future of social media and mobile technology for the nonprofit sector. The truth is I think it has only...
Originally published in the November 2011 issue of Fundraising Success Magazine where I have written a quarterly column throughout 2011. In June 2007, I presented my first social media training to a small group of nonprofits in Lowell, MA. At the time, nonprofits were primarily only using Myspace and YouTube. Though Facebook had gone public nine months previous, Facebook Groups were only...
Date: Wednesday, February 15 Time: 1-1:45pm EST Cost: Free Presenter: Heather Mansfield Register: Here! The content of this mini-webinar is specifically tailored for executive staff in the nonprofit sector, particularly those that are skeptical of the value of social and mobile media. The idea for this webinar arose from presenting more than 100 social and mobile media trainings and webinars in 2011...
Page” on Google+. If you are new to Google+, then first please read carefully my Google+ Best Practices for Nonprofits to become familiar with Google+ so that you make sure that you set up your Google Account and Google+ Profile correctly before following the instructions below for creating a Google+ Page for your nonprofit. 1. Login to your personal...
The following is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of the newly released book Social Media for Social Good: A How-To Guide for Nonprofits. These best practices serve as a foundation for upgrading your website to be compatible with the Social Web and are then elaborated upon in the upcoming webinar How Nonprofits Can Successfully Utilize Online Fundraising and e-Newsletters....
is one of the hundreds of nonprofits participating in the third annual Valley Gives Day scheduled for December 10, 2014. Valley Gives Day is an innovative online fundraising event that encourages individuals to donate as much money as possible in support of their favorite charities in just twenty-four hours. Throughout the day, donors will be randomly chosen and your gift may be...
Last week I did a 30-minute interview with Rey Ybarra at the New Media Radio Hour – my first radio interview ever. The topics of discussion ranged from how the Web and its tools have evolved over the 15 years to the importance of early adoption to why your social media campaigns are only as good as the human...
Defying its name, Tumblr user growth has accelerated dramatically in 2011 (up 218% over last year) and the eleven nonprofits listed below are paving the way for early adoption in the nonprofit sector. Part-blogging, part-social networking community, Tumblr makes an interesting choice for blogs that are specific to a campaign or cause – especially if you have a lot...
Truth be told, I much prefer the anonymity of being “Nonprofit Organizations” online (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) over being “Heather Mansfield,” but writing and promoting Social Media for Social Good: A How-To Guide for Nonprofits has required that I step out of my comfort zone a bit and put a face and voice to human being behind the “Nonprofit...
How nonprofits choose to follow on Twitter varies widely. Some nonprofits only follow a small of amount of Twitterers, others follow hundreds or thousands, and a few follow more (sometimes a lot more) than they are being followed themselves. However, from browsing more than 80,000 nonprofits on Twitter over the last three years, the vast majority of nonprofits follow...
In the weeks after Google+ launched I saw a number of blog posts and articles about how brands should drop Facebook and Twitter, and migrate their communities over to Google+. My guess is that many of those bloggers and journalists have reconsidered now that the initial buzz and euphoria about Google+ has subsided (especially considering that the Google+ brand...
For all the buzz about new media in the nonprofit sector, it is somewhat surprising how few nonprofits have integrated their new media campaigns into one of the most important pages on their website – the “Thank You for Your Donation!” landing page. That is, the page your donors land on after making a donation. Donors pay a lot...