Is Your Org Really About "Social Change"?

I'm only half-joking when I say that every nonprofit should put the term "social change" in the subject line of their online appeals. The term is hot right now. Google returns more than 16 million records for the phrase "social change" and Twitter brings back too many return pages to count. The Obama campaign's call to action has rallied thousands of people to make a difference under the term social change". But, should you get on the bandwagon and reframe your mission with the term "social change"?  Does it work for your organization? 

Social change is defined on Wikipedia as "when behavior pattern changes, in large numbers and is visible and sustained' and "any event or action that affects a group of individuals that have shared values or characteristics." OK, good starting point. Does your organization affect the behaviors of thousands of people? Over a period of time, probably. Your organization's outreach can span across channels with direct mail, magazines, online marketing, and events. Can you tabulate whether people have been affected by your outreach?  Sure, look at the number of donations or constituents you have in your database. Look at how many emails you send out each year and how many people take an action based on your communications. Finally, look at your organization's beneficiaries and programs to gauge how your organization has affected social change. 

To this end, every organization can make the argument that they're about "social change." Should your organization reframe itself and start up on the "we're about social change" nomenclature? Well, first think about it. Look at why constituents sign up for your online newsletter or donate to your group in the first place. They must like you for your existing mission and vision, your current programs and goals, and because of who or how you help. Don't feel the need to change your homepage banner to read "creating social change." Be yourself, but maybe stick that word "change" in your next online appeal. It can't hurt, right?

Using your website to “go green” (and make green)

Let’s face it. The troubled economy is not making it easy for fundraisers this year. And this St. Patrick’s Day we could all use a lucky leprechaun to lead us to the pot of gold.

While the economy is getting most of the news coverage these days, “going green” has had its share of the limelight as well. Here are a few easy ways to build lists and raise money while going green this year.

1. Create online-only constituents and publications
From banks to cable companies, there is a growing trend to get rid of mailed, paper statements and to interact exclusively online. While you shouldn’t entirely do away with offline newsletters and direct mail, there are some constituents who may appreciate receiving online-only communications from your organization – particularly if it is coupled with a “going green” message.

Consider emailing a segment of your list and asking them to help you save money and trees by opting in to online-only communications; include a tell-a-friend feature here as well. (Alternatively, segment recent online donors who have never given offline, and keep them out of offline mailing lists.) Target these constituents differently in the coming months by reinforcing your appreciation of their online-only status. You may be able to send more frequent emails to this group as well, since you are not balancing online and offline calendars.

A more drastic but not unheard of measure is to take a regular publication out of print, and create an online-only version in its place. Proceed with caution, but since you can learn much more about your donors through their clicks – and since a reader is more likely to forward to a friend than they are to drop off a few hard copies with friends and family – the right analytics and segmentation could make an online-only version even more profitable.

2. Be less “printer-friendly”
Ever received an email that includes in the signature a request to “consider the environment before printing this email”? In a few easy steps, you can add a similar message near printer-friendly links on your website and in email stationery.

3. Offer seasonal ecards
Use holidays like St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s and Father’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Valentine’s Day as timely reasons to publicize your organization through e-cards. Free e-cards help grow your house file, and allow the sender to give an eco-friendly online greeting to a loved one. Tribute e-cards raise funds by allowing the sender to make a donation in someone’s name rather than purchasing a tangible present. Both varieties can help build lists and raise money, without any need for paper.

Going green and making green don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Offering more unique opportunities for online communication will help save trees and money, and may also be seen as an effort toward responsible spending of donor dollars.

Go green, and you might just find that pot of gold after all.

To YouTube it or not, that's the question.

Recently, I lost a friend, not a person friend, but a close go-to partner that's been with me for over 2 years. My friend's name was Brightcove, and it was my favorite alternative to YouTube.

Brightcove, if you are unfamiliar with it was a free online video publishing site similar to YouTube in its intent, but different enough at its approach. The back-end was filled with customizable options, channel setups, layout tools, water marking options, banner options- in fact, the first time I saw a playlist embed code was when using Brightcove. And while Brightcove is still operating as a company, it is no longer free. (Price is not posted on their site.)

Recently I had to move all my Brightcove videos into another tool, the obvious choice was YouTube - it's popular, it's easy, it offered embed options and it's an "in" into the a large pool of popular videos, drawing millions within a month. Those were important factors for what I needed, and thus far, it's done that well. Videos uploaded a week ago have already been getting hundred's of views. However, YouTube has it's drawbacks. For one, there is a very visible loss of quality in videos uploaded, the customizable options in the channels are good, but lack any pizazz (very 2004), and the related videos that appear on the right of your video are a hazard that may result in losing visitors exploring your channel. For instance, while watching a video on youth empowerment on your channel, the title "Fred Goes Swimming" may catch your visitor's attention under the "Related Videos" box underneath your list, they'll click it, than whoosh, like Kiser Sozer (from the Usual Suspects), they're gone forever. 

There's no doubt that YouTube is the monster of online video, but it's important to know that they are alternatives out there, alternatives that may not be as good for accidental visits, but are superior for showcasing.

Vimeo

Vimeo, in my world, is probably the 2nd most well known video hosting option out there. It's especially popular with high definition (HD) videos. If you visit a Vimeo channel, you'll immediately see the difference between it and YouTube, the video quality often looks better, the video controls hide - allowing you to enjoy a full-screen like movie, the description is right below the video (not hidden at the far right), and the channel layout is not as busy. Also, there is a focus on icons over text which creates a nice simple clean look to your channel. Similar to YouTube, is the channel grouping. Video clips are organized into general topics (The White House has a channel (viemo.com/whitehouse) and College Humor casts have their own channel (vimeo.com/amir and vimeo.com/streeter)) and than further sub-organized by tags like activism & non profits, comedy, sports, etc.

Vimeo also has a Facebook tie to it. If you like a video on Vimeo, click the "Like" button and it instantly appears on your Facebook feed as public message that you "liked a video on Vimeo", with a link directly to it.

Two drawbacks to Vimeo over YouTube is it's notorious reputation for slow uploads, and that for those uploading more that 500MB a week, fees are involved (unlimited uploads of SD and HD are available for $59.95/year or $0.16/day).

Viddler

Not wildly popular, but still strong with content is another video hosting service called Viddler. With Viddler there is no limit to the number of videos you can upload for free, and according to a recent CNET review, it is one of the fastest when it comes to uploading.

It's channel layout is not highly customizable, and it's very barebones-ish, which isn't great, except that it does offer something YouTube nor Vimeo offer, a Twitter and Flickr feed on your profile page. This option really helps bring full circle what Web 2.0 is all about, shorter text, free pictures, and free videos.

Other offerings from Viddler include revenue sharing and iTunes Podcast Support ("Viddler [can] make you an iTunes-compatible RSS feed which you can submit to the iTunes Music Store").

In the end, it may be that YouTube is just the thing you need for your videos. The opportunity to be discovered on it is undeniably higher there than anywhere else. However, to some, there are times when creating a hub where you have better control over quality, and an ability to promote social networking tools matter more than someone finding my channel on seeing eye dogs while watching Bizkit the Sleepwalking Dog.

Links:

Brightcove: www.brightcove.com
Vimeo: www.vimeo.com
Viddler: www.viddler.com
CNET Review: YouTube sucks: 4 sites that do video better

Taking Online Actions Offline

Organizations can reap online benefits from offline actions:  a newspaper or television story or a successful direct mail campaign can produce nice spikes in site traffic and donations. But, how do you get constituents to take materials offline? How can they act for your organization within their communities and circles after visiting your website? Several organizations have come up with clever methods for producing online materials and action items; here are some ideas for your .org. What are some of your ideas?

Hit 'Em While They're Hot: Your organization should jump on a chance to communicate with the constituent anytime they make an online donation, fill out an advocacy form, or just sign-up for the newsletter. Send an auto-responder with a few actions they can take offline (telling friends, making calls, downloading PDFs, calling congressional leaders). You should always include online actions, but don't forget to sprinkle in a few offline items. Don't' just leave it at one action; get them while they still feel the love.

Fundraising/Action Kits: The most obvious solution, but still an important tactic. Provide branded materials, sign-up sheet, pledge cards, and petitions for your constituents to take to their next party, meet-up, gathering, or function. Be sure to hand them out at your events, too.

These can be a few PDFs or even a large packet sent to them (if you can cover fulfillment). The important thing to remember is to have your organization's URL on every single page. Provide hand-outs with URLs for registering for newsletters or downloading incentive items. And brand everything: trust and empower your constituents to use your brand and message with their networks.

Circle Back with Constituents: Online communities, volunteer groups, and virtual committees provide that much-needed grassroots level for communicating locally or regionally. But, don't leave them out in the cold. Be sure to circle back them with regularly with phone calls, emails, webinars, and conference calls. Be sure to capture phone and email address for all volunteers in your online forms. Provide an online status form for volunteers to report on their progress; this is especially helpful with avoiding lapsed volunteers and will help keep everyone in the loop.
 
Tsotchke: Joanie loved him and so will your constituents (sorry, that was bad). But, small incentive items still work. I don't necessarily agree with cluttering the world with little things and fulfillment can be costly. But, the power of a brand on a calendar, book, magnet, or sticker is a wonderful offline reminder for the constituent to stay in touch. If you have the means, use them and make sure you're getting something in return (sign-up, donation, petition signing).

Friendraising: Those connectors and key influencers do more than play in Facebook; they drink coffee and go to meetings and events, too. Set an online goal to bring in constituents with a friendraiser campaign. These connectors can ask their folks to sign-up online and provide the person's name. Then, honor the friendraiser with a prize or honor. The key is to ask these connectors to bring you up in conversation. Sending emails around is only part of it; entice them to start having conversations about your organization and your programs.    

Don't forget that once a constituent leaves your website, they know something about you. Make sure they retain some kind of commitment to your organization and keep that momentum.

Keyword Madness Solved

These days, it seems everyone struggles with their keywords; they just seem to grasp at anything in their site's content that may have the slightest possibility of helping them generate traffic. I think people over thinking the problem, so I want to share one of my solutions for generating great keywords.

I use a site Keyword Spy which allows you to type in a site or keyword and get a large amount of relevant information that you can use to generate larger list and better target your audience through search engines.

If you type a keyword into the search box, the site will give you the number of search results for that keyword and the number of clicks a day it generates, along with the average cost per click on ppc campaigns, and the sites using that keyword in their ppc campaigns.

From there, you can dig deeper so you can look at the list of people advertising on that keyword and see what other keywords they are advertising on.  For example, I did a search on the keyword "water", which returned the results you can see in the image above.  Now looking down the list of those who pay for advertising on that word, we find several companies and nonprofits, so by clicking on one of those sites we can get information on just how that site is doing, its advertising items, including a list of the paid and organic keywords being used to generate traffic.

This is where is gets really handy, and where we answer the question which keywords to use. Keyword Spy will give you a list of the keywords combined with a rating for their return on investment, search ranking position, competition ranking, average clicks per day and the average cost per click for every keyword in the list.  This will help you determine exactly which keywords are going to help you more and which ones you are going to be competing a little more on.

Now for those using ppc campaigns to drive traffic to your site, you can even get a list of ad variations that articular site is using, which can help you get ideas for how to word your own ads.

Finally, it will let you export the list of keywords to either a text or Excel document so that you can save them and use them wherever you like, however you prefer.

Now Keyword Spy does have two levels of membership: the first is free, which is honestly all that I use since it gives you quite a bit of information there.  If you decide you need more, then upgrade to the Pro account, which is $139.95 a month.  But, for the average nonprofit just looking to drive more traffic and awareness, I think this is a bit extreme. Anyway, give it a try and let me know what you think. It has always worked well for me.