It’s easy for groups with sexy missions, dynamic spokespeople, and big budgets to run strong social-media campaigns. But many organizations work on tough causes that are difficult to discuss in social settings, let alone on Twitter or Facebook.

In a special one-hour Webinar, The Chronicle’s Assistant Managing Editor, Peter Panepento hosted two nonprofit leaders who have built strong followings for their organizations using social media, despite having difficult-to-discuss causes: Melissa DelaCalzada, communications director for the San Diego Hospice and the Institute for Palliative Care, and Todd Whitley, head of e-marketing for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Here are some of the samples and resources they shared.

Online Resources
Social Media Policies for Nonprofits and Government Agencies: A database of nearly 200 social-media policies

Social Good: A monthly podcast about social media for nonprofits

Social Philanthropy: The Chronicle’s blog about social media
 
Beth’s  Blog: How Networked Nonprofits Are Using Social Media to Power Change by Beth Kanter

Craig Connects

Mashable

Tech Crunch

Social Media Today

Social Media for Hospice Organizations (Slide Share Presentation)
 
More Chronicle coverage of social media

Books

Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff

The Networked Nonprofit by Allison Fine

Welcome to the Fifth Estate by Geoff Livingston

Follow the Speakers

San Diego Hospice and the Institute for Palliative Medicine
Twitter: @SanDiegoHospice and @PalliativeCare
Facebook
San Diego Caregivers Blog

Follow Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Twitter: @llsusa
Facebook
Blog

Additional Resources

Join the LinkedIn Group
An exclusive group for participants in The Chronicle's Webinar "Social-Media Success for Non-Sexy Causes"

View a Replay of the Webinar
If you registered but missed the live event, you can log in to view on demand, or you can purchase it now and view at your convenience.