Chad Norman's Webby Things : Web 2.0

6 Dogooding Webby Things Your Nonprofit Should Check Out

Chad Norman — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:19:00 GMT

The Internet, nonprofits, and cause-based action have been natural partners since day one, not unlike peanut butter and jelly...and, um, more jelly. So it's no surprise that the successes nonprofits have seen with social media are constantly being cited, something I observed at SXSW. This happens because social technology works, and new methods of interacting with supporters are emerging every week. Here are six great webby things that every dogooder should check out:

Act.ly
A tactful use of a petition can work wonders for a cause, and Act.ly is an easy way to integrate this activity into your Twitter strategy. Act.ly allows petitions to be created that target Twitter users (politicians, businesses, organizations, etc.). The platform provides a way for your supporters to sign the petition, send a tweet about the effort, see others that have joined the cause, and embed a badge on their own sites. Check out how the League of Conservation Voters is using the platform to urge Oprah to discuss President Obama's clean energy plan, and then integrating the petition into their home page. www.act.ly

Facebook Fan Box
Having a Facebook Fan page is a great way to engage supporters, and many organizations are integrating these pages into their overall communications strategy. The Facebook Fan Box is an embeddable widget you can place on your website, blog, and other web properties to integrate the Facebook experience. Visitors can use the Fan Box to become a fan, view status updates, see who is supporting your cause, and read what they are saying. The Lance Armstrong Foundation uses the widget to connect connect fans with Lance himself, and drive visitors to this valuable social channel. www.facebook.com

IdealistNews
Using social news sites like Digg, Yahoo Buzz, Mixx, and Reddit can bring new visitors to your cause, but only if your stories don't get lost in the vast pool of content. Idealist.org has partnered with Reddit to create IdealistNews, a nonprofit-focused social news platform. Once your organization's news stories and blog posts have been submitted, users have the opportunity to vote them up. The more votes, the more likely people are to hear your message. www.idealist.org

Actions for Facebook
For advocacy-based organizations, providing easy ways to communicate with politicians is critical to success. Grassroots Enterprises has released Actions for Facebook, and powerful online advocacy application for Facebook. The tool makes it easy to turn your fans into activists by helping them send letters to state and federal officials, find appropriate local activities, and invite friends to participate. Features like widgets, unique URLs, and data collection make it easy to integrate into your communication strategy. www.grassroots.com

eBay Giving Works
While this isn't exactly new, I like that eBay helps users create positive change with every purchase. eBay Giving Works allows buyers to find sellers that support good causes, give direct donations via PayPal, and enables sellers to donate proceeds to nonprofits. All you have to do is sign-up your org to participate in the program. www.ebay.com

Good.ly
If your organization is using Twitter, then you're probably familiar with URL shortening tools like bit.ly, ow.ly, and TinyURL.com. Good.ly has taken the short URL business into the nonprofit sector by generating donations from users. When purchases are made from Good.ly click-throughs, a portion of the referral fee goes to one of three featured charities. While this may not be a financial windfall for the nonprofits, it is still a great application of technology for social good. www.good.ly

I also want to give a shout out to a few other webby things I've been digging lately. Check out Geoff Livingston's List of Change for a dynamic list of the most popular nonprofit blogs. Socialbright is a great resource that can help your nonprofit use social media, as is Social by Social. And of course there is the Summer of Social Good, Mashable's push to promote dogooding through social media.

The 2008 Conference for Nonprofits Goes Social

Chad Norman — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:50:00 GMT

Not surprisingly, social media is playing a huge role at the 2008 Conference for Nonprofits. The event kicks off in two weeks right here in Charleston, and I wanted to let everyone know how they can stay connected via the social web.

The Conference blog and discussion forum are back again this year, but we've also added some social channels that will help attendees, speakers, staff, press, and remote fans stay more engaged. Here's how you can use Twitter, Flickr, Delicious, and Facebook to connect, learn, and share at the Conference:

Twitter
Micromedia had proven to be a great way to keep up with people, organizations, and events, and Twitter has emerged as the go to service. Many of the attendees and Blackbaud staff members have already jumped on board, and we're hoping by promoting this new communication channel we can get a few more converts (If you've never used Twitter, check out this video). This year, we have created a official Conference feed at www.twitter.com/bbcon that we are updating with anything relevant to the event. We are also encouraging Twitter users to tag their updates with #bbcon. This ensures that each Conference-related update will appear in the real-time search results, giving everyone involved a holistic view of the event. We hope to see you out there in the Twitterverse!

Flickr
Sharing photos online is a great way to connect with people you meet at events, so we've made it easy for everyone to share via Flickr. As always, you can visit the official Blackbaud Flickr page to view our photos. We're tagging Conference-related photos with "bbcon", which enables them to show up in searches on Flickr. If you'd like your photos to show up there, be sure to tag each one with "bbcon". You can also submit your photos to the 2008 Conference for Nonprofits Pool. While there's nothing in the pool yet, we're hoping we can begin to fill it before the event kicks off.

Delicious
Social bookmarking is a great way to share online resources with people in your network. Delicious is my favorite bookmarking service, and allows me to bookmark sites I like online so I can share them with people I know (here's my profile). At events, this provides a great opportunity for speakers to share resources mentioned in their presentations, so we encourage all speakers and attendees to add the "bbcon" tag to relevant links saved on Delicious. This will give everyone at the Conference a valuable resources to reference after the event. Also, speakers can provide a simple way for attendees to access the links and resources discussed during their presentations. For instance, here are the bookmarks I've saved with the "bbcon" tag thus far. Prior to the event, I will add everything I am discussing in my session (probably 40-50 links!)

Facebook
While we are not using our Facebook page in an official capacity at the Conference, we welcome you to visit and fan us up. This is a great way to stay connected with Blackbaud staff and fellow nonprofiteers. You can also add photos, videos, and write on our wall if you're not into Flickr and Twitter.

I have also produced a one page Social Web Guide (PDF) that covers all things social at the Conference. Please take a look at it and spread the word. The more people we have using these tools, the richer the experience will be for everyone. Happy social webbing everyone!

Socially Tricking-out The Charleston Green Fair

Chad Norman — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:01:00 GMT

Last Sunday, I spent six straight hours manning the Go Green Charleston booth at the first annual Charleston Green Fair. I really had a blast chatting it up with everyone that stopped by, and loved spreading the knowledge with our "Is it Recyclable" tabletop game. It was an amazing event!

I also spread a little social web love around immediately prior to, during, and after the event in an effort to increase the engagement of the Go Green audience. Not only did our core audience get a richer experience, so did the city as a whole. Times are tough, and money is tight for all nonprofits, so using existing tools and devices has never been more important. Here are a few webby things I did to engage my audience during the Charleston Green Fair:

Used the @GreenCharleston Twitter feed and Go Green Charleston Facebook page to remind our supporters about the event. We received a few immediate responses about attendance, and a couple general questions...cool!
Sent a last minute message out via the @GreenCharleston Twitter feed and Go Green Charleston Facebook page offering a reusable shopping bag to the first 3 people who mention the offer at our booth. All three bags were given away - 1 from Twitter, 2 from Facebook.
Posted real-time event photos via TwitPic on the @GreenCharleston Twitter feed. Each image got a similar amount of views and comments, so it would seem our remote audience was consistent throughout the event.
Chatted with friends and supporters via my personal Twitter account, and was able to arrange a few on-site meet-ups. I also received some interesting comments and encouragement from everyone during the long, but fun, day. Thanks!

I guess the message here is that there are a lot of little things you can do with your existing communication channels that can increase the engagement of your audience, without decreasing the funds you in your bank account. As always: set goals, experiment, track, analyze, and repeat.

Twitter Makes Relationships Work — Right Now

Chad Norman — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:32:00 GMT

I'm really not obsessed with Twitter...well, no more than you are at least. OK, maybe a little more. Either way, I just wrote this article for Fundraising Well and The NonProfit Times, and thought it should end up here on Webby Things. Enjoy!

Twitter Makes Relationships Work — Right Now

Social networking connects us like never before. We find each other, exchange information, and develop expanding networks as easily as we send email. This helps individuals, nonprofits, businesses, and governmental agencies form new kinds of relationships. That’s great, but now what? How do we put these relationships to work?

Sometimes participation in social networks can feel passive, because everyone is focused content. Friend requests, photo galleries, comments, application installations — it's exhausting! It’s like we’re spending all of our time creating and consuming each other’s content, instead of actually doing something.

What Is Twitter™?
Twitter™ is the social network that asks, "What are you doing?" and was designed “for staying in touch with and keeping up with friends no matter where you are or what you’re doing.” It’s sometimes called a micro-blogging service, because posts are limited to 140 characters or less. You can also look at it as social networking based on text messages, much like Digg™ is based on news or LinkedIn™ is based on resumes.

The relationship model is simple: You can follow people, and people can follow you. When you “tweet” something, your followers receive the message in their feed and on their phones. It sounds simple, but what separates Twitter™ from the social noise is its ease of use and mobile reach. The introduction of real-time, everywhere connectivity into a social network has produced meaningful results — results well past the original vision of keeping up with your friends while on the go.

Let’s assume someone on your staff has used Twitter™ to build a large following of interested people (how to do that is another article altogether!); what happens next? How can you make these Twitter™ relationships work?

Your Followers Are Actually Listening
Reaching out to constituents is a necessary part of fundraising, and many traditional methods require a serious investment. Direct mail, phone calls, email, blogging, and public relations can all take a long time to actually reach your audience. With an established following on Twitter™, you can reach out to them in just seconds. But you’ve got to have something to say…

You could use Twitter™ to broadcast outgoing marketing by posting links to event registrations, online donation forms, or volunteer opportunities. This is a more traditional way to make the relationship work, and many organizations are doing it. But you may want to try a more subtle approach by posting about those same things, but with a more personal vibe. Tweet that you are touring the venue for this year’s gala, stuffing bags for volunteer day, or heading to a board meeting. It may sound crazy, but your followers will care about this stuff. In fact, knowing these things will make them feel closer to you. This could come into play during your next campaign, as it’s always harder to say “no” to a friend.

Followers on Twitter™ can also help you spread your story, which can bring a welcome set of new eyeballs to your mission. Danielle Brigida is a social media expert who detailed her development of a successful social media strategy for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). By leveraging relationships in various social networks, including Twitter™, Danielle’s followers regularly help NWF content land on the front page of the social news website digg.com. When this happens, a post on the NWF Wildlife Promise blog might see traffic increase from around 150 pages views to around 29,000 page views. For organizations like NWF, where online visitors often turn into online donors, investing in a social media channel like Twitter™ can clearly pay off.

You Should Listen Too
If Twitter's™ emergence as a broadcast tool is the predictable success story of the platform, then its power as a receiver is the big surprise. When you reciprocate relationships by following your own followers, you let your most avid supporters know they have a chance to reach out to you — and that you’ll listen.

A frequently used tactic on Twitter™ is to ping your followers for some information. You could reach out for ideas for your gala theme, find a volunteer in a nearby neighborhood, or get one last anecdote before a board meeting. Instant feedback by like is difficult to get with traditional tools, but Twitter™ can make it happen as you’re rolling on the tarmac or waiting in line at a store. A community that’s always connected is always there when you need it.

But what about just getting to know your constituents better? After a big alumni event, spending an hour following links to Flickr™ photos and YouTube™ videos might give you a clearer picture of how things really went from an attendee perspective. If you have a large scale media or viral campaign, you can use a tool like TweetScan to monitor the chatter. Because the Twitter™ platform is mobile and provides constant access, it’s becoming the place to go for instant reaction. If you can develop a large enough following, this can work for you.

In the end, Twitter™ is a place where relationships can get things done quickly. As with any foray into social networking, a well thought out strategy and clear goals are important first steps. But once you decide to integrate real-time social networking into your communication plan, your Twitter™ relationships will be ready for duty.

Want to see what it’s all about? Sign-up and follow me!

Google Friend Connect - The Last Social Migration?

Chad Norman — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:52:00 GMT

My brain has been buzzing ever since I read the big Google Friend Connect press release yesterday. Social networks form natural silos or walled gardens, and even FriendFeed may not be able to break them down (despite an AMAZING feature set - I've loving you FriendFeed). This is a big challenge, and Google's Friend Connect has arrived to take it on.

Friend Connect uses the open API access of existing social networks (Facebook, Orkut, Plaxo, hi5) and social standrards (OpenID, OpenSocial,oAuth) to bring social networking to any website. By adding some relatively simple code, your visitors can soon be bonding over their love for what you do - and who doesn't want that? Sure this thing looks a little unfinished (Where is the support for EVERY social network - come on, you're Google - get it done! And the widget better be highly customizable, because the demo didn't exactly look fetching.), but the idea is simple: connect the dots.

I've been really fascinated with all the lifestreaming/social aggregator sites like FriendFeed, Socialthing!, and Profilactic. The ability to have a real-time view of people's lives is powerful. But putting all the rich audience knowledge aside, even FriendFeed is not immune to social network whiplash (the sudden migration of users form one social network to the next). Friend Connect could make network migrations irrelevant, while also giving smaller sites an inexpensive way to leverage broaders social networks. With a strategy like this, we may not have to wait for friends to join us on the next "It Social Network"... they'll already be there.

I can't wait to see where this goes...how about you?

Geek Note:
As I'm writing this, I'm sitting through the presentation at Google Campfire One live from Robert Scoble's Quk account. Not only am I hearing all of this two hours before it will be publicly available, but it's a beautiful example the Twitter > Qik broadcast schema. Just a few clicks and I'm watching live coverage of an invite-only event from the perspective of an industry insider. Several jets flew over the outside gathering, leading to inevitable jokes about Microsoft spy planes...you can't make this stuff up. I mean, this would never have happened one year ago. Is this an exciting time for technology or what?!?

Anyone Need Twitter Slides?

Chad Norman — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:49:00 GMT

Last week, I sat on an emerging technologies panel at the South Carolina PRSA conference. This was a great opportunity to introduce a tool like twitter to a room full of professional communicators. It doesn't matter if you work for a 500-donor nonprofit or a publicly traded behemoth like Google, tools that facilitate disintermediation are becoming more and more relevant to marketing, and Twitter is no exception.

So since I know some of you are out there tech evangelizing everyday, I thought a few of my Twitter-related slides might prove useful to you. I've uploaded a PowerPoint file with 10 graphical slides that you can use to your heart's content. It's not much, but hey - if it saves you a few minutes while working on a presentation, that's just more time for you to tweet. Enjoy!

Why Twitter is Actually Useful

Chad Norman — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:51:00 GMT

As with most webby-types, I'm becoming hopelessly addicted to Twitter. That said, I have a lot of trouble explaining to skeptics how tiny updates about what people are doing can actually be useful. They don't see that while Twitter appears to be about nothing, it is really about everything (I'm starting to understand how Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David must have felt pitching their show "about nothing" to NBC.)

CommonCraft said it best: real life is what happens between blog posts and emails, and now there's a way to share. Watch the video and see for yourself...their explanation is right on the money. To me, following the right person on Twitter is like shadowing a mentor - the content comes from in the field, is timely, and can be extremely useful. Following someone on Facebook feels like I'm reading their yearbook or dorm room door - the content is planned, often stale, and typically unhelpful (groups, causes, and apps aside...but stay with me). If you don't believe me, check out these updates from my Twitter and Facebook feeds:

Twitter feed:

CaliLewis: Shooting live on www.GBTVlive.com now. Will give away eight Woopra invites randomly. Must log into geekbrief.tv & have left a comment.
ntenhross: very concise, easy outline to ensure email delivery for orgs newer to all this: http://snurl.com/23h6r-snit
WilHarris: WT? New Kids on the Block are back??
bwjacobs: Thundercats are GO for Cocoa Infinity build!
JasonCalacanis: Google Analytics now supports hourly/weekly/monthly reports! Thank you Google Gods!!! I love you!!! kiss kiss: http://tinyurl.com/392ct8

Facebook feed:

Rachel Hutchisson and Colleen Troy are now friends.
Rich Conte added the Dogbook application.
Erin Watson is attending SCPRSA Spring Conference.
Meg Trott, Suzann Wolfe, Violet Meyer and Seth Greathouse changed their profile pictures.
Get Blockbuster By Mail for only $3.99 a month.

It's not even a contest. Facebook is telling me about updated profile photos, installed applications, and products I may want to buy - this is not real life. Twitter is telling me about updates to Google Analytics, how to get Woopra invites, Blackbaud product information, and new tech tools for nonprofits - this is real life. This is useful. Don't get me wrong - there are plenty of "I just ate a hamburger" posts on Twitter, but the useful content tends to stand out.

I think Veronica Belmont described it well: Twitter is great for keeping tabs on internet friends (professionals, peers, partners, etc), while Facebook is great at keeping track of brick and mortar friends (family, classmates, neighbors, etc). That's a great way to look at it, and makes sense. Web-savvy types want to connect directly with followers via mobile phones, IM, and laptops in order to push the industry forward. My cousin just wants to find his old girlfriend from high school or post photos of his frat party - that's a different need, and it requires a different tool.

In the end, it's the concept of Twitter that is useful and historic. This is the first truly mobile platform providing busy professionals, celebrities, and other notables with an easy and safe way to directly communicate with their followers (and it works for the rest of us as well). When you've got a full calender, it's hard to blog or make phone calls...especially to your fans. But at 140 characters or less, there is always time to tweet...and thanks to Twitter, someone just might be listening.

Follow me!

6 Degrees of Fundraising

Chad Norman — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 21:16:00 GMT

We talk a lot about nonprofits using the social web to attract and engage donors, but the concepts trend more towards awareness than action. Using MySpace or YouTube to deliver your message to a broad audience is one thing - getting them to act is another. That’s where SixDegrees.org, AOL Instant Messenger, and Network for Good come in. Someone had the brilliant idea to put these three ingredients into a giant Web 2.0 blender in the hopes of producing a tasty, social fundraising smoothie – and it looks like they have succeeded. With Kevin Bacon as the natural pitchman, 6Degrees.org is asking donors to choose a nonprofit, then get 6 friends to give to the same organization. Network for Good is covering the online donations, while AOL's MySpace equivalent AIM Pages handles the social aspect. The idea is to use a social network to form impromptu giving circles...got it? No? Here, I'll let Mr. Bacon tell it like it is:

All you have to do is use the AIM for Good module on this page. Simply pick the charity that you would like to rally support for, enter up to six e-mail addresses of your buddies and family members, and write them a note asking for their support. The e-mail that they’ll receive will give them the opportunity to give, right there, to the charity you’ve selected. All transactions will be private and secure. Another way you can help is by making your own AIM Page, which can include the AIM for Good module on it too. So, when your buddies stop by your page, they’ll be reminded to get the word out and rally support with their friends and families.

While I love the concept, the whole things feels a little thrown together. When you read about it, or hear Kevin talk about it, it's not crystal clear who is involved and exactly what you are supposed to do. With some tighter integration and better defined user paths, I can see this program really taking off. Cheers to everyone involved!

DoGooderTV to Provide Nonprofit Video Sharing

Chad Norman — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 21:05:00 GMT

I recently ran across a new video sharing site for nonprofits, DoGooder.tv. Very cool. The site is live right now, though in alpha, and allows nonprofits to post high-quality videos for a small fee free. They plan to include more community and online donation functionality down the road, so this is pretty exciting. But will nonprofits flock to DoGooderTV instead of free alternatives like YouTube or Google Video? DoGooderTV will always have a captive audience looking for nonprofit content, but whether or not organizations will be willing to pay for that placement remains to be seen. Tracking… Update: Michael says:

The site is 100% FREE! A new version is online now that allows nonprofits to create basic home pages and upload video.

That's great news from the DoGooderTV camp - not only because the the service will be free, but social elements like creating pages are coming sooner rather than later.

Ten Social Web New Year's Resolutions for Nonprofits

Chad Norman — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 20:51:00 GMT

Using the Social Web, also referred to as Web 2.0, is a great way for your nonprofit to reach donors and spread your message. Social sites are built to encourage sharing, and few things are more effective and inexpensive than viral marketing. While maintaining your own Web site will always be a priority, there are other ways to spread your organization's story via the Internet. Here are ten social web resolutions that can give your nonprofit an edge in 2007:

Create a page at MySpace.com Your donors are getting younger, or at least they are acting younger...so should you. Reach out to them via MySpace.com this year. Setup a page for your organization, gather friends, post bulletins, and point people back to your online donation page.
Go in-world with Second Life Get an account started at Second Life, and take your nonprofit into the virtual world. This is cutting edge internet marketing, so getting started now may get you closer to tech-savvy donors who are looking for something different. Have a meet-up in Second Life to discuss your annual campaign or just chat about issues. If you do it right, Reuters might show up and cover the event in the real world.

Share videos at YouTube.com Engage your donors with real life moving pictures! YouTube.com has put the whole world in the director's chair, and that includes you. Get your promo videos out there, start a video blog, and begin to integrate new videos into your campaigns. People like people, and your donors will appreciate seeing you.
Share your photos at Flickr.com A picture is worth a thousand words, so even a few can help show your mission to the world. Setup an account at Flickr.com and start tagging! Add desktop wallpaper and posters that your supporters can download.
Archive your organization at Wikipedia.com Do a search at Wikipedia.com - is your organization there? Get it added as soon as you can. Not only are Wikipedia entries becoming the go-to reference source, but they are showing up very high in organic search engine results at Google and Yahoo!.
Start your own blog It's 2007, which means it's time to start a blog. Your donors are doing it, the organization down the street is doing it, and I wouldn't be surprised if your kids are doing it. You can get one setup and running in a matter of minutes with the free tool Blogger.
Start Podcasting The spoken word is a powerful way to convey a message, and this is even more pronounced in the nonprofit world. The written word is a powerful force, but is easily trumped by speech. A downloadable interview with your board, DOD, or donors is be a great way to share your mission with Web visitors.
Share your links with Del.icio.us Social bookmarking may be new, but I bet your browser's favorite list is jam packed with useful links. If they relate to your mission, create an account at del.icio.us. By adding and tagging bookmarklets, you can share information with coworkers, board members, and donors.
Join LinkedIn.com It's simple...sign up at linkedin.com, network with others that do what you do, and learn from them.
Bring the Social Web to your site This one is easier said than done...believe me, I know. Even if it's just a discussion forum or blog, get something on your site that will allow visitors to participate. Go further and implement team fundraising or giving circles - these provide your supporters a vehicle to engage one another and further your organization's mission.

These resolutions are really just ideas - hopefully a few of them will make sense for your organization. The key here is that the Web is changing rapidly, and social concepts are becoming an expectation of your donors. Use these tools now to get ahead, before you get behind. Happy New Year everyone!