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At many nonprofits, just one person is responsible for monitoring conversations on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and elsewhere online.

But Allyson Kapin, founder of Women Who Tech and a founding partner of the Rad Campaign, believes nonprofits should encourage everyone in the organization to play a role in watching what’s happening online.

That makes it easier to cover more ground than one person ever could, but more important, helps people throughout the organization better respond to criticism and understand challenges to its reputation.

“It’s our responsibility as executive directors, as fundraisers, as program managers, to also be in the social-media space and listening to what people are saying about our organizations,” Ms. Kapin says. ”We can’t just rely on a few people on our teams to be doing that.”

In this episode of Social Good…

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LinkedIn, the professional networking site, has announced a free new service called Board Connect to help charities recruit board members who have much-needed skills.

LinkedIn offers charities a place to post detailed information about their organization and the professional and volunteer connections of its board members and other leaders.

Through Board Connect, groups can then search LinkedIn for potential new board members by listing skills that would be helpful, such as an accounting or legal background,  job title, nonprofit affiliations, and other characteristics. Board Connect returns a list of people who meet those criteria and have connections to one or more board members or staff members at the nonprofit.

To be eligible for the service, an official from each charity must complete a short questionnaire, provide proof of the organization’s tax-exempt status, and…

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Amnesty USA, Girl Scouts of the USA, and the Sesame Workshop are among the nonprofits whose sites and Internet projects were nominated for the 16th annual Webby Awards and Webby People’s Voice Awards, which recognize the best online content.

Nonprofits Change.org and Kiva are up against Internet giants Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for the People’s Special Achievement for Social Change award.

Other nonprofits nominated for features of their Web sites include:

• NPR
• PBS
• the It Gets Better Project
• the Silicon Valley Foundation-supported CitizenshipWorks
• Khan Academy

New York’s Museum of Modern Art was nominated for its “I went to the MoMA and…” site.

In online film and video, the arts nonprofit Art21 is nominated for documentary series with PBS’s “Women, War & Peace” series and the Doctors Without Borders “Urban Survivors” series. Human Rights Watch’s “

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When faced with a crisis, many nonprofits stay silent until they are sure they have created the right message to share with their supporters.

Amy Bryant, digital content manager at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, says that can be a big mistake. Groups that are facing a public crisis or challenge need to take control of the message early—even if they are still trying to react to that crisis, she told a session at the South by Southwest Interactive conference, in Austin, Tex. That is especially true in social networks.

“Even if you put up a statement that says ‘Yes, we know it’s happening. Give us some time to figure it out,’ that’s enough,” says her colleague, Stephanie Lauf, Planned Parenthood’s director of online-supporter engagement, who also spoke at the conference. That practice has been especially important for Planned Parenthood over the past year, as it has…

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In the battle over a proposed California tax on cigarettes, Livestrong and other cancer charities are trying to prove that social networks can be as potent an advocacy tool as money.

The proposed tax would add a $1 levy to each pack of cigarettes sold in the state, said Doug Ulman, chief executive of Livestrong, in a session at the South by Southwest Interactive conference, in Austin. The tax would pay for cancer research, services, and anti-smoking programs.

Livestrong has already spent $1.5-million, as much as it can under federal tax law, to promote the tax as part of a coalition of charities that plans to invest a combined $10-million in the campaign. Tobacco companies are expected to spend about $100-million to oppose the measure, Mr. Ulman said.

Because a similar ballot measure failed in 2006, Mr. Ulman said he believes this campaign can offer a test about whether adding…

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Many organizations worry about sharing statistics on their Web traffic with the public because they might not seem impressive enough, but in many cases those numbers can be a powerful tool, says the co-founder of a social enterprise.

Ben’s Friends, a small social business that creates online communities for people with rare diseases, reports that it has seen a growth in membership since it began sharing its monthly traffic statistics on its home page.

Scott Orn, co-founder of the organization, said at the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin that the statistics help to provide “social proof” that his organization is making a difference and getting attention.

People like to be on a winning team, he said, just they like to visit busy bars and restaurants. By showing that a lot of people are using the site, it encourages others to do the same.

What statistics…

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If your organization isn’t sharing great stories online, it might be failing to get the attention it deserves.

But how do you know if your stories are less than compelling? Every time you tweet, post to Facebook, or create a video, ask yourself, “Would I share this?”

That’s the advice of Charlie Wollborg, partner at the marketing firm Curve Detroit, in a panel at the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin.

The problem with a lot of online content is that it is forced,  he said.

Many nonprofit leaders know they need to post, so they go ahead without worrying about whether what they say is interesting, he says. Too many organizations, he says, are simply “phoning it in.”

“Phoning in anything is a mistake, except for pizza,” Mr. Wollborg said.

How do you improve your storytelling? Keep trying to tell a better story, he says. Treat your messages as a “serial,”…

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