Posts Tagged ‘Google’

Time to Step Out and Get Social!

Tuesday, July 17th, 2012

Be the change through social mediaIf your organization is still resistant to utilizing social media tools, it is time to catch up with the times. Social media has risen to the forefront for businesses to reach consumers and dedicated audiences nationally and globally. Thanks to social media, you can now better inform others about your organization’s mission, recruit more volunteers, and humanize your organization.

Are you still not convinced? We have 13 reasons why you need to make a social media plan for your organization today, we promise you will not regret!

  1. Expose yourself: It should be your goal to consistently expose your organization’s mission to an ever increasing audience. Social media can help target specific individuals to your organization by providing brand resources and information to a social following. For example, if your organization wants to attract volunteers, you can begin announcing volunteer projects through social media.
  2. Add more customer service: Support the unanswered questions requiring customer service with the use of social media. Social media allows your organization to show the communities where it serves while providing immediate answers to questions.
  3. Start a conversation: Start a conversation with those who truly care about your organization. Ask your friends and followers what they like, what needs to be improved, etc. By opening this conversation up through social media, you will have the ability to improve the overall function of your organization.
  4. Be an open book: Social media opens the door to letting the public know what everyone thinks about your organization, use this to your advantage! When someone makes a negative comment about your organization, respond to it professionally and provide resources to better serve that individual. Others will tend to look more favorably upon your organization when they see how you handle business.
  5. SEO, SEO! Pages that utilize social media tend to have higher search results on Bing and Google. This feature will allow new users to find your organization more easily!
  6. I’ll scratch your back, if you scratch mine: Social media is the new word of mouth. When your page starts to get likes and retweets, new potential volunteers are only a click away. When others see what their friends interact with on social media, their interest is more likely to be sparked.
  7. Provides great brand exposure: Use social media to build a community. Allow users to start conversation and share resources, so that they will turn to your page when they need help or want to serve.
  8. The fans will flock: When more people share your organization’s content through social media, the more popular those resources will become across the internet. It is important to promote your organization’s events, resources, service opportunities, etc. through social media in order for its popularity to grow.
  9. Everybody is doing it: Believe us, your targeted audience already knows about social media and they are probably using it. Get on the train too and interact with them.
  10. Your partners are using it: Most businesses and nonprofit organizations are now using Facebook and Twitter on a daily basis. Join them! Social media becomes easier to use everyday with its frequent improvements and user friendly tools.
  11. Build your influence: Get to know the people who interact with your social page the most; they will be more likely to influence others to visit your page and utilize your resources. You may be able to attract and reach more volunteers through this influence.
  12. Allow your organization to be more relatable: A business or organization becomes more human when it participates in social media. Users can feel more connected to your organization because they can provide their feedback and communicate with actual employees. It allows users to see the behind the scenes of an organization.
  13. It’s a full proof plan: New users are more likely to trust your organization when they see it on social media and can understand the purpose. When users see interactions and engagement, it allows them to trust the overall reputation of your organization.

We hope these 13 reasons convince your organization to jump on board with social media! You will only benefit from starting a social media plan at your organization.

How does your nonprofit organization use social media? We would love hear your comments and tips in the section below!

Social Media for Social Good at NCVS

Friday, June 4th, 2010

I’m excited about all the social media content coming up soon at the National Conference on Volunteering & Service!

I’ve already revealed how I attained Service Nerd Nirvana through the development of the Service Nerd Fantasy Panel Discussion, but wait… there’s more!

Social Media 4 Social Good: A Social Media Fair
Tuesday June 29th at 8:30 – 10:00 AM
Hilton New York Mercury Rotunda

Join this session for an opportunity to learn more about a myriad of social media topics by joining one of many small group discussions led by a fabulous host!

Discussions

Setting Social Media Policy & Strategy
, New York Cares
Deciding how your organization should use social media.  Learn how to tie social media tools to real organizational goals and objectives and how to release control to staff, volunteers and supporters.

Online Listening
Zack Brown, HandsOn Network
How to find out what the online community is saying about your organization & your issue – Using & Google Alerts and other tools to monitor the online conversation.

Engaging in the Conversation
, ETR Associates
Once  you’re actively listening to the online conversation about your issue and your organization, how do you know when and how to join the conversation?  What are the rules of social media etiquette?  Learn how to join in without making basic gaffs that make you look like a newbie.

Measuring Return on Investment for Social Media
Ken Cho, Spredfast
Jessica Kirkwood, HandsOn Network
How to track and measure the impact of social media efforts.

Twitter 101
Melissa Leibe, Volunteer Center of Bergen County
Getting Started – How to set up an account, how to use tools like Hootsuite, TweetDeck, , who to follow and how to use Lists (your own and those created by others).

Twitter 201
, Chicago Cares
Maximizing your account.

Facebook Fan Pages 101
Samantha Garrett & Lisa Gregory, New York Cares
The basic steps to starting a Fan Page.

Facebook 201
Sharon Tewksbury-Bloom, Volunteer Arlington
Making the most of your Facebook fan base and fan community.

Blogging
, Volunteer Maryland
Getting started, finding your voice, storytelling and community building.

Making the most of You Tube & Flickr
John Afryl, Hands On Greater Portland
How to make the best use of a Channel and a Group

Using Social Media for Events
Katie Stearns, Chicago Cares
Best practices for integrating social media into events

Time Management & Social Media
Whitney Soenksen, AmeriCorps Alums
How to survive the tidal wave of tweets, blog posts, wall posts, etc.

Leveraging Social Media for Disaster Response
Brian Williams, Hands On Nashville
Learn how social media helped HandsOn Nashville mobilize the city’s residents in an amazing volunteer flood relief effort.

New Ways to Tell Your Story
, Cause Global
Ms. Stepanek teaches a course on storytelling for nonprofits as well as a segment on “cause video” at NYU.  She also specializes in basic mobile social media-and-fundraising.

Make sure you’re registered for this amazing session!   The ID # for this session is 1293.

Nonprofit Listening 101: Google Reader

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Social media is enabling an incredible online conversation amongst nonprofit thought leaders and innovators.

To stay relevant, nonprofits need to listen to the conversation and, at some point,  join it.

My preferred listening tool is .

Every time new content is published from a source I want to listen to, Google pulls the content into my reader so that I don’t have to visit multiple websites.

[Which I totally appreciate.]

This short video provides an overview of how  works.

For an in depth, step-by-step tutorial on setting up a Google Reader account read this short “how to” post.

Once you have created a account, you’ll want to subscribe to the blogs and other news sources that you want to read regularly.

[You can subscribe to this blog right now by .]

For step by step instructions on subscribing to the RSS feed of any blog or news source, read this.

Consider bookmarking your Google Reader Page so that you can access it easily every day.

You can use your Google Reader to listen for key words and phrases as well by signing up to recieve .

With Google Alerts, you can be notified whenever key words or phrases are mentioned on the web.

I have a Google Alert set up to notify me every time my name is mentioned on the internet.

[And this is how I keep tabs on the  fit, young woman who shares my name and runs triathlons in Hawaii. Bonus!]

I also monitor key phrases like “volunteering;” “volunteer leaders;” and “HandsOn Network”.

You can set Google Alerts to feed into your e-mail inbox or into your Google Reader.

I like the alerts sent to Google Reader because I am overloaded with e-mail already.

For a detailed tutorial on setting up Google Alerts, click here.

Now that you have an introduction to Google Reader and Google Alerts,  you can start listening.

If you don’t know where to start, here is a list of blogs that I follow.  Feel free to subscribe to any that sound interesting.

You can always “unsubscribe” if you don’t like the content.

If you have suggestions about additional blogs and news sources to follow, please leave them  in the comments section of this post.

Blogs I follow:

501derful.org
David Neff is a Teacher, Speaker, Blogger, Network Weaver, and Social Media Scientist. This is his blog.

Allison Fine
Allison Fine explores the ways that digital tools, particularly social media, are enhancing our connectedness to one another and our ability and willingness to work for the collective social good.


If you are managing your organization’s Facebook presence or a fan page for a program, this “how to” blog will keep you up to date on how to make the best use of Facebook.

Amy Sample Ward’s Version of NPTech
Amy is dedicated to supporting and educating organizations, community groups and the wider social change sector about evolving technologies that cultivate and engage communities.

Beth’s Blog
Beth’s Blog is the epicenter of social media and social good.

Brian Solis
Solis is globally recognized for his views and insights on the convergence of PR, Traditional Media and Social Media.

Cause Global
Ms. Stepanek is an award-winning journalist and the founding Editor-in-Chief of Contribute Media, a New York-based news and information company that covers the new people and ideas of giving.


The Center for Future Civic Media supports research at MIT to innovate civic media tools and practices and test them in communities. Bridging two established programs at MIT—one known for inventing alternate technical futures, the other for identifying the cultural and social potential of media change—the Center for Future Civic Media is a joint effort between the MIT Media Lab and the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program.

Community Organizer 2.0
Community Organizer 2.0 is a forum for discussion and opinions on web 2.0 and non-profits. This blog considers social communities, tools and communication in the websphere.

Conversation Agent
Valeria Maltoni built one of the first online communities associated with Fast Company magazine. A brand strategist with 20 years of real-world corporate experience, 10 of which online, she’s worked with Fortune 500 and small start up companies in 5 industries. She specializes in taking companies to what’s next in their business cycle through marketing communications, customer dialogue, and brand advocacy.


CSRwire is the world’s number one resource for corporate social responsibility news as well as the hub for an influential community that has realized the value and necessity of Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability.


Our mission is to educate, entertain, and inspire viewers by providing video interviews, behind-the-scenes insights, & personal profiles of social entrepreneurs & extraordinary people who are changing the world.

Frogloop
Online nonprofit marketing blog.

Issue Lab’s Comprehensive News Feed
IssueLab’s mission is to more effectively archive, distribute, and promote the extensive and diverse body of research being produced by the nonprofit sector.

Jayne’s Blog
Jayne is an independent consultant that has supported numerous organizations in communications, community/volunteer involvement, staff capacity-building, organizational management and fund-raising.

Katya’s Nonprofit Marketing Blog
Katya Andreson’s personal blog on Robin Hood Marketing—the concept of stealing corporate savvy to sell just causes—and my life as a marketer, from Washington DC to Madagascar to points in between.

Logic & Emotion
A senior vice president at Edelman Digital with 14 years experience in the industry writes Logic + Emotion what Advertising Age calls one of the top media + marketing blogs.

Midcourse Corrections
Midcourse Corrections is about annual meeting improvement, association meetings and education, and the convergence of Web 2.0, social media, meetings, events and education.

Nonprofit Tech 2.0
Nonprofit Tech 2.0 was created and is managed by Heather Mansfield f DIOSA Communications. Fueled by a strong passion for the Internet, Heather spends her days [and some nights] helping nonprofit organizations utilize the Internet as a tool for social change.

NTEN Blog
NTEN aspires to a world where all nonprofit organizations skillfully and confidently use technology to meet community needs and fulfill their missions.

Philanthopic
A blog of opinion and commentary from Philanthropy News Digest.

Re imagining CSR
Jessica Stannard-Friel explores innovations and trends in corporate social responsibility, with an emphasis on initiatives that serve both a social impact motive and a profit motive.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Rosabeth Moss Kanter is a professor at Harvard Business School and the author of Confidence and SuperCorp.

Selfish Giving
Joe Waters talks about cause marketing.


Uplifting news.


Conversation on digital marketing

Social Citizen’s Blog
This blog is for anyone who’s energetic and passionate about social causes; who brims with new approaches and ideas for problem-solving; who’s disposed toward sharing the responsibilities and rewards of affecting change in the world; and who’s equipped with the digital tools and people power to make it happen.

Social Innovation Conversations
Social Innovation Conversations brings you the voices of the people at the forefront of creating social and environmental change in the world. Their goal is to allow you through audio lectures, panel discussions, conference recordings and audio interviews to hear what these individuals have to share, discover the models they are creating, and build on the lessons they’ve learned.

Social Media Explorer
A social media educator, a social media strategist and a public relations professional helps companies understand the social web and show them how engaging consumers online can help their business.

Socialbrite
Socialbrite is a learning hub & sharing community that brings together top experts in social media, social causes and online philanthropy. We’re here to share insights about the tools and best practices that drive the social Web and advance the social good.

Think Social
ThinkSocial is a new non-profit initiative dedicated to advancing the use of social media in the public interest.

Wild Apricot
This blog is for volunteers, webmasters and administrators of associations and nonprofits. They discuss issues and trends in web technologies that help your organization do more with less.

Working Wikily
The purpose of this blog is to provide practitioners in the social sector with a filter for the events that are pushing the field towards a more networked form of work and a perspective on how and why those events are unfolding.

HandsOn Network Blogs

A Lifetime of Service
The official blog of AmeriCorps Alums

HandsOn Corps
Here you will find great stories, shout outs, and happenings from HandsOn Corps – HandsOn Network’s AmeriCorps Members.

Civic. Energy. Generation
The official blog of the 2010 National Conference on Service and Volunteering

HandsOn Bay Area

HandsOn Greater Portland

HandsOn Gulf Coast

HandsOn NE Georgia

HandsOn Northeast Ohio

LA Works

Volunteer Center of Lewis, Mason & Thurston Counties

Metro Volunteers

New York Cares

Seattle Works

Volunteer Center Bergen County

Volunteer Center of Story County

Volunteer Howard

Volunteer San Diego

Volunteer Santa Cruz

Allison & Associates
(Okay so this isn’t a HandsOn Network blog, but Allison is the founding Executive Director of our Phoenix affiliate and so we think of her as family.)