Social-Media Workshop: How Nonprofit Groups Can Use Online Tools to Build Awareness and Raise Money

Tuesday, February 17, 2009, at 12 noon, U.S. Eastern time

Digg, Facebook, and Twitter are among the most prominent online social-networking tools nonprofit groups can use to connect with supporters, raise money for their causes, and increase their visibility.

But while some savvy nonprofit leaders are finding great success, many are not yet comfortable with these tools. Others have yet to figure out how to use them to generate awareness or raise money.

What's the difference between sites like Digg, Facebook, and Twitter? How do they work? How can your organization use these tools to connect with potential donors or supporters? What lessons can be learned from the recent Twestival -- a massive fund-raising event for the group Charity: Water that was organized on Twitter?

Related Articles

Online discussion:
How Charities Can Raise Money With Twitter and Other Social-Networking Tools (11/25/2009)

The Guests

Chris Garrett is an Internet-marketing and new-media consultant in Yorkshire, England, and author of ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. He founded OMIQ, a company that helps businesses with their online media.

John Haydon is a sales consultant in Boston and the publisher and founder of the Web site corporatedollar.org, which offers marketing advice to small nonprofit groups. Mr. Haydon is also the author of a recently released electronic book, Twitter Jump Start: The Complete Guide for Small Nonprofits.

A transcript of the chat follows.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
Warm greetings on this cold February day. Welcome to today's live discussion on social media for nonprofit groups. With the economy in turmoil, many groups are looking for new, creative, low-cost ways to spread their messages and find new donors. And given the success of recent online-organized events like last week's "Twestival", charities are looking at how they can be more effective in using tools like Twitter, Facebook, Digg, and LinkedIn to achieve these goals. Today's discussion will give you the opportunity to ask direct questions about this topic to a pair of recognized experts in social media.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
Our expert guests include:

John Haydon -- a sales consultant in Boston and the publisher and founder of the Web site corporatedollar.org, which offers marketing advice to small nonprofit groups. Mr. Haydon is also the author of a recently released electronic book, Twitter Jump Start: The Complete Guide for Small Nonprofits.

Chris Garrett -- an Internet-marketing and new-media consultant in Yorkshire, England, and author of ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income.

Both are available to take your questions today for the next 75 minutes.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
John and Chris participated in a similar live discussion with Chronicle readers in 2008. Here's a link to the transcript of that discussion: http://philanthropy.com/live/2008/11/social_networking/

The discussion was so well received we decided to do it again. With social media changing quickly, we felt now is the time to revisit this topic.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
To ask a question or share an opinion, please click on the "ask a question" link on this page. From there, you can type in your question or comment. Our guests will try to answer as many of them as possible during the next 75 minutes.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
I'll also be "tweeting" this discussion on Twitter. Our handle is @philanthropy. You can also follow our guests on Twitter at the following handles: @chrisgarrett and @johnhaydon

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
One final note before we start taking questions. We're inviting participants in today's discussion to take part in an informal poll on our Forums page. We're asking folks to tell us how many hours per week their organizations spend cultivating online social networks. To submit your response, please go to the following link: http://philanthropy.com/forums/index.php/topic,735.0.html

I'll report the results at the end of the discussion (and I hope this experiment works).

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
Now, let's get to the questions ...

Question from Kevin Johnson, NCC:
How does a small non-profit effectively use FB, etc. without spending all day on those sites?

-Thanks

Chris Garrett:
I advise to set aside a number of hours in the week and stick to it. For example I only check in on FB once or twice a week for a maximum of 10mins a time because I just don't get as much value from it, whereas being in my home office rather than surrounded by colleagues, I will be on Twitter several times a day, mainly during my coffee breaks (which can be numerous!) as a kind of water cooler replacement.

If you limit your time and know what you want to achieve, while monitoring results, then you can stop the time suck quite effectively.

Question from Judith Buswell - Belknap County Citizens Council:
I represent the "older generation". :-) It is easy to understand how social networks can benefit a national organization where the potential base of supporters is huge. Can you provide specific examples of how these same social networking strategies can work for a local non-profit? I don't understand why someone would want to spend lots of time in front of a computer when they can cross the street and talk with the same person face to face. We all rely heavily on email to conduct business and transmit information, but how does FaceBook etc improve on email? As I said, I am from the "older generation"!

John Haydon:
Crossing the street and meeting face to face is the best way to build relationships - for sure.

However, what about folks that live near you but can't find you? That's where social media comes into play. And most of these tools have ways to search locally (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr).

Facebook improves on email is one big way: If you have a great conversation (via email) with a supporter, only two people see it. With facebook and most social media, lots of folks see it.

"Wow - I really like what Judith just said to that guy over there. I want to get to know her!"

Question from Pixie Martin, Consultant:
How about LinkedIn? With its emphasis on linking professionals, wouldn't it be a good tool to position nonprofits among professionals?

Chris Garrett:
Linked in is useful for finding networking contacts, business donations, recruit help and get advice (eg. use the Q&A feature to ask a marketing or PR question)

Question from Liz Ogutu, ILRI:
I work for a livestock research institute where I find it pretty difficult to package our products in way that can be used to raise funds online. The research work takes years and some of the work is yet to produce results. We rely on government funding but this is insufficient and we are constantly looking for funds. I wonder if you can advise us to use these online tools to raise small sums of money - which has worked for some non-profits. How can we package research to fit into Twitter and Facebook?

John Haydon:
Liz - thanks for attending the chat session.

I'd need to know a bit more about what you're looking for, but here's a great article to read as a starting point: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/if-i-started-today/

Hope that helps.

John

Question from Cecil Stell:
I need to know how do you put a fundrasing page on facebook

John Haydon:
Cecil - there is a "pages" tool in Facebook. I'll post a video tutorial on the topic next week. Promise.

Question from Beth Rosales,National Community Development Institute:
How can a small non-profit maintain their profiles in Facebook without an IT unit or someone inhouse that has expertise in social networking tools?

Chris Garrett:
If you ask your extended network (friends of friends, family, etc) you will often find people who are taking part in these networks anyway. Just like you can often find a tame geek who will give you computer fixing advice, help working a mobile phone, and so on, social media is totally a different ball game to some of your extended network.

Another route is to ask the agencies - many companies are just getting into social media and lack good case studies. You might be turned down but then again someone might say yes.

But before you do anything I would advise you to just try it and see how far you get, never be afraid of asking questions as the only stupid question is the one you don't ask :)

Question from Kathryn Schakel, small non-profit:
So far I see a good amount of awareness being raised by these social-networking sites. However, I have yet to see any appreciable donations being generated by the widgets and whatnot. How can an organization translate these tools into dollars in this economy? Can you fight donor fatigue this way?

Chris Garrett:
I put this to the test recently so I am learning exactly what you are asking. From twitter I raised roughly ¬£700 for my chosen charity, which I know many of you will laugh at. The lesson I learned was 1) you need to make it more real, engaging and preferably more personal (I didn't include anything other than a request for money) and 2) social media is great for getting the message to spread but you need a website with information to get people to take action, not just a 140 character message leading to a donate button

The mistakes I made were caused by me thinking people would "just get it". Those who knew me well did, but most people did not. You can't expect people to care the way you do without meeting them half way. My next efforts will be more detailed and provide all the information that people need in order to make a decision.

Comment from David Svet:
Do you know the total amount raised for Charity:Water through the Twestival?

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
The final numbers aren't in yet. The organizers we've been speaking with say that they were still raising money through ancillary events over the weekend and that some tallies at individual cities have not yet come in.

We've had some reports from individual cities come in through our Give & Take blog: http://philanthropy.com/giveandtake/article/
918/twitter-followers-raise-thousands-of-dollars-for-charity

And we'll report the final results on our site once they are available.

Question from Cheryl, small arts nonprofit:
All right--we're blogging, Tweeting, and have created a Facebook page to supplement our website. We figured out how to link the blog to Facebook (hurray!). Now, what's the best way for us to catch the public's eye and gain more followers?

John Haydon:
Cheryl - yay! Sounds like you're right on track!

The best way to catch the public's eye actually has nothing to do with these tools, though. You have to be remarkable, as Seth Godin says. What can your organization do that will really get people talking?

And don't play safe. Playing safe is in the middle. You need to go to the edge. Be the most colorful or be the only one without colors.

Pimp your non-profit itself - that will light up the social networks.

Question from Diana, Close Up Foundation:
We are trying to reconnect with our 650,000+ former program participants whose current ages are 22-55. We are leaning heavily towards expanding our Facebook reach and using Linked In. Are there other sites or specific strategies that reach 25-55 year olds better?

Chris Garrett:
MySpace and Twitter are worth looking at, but to meet that wide age range you need to organize your friends and colleagues to cast the net. It's the 6 degrees of separation at work :)

A specific strategy that many are forgetting in the rush to social media is post and email :) Don't drop what works just because there are new tactics available :) Anyone who has any contact with your organization should be given the opportunity to opt in to stay in touch.

Rather than just look at demographic, think of interests and behavior. There will be all sorts of "watering holes" online, from forums to discussion lists, and a message or three in the right places directing people back to your home base can work wonders.

Question from Emily Coder, Variety Club:
Have you had experience working with iGIVE, missionfish, onecause or yourcause? As a development professional, I'm eager to use these programs, but am wary about their authenticity, especially as there seem to be so many similar ones. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

John Haydon:
Emily - these are all great tools and a few of my clients have used them. The best thing to do is get a client list from them and see if those organizations are like yours.

Are these clients doing well? Call them and find out what *they* think.

Comment from Aaron Stiner, ASU Lodestar Center:
And now an opinion (smile): I am not sure how great these tools are for raising money as their primary purpose but rather as building the relationship that leads to raising money. I think the long standing formula of: awareness then interest then personal connection then volunteering then donation still stands when it comes to giving to nonprofit. The key is how you use online social networking tools to shepherd people along this continuum. Each person will connect with your organization at a different place on the continuum and your online social presence needs to accommodate each of those areas. Just my thoughts! Thanks!

Question from D.P. nonprofit:
What are some tools in creating awareness as well as to raise funds when building a page such as Facebook?

Chris Garrett:
The biggest tool you have is your friends, colleagues and followers - "going viral" is simply word of mouth, so make it easy, give clear instructions, a script even, and encourage people to spread the word.

Also combine tools, twitter can be used to drive people to facebook, which can drive people to your blog :)

For raising funds you need trust, you need to reassure people and give options. Some might prefer a check, others paypal - give people the choice of how to donate and how much, and not just squeeze people into a facebook widget - the majority of your prospects will have a VCR blinking 12:00 at home ;)

Question from Chris Bonney, regional civic engagement initiative:
Who are the "savvy nonprofit leaders" who are finding great success with social media, and what are they doing?

What can we learn from them?

Are social media still evolving at such a fast pace that the lessons of today are obsolete tomorrow?

Thanks,

Chris

John Haydon:
Chris - you asked about "savvy nonprofit leaders".

Beth Kanter should be at the top of your list. Subscribe to her blog. She has a ton of great examples.

Also, check out EpicChange.Org. I conducted an interview with Stacey Monk recently:

http://www.corporatedollar.org/2009/01/social
-media-roi-interview-stacey-monk-epic-change/

Lastly, Danielle Brigida at the National Wildlife Federation has a comprehensive approach to social media. Follow her on Twitter.

Many more to mention in this chat session.

Next question? ;-)

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
I also encourage you to check out our monthly podcast, Social Good. Every month, Allison Fine interviews some of these "savvy" pros about how they are using social media to accomplish social good. Full archive is here: http://philanthropy.com/media/audio/socialgood/

Question from Tara Brady, Small College:
We have Facebook and MySpace accounts, but do not have a Twitter account. Is it helpful to have a twitter account?

Please advise.

John Haydon:
Tara,

Easy question. Yes.

Twitter is one of the fastest growing social media sites. But, the important thing about Twitter is the "low cost" for folks to take action in order to support your organization.

"Low cost" means that the actions required by Twitter are tweeny weeny. 140 characters, retweet with one mouse click. Very easy stuff, very accessible. Plus you can easily find local folks who are talking about you with various search tools.

The success factor with Twitter (as with most SM sites) is to focus on connecting with people as a person AND seek to help others before promoting yourself.

Hope that helps.

John

Question from David Zemel, On Track Consulting, LLC:
Are there enough Baby-boomers comfortable with the technology to make this an effective way to approach this population cohort?

Chris Garrett:
The number of baby-boomers comfortable with these particular technologies is growing at an accelerating rate, but also the people who *influence* them are a significant audience. Don't take any one persons word for it though, test, survey, ask :)

Question from Sarah, consultant to nonprofits:
A second question: Should marketing/communications or development/fundraising manage these web 2.0 strategies? Or should the responsibilities be shared?

Chris Garrett:
Strategies should combine disciplines and efforts should be coordinated. But this is true offline also.

Social media when it works best combines PR, marketing, copywriting, fundraising, volunteer recruitment, newsletter publishing ...

Clearly management by committee isn't going to work, so someone needs to take the lead, but who that is will come down to resources, skills and the specific goals of the organization.

Question from Stephanie, large nonprofit:
What are some of the pitfalls of using social media as a fundraising tool?

Chris Garrett:
One of the big issues is becoming a "begging organization" in the eyes of your audience. It is all to easy to make every message a donation request.

Time is an issue also - need to be disciplined and not spend too much time chatting.

Control of brand is a worry - need to make everyone aware that the internet has a long memory and that there needs to be clear guidelines on who can say what and when. Not so much "controlling the message", but knowing that communication, even chatty and casual communication, needs to be brand and audience appropriate.

The biggest pitfall I see though is people raising expectations too high and not actually knowing what they want to achieve. A facebook page does not mean you will instantly have thousands of friends, and 100,0000 facebook friends will not necessarily translate into $100,000 overnight!

Question from Jennifer, small nonprofit in midwest:
Where do we begin with social networking? And how do I, as the only development person in our small organization, sell this idea to my boss and coworkers who are all 20+ years older than I am?

Chris Garrett:
The way I get corporates to become interested in social media, and I assume a similar strategy will work with your boss, is to start with using content to attract your most wanted audience. Small steps, with few buzz words, and clear metrics and return on investment.

This means get visitors to your website by offering content tailored to what people want and are looking for, then to keeping that audience interested, which involves blogging and email newsletter, which leads to promotion of that content which would mean stumbleupon and twitter.

If each tool and tactic is connected with a clear purpose then the rationale is logical and not seen as pie in the sky new fangled nonsense :)

Question from Nadira, CHF International:
How is Twitter beneficial for non-profit organizations other than keeping people regularly updated with the "Latest News" of the organization (which is something we already feature on our homepage)?

John Haydon:
Nadira,

If you are only using Twitter to "keeping people regularly updated" on your non-profit, you are utilizing only 5% of it's potential.

Get involved in the community, seek to support others. The more you do that, the more people will want to learn about your non-profit. The more you support others, the bigger your "social media savings account" gets. Then when you have a fundraiser, guess who will come running to help?

Also see:

http://www.corporatedollar.org/2008/12/how-to-be-highly-
relevant-on-twitter-and-every-other-social-media-site-too/

http://www.corporatedollar.org/2008/11/how-to-get
-the-universe-to-promote-you-on-twitter/

Think "relationship and connection" rather than "news release".

John

Question from Nicole, small family service agency:
We are pretty new at using Facebook, and so far that is the only social media tool in the arsenal (because it is the only one I am familiar with). I've set up a "cause" page and a group, and am marketing an event through the group. Our reach has been very limited so far, which may be a reflection of the amount of time I have to spend on this new venture.

My question is, how can we reach beyond our small circle of staff & volunteers? I feel as though I am talking to the same people I would if I were sending a newsletter, or sitting in on a meeting. Has anyone had luck with the Facebook ads? Any suggestions?

Chris Garrett:
My first suggestion is to make as much out of the resources you have as you can. Get the people you already touch as engaged as possible, and ask them to spread the word. Ask existing friends to invite their friends. Give people jobs to do if you can. Can anyone donate an hour a week to help specifically with facebook or any of the other tools? You should be able to find someone, this stuff is fun :)

Another recommendation is to avoid "just the facts" content. Don't just make it all about dates, times, tell stories, celebrate success, share news, show video, link to related stuff that you find of interest.. How can it make more impact? Where can you add human interest angles?

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
This is usually the time during the discussion where I invite people to submit questions. Clearly, though, this is not a shy group. I think we might set a record for the number of questions we've received during one discussion. Because of the volume, our guests are doing what they can to get to as many of your queries as possible. Thanks for your patience.

Question from Cadance Hinkle, PHS:
In what ways can twitter help with direct fundraising online? For an organization with a smaller scope than Charity: Water that does not have the capabilities to host a twestival, are there alternative ways to use this tool to gather funds?

John Haydon:
Candace,

Great question. If you're smaller non-profit band together with other non-profits on Twitter. Together you can become a force.

There are many services like mGive.com and TipJoy.com that have been born for Twitter. More importantly is to find and connect those who share the same mission. Nurture those relationships. Fundraising will follow.

A great example of leveraging social media for smaller non-profits is @dannybrown's 12for12k.org. The mission is to raise awareness and $12,000 each month for a different non-profit.

John

Comment from Andrik Cardenas, communications nonprofit:
NTEN has created a resource for nonprofits to use when making social media decisions. It covers everything from the "what is" and "how do I" questions to advanced topics and case studies of the tools in use. The site content is created by the users of the site, so it's first hand experience.

http://www.wearemedia.org/

Comment from Adin Miller, Adin Miller Consulting:
Peter, to follow-up on the Twestival question...if more organizations start using platforms like FB and Twitter for fundraising efforts, how will we ensure that the funds raised are legitimate and effectively utilized?

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
Adin, that is a fantastic question and is one that I don't yet have the answer for. It is, however, one that we're asking as we report Twestival. This type of fund raising is similar to other cash-heavy forms of raising money. Safeguards need to be put in place and communicated, otherwise there will likely be suspicion.

Question from @elmundodemando - Hands On Central Texas & United Way Capital Area in Austin, TX:
Hey guys. Can you give 5 examples of NPOs doing it right with social media? I like to learn not only from the experts but the ones in the trenches, nonprofit geeks!

@philanthropy Suggestion: Include more NPOs as part of panels such as these to mix it up & give "real world" experience.

Gracias! @elmundodemando @unitedwayca

Chris Garrett:
http://www.charitywater.org/ http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/ http://www.bullying.co.uk/ http://www.movember.com/ ... and anything that Beth Kanter is involved in :) http://www.bethkanter.org/

Question from Samantha Reeves, National Jewish Health:
We have recently launched a FB page and are considering extending to Twitter. What types of content and frequency of updates would you recommend we promote to these new audiences? We are a non-profit specialty medical and research institution.

Any tips on how to grow you fan base?

John Haydon:
Samantha,

Again, don't think "promote". Think "create value". If you provide real value for those on Twitter, frequency becomes a non-issues.

Start by searching and connecting with like-minded folks.

You could also like your Twitter page and Facebook page:

http://www.corporatedollar.org/2008/
12/how-to-link-your-twitter-and-facebook-pages-for-social-media-sanity/

John

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
A quick reminder that we're running an online poll in conjunction with this event. I hope you'll take the time to post your response. You can find it here: http://philanthropy.com/forums/
index.php/topic,735.0/viewResults.html

John Haydon:
Nicole,

If you have a solid connection with staff and volunteers, ask them to invite their friends to join your page.

The idea is to find and connect with folks that are already interested in what your agency does. With nurturing, they'll become fundraisers!

Hold off on buying the Facebook ad, but DO use search function to find like-minded folks.

Lastly, join the pages of other non-profits and do your best to promote them.

Also see: http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2008/12/my-birthday-facebook
-cause-thank-you-and-some-unsolicited-feedback-to-causes.html

John

Question from Margot, New Leaders for New Schools:
We've just started to explore social networking as a possibility, but realize it requires a significant time investment to drive traffic to a website. Curious if you could shed light on the what the monetary return on the time investment is for this kind of strategy?

Chris Garrett:
Unfortunately there are too many variables to give any rule of thumb. Like any marketing tactic, some people spend very little (time/money) and get great results, while others spend a great deal only to get nothing back. This is not because of the tactics, but because of strategy and execution.

The best way to approach it is with a similar mindset to direct marketing and PR. Work out your metrics, goals and resources, then test and tweak.

Organizations that are already good at working within ROI constraints are usually very good at transferring this approach to online and social media in particular.

Question from Katie Allston, Marian House:
What is the best way to use FB as a non-profit - their are causes, groups, pages, and individual accounts. in some cases you can't set up one without the other. It is very confusing - is there a simple guide out there to help non-profits get set up on this and on other sites?

John Haydon:
Katie,

I agree! Causes, groups, pages, and individual accounts - all very confusing. I'll be publishing a blog post about this in the next two weeks. Promise.

Page - Homebase for your non-profit
Groups - Homebase for your greater cause (not necessarily your non-profit)
Cause - A fundraising event or campaign
Individual account - You (the most important thing on facebook!)

John

Question from Frances Sheehan, Brandywine Health Foundation, Coatesville, PA:
Peter, will you please post a link to John's "instruction sheet" when it's ready? That would be very helpful. - Frances

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
We'll spread the word, for sure. Also, please feel free to e-mail me at peter.panepento@philanthropy.com to make sure I can get you the information directly.

Question from Daphra, DonorsChoose.org :
Twestival was a huge success in activating the Twitter community to champion a great cause. What are your thoughts on cultivating this audience, turning them onto other causes and hopefully getting them through other engagement mechanisms?

John Haydon:
Daphra,

Yes - Twestival rocked. All folks need to do now is stay connected, grow those relationships. Don't worry about the folks have marginal interest.

Band together with the leaders (and not necessarily the one's with leadership job titles).

Create another meeting soon. Keep it going!

John

Question from Paige, Americans Helping Americans:
Would you suggest non-profits to have a facebook fan page, facebook cause, or both?

John Haydon:
Both, but focus the cause around an event or fundraiser.

Question from Scott Fraser from Seattle, nonprofit Board member, student:
How does one measure the "success" of using any of the social-networking tools?

Chris Garrett:
What is important to your organization? Why are you getting involved in social media? Is your goal traffic? Fundraising dollars? Recruiting volunteers? Reducing attrition? Re-engaging lost contacts? PR? Branding?

Success will mean that you attained your goal, so first you need to decide on your goal. Once you know a firm idea of your goals then you can select which tools and tactics to use, and the metrics to measure against. Obviously learning which tool is appropriate for which purpose is important.

For example a goal might be $x in fundraising. Knowing that Dell made $1m profit from twitter you might decide to use twitter as a direct fundraising channel. Personally I would actually use a blog with feed+email as a fundraising channel, and use twitter as a communication and networking tool instead.

It's very important that you integrate not just the tools and tactics into your overall plan (combining offline and on), but also your measurement. For example using social media for online PR will impact your offline efforts, done well they will work together to make the whole stronger, but if they are split then often the mixed-message will work against what you set out to achieve.

Question from Jeff, Chicago Hospice:
We recieved a unique opportunity to have an event that will connect us with a younger non-traditional crowd. In addition to regular media, I've been tasked to using social networking to build interest and awareness, but we're starting from ground zero with no established community. Since most of the people we mail/e-mail are on average, older and not as techno saavy, what is the best way to go about connecting with that new population?

John Haydon:
Start with Twitter and Facebook.

Question from Sarah, consultant to nonprofits:
I work with nonprofits in all subsectors (Arts&Culture, Health care, education...) are there any sub-groups for whom web 2.0 strategies are NOT appropriate? On the flip side, which sub-sectors are most well-suited for success using web 2.0?

Chris Garrett:
I would expect that in any sub group you can identify internet users. They might not necessarily be direct prospects for fundraising, but they might have influence or audiences that can be tapped.

Remember that social media does not mean myspace and facebook necessarily, there are still forums, email lists and newsgroups that were founded 15 or more years ago going strong and are just as relevant. It doesn't have to be new to be useful.

Also I was just involved in a survey of 800+ social media users and you would be surprised at the demographic of the heaviest and most successful users. Too early to share but suffice to say they are not male teens ;)

Question from Debbie in DC:
I work at a disease-specific organization, specifically with Support Groups. The disease affects women in childbearing ages of 18-50, but our support group membership seems to be women over 40. We clearly aren't mobilizing our base.

how to I use Twitter, Fbook, et. al, to connect this base of young patients and link them back to the organization's website, membership and on-the-ground groups?

Thanks! Debbie in DC

John Haydon:
Debbie,

This requires a much longer answer. Let me just say that at least 50% of these folks are using social media in some way.

Start with a blog. Then use Facebook and Twitter to reach out from there. Support groups naturally want to discuss and connect. A blog is perfect for that.

See: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/if-i-started-today/

And: http://www.corporatedollar.org/2009/01/2-ways-blog-rock-
nonprofits-social-media-campaign/

Hope that gives you a good starting point!

Good luck,

John

Comment from Bob Pyke Health Span International:
I don't beleive age is a factor at all, I see seniors and older adults embracing tech

Question from Dawn, Razorfish:
Do you know of any social media tools that currently work in tandem with nonprofit donor databases like eTapestry? Are any currently being developed for future integration with donor databases?

John Haydon:
Dawn,

I'm not that familiar with eTapestry. Sorry.

John

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
Anyone out there with experience on that platform? We'd welcome your comments.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
For those who can stick around, we're going to keep the conversation open until 1:15 ET. Once we're finished, we will post a full, live transcript of this discussion at http://philanthropy.com/live and, if our guests are agreeable, we'll add questions and answers that we couldn't accommodate during the live portion of the discussion to the transcript later this week.

Question from Jeff, Chicago Hospice:
The intro for the discussion mentioned Digg.com, could you briefly explain how smaller and local non-profits can benefit from social bookmarking / social news sites like this?

Chris Garrett:
The payoff from Digg is normally counted in traffic and links. Traffic means awareness and links mean greater prominence in search engines. If you have a PR story that you absolutely must spread, or if you want to boost your search engine results, then Digg is a good way to do it.

BUT, if you are a small organization with few resources and are not able to get heavily into this stuff, then Digg might be out of your reach. The smaller sites, such as Reddit and StumbleUpon are far easier to work with and have fewer barriers to entry for beginners.

If you have no need for national or international coverage, and search engines are not a priority, then I would advise you use more of the networking and social parts of social media rather than the traffic generators.

Digg can also be used for research, as a "pop culture" search engine, to see what the population is interested in. For example, a digg search can tell you which content containing the phrase "chicago" has been popular in the past, and which received the most votes.

Question from Molly Clark, Homeward Pet:
Can you provide some details on what was considered successful about last week's Twestival events? # of people who turned out, awareness of brand, or even funds raised? Thanks.

John Haydon:
Molly,

I think it's too early to tell what the impact was, but most people who were involved feel that it was a huge success on many levels.

The biggest success in my eyes is that it's a use case of linking online and offline activities for social good.

John

Question from Leann, BethanyKids:
How many hours a week do you think would be reasonable to spend doing this? And which are the best sites to use?

Chris Garrett:
It depends on your goals but you can start with an hour or so a day combining a blog post once a week and twitter a couple of times a day for example. This would combine content with networking.

Question from Janelle, Women In Transition:
I'm wondering if the panel has experience with ning as a way to draw attention to causes and if they have seen success. A bit of a facebook reverse in that it's more cause driven than profile driven. It's also crawled by web indexers and one would not have to register to see its content. Thanks.

John Haydon:
Janelle,

Ning is an excellent way to band people together around *long-term* causes, like cancer or poverty.

The don't use NING, but check out the AARP's use of social networking.

John

Comment from Andrik Cardenas, Communications Leadership Institute:
Considering the types of questions, I would also point out that Slideshare, the online presentation sharing website has many presentations currently available that explain about social media use for nonprofits. Here is the result of a quick search that may be helpful: http://www.slideshare.net/search/slideshow?q=nonprofit+social+media

Question from Michael Wesolowski, www.mhaus.org:
Please give examples of how to wrap up our stories with an ask for a donation?

John Haydon:
Michael,

A great example is 12for12k.org and GirlEffect.org

Always have a call to take action around stories. But, don't overdue things or people will get turned off.

John

Comment from Stephanie, large nonprofit:
We use eTapestry and would be very interested to know how to sync information obtained from social media sites without having to input everything manually. We email our newsletter and receive online donations through eTapestry as well. So, Dawn's question is extremely relevent to us, too.

Comment from David Zemel, On Track Consulting, LLC:
Oh boy -- how about a glossary? If you're new to this --- as I am, terms like NING make the learning curve seem pretty steep.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
David, Great idea. Let me put that on my list of to-do projects for philanthropy.com. I'm sure it would be a useful resource to many in the nonprofit world. Thanks.

Question from Helen, education nonprofit in Los Angeles:
So much of this social networking is predicated on a substantial list. What do you suggest for organizations just starting to consider these tools with outdated lists?

Chris Garrett:
Even outdated lists can sometimes be re-energized. Send messages and see what kind of response you get, then encourage every member/friend/subscriber/follower to pass your message on.

But if your list can't be resuscitated then create a new list as soon as possible, and put your efforts into getting folks on it - success is not just attracting people but keeping them interested long term. All of the social tools can be used to bring people onto your list, just have to find ways to make this easy and beneficial.

Can partner organizations and companies pass on a message to their own lists to get more opt-ins?

Failing all that, get making lots and lots of friends :)

Question from Danielle, Brown University:
We've been using pay per click facebook ads for a few months now to drive people to our giving website and to some of our facebook pages, any tips for these types of ads? Do you know of any forums where non-profits are discussing the usefulness of these ads?

John Haydon:
Danielle,

Using advertising is not within my domain of expertise.

John

Question from Cathy Sutliff, community theatre:
We have a FB page that is maintained by volunteer. It has several hundred members of all ages. Now what?

Chris Garrett:
It depends what you wanted the FB page for. The basics are to keep people informed with news and post events. Do you need volunteers? Donations? It's a communication platform, now you have friends you need to communicate with them to keep them involved.

Question from David Alderfer - Grand View Hospital:
Are there fees to the non-profit organization for joining these sites? We are clueless, in fact, these sites are currently blocked at the office.

Chris Garrett:
Most are free, in fact all the important ones are free to use. They are likely blocked because someone in IT was told to stop folks chatting instead of working - these services can be addictive :) but I guess there is also a security/privacy risk of staff spreading personal details online

Question from Heather Perdue, Center on Philanthropy:
How do you see social media sights coming into play during disaster relief where the need for communication and response is often urgent? What outlets are the "best" for immediate response? For example, would Twitter ever be an ideal platform for a disaster response organization to use?

John Haydon:
Heather,

Great question. When the attacks in Mumbai India were happening, I created a hashtag (#mumbaifamilies) for Twitter users to communicate around about family members and friends.

It was a very small action on my part, but I had it retweeted a few times and folks on the ground in Mumbai were able to use it to aggregate info on Twitter.

John

Question from Erica Ellis, United Way of King County (Seattle):
Do you know of any successes non-profits have had engaging volunteers using social media?

John Haydon:
Erica,

http://twestival.com/ is the best, most recent example.

John

Question from Lorrin Nahinu:
What do you think of using Qik as a non-profit video tool to stream community events?

Chris Garrett:
It's fantastic and something I try to do - just keep in mind bandwidth costs, check your phone tariff, and be aware you are broadcasting so you can't ask people for permission to film them *after* - in most cases a public event means you are ok, but I am not a lawyer!

Question from Tessa, The Children's Network:
Do you think that having a You Tube channel helps at all with getting your charity's message out to the public, or would you suggest sticking with sites like FB and Twitter?

Chris Garrett:
YouTube helps, providing you can provide content that holds a viewers interest and if you can get your supporters to spread it for you. Video is extremely compelling when done well (I don't mean expensive, just tell a story) and emotion plays a large part in getting people to take action. I guess in summary, if you can move people then do it.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
For those who are new to this format, we hold these discussions every Tuesday at this time. Check out http://philanthropy.com/live for announcements of upcoming discussions -- or join our Facebook group for weekly invites. Thanks.

Question from Marlene, mid-sized nonprofit:
Has anyone demonstrated the return on investment (ROI) of using social network fundraising tools, and does it depend on the type of nonprofit organization?

John Haydon:
Marlene,

Yes - the best source for ROI articles is Beth Kanter's blog:

http://beth.typepad.com

Also, http://wearemedia.org

And finally, food for thought: http://www.corporatedollar.org/2009/02/social-media-roi-business-value/

John

Comment from Heather, New Organizing Institute:
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the recent Pew study on social networking: http://pewinternet.org/PPF/r/272/report_display.asp. Do y'all find those results to be true in your interactions with nonprofits? We do nonprofit social media and online organizing trainings all the time and have found the data to be both helpful and accurate...

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
Here are the results, to date, of today's poll question:

How Much Time Per Week Does Your Organization Spend Cultivating Social Networks? None - 2 (18.2%)
Zero to 5 hours - 4 (36.4%)
5 to 10 hours - 2 (18.2%)
10 to 20 hours - 2 (18.2%)
20 to 40 hours - 0 (0%)
More than 40 hours - 1 (9.1%)

You can share your thoughts on this topic here: http://philanthropy.com/forums/index.php/topic,735.0

Question from Michael Chihak, Communications Leadership Institute:
Could you briefly give a synopsis of one strength for nonprofits of each social networking site?

Chris Garrett:
Twitter - networking and conversation Facebook - community
Digg/Reddit/StumbleUpon - traffic, content research and links
LinkedIn - networking and Q&A
ning - your own facebook style community site
YouTube - video hosting, traffic, awareness
Blogs - audience, content, loyalty, conversion

Question from emily, afhu:
I work for an organization whose primary donors tend to be older, in their 50s and 60s. Is it worth using social media networks to reach out to this audience? How? We also tend to focus our fundraising efforts on soliticing major gifts (ie 1k+), and not so much small online donations.

Chris Garrett:
It is still worthwhile but focus on corporates, LinkedIn is a worthwhile place to start and business networks like ecademy - prepare in advance an elevator pitch, why should a company help you?

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
I'm afraid we are out of time. We still have a ton of unanswered questions and I've already spoken with John Haydon about working to get more questions addressed later this week. We'll be posting the transcript at http://philanthropy.com/live and will post additional questions to the transcript later this week.

Chris Garrett:
Hi all,

Thanks for attending! Chris and I have to go but will answer the remaining questions.

John

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
You are also welcome to contact our guests, or me, through Twitter. We can be found at @philanthropy @chrisgarrett and @johnhaydon. Thanks everyone.

Peter Panepento (Moderator):
Whoops. One more:

Question from Adin Miller, Adin Miller Consulting:
John and Chris: I've been reading a lot over the past few days about Facebook's change in Terms of Service...how might this impact nonprofits that set up Pages, Groups, and Causes on the site?

Chris Garrett:
It's another reason to use these tools to bring people back to your own site that you control. Put up content on these services that you want to spread, not own and control - ie. content that you want to set free :)

Comment from Sarah:
Thanks guys! Great replies and a wonderful resource for me and my clients.

Comment from Jeff, Chicago Hospice:
@David Zemel

Here's a very brief glossary/review that covers some of the basic Web 2.0 tools, https://www.asaecenter.org/wiki/?Page=A%20Brief%20
Guide%20to%20Web%202.0

The following questions were answered off-line

Question from Jan, NC Justice Center:
How would you use each of the sites listed (Digg, Facebook, Twitter). How would they interface or relate for that effort?

John Haydon:
Jan - Digg is a social bookmarking bookmarking site where you can connect with other around *content*. If you submit extremely valuable content to Digg, and it gets voted up to Digg's front page, your non-profit could get a lot of traffic. Facebook allows you to connect with others around personal and professional interests. Twitter allows you to connect with folks and "overhear" conversations on a massive scale. How one would use these sites depends upon the goal (traffic, get more fans, raise money, spread awareness). Hope that helps.

Question from Pete Parker, consultant:
I'm giving a presentation on networking to the local AFP chapter on Thursday, covering both traditional (peer to peer) and social media means to networking. Since a small portion of our local non-profit leaders participate in networking opportunities, in either fashion, how do you see NPO leaders embracing networking as a new tool in their fund development arsenal?

John Haydon:
If they're used to business networking events, have them start with LinkedIn. It will make a lot of sense to them. Read more on LinkedIn here: http://blog.linkedin.com/2007/05/01/how_do_you_use_/ and http://www.commoncraft.com/linkedin.

Question from Peggy, Consultant:
Sorry for such a basic question, but can you briefly explain the differences between these various sites - or point me to a place where I can read about the differences? It's all a bit overwhelming at times! Twitter Facebook My Space Digg LinkedIn ...others?....

John Haydon:
Peggy, no worries. We're all beginners with social media. Basic info on all of all these sites can be found at their respective webpages. Beyond that, please check out http://www.commoncraft.com/socialmedia.

Question from Amanda Ellinger, CHIP of Roanoke Valley:
I'm curious about how to best use Twitter. How often should "tweets" be updated? Should Twitter be used exclusively for news updates, or can it also be used to refer friends to links and articles of interest, etc?

John Haydon:
Twitter is best used by being useful, and I can't say this enough. If you refer friends to links and articles that are useful, they will want to stay connected with you. Secondly, you want to converse with folks as a person. Just be you. Include news updates, for sure. But keep them as your third priority.

Question from Sharon, H&K:
What are you thoughts on Chip-in versus Tipjoy as donation methods for a non-profit Twitter campaign?

John Haydon:
Both are great tools because they both make donations social. We're using Chip-in for http://12for12k.org and recently, I interviewed Abby Kirigin about Tipjoy: http://www.corporatedollar.org/2009/
02/increase-social-media-online-fundraising-tipjoycom-interview-abby-ivan/

Question from Lindsey Patten, Synthesis Communications:
Are there any studies out there that analyze the impact that social media has on non-profits (in terms of ROI, etc)?

John Haydon:
I have recently published a few posts on my blog regarding social media ROI: http://corporatedollar.org Also, visit Beth Kanter's blog or http://wearemedia.org

Question from Jennifer, ProLiteracy:
While it would be nice to tackle every social media outlet, we probably won't have the resources to do that right away. Do you have any advice on how to decide where to start? If we can identify the demographic we want to reach out to, is there corresponding information available on the members of different networking sites?

John Haydon:
Jeremiah Owyang at Forrester Research has put together a great overview of all the major social media sites: http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/01/
09/social-network-stats-facebook-myspace-reunion-jan-2008/ The data is a year old, but it will give you a very good idea of the demographics of Facebook and Myspace. Also see the graph that Mashable posted from Blogger.com: http://mashable.tumblr.com/post/76569645

Question from Molly Clark:
If you're representing a non-profit, is it better to use a presence with a org face or a personal face representing the org? (e.g., "homewardpet" or "mollyclark" who works for Homeward Pet)

John Haydon:
Personal face - be you.

Question from Linda Turner, Let's Talk Science:
Does social media cost money?

John Haydon:
Most sites are free to join. The costs are usually around staff time and consulting.

Question from Darren DeRose, Children's Network:
Is the basic concept to get your business card, so to speak, out there in as many places and ways as possible? Are there "acceptable" and "unacceptable" sites? For example, do nonprofits create youtube and myspace accounts? Or are those sites frowned upon?

John Haydon:
The the basic concept is to shake hands first, have a conversation and then exchange business cards. Getting on as many sites as possible might be a good thing, but be careful not to spread yourself too thin. A stale MySpace page will speak volumes about your non-profit: "Are these guys still around? Are they not interested in our community?"

Question from Large non-profit but unknown:
I am from the younger generation and have set up a Facebook Page and Causes pages for my organization. However, what are some ways in which we can get more fans to our page? I have invited all of our contacts already but how can I do a larger outreach?

John Haydon:
Understand clearly why you want more fans. 100 truly engaged folks on a facebook page is better than 100,000 folks who could care less about another pink ribbon.

Question from Jennifer Charpentier, Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast:
Let's say we have an engaging Web site and want to use Facebook or Linked In as well. What do we need to consider to have the social networking sites complement or work with the web page and our other communication vehicles? Is this even the right question?

John Haydon:
Understand the goal of your social media sites in the context of your non-profit's business strategy. Are they there to point people back to your website? Are they there to do fund raising? Are they there to engage in conversation and awareness of your cause? Once these questions are answered, connecting the dots will become clear.

Also, don't forget that your social media strategy also includes the Youtube, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profiles of all your present and future fans.

Question from Mark Jones, Boys & Girls Clubs:
Can you give some links to or names of non-profits that have well-made Facebook or Twitter pages?

John Haydon:
Check out GirlEffect and National Wildlife Federation,

Question from Nicole, small local nonprofit:
I know it'll vary, but do you have a range of time you think it takes before your new presence on facebook or twitter or any other social networking site will "catch on" with the public? I imagine it'd be easy to get discouraged too quickly.

John Haydon:
It's easy to get discouraged when results take longer than you want - but they'll come! Focus on the cause and not the effect. "Catching on" is the effect that you really have little control over. What you do have control over are causes. Listen. Connect. Build trust. Partner. Have fun!

Question from Woody Collins, Ending Extreme Poverty in the Congo:
What is best tweet format? That is, the tweet is limited to 140 characters. Therefore, should it be a great heading, sub-heading, and url?

John Haydon:
Woody, The best format is your voice. Be as useful, sincere AND interesting as you can - but be you.

Question from Lisa, Higher Ed Institution:
Can you comment a bit on the relative usefulness of Digg? At our college, we're finding good ways to use Facebook and Twitter to connect with students and alumni, and I have found LinkedIn a good tool for professional networking. But when I look at Digg, I see a potentially big time investment (or the risk of a big time suck) with a less clear purpose. How does posting a link on Digg different than posting one on Facebook? What's the value added?

John Haydon:
Digg is mostly about great content. If you have content that is truly "Diggable", then you'll get a traffic boost. Although there are ways to game the system (groups of folks digging each other's content regardless of it's value), the best approach, long term is to have something truly valuable. Read more here: http://www.chrisg.com/diggbait-linkbait-flagship-content-and-authority/

Question from Molly Clark, Homeward Pet:
Do you have suggestions on how to create policies and guidelines for board, staff & volunteers? My concern is that the brand & message may be diluted if too many well-intended people are contributing on the various social sites in randomly.

John Haydon:
Keep guidelines around legal disclosure policies if you can. You might want to have a standard "about us" that people use, but beyond that you'll kill the real power of social media if you try and "control the message". You're time is better spent getting people truly fired up about Homeward Pet. This is where social media becomes more of a human resources and volunteer relations effort.

Question from Joseph Keck -- Peoria Area Peace Network:
Good Day, I find the most important benefit with electronic social networking (ESN)to be its scale. It is possible to connect with multitudes of individuals both synchronously and asynchronously. However, there is competition among the many services that offer ESN -- WWW, RSS, Twitter, Digg, etc. Is there a possible convergence among ESN capabilities, or is competition better (and, thus, the more time consuming investment to learn multiple interfaces) to improve the reach of not-for-profits? Thank you

John Haydon:
You're very welcome, Joseph. I don't think these sites realize that most folks do multiple sites and that you can't be everything all people. I think that there is a convergence (playing nice together) among these sites in response to user demand for simplicity.

John Haydon:
No fees. Tell the Man to unblock the sites!

Question from Claire, The Conservation Fund:
How do you see YouTube fitting into the whole social media scheme? What do you see as the positives for a nonprofit in having a YouTube channel?

John Haydon:
If a picture says a 1,000 words, video says 1-million words. The positives are traffic, increased awareness, viral effects, new fans and fundraisers. If you have video, get on YouTube. And video can be done cheap: http://www.corporatedollar.org/2008/08/great-example-of-non-profit-video/

Question from Oncology Nursing Society:
Are there are any other networking sites we could be using besides Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

John Haydon:
It depends upon your goals but you might also want to creating a Ning site that nurses can join. This *could* give your organization more visibility by creating added value for your members. If folks are into pictures, Flickr might also be a good option.

Question from Josie, small museum:
Have you seen any effective ways non-profits are using their current base (volunteers, donors etc) to reach out to new possible donors through social media? We are looking for online ways our passionate group of volunteers can easily share their excitement and experiences with their friends and family.

John Haydon:
First of all, your passionate group of volunteers is gold. That said, create a blog that your volunteers can engage with. Give them badges and widgets that they can use on Twitter and Facebook. Ask them what they need. Then give it to them. If Facebook makes sense, write a blog post telling them how to get started with Facebook.

Question from Stephanie Jansky, MedWish International:
In this economy, do you think donors are more likely to attend an event like the Twestival versus a traditional charity gala? A: In this economy, folks still donate. Are your donors rich? Or are they on Twitter? ;-)

John Haydon:
In this economy, folks still donate. Are your donors rich? Or are they on Twitter? ;-) A good friend of mine wrote about fundraising in a down economy: http://selfishgiving.com/cause-marketers-journal/
selling-cause-marketing-in-a-down-economy

Question from Angelo Bouselli, FasterCures:
My organization recently began using Twitter. We have only been posting items directly associated with our organization. Should we also be connecting to news stories that are related to the work we are doing? How often do you recommend that we Tweet?

John Haydon:
See me answer to Amanda Ellinger

Question from Katie, Private School:
So, what exactly does Twitter do that is different from Facebook?

John Haydon:
Twitter provides much more exposure because it's an open network where anyone can see your posts (unless their settings are private). If you post something amazing on Twitter, thousands of folks can see it, even if you only have 50 followers. For the most part on Facebook, folks have to "friend" another or "join" a group in order to see that same amazing content. Also, Twitter is very easy to use. Facebook -- not so easy. Use them together.

Question from Daniel W. Hatcher, Alliance for a Healthier Generation:
What is the best way to integrate our Facebook group/cause, MySpace page, Flickr account, YouTube channel, Twitter account, web site and organizational newsletter? Our target audience is 8-17.

John Haydon:
I'm not sure what you mean by "integrate".

Question from Bela, midwest np:
Can you envision a time when fundraising results via, say, a Twitter, will rival that of a major gifts effort. When you have the attention and pocketbooks of the world open to you, the dollars can add up very quickly, even if given 10 bucks at a time. Isn't social media, Twitter in particular, providing the potential for the democratization of philanthropy that we talk, think, and dream about?

John Haydon:
I did envision it -- until is happened. Obama raised $500-million online: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/11
/20/obama_raised_half_a_billion_on.html

Question from Tristan Schmid, Humane Society of Indianapolis:
We're on Twitter, Facebook/Causes, MySpace, YouTube and local social sites Smaller Indiana and IndyPaws. However, the difficulty I've run into with these is duplicate information. Is 'segmenting' a nonprofit's message for each of these vehicles worthwhile, or is it just as effective to basically plaster them each with the same kinds of info (news, requests for donations, info on services, etc.)? Though we have many Twitter followers, we haven't seen much appreciable value, as Twitter seems to be loaded with self-promoters rather than folks who want to hear our message.

John Haydon:
The best thing is to give folks on each site an opportunity to support AND donate. This way folks feel valued and can take action on their own turf. But don't plaster. You don't need a full bio of all board members of every social media site. If they want deeper information about the Humane Society of Indianapolis, just link your blog to each site.

Question from Barbara Clements, Pacific Lutheran University:
How many colleges have Facebook fan pages up, and has anyone tracked the energy, donations, attendance this has created for events? Is there any down side to this?

John Haydon:
I have no idea if anyone has tracked this. Good question!

Question from Erica, NYC-based non-profit:
When using social networking sites, you have the opportunity to gain numerous unplanned donations. Do you have any suggestions or tips on how to make this type of donor into a repeat donor?

John Haydon:
Yes. Get to know them as people. Do your best to create value for them by showing a sincere interest in *their* agendas. Also, start a blog to which they can subscribe. They will become a repeat donor.

Question from Steve, LCA Trust:
I am involved with a small, start-up non-profit. I have to attend to my "day job" and have limited time to devote to the non-profit at the time. What are the top two or three of the tools (FB, Twitter etc.) to concentrate on and what aspects of those tools would be best utilized? Also, using those tools, would you recommend concentrating initially on the "raising awareness" goals rather than going for the money?

John Haydon:
Twitter and Facebook are often a good starting point. You can easily search for folks who are already talking about your cause. Focus on getting to know these people first. Connect with them personally. And be prepared for them to raise *your* awareness.

Question from Jane, Ascension Health:
I would like the answer to all of these questions: What's the difference between sites like Digg, Facebook, and Twitter? How do they work? (I know how Facebook works but I've never heard of Digg and I have no idea how Twitter works) Thanks,

John Haydon:
You're welcome. Basic info on all of all these sites can be found at their respective webpages. Beyond that, please check out http://www.commoncraft.com/socialmedia or Google "value of Twitter/Facebook/Digg".

Question from Chris, Hampton Roads Center for Civic Engagement:
Do you think of social media as being primarily for smaller donations? What do you think is the upper limit?

John Haydon:
I think a lot of folks, including us "experts", are still figuring this out. The upper limit depends upon how easy it is for people to act on that amount. The average donation on 12for12k.org, which is driven 100% by social media, is around $21.

Question from Allison, Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation:
Could you please give some specific examples of how a foundation, which is generally an indirect service organization, could utilize social networking tools, including Facebook and Twitter? I can envision many applications for direct service orgs, but am having a harder time brainstorming ways to integrate social networking into indirect service orgs. Thanks.

John Haydon:
Foundations are not my area of expertise.

Question from Adin Miller, Adin Miller Consulting:
John or Chris...what can you tell us about Friend Feed and how to incorporate that into our online communication strategy?

John Haydon:
Friendfeed is a great tool to see an overall picture of folks that you're connected with. Incorporate it as an information source. I'm a big Friendfeed fan!

Question from Mike Staff, Jewish Community Foundation, NJ:
So as a theme, I'm reading about what non-profits should do in the realm of social networking (which is to say there's quite a lot we can be doing!). What thoughts do you have on what role(s) volunteers, organization members, lay leaders, etc. should be doing? In other words, the non-profits themselves physically can't do it all in most cases, so how can others help out?

John Haydon:
Find the most passionate folks - the ones who are very "hard core" about your foundation. These are your future fundraisers, board members and executive staff. You want to develop your relationship with these folks and slowly give them responsibility. Then let them run. Also, don't forget to ask them what *they* think!

Question from Aaron Stiner, ASU Lodestar Center:
A lot of what I see with these tools is a passive throw it against the wall and see if it sticks - sort of posting things and hoping people read them or retweet them etc. Have you experimented with more active social networking where you are personally (not via a group invite, but person to person) asking someone publicly either to join your page/group, forward information, volunteer or even donate?

John Haydon:
Any social media tool can become an active social network if approached correctly.

There is no wall -- only real live people. I know that you realize this, but many non-profits make the "wall" mistake. Focusing on creating value for people and getting to know them is the first step in developing a lively group of folks who will eventually want to support your cause.

Question from Chris, Hampton Roads Center for Civic Engagement:
I'm interesting in ideas regarding what kind of content/comments is important when cultivating relationships with the younger social media users who don't use the traditional media thought influencers (e.g. newspaper op-ed, etc.)

John Haydon:
Listen first. What are they talking about? What content sources are they interested in? How do these sources and their conversations include civic engagement?

Question from David - BC Paraplegic Association:
With all of these various social networking avenues, and new ones almost daily, which ones would you consider "must do"?

John Haydon:
The ones that have the largest number of people already talking about issues pertaining to Paraplegics. All of these sites have ways to do a keyword search for these folks. Also see: http://www.corporatedollar.org/2008/12/avoid-social-media-time-suck/

Question from Dee Lutz, Ipas:
Ideally, we'd like to add email addresses for our Facebook constituents to our regular Development database. Do you have any suggestions for how to accomplish that? Thanks.

John Haydon:
You're very welcome! The best way to add these folks is to have them "opt-in" to an email list. If you just take their emails from Facebook and put them into your development, they won't be happy. Make joining your email list easy for them by having a web-form on your Facebook page.

Question from Peter Chasse, The Water Project, Inc.:
Won't any effort to simply "leverage", "use", "benefit from", etc. these social networking sites be self-defeating? I'm not hearing many folks in the NPO space talk about how to truly engage folks in a real conversation - not just one that has our "goal" at the other end. We need to spend some time talking about talking. There is enormous value in helping people on these networks become part of our stories - give and take. Remember, folks who use these sites will always see through any of our attempts to merely get at their wallets, day-planners, or contact lists... Agree?

John Haydon:
Wow - you hit the nail right on the head. It's not at all about the social media sites -- it's how we use them to converse with and create value for others. Peter -- You get an A+.

Question from Jenna Smith, Niagara County Community College Alumni Association:
I was wondering if anybody knew an estimate of time to maintain a facebook and twitter page. I am working a social networking proposal for alumni purposes and I need to justify how much time is needed to maintain these sites so our job descriptions can be adjusted accordingly.

John Haydon:
Maintain? That really depends on what you mean by "maintain". To maintain relationships, you could budget 5-15 hours per week.

Question from Barbara, healthcare nonprofit:
Do you have any insight into the new Facebook concerns about content ownership?

John Haydon:
It looks like they reversed their position - at least until they "resolve the issues that people have raised.": http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/18/facebook.reversal/index.html

Still, non-profits should weigh the risk of loosing content ownership control vs. the potential use of Facebook as a tool to grow their organization. As all of these separate social media sites continue to get mashed together, content ownership terms like the one Facebook put forward might be more commonplace.

Question from Elise, One Heartland:
I guess I'm still a little confused on the goal of social networking for non-profits. I get that it can be a cultivation tool. Beyond that, can we really expect to raise a substantial amount of money on FB or Twitter? I can't see how to connect the dots with social networking and fundraising.

John Haydon:
The goals are generally to raise awareness, engage raving fans and increase online donations. Because we're essentially talking about building relationships, raising a substantial amount of money might take some time. Maybe ask yourself the question in different ways: What would be the business value of walking across the street to meet with our supporters and cultivating those relationships? What value would there be in getting to know the friends and associates of our top 10 supporters? How can we use these social media tools to raise more money? Keep asking yourself these questions. In terms of raising substantial amounts of money, that's limited by one's creativity, not the web.

Question from Rachel, small non-profit:
How do you balance authenticity with professional presence online? Or in other words, how do I have a organization account or profile that is still seen as being authentic and personal?

John Haydon:
There are many ways to do this. Start with *your* name as the username and *your* picture. 250 years ago, we knew everything about the grocer's family. We trusted who they were because we knew who they were. There was no keeping business and pleasure "separate" like we do today. Then we entered the marketing dark ages of "messaging" and "positioning" where trust was a fabrication. We ended up with tainted Asprin and Enron. Then Al Gore and Facebook killed all that and now we're back to buying and selling our wares at the town bazaar - only it's all on the Web.

Question from Steve, prayingwithmylegs.com:
I am making a film with NYFA as my 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor. I first set up a Facebook Page, then a Facebook Group, then a Facebook Cause as I learned more & more about what Facebook can do and how to best get the message out....I've linked to the film's website as well on all three sites. Two questions: Is it now time for twittering? ... and, are you aware of any success stories in raising funds for non-profit films online? Thanks.

John Haydon:
Steve - Yes, now is the time for Twittering, but I have a bit of a concern with "how to best get the message out". Social media is *not* marketing in the traditional sense (mass messaging for masses). Twitter is best used to lead and/or engage conversations related to your film. No one needs another message. But they *are* seeking meaningful and valuable conversation.

Question from Katie Allston, Marian House:
Regarding the question by Jeff, Chicago Hospice - use facebook and twitter HOW exactly?

John Haydon:
Start by setting up and account, finding friends on those sites that you already know, engage these folks (especially those who are most passionate about your cause). Find the ones who want to spread the word about the event. Give them the tools to do so (a blog, social widgets, badges). Also, I published a step-by-step guide for Twitter that can be found on my blog: http://www.corporatedollar.org/twitter-jump-start-the-
complete-guide-for-small-non-profits/

Question from Jill Finlayson, Social Edge:
@HildyGottlieb, http://tinyurl.com/issuefatigue, argues social media fundraising is not sustainable. What are your thoughts?

John Haydon:
If all a non-profit does is ask for my money, I get tired -- quickly.

Question from Julie, healthcare non-profit:
For medical and health charities, are there concerns to think of regarding social media and HIPAA?

John Haydon:
Chris and I aren't lawyers. That said, the HIPAA concern is one of patient privacy. You can still create a compelling story without using personal information.

John Haydon:
Adin. It looks like Facebook reversed their policy - at least until they "resolve the issues that people have raised.": http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/18/facebook.reversal/index.html