For many organizations, the use of social-media tools like Twitter and Facebook is put under the umbrella of a department such as communications or marketing.

Some groups even enlist interns to manage their social-media efforts.

But Geoff Livingston, vice president of the Washington marketing company CRT/Tanaka, says this is a mistake.

Mr. Livingston said the groups that are most successful in connecting with audiences online have a different approach.

They make social media a part of their overall organization — encouraging people throughout the organization to participate in these online forums on behalf of the organization.

The Humane Society of the United States, for example, has six people who work actively in social media. And its chief executive, Wayne Pacelle, is also an active blogger who also participates in many of these forums.

“When you’re talking about...

While many charities are trying to find ways to use social-media tools such as Twitter and Facebook to raise money, Oxfam America is taking a different approach.

Bob Ferguson, Oxfam’s music and community outreach coordinator, said the organization is much more interested in using these tools to inspire activism and plan events.

“We’re not an organization that is all about collecting money,” Mr. Ferguson said Friday at Mashable’s Social Good Conference in New York. “We’re about encouraging them to take action.”

Mr. Ferguson said the group used Twitter and Facebook to persuade its supporters to call members of Congress and urge them to pass legislation on climate change and to mobilize nearly 700 volunteers to help promote the organization at concerts on Coldplay’s recent tour.

“In the old days, three years ago, just sending out e-mails to volunteers, it would have been very hard ...

It isn’t often that the nonprofit world becomes a hot topic on Twitter.

But today’s Mashable Social Good Conference has become a major hit on the popular social-networking Web site.

The hashtag #socialgood — which is used to mark all Twitter updates associated with the event — has been one of the 10 most popular phrases on Twitter for much of Friday morning.

The audience at the event — which is taking place at the 92nd St. Y in New York — is packed with people on laptops.

When a speaker pauses during a presentation, the sound of dozens of clacking keyboards is usually the only audible sound.

How can a charity make the most of its presence on Facebook?

Randi Zuckerberg, Facebook’s managing director, offered a few suggestions at Mashable’s Social Good Conference in New York:

• Use pages, not groups. Many organizations set up group pages when they established their Facebook presence. But Ms. Zuckerberg says groups that haven’t yet set up fan pages are missing out on the ability to get supporters to spread the word about their activities to their friends on the site.

• Use video. Groups that post video on their fan pages are typically able to create more personal messages. And those messages are more likely to be shared with others.

• Tag liberally. Ms. Zuckerberg encourages organizations to take pictures at their events and post them to their Facebook pages. When they post the images, they should tag the people in the photos — a process that notifies those who ...

Leading experts on using online networks to promote charitable causes are gathering today in New York at the Social Good Conference, organized by the Web site Mashable.

The conference will feature presentations by nonprofit organizations and social-media experts who will discuss how organizations can effectively use online tools to promote their causes.

Scheduled speakers include Pete Cashmore, Mashable’s founder; Randi Zuckerberg, Facebook’s managing director; Kari Dunn Saratovsky, vice president of social innovation at the Case Foundation; and Andy Ridley, executive director of Earth Hour.

We’ll post updates here throughout the day and also via Twitter. We’ll be using the hashtag #socialgood.