Tweet Tweet Went the Nonprofit

Truth be told, that headline is a nod to a CNN.com headline this week about a congressman tweeting during President Obama's address to the nation. But this week was a clear indication of why we've recommended that clients use the Web 2.0-social media-micro-blogging phenom that is Twitter.

One of our clients signed on to Twitter on February 11. Since then, they've had two key returns:

1. A clear increase in site traffic with Twitter jumping up to one of their top referring websites.

2. Just this week, the client was contacted by a company in their field that they were not previously connected with soley because the company found them on Twitter. I hope this is just the beginning of new collaborations and potential partnerships that come as a direct result of a Twitter.

I should also say that I've been particularly impressed with this organization's adoption of Twitter. They quickly keyed in on developing their voice and leveraging Twitter to highlight the information and resources found on their website, which are surprisingly handy for almost everyone, not just the blind and low-vision audience they target.

If you're still not sure about Twitter for your organization, I have these recommendations for you:

• Visit http://twitter.com/nonprofitorgs to see which nonprofits are using twitter

• Use Tweetscan or Twitter Search to see who's talking about you

• Think it will take up too much time? Consider Tweetlater to schedule your tweets

• If you're a organization serves a local community, try Twellow to see who's tweeting in your neighborhood.

I'm on Twitter. Are you?

Wasting time with an email newsletter?

Email newsletters a waste of time? It’s an interesting debate… and maybe even a tempting argument. (That sure would free up some of your workload.)

Obama’s camp has been quoted as saying that email newsletters are “a waste of time and effort and should be ditched.”

But like Vinay Bhagat, co-founder and CSO at Convio, I beg to differ.

Sure, we know that open rates are declining thanks to increased image blocking and email overload. And yes, sometimes it does take a while to write and get approval on organizational emails.

But expecting your subscriber base to respond to endless calls to action, without ever hearing inspiring updates on what they have helped change (like policies), or save (like the rainforest), or end (like hunger), isn’t such a good idea for organizations. According to Bhagat, “Political campaigns are short lived and maximizing participation during the campaign cycle is critical. In contrast, nonprofits rely on building long-term donor relationships.”

It’s worthwhile to determine who on your list enjoys reading and relies upon your email newsletters to understand your organization’s mission, needs, and achievements. Remember that there are likely as many “relationship seekers” as there are “all business” types on your list.

So while it might be tempting, don’t give up on your e-newsletter just yet. Here are some do’s and don’ts to help you manage the time and effort you put into your email marketing campaigns.

DO:

• Make emails, including organizational e-newsletters, as short as possible.
• Create and use an email newsletter template, so that preparing them each month (or week or quarter) is easy.  You’ll be less likely to forget including important components like that donate button or a featured program this way too.
• Target e-newsletters to segmented groups based on their interests. If some people only open, click, and donate to particular campaigns (like dogs vs. cats, or prevention vs. treatment), then send them email content accordingly.

DON’T:

• Spend so much time crafting perfect e-newsletters that you aren’t able to also produce short, timely emails with specific asks. We can’t argue with the Obama team on this one; short calls to action are critical as well.
• Ignore your e-newsletter statistics and trends. If your e-newsletter is suffering from low opens and disappointing clicks, do some testing to identify what’s wrong and make changes.

Now… back to drafting that e-newsletter and call-to-action appeal.

Also onLine: How Much Email is Too Much?

Free Lunch with Google - Google Analytics

So you've satisfied your visitors with the option to donate to your cause easily using Google Checkout, and you've made it easier than ever to make sure your visitors can find what they need by implementing Google Custom Search. Well, I've saved the best tool for last. This tool is not even for your visitors, but for you - the webmaster (and a favorite tool at onLine). Enter Google Analytics.

Google describes Analytics modestly as a tool that will help you "learn more about where your visitors come from and how they interact with your site". However, the way Analytics presents its data and the detail by which it does so makes the tool much more powerful. (Consider that ISPs hosting a site often offer the same information, but I've yet to see one that goes into the depth that Analytics does.)

Like the previous tools covered, implementation is fast. One Google account can manage several sites, and each produces a unique code that is inserted immediately before the page's </body> tag. Once that tag is inserted, you receive immediate feedback from your (highly customizable) Analytics dashboard that the code is being read correctly.

What can Analytics do. Well, in short, in can all answer these questions for you:

• What visitors are searching for within your site?
• What search engine is bringing in most of your visitors?
• What keywords in those search engines are bringing in your visitors?
• Track and compare all your partnership conversions. Are referrals from other sites working well compared to paid ads?
• Which pages result in lost conversions?
• Where are visitors staying the longest?
• GeoTargeting, find out where in the world are most of your donors coming from. Did a recent news piece on your foundation in Detroit produce an increase in visitors? Donors?
• Which links on your site get the most clicks?

Oh, and did I mention - it's all free.

Sign up to Analytics here.
Learn more, watch videos here.

More Twitters on Twitter

My goodness, the Internet is a-flutter about Twitter this year (due to recent world events and natural integration)

Just today:

Twitter? It’s What You Make It
David Pogue in today's NY Times

Social Networks: Facebook Takes Over Top Spot, Twitter Climbs
Andy Kazeniac in Compete.com

Twitter Users Take Part in World-Wide Fund-Raising Event
The Chronicle of Philanthropy's article on today's Twestival

OK, so you get it. It's Twitter. You need to post tweets. Your boss is mixing up Twitter and tweeting (or asking what the heck is a "Twitter"). You know it matters and you read all the nonprofit experts who are telling you that it matters, but you still don't get it. Maybe you don't post on the weekends or you want to run it from an organization stance, not as an individual. Maybe you just feel like your organization doesn't have enough to say. Maybe you don't get the hype?

It's not that difficult.

Here's a good tip to get you started: just say hi. Every day. Follow ten people and say hi to your new followers. Very easy top get started. Don' worry about customizing your background, just upload your icon and get started saying hi.

From there, link to your blog post or your online stories. Post about your most recent campaign. Link to your press release. Just get started. The strategy? It's there. It's part of the fabric of your overall online strategy. A good tactic to create groundswell and get you started. Look at the hash marks, the Twitter campaigns, the volumes of posts... and don't get scared. There seems to be room for everyone.

I can name a bunch of bunch of organizations that use Twitter well. You probably know them as well.
If you want to know more, come find me on Twitter and ask me directly or shoot me an email with your questions.

*tweet, tweet* 

Past onLine Posts:

A Flitter over Twitter

How Twitter is Driving Action and Growing Up. 140 Characters at a Time

In Case of Emergency, Use Twitter?

Be Seen: 2009 Conferences

One of my 2009 resolutions is to network, get out there, meet some people -- both online AND in the real world. So far I've found and followed a few dozen more people on Twitter, renewed my DFWIMA and NTEN memberships, and registered to attend an event with speakers who worked on digital solutions for presidential campaigns.

If you are also seeking new connections, consider these conferences and events. Chances are you will find something in your area and you might actually enjoy a real-time conversation that doesn't involve a webcam, phone, internet connection, or LOL. Really, when was the last time you looked someone in the eye while you discussed best practices for online fundraising or the latest benchmarks for email. 

NTEN

April 26-28, 2009 in San Francisco, CA

NetSquared

May 26-27, 2009 in San Jose, CA

DMA 2009 Nonprofit Leadership Summit

June 15-17, 2009 in Naples, FL

Bridge Conference

July 21-23, 2009 in Washington, DC

Blackbaud

November 15-18, 2009 in Charleston, SC

Convio Summit 2009

November 16-18 in Austin TX

More Events

• TechSoup Community Calendar
• NTEN Events

Making Facebook’s “25 Things” Phenomenon Work for You

By now we’ve all seen the “25 Things” notes circulating on Facebook – the one where your friends write 25 random things that you may or may not know about them, and then tag you in the note asking you to do the same.

If you’ve completed the note yourself, did you find it easy to do and wish the note asked for 50 Things? Or did you have trouble coming up with enough interesting tidbits to share, and worry about friends commenting on some?

If your nonprofit were tasked with coming up with an interesting 25 Random Things list, would it be difficult to do? (Or difficult to get approved?)

As a nonprofit professional, consider the information your organization shares regularly with its supporters. Your mission statement. Details on an upcoming event. Maybe some photos or videos from a successful recent program. Do you ever take a risk and share a little more with your supporters?

Social media allows nonprofits to open doors and share behind-the-scene details and little-known facts about their causes. And by doing so, it engages supporters and helps identify key followers.

Get inspired by the 25 Things phenomenon. Think creatively and share more stories about your cause. What are the most important things your organization wants its supporters to know? What creative ways are you using to communicate these stories to them?

More about Facebook’s 25 Random Things:

• Getting To Know Each Other: Facebook's '25 Random Things'
• MTV Newsroom: 25 Things About MTV News
• Wall Street Journal: Facebook Mystery: Who Created “25 Random Things About Me”? 
• Time Magazine’s 25 Things I Didn't Want to Know About You and 25 More Things I Didn't Want to Know About You

Why You Should Upgrade Your Web Browser

Ask any web developer and they will tell you one of their largest annoyances is testing their work in multiple browsers.  In my work I find myself now testing sites in 3 versions of IE, 2 versions of Firefox as well as Google's Chrome and Apple Inc.'s Safari.  Now this may just sound like a mild inconvenience to everyone else but there are extremely good reasons why you should upgrade your personal web browser.

I am not going to go into all of the flaws and fixes for previous browsers, this has been covered by endless articles online for each browser currently and previously available.  If you would like to find the specific on your current browser I find Google to be a great tool as well as the site for the developer of your browser.

Here is what Microsoft says to the question "Why Should I Upgrade"?

"Microsoft has redesigned Internet Explorer from the ground up, with better security, new capabilities, and a whole new interface. Many changes resulted from the feedback of millions of users who tested pre-release versions of the new browser.

For me, the most compelling reason to upgrade is the improved security. The Internet of today is not the Internet of five years ago. There are dangers that simply didn't exist back in 2001, when Internet Explorer 6 was released to the world. Internet Explorer 7 makes surfing the web fundamentally safer by offering greater protection against viruses, spyware, and other online risks."

One of the most crucial reasons to upgrade your browser is security.  Internet Explorer 6 is one of the most targeted browsers for attacks known as browser hijacking.  Browser hijacking though only one of the issues in browsers is the most common, it includes things like having your homepage set and links added to pages you would normally avoid, a barrage of pop up ads and new toolbars being added.  Newer browsers include security fixes to close loopholes which are taken advantage of by those with malicious intent.

Another ever growing improvement in browsers is their pop up blockers.  There was a time when you needed a separate piece of software to eliminate pop up ads from your browsing experience now these are built directly in to make your experience that much better.  As the web develops, people exploit new ways to give you these wonderfully annoying ads to you, the software developers who create these programs are following close behind to stop them.   By upgrading your browser and keeping up to date with the security updates you keep yourself on top of the game.

Browsers are also growing to keep up with the expanding capabilities of web programing, so by keeping your browser updated you can insure that you view sites the way they were intended.  Older browsers respond differently to some scripting languages and do not always support the same layout methods as newer browsers.  These growing methods have come around to provide better experiences to everyone, including not only the visual and interactive aspect of the site but usability and performance as well. 

Currently the most outdated browser I find myself dealing with is Internet Explorer 6 which was release in August of 2001.  Some of the major flaws with IE6 include no support for transparent PNG files, poor support for web standards compliant code, slow operating performance, outdated pop up blocker and no support for tabbed browsing.  IE7 the replacement was released in 2006, and now the newest version IE8 had it's first public release candidate in Jan of 2009.

There is really no good reason not to upgrade your web browser.  Browsers are free, you can download the latest version and updates from the developer then have it installed in less than 10 min.

Here is a list of the most popular browsers, if you install one I do recommend checking for updates to insure you have the most recent patches.
Mozilla Firefox 3
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7
Apple Safari 3
Google Chrome