We’ve all listened to speeches or heard presentations that have made our eyes glaze over, if not put us right to sleep. And we’ve probably given of few of those speeches ourselves.   In order to avoid putting our listeners to sleep, Christine Clapp’s article about Interesting Informative Speeches includes 5 key suggestions which really resonated with me:

1) Get your audience to care about the topic: Find out before the speech why your topic is important to them and adapt your speech to emphasize those points.

2) Keep focused: Do not stray from a clear and focused message. Avoid getting into too many details, thus can come up in Q&A if the audience is interested in more information

3) Tie in a theme: Figure out a theme that might work throughout your speech and incorporate examples which tie in that theme.

4) Include interesting material: Tell stories or include interesting, graphic visual aides which will help the audience remember your speech.

5) Get the audience involved: Don’t let the audience just sit there! Include them by asking questions, giving them a quiz, ask them to imagine something, etc to keep them involved.

From first-hand experience, audience involvement and focused presentations have always made more lasting impressions on me.  And the other suggestions really make sense.  Christine has conducted two training sessions with Beaconfire: creating effective presentations and improving public speaking. The above suggestions really round out that training so hopefully my next presentation will not include any droopy eyes!

To find out more about Christine’s company, Spoken with Authority, go here: www.spokenwithauthority.com.  The information above came from her newsletter and you can sign up for it here: http://spokenwithauthority.com/site/resources/newsletter/

As I’m going through our most recent site build I’m converting a lot of <div>s to <section> or <article> in templates being reused from past projects and I thought a little explanation may be useful for our devlopers to know why things are changing out from under them. Also, this is a new development in our quest to keep up to date with evolving HTML5 standards so a little understanding of the whys and wherefores seems like a good idea.

So, here’s the deal with <section> and <article>. There is a very handy one-sheet from the HTML5 doctors called the “HTML5 Sectioning Element Flowchart” that outlines this in an attractive graphic format, so this more wordy explanation is focused really on just <section> and <article> as we use them in our builds.

Read the rest of this entry »

“Grow the list.” It’s probably the first topic of every strategy meeting at your nonprofit or association unless it’s tumped by “raise more money.” Needless to say the two are tightly correlated. Year after year, it’s our job to think creatively about how to engage new constituents so they can become donors or help advance the mission of the organization through simply learning about the mission, becoming advocates or volunteering.

On May 17th, Beaconfire will be participating in Salsa Labs “Speed Learning:  List Growth Strategies for Nonprofits,” an interactive event where participants will learn about about how to grow your list to reach those important goals.

After the speed session, we’ll walk back to the Salsa office where you’ll have a chance to network with other nonprofit do-gooders from the area, and talk to your friends from Salsa as well as our partner community.

Will we see you there?

Time:
Discussion starts at 4:30 PM
Networking Happy Hour to follow at the Salsa Office at 5:30 PM

Place:
FHI360
1825 Connecticut Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC 20009

REGISTER HERE: http://action.salsalabs.com/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=70628

Note: this post was originally published on Hufffington Post

I have a confession to make. I’m a total pain in the ass. Like, professionally. As a creative director, being opinionated, tenacious, demanding, eccentric & snarky comes with the job.

Or could it be a cover for my super secret identity?

Yes, it’s true. Beneath this black turtleneck beats the heart of an idealistic and humble creative soul, trying to save the world through meaningful design for nonprofits & good causes. No, I’m not a tree hugger, a red-paint tossing activist or even a vegan. I’m just your friendly neighborhood superhero. And I’m not alone out here.

As a member of the Design Avengers (Local 202), we make incredible things happen in the world every single day. You may recognize us by the bad color theory jokes, an overabundance of quirky desk toys, or the “Got White Space?” sticker peeling off our MacBook Pro. We move semi-stealthily within agencies & organizations, creating purpose-driven visual experiences that put a human face on important issues. Our well-designed calls to action may look unassuming but they can mean the difference between life and death for causes like breast cancer, disaster relief & childhood hunger.

Nope, none of that’s easy. But neither is changing outfits in a phone booth under a time constraint so let’s keep some perspective, shall we?

Of course, it takes more than jumping into spandex and leaping tall design challenges in a single bound to be a true creative superhero. If you’re just in it for the accolades & navel gazing, hang up those tights right now, baby. This ain’t the gig for you.

But if you’re passionate about using your skills to create real change in the world, may I offer 5 basic rules to get you started on your path to superhero-dom.

Be Selfless
As creative communicators, our job is to serve the needs of our clients, and help them achieve their goals. Ego is anathema to that lofty mission. Putting personal preferences aside in favor of altruistic design solutions won’t dim the glow of your talent one teeny bit, I promise. But every time you make it all about you, a fluffy little kitten dies. Don’t be a villain. Think about the kittens.

Be Authentic
Make creative decisions driven by the greater good, not the latest trend. A decent designer can smell bullshit a mile away but a true superhero won’t let garbage stink up the joint in the first place. Practice what you preach and always tell the truth (even if it hurts). Believe me, you’ll be more successful by being genuine. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.

Be Smart
Do your homework and always think before you draw. Just because designers “play with pictures” and have a weakness for the Crayola Big Box doesn’t mean we ride the short bus. You can defeat the Legion of Design Foes with brains, not brawn, but do yourself a favor and never admit to eating paste as a child. You’ll thank me for that tip later.

Be Brave
Fight for what you believe in and be ruthlessly fearless no matter what. True superheroes don’t wait until they see a signal flash in the sky to do the right thing, but intuitively spring to action when they’re needed. Don’t let doubt or disbelievers be your kryptonite, and never take no for an answer (unless it’s in reply to “Does this utility belt make my ass look big”).

Be Bold
Stand out from the crowd by using your powers for good, especially in the face of uncertainty. World-changing design doesn’t happen by accident. Don that cape and mask with purpose and throw yourself headlong into the crusade for truth, meaning and creative justice with everything you’ve got.

At the end of the day, remember that with great design, comes great responsibility. With these rules firmly in place, now it’s your job to raise awareness (and funding) through engaging visual storytelling that drives people to act instead of consume.

Welcome to The Good Fight, my friend. We’re all counting on you.

“Cross-Channel Marketing” is the hot industry term right now, but I wouldn’t dare call it a trend – it’s our new reality. Both as a marketer and as a consumer, I am acutely aware that I am being targeted by hundreds of organizations everywhere I turn on a daily basis. And while I live and breathe online, interactive marketing, it’s important to remind myself that cross-channel doesn’t just mean “every device with a screen,” it means “every vehicle that can convey a message and everything that catches my eye.”

While it’s easy to discount “traditional media” in a world migrating toward “new media” (see: online, mobile, social, gaming, etc.), direct mail and telemarketing still play a significant role in fundraising for non-profit organizations. Not to mention TV, radio and print ads, and even out-of-home advertising on bus shelters and billboards. What has changed is the method of response, with calls to action pointing to .com’s and Facebook to take action, learn more or make a donation.

The explosion of the number of channels doesn’t mean having to choose one off of a menu and worrying if you made the right choice. Rather, it means thinking holistically about how to develop your message to work across multiple channels, playing off one another and supporting one another. It has been shown that SEM and display advertising have a 1+1=3 effect on conversion – enhanced performance in each channel by leveraging a campaign across both.

While “cross-channel” marketing is the hot term now, “attribution” will be the next hurdle. Sure, a user made a donation after receiving an email, but did they first see an ad on TV which reminded them to open the letter they got in the mail which inspired them to check the website to learn more before going back to the email they got a week prior? Maybe. But they also could have been really touched by the email. Analytics dashboards of marketing touch points will be a fundraiser’s best friend if it isn’t yours already.

Are you doing cross-channel marketing? How has attribution helped shape your future programs?

While the meme at the end of the week usually about following others, today seems to have become #FiveFriday in the web design world with these links coming out in the past few hours:

1. Five Simple Ways to Create a Content Marketing strategy for brands
2. John Utia’s article on Responsive Web Design lists 5 “building blocks”
3. Ehren Foss offers 5 methods for optimizing your site for mobile (Sort of misses the boat in that “five” is not in the title nor are the items numbered but in fact there are FIVE methods)
4. Give It Five Minutes (A blog post providing advice for hotheads.  Not naming names, just sayin’) and…
5. Five Effortless Postures that Foster Creative Thinking

Note: this post was originally published on the PBS MediaShift blog.

Photo by Flickr user dougwoods and used with Creative Commons license.

After reading Sandra Ordonez’s MediaShift post “7 Ways to Get Programmers to Stop Hating You,” my first thought was: Wow, good advice. My second thought was: How can we programmers get people to stop hating us? After 13+ years of working as a technologist — from a junior developer to the manager of a couple tech departments — I’ve seen first-hand that “tech hating,” to use Sandra’s phrase, is sometimes justified. Put simply: Sometimes techs deserve to be hated.

And so, I offer this list to you, fellow techies, in the name of Office Peace. Let’s show the world that the stereotype of the rude, uncommunicative programmer is as outdated as the 15″ CRT monitor issued to me at my first job. Let’s earn some love. (Note: Please don’t think that I’m holding myself up as a perfect example here — these aren’t things that I do every day, although I try, but they are good reminders for all of us.)

1. Add a new language to your resume: Human

Chances are your resume has a list of programming languages you know. As important as they are to your job, the language you use when you communicate with your co-workers is every bit as important. Being able to discuss the ins and outs of tail call optimization or the pros and cons of statically typed languages with regard to metaprogramming might make you a great programmer, but if you’re not able to communicate meaningfully and respectfully with non-technical people, you won’t be a great co-worker. And you’ll be doing yourself a disservice; how are you going to get recognized for the great work you do if you’re not able to explain that work to anyone who’s not a programmer? And how are you going to change anything about the place where you work if you’re not able to turn a complaint into a constructive suggestion? The answer is: You aren’t. So do yourself a favor and start boning up on your human-to-human interface communications.

2. Remember your operating context

Make it your business to learn more than just the technical specifications for your projects. The more you can get a sense of the big picture, the more you can understand the context within which you are expected to make your brilliant technical decisions — and the more likely it will be that those decisions are the right ones for this unique situation. When you’re able to keep the big picture in mind, you become more than just an implementer — you become a problem-solver.

3. Think like a client

No, I don’t mean change your deadlines for no reason, call yourself at 5:00 on a Friday for technical support, or forget your password to the CMS. What I do mean is to try to put yourself in your clients’ (or co-workers’) shoes. Maybe they don’t know the right terminology for everything, but they still need help; maybe they’re under time and budget constraints that you don’t know about (and that affect their decision-making); maybe they have a million things going on right now and the code you’re writing is just one of them. In short, try to remember that you may not know every variable, and that you’re not the only one with a difficult job.

Photo courtesy Anthony Will photos and used with Creative Commons license.

4. The power of positive thinking, or at least speaking

Here’s a ripped-from-the-headlines-of-my-job (well, my old job) scenario: Say your company’s client has already signed a contract with the vendor of a terrible CMS before your project starts. You can say “that was a stupid choice” and await further instructions. Or, you can say “OK, they’ve made a choice that we wouldn’t have advised them to make; now here’s how we can work within that constraint to build them a great site.” Saying “no, we can’t do that” is easy. Saying “yes, we have constraints, and here’s what we can do” is harder — and about a million times more useful.

5. Would you like a side of Value with that?

Let’s face it: Most clients (and non-technical managers) don’t care how elegant your code is as long as that code works. And while truly great programmers are a rare breed, there are plenty of “good enough” programmers who can get the job done — maybe not as well as you can, but good enough that your client can’t tell the difference. So how can you set yourself apart? Ask questions. Specifically, ask the right questions to help you figure out (and build) what your client/boss/teammates really want, as opposed to simply what they are asking for. You probably know about tools, solutions and approaches from your past work that a client (or a co-worker) has never even heard of — here’s your chance to fully leverage your technical knowledge and skills to help them meet their goals in ways they didn’t know were possible. Delivering what someone really wants is a great way to add value and differentiate yourself in a marketplace where any college kid can bang out a Drupal site and call it “programming.”

6. Get involved

Raise issues and ask questions at the beginning of a project, not when it’s too late. If technical staff aren’t typically included early on in the project process at your company, start making the case for why they should be, because it will save time, money and frustration later on. The more you can involve yourself during the early stages of a project, the more you’re setting yourself (and your co-workers) up to succeed by identifying pitfalls before you’re staring up from the bottom of one. But pointing out danger is only half the battle; use the time at the onset of a project to make suggestions, add value (see above), and demonstrate your worth to your employer. Making that killer feature work right is part of your job; suggesting a way to make it better/cheaper/faster/reusable/etc. is what will make them love you.

Photo by Flickr user asparagus_hunter and used with Creative Commons license.

7. Mind the gap

Technical people and non-technical people often suffer from a “failure to communicate” due to the ineffable nature of many tech words and terms. When a non-technical person asks you a tech-related questions, simply coming back at him or her with a string of tech-speak doesn’t actually make you look smart — it makes you look like someone with no communication skills. It pigeonholes you. It reinforces the stereotype of the unhelpful technical person who can communicate well with computers but not with humans. It makes you look less useful, and less useful employees aren’t the ones who get the best assignments — they’re the ones who get cut when times get tough. Albert Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Explaining something in a non-technical way doesn’t mean dumbing it down, it means proving that you’re smart enough to do your programming job in reverse: Take a set of technical concepts or instructions and turn them into ideas a non-technical human can understand. Brilliant!

Conclusion: Try a little tenderness

This list is a good start, but in the end if you still have the attitude that all non-technical staff are idiots, you’re never going to justify their love (and you’re going to hurt your career prospects in the process). You didn’t learn everything you know the first time you heard it, so be forgiving when your non-technical co-workers sometimes ask you the same question over and over again. It’s OK to tell them where to find the answer that you already sent them, but if that doesn’t work, look again: Maybe you’re not explaining the issue well enough so that it sticks. Practice transparency. Provide detail. Put a friendly face on the big, scary technical stuff. Remember that you are an ambassador for techs everywhere. So give us all a good name — and earn that love.

What do you think? If you’re a techie, what do you do in your job to try to keep the haters at bay? Is this list useful? If you’re non-technical, what would you add to this list? What you are you doing to help inter-office relations? Tell us in the comments.

Conference season is in full swing. Now that you’ve recovered from your South by Southwest hangover, swing by San Francisco for this year’s Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC).

Stop by our booth during the science fair and throughout the conference. And see Beaconfire at their best at these workshops and presentations:

• Eve Simon, whose panel at South By Southwest had a snaking line out the door, reprises her role as a design superhero. Join Eve,  Katya Issaeva of the Ad Council and Gopika Prabhu of Elefint designs as they discuss ways to overcome design villains.
• Scott Lenger will be giving a talk on Engaging Mobile Design. Scott’s ideas and ingenuity will have you making a mobile presence that will get your constituents’ forefingers itching to swipe across your website.
• Marissa Goldsmith will be conducting the workshop on Passing the Test: Landing Page Testing Made Easy.  So what if it’s a three hour workshop at the end of the conference. In this fun, exciting and productive workshop, you will leave with a test plan in hand. Dan Siroker, the CEO of Optimizely, and Elizabeth Nielsen of Feeding America will be there to make sure your plans go as planned!

Marissa and Food and Water Watch’s Jo Miles will be hosting an Data and Analytics Afternoon Tea.

If you’re going to be at NTC, let us know.  Stop by and say hello.

Twitter launched its first paid advertising product, Promoted Tweets, in April of 2010 – 4 years after the platform went live. Since then, thousands of advertisers have jumped on board including nonprofit organizations like the US Chamber of Commerce, US Travel Association. Representatives from these organizations spoke on a panel hosted by Twitter in DC to share their experience promoting engagement and activism through Twitter’s promoted products, an expanding group of products available for advertisers.

Twitter’s Promoted Products were developed to organically penetrate a Twitter user’s experience, in one of three ways:

• Promoted Tweets, the original paid promotion, help extend your reach on Twitter, ensuring your Tweeted message is in front of the right user at the right time.

• Promoted Accounts are designed to scale followers, adding more advocates and influencers to your community.

• Promoted Trends create awareness driving buzz and engagement at scale.

Just like any “traditional” marketing campaign, it’s important to think about the goals of a Twitter campaign – what are you trying to accomplish? Build a following? Promote an action? Raise money? Gain attention for an upcoming event or rally support for a piece of legislation?

The power of ads on Twitter lies in the power of Twitter itself: urgency, immediacy, and relevance. Twitter is proud to boast that the killing of Osama Bin Laden was broken (and confirmed) on Twitter hours before President Obama made his official address. Planned Parenthood activated an emotionally charged nation through a Promoted Tweet to get donations during the Susan G. Komen/Planned Parenthood funding controversy. As 1.3 million Tweets referencing the situation sped across the internet, Planned Parenthood’s Tweet asked for donations.

Based on a second-price auction structure, Promoted Products are bid for in a way similar to Google AdWords, but the placement you’re bidding for is the perfect follower/user based on the Twitter Interest Graph, a way to find people that are a match for your organization through demographics, past Tweets or people they follow. This ensures your Tweets aren’t wasted. And, you only pay for clicks, follows or Retweets (model dependant).

It’s compelling to think about how one platform of engaged users could be mobilized to make a difference using a platform they already use and love.

Have you thought about advertising on Twitter? What are your questions/concerns?

Celebrating its 6th birthday with 140 million monthly users and over 340 million tweets every day (that’s one billion tweets every 3 days!), Twitter is growing up quickly from social network to a true platform for, yes, socializing, but also information gathering and activism. Sure, Twitter is still where I share my most ridiculous thoughts, but it’s also where I go to learn about product launches and special deals from my favorite brands and breaking national and international news from networks and organizations I support.

Not everyone actively tweets, but 100% of users are listeners, according to Twitter.  Those are your constituents, your current or future activists and donors, who see or seek your tweets and can immediately share your news, information or desired social action with their network, exponentially building the reach of your message effortlessly. If what you’re saying or asking is compelling.

How do you reach those people to begin with? How do you build your Twitter following in the first place? A few quick tips:

• Search for your organization’s name using Twitter Search and follow anyone talking about you. It’s common Twitter practice to “follow back” anyone who follows you so this is a natural way to get people to pay attention
• Search for relevant terms that surround your mission and follow people talking about that
• Follow your followers’ followers! Most likely, the people following you have friends that share similar interests, so connect with them, as well!
• Tweet using “juicy” terms that users may be searching for, and include them in your Twitter bio. SEO is important in Twitter, as well.

Once you get your audience building, Tweet with a purpose – share articles about your cause that would interest your constituents, ask how your followers feel about a certain topic, or ask them to take action  such as tweet at their congressmen, visit a certain website or make a donation. Tweet and ye shall receive followers, retweets and action. The key for marketers is making and fostering “connections” – immediate and actionable bits of information and calls to action that are seen by and shared amongst millions and millions of users every second of every day.

There are other ways to get attention for your organization including paid “promoted” products that I’ll share with you in my next post!

Site launches are a special time at Beaconfire.  We are especially proud this month to announce the launch of a new website and blog for AFL-CIO.

AFL-CIO’s new sites showcase an inclusive movement that puts the voices of working families’ front and center. The new design is more visual than its text-heavy predecessor allowing AFL-CIO’s content and calls to action the opportunity to shine.

The redesign was a result of a year-long collaboration between Beaconfire and AFL-CIO teams.  Beaconfire led the Discovery, IA, and Creative phases and then led Development with AFL-CIO’s tech team taking on about half of the implementation work. The site was deployed on the eZ Publish CMS platform.

Highlights of the new site include:

• Streamlined navigation and improved search functions help visitors find content more efficiently
• A new Action Center offers a one-stop source for supporting workers, finding local events, contacting Congress, signing petitions and mobilizing through social media
• The updated AFL-CIO Now blog allows users to comment and share via Facebook and Twitter, highlights “most popular” features and aggregates user-generated content from across the movement.
• En Español, a robust and important resource for the Spanish-speaking community,  is now more prominent and has expanded content
• New sections that spotlight younger workers and the union movement’s partnerships with low-wage and immigrant communities
• Seamless integration of popular features from the previous site such as CEO PayWatch, coverage of working family issues, and the comprehensive Your Rights at Work (in English and Spanish).

The co-development effort between the Beaconfire & AFL-CIO tech teams worked beautifully with the tech leads on both sides doing a fantastic job with overall management against schedule and budget.

Jared Schwartz, Director, Digital Strategies, AFL-CIO, says, “The organization and labor movement now has a modern, innovative online face that it can be proud of.  Thank you all so much for guiding the AFL-CIO through the redesign and congratulations to all the amazing staff at Beaconfire who helped make this happen.”

Site launches are a special time at Beaconfire, because not only do we fulfill our commitment to our clients, but also we feel a sense of sharing in their cause and their mission.  We definitely feel that way with this one.

We’re looking for an experienced programmer who is excited to be part of a team where we make the world a better place one website at a time. We integrate content management systems with constituent databases; use APIs to turn numbers into compelling stories, and more. It’s never a dull day in the tech room, so if you love innovation, cool challenges and working with a group of smart developers who are continually discussing ways to push the envelope, this job is for you.

Required Skills

• At least two years experience in developing public-facing websites
  (knowledge of eZ publish, WordPress or Drupal a plus)
• Solid experience and skills in PHP5
• Strong knowledge of DHTML, JavaScript / JQuery, XML
• Strong attention to detail and high quality code
• Ability to work on several concurrent projects with matrixed teams

Check out the full job description here

There’s something to be said for taking work seriously. There’s also something to be said for havin’ a little fun while you’re doing it. Beaconfire is taking South by Southwest Interactive (SxSWi) by storm, and not just in The Beacon Lounge – a lounge with a conscience – where nonprofit professionals can take a breather, connect, caffeinate and cool off with some cold beer.

This year, 5 members of the Beaconfire team are presenting on topics that will help make your organization more efficient and effective — and have a blast doing it.

Check out the lineup:

Change Happens: Improv for an Unpredictable World
#improv4all
Jordan Hirsch, Tech Lead/THINK IMPROV (@tfish77)
3/9  @ 2pm – Courtyard Marriott, Brazos

Building Community is Easy, Saving the World is Hard
#sxbuildeasy
Kesah Schmitt (@Kesah)
3/9 @ 5pm – Austin Convention Center, Room 6AB

How Meaningful Design Can Save the World
#sxdesignhero
Eve Simon (@Naieve)
3/10 @ 3:30pm – Austin Convention Center, Room 8A

UX Smackdown! Usability Testing in the Ring
#sxsmackdown
Rebecca Sherrill (@BeccaS)
3/11 @ 11am –  Austin Convention Center, Ballroom BC

Sh!t Code: When Good Code is Betrayed
Scott Lenger (@ScottLenger
3/11 @ 5pm – Radisson Town Lake, Town Lake Ballroom

 Follow Beaconfire’s trip to SxSWi at @thebeaconsxsw as well as the presenters and make sure you check out The Beacon Blog for up to the minute information on sessions and events in The Beacon Lounge!

Apple’s recent patent application for making gym workouts a social networking activity was notable as a sign of the continuing evolution of social networking away from computers, and into what we typically think about as our off-line lives. It demonstrates how social activity if returning to its offline roots, transitioning from a technology-centered activity to become more deeply integrated in our daily lives.

Facebook, as the largest social network, provides a useful case study. Socializing on Facebook was initially restricted to activities conducted on their website, facebook.com. Activity was initially limited to the activities established by Facebook’s programmers, allowing you to update your status, and post comments and photos.

The site’s reach was then significantly expanded as they allowed outside developers to create games that people could play within the confines of facebook.com, such as mega-hit Farmville. Then in early 2010, Facebook made a change that let it go “viral”:  the like button. No longer were you limited in being able to use facebook on just their site, now every website on the internet became a potentially social venue.

The like button is allows a limited set of activities, allowing users to “like” or “recommend” individual pages on the web. Options for engagement expanded exponentially once websites gained the ability to automatically populate your facebook feed with activities conducted on their sites and software. Today, without any action by users, we alert our friends to  articles we read on the Washington Post, the music we listen to on Spotify, with an every-growing portion of our online activities becoming a part of our social feed.

Apple’s patent application for making workouts more social gym heralds the next phase in social networking’s expansion, as social networking moves offline. Your daily record of bench presses could potentially be added to your online persona without any action on your part, allowing for people to easily compete among their Facebook friends to see who works out the most frequently. No longer will you be required to use a computer or smartphone to engage in social networking activities, but instead it will become part of our everyday offline lives. Read the rest of this entry »

As we covered in a prior post, social media marketing can work for nonprofits and everyone should be using it. Connecting and conversing with constituents is the #1 most valuable use for social media; the ROI is in the deeper, enduring relationship you can have with supporters.

With that in mind, it’s still a big, scary black hole. Here are 5 tips to making your social strategy a success.

Let “social” be the face of your organization.

Make the organization feel comfortable or familiar to constituents by putting a voice behind the posts. Social media starts with being social, so allowing the organization’s social presence to be slightly more relaxed and informal will play into the strength of the medium. One way to do this is to sign posts/tweets with who posted them. Get constituents familiar with the wizard behind the curtain to make the “asks” seem more authentic.

1. Encourage execs to Tweet! Sure, it’s awkward at first, but constituents would love to know what drives the org and what articles interest those at the top.
2. Appoint a “community manager” – or someone in the organization that loves “social” and is willing to spend a few minutes scheduling tweets, or tweeting throughout the day.

Use the medium for what it was created for – creating connections and having conversations.

Social media isn’t a megaphone, but rather a telephone (or a Skype-a-phone, or a cup and strings…) – a dialog rather than a monolog. Constituents probably already know who you are. And they know where to find your website.

1. Use social to find out what matters to them, what they think of certain news events, ask them questions to engage them. This is information and audience data that you couldn’t pay for… or you’d HAVE to pay big money for. If you have their attention, engage them in the cause.
2. Poll your audience on where they stand on issues: “Like this if you support xyz” or ask a question, “If you could tell congress one thing about abc, what would it be?” Again, this is information you can use in future marketing efforts.

Keep the conversation going.

If you ask a question, don’t just forget about it. Check to see if there have been responses and respond to the responders – they are raising their hand and asking to be involved! You can turn user engagement into blog posts, newsletter features, or encourage those who are repeatedly active on your feed to recruit their friends to participate, as well. Tag followers in your posts to give them a little more love.

 Think in terms of “sharable” and “tweetable.”

1. Sharable: When your Facebook feed pops up, what do you notice first? Pictures! They take up more space on the page, stand out, are interesting to look at, and are easily digestible. And people LOVE to share photos! Ask a question with the picture – give multiple ways for users to engage, share, extend…
2. Tweetable: Keep your messages short and sweet, punchy and clever. Include short links to articles and ASK people to retweet.

Be generous with your social media presence.

Share interesting articles about organizations that support your mission to give value to your feed. No one likes to be sold to these days, so becoming a source for information regarding a topic near and dear to your followers’ hearts is a good way to keep their eyeballs on your organization. Tweeting @ other orgs will also let them know you’re talking about them, and encourage them to tweet about you, as well! And if you see something funny or a meme that’s catching on? Why not jump on board? Your followers like to know you’re as social as they are.

If you have tips on how nonprofits can benefit from social media, post them in the comments!

Legacy, whose mission is to build a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit, engaged us to redesign My Legacy Story. The original flash-based site allowed people to share stories about how tobacco has impacted their own lives, as well as the lives of loved ones. They wanted to redesign the site in HTML, enhancing the user experience and allowing people to fund-raise in honor of the stories they had shared.

Integrating Friends Asking Friends With A Content Management System

Due to the needs of the project, we determined that the site needed a strong Content Management System (CMS), and chose eZ Publish, alongside Blackbaud’s Sphere for Events and Friends Asking Friends (FAF) for the peer fundraising component.

FAF isn’t typically integrated with other CMSes, which presented some unique challenges. To enhance the user experience as visitors transitioned between the CMS and Sphere pages, we implemented a custom JS script which passed data between the two sites. The script dynamically changed forms with jQuery, auto-filled CMS submitted stories into Sphere’s personal fund-raising forms, and other enhancements.

In order to synchronize people’s fundraising pages in the CMS, after people registered on MLS, and then went into Sphere, we used the custom JS script to pass their unique ID back into eZ, allowing the non-FAF portion of the site to show fund-raising progress (including a custom thermometer that we developed) through the FAF API .

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Since 2008, Beaconfire has been an integral part of South by Southwest Interactive (SxSWi), but this year we’re really planning to take the uberevent by storm. The Beaconfire team is heading back to Austin next week and we’re quite literally buzzing with excitement about all we have going on for 2012.

In addition to the Beacon (Lounge with a Conscience), returning for its 4^th year of helping the SxSWi non profit community relax, rejuvenate, and connect, we’ll have 8 staff members there, are speaking on 5 panels, hosting 4 meetups, and a book reading along with daily breakfast, lunch,and happy hours with killer musicians. So, yeah – there’s a lot happening.

We never forget that the Beacon exists both for our dynamic community of nonprofit professionals, as well as because of it. Even though SxSW is a time to let down your hair, giving back has always been the cornerstone of The Beacon, so this year’s theme was born “Play hard. Do good.” With the help of our amazing partners Convio, Salsa Labs, Coloroado Health Foundation, GoodThreads and PhotoPhilantrophy, we’re going to do just that.

From supporting local organizations through a daily Lunch For a Cause to giving away amazingly cool limited edition T-shirts by Mike Rohde with a donation to Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, there are going to be no shortages of ways to give back. While you’re having a blast in Austin, we hope you can also help us make a real difference for real people.

Coming to SxSWi or just want to play along from home? Follow @thebeaconsxsw for updates & special announcements. And make sure to keep your eye on The Beacon Blog, the official site for Beaconfire’s Beacon Lounge.

Notice a change in your favorite brand’s Facebook page yesterday? The new Facebook Timeline rolled out for brands yesterday and it led to a number of questions around what it means in terms of making the switch, and more importantly how nonprofits can take advantage of the new layout and features. “The goal is to make Pages more engaging and more social,” said Gokul Rajaram, Facebook’s product director for ads. It is also designed to remind users that organizations have identities that are worth connecting with on a personal level. Engaging consumers and donors alike is all about making that deeper, more social connection.

So, what changed?

• Brand/Company/Organization pages now reflect the updated personal pages that have been out for a few months now.
• The most immediate thing you’ll notice on the new page is a really big picture called the “cover photo.” The social web is becoming more visual as evidenced by the surge of Pinterest. This cover photo can be seen as a big space for advertising, but I wouldn’t suggest it. Use this photo as a way to show what your organization is about, maybe the people behind it, maybe your office, field offices, food banks, volunteers. Change it up frequently to give users a reason to come back to your page.
• No more tabs! Instead, you’ll find the tab content in the boxes below the cover photo. The functionality can stay in tact, but if you’re making the migration it’s a great time to streamline and prioritize exactly what you want users to do when they are on your page. Sign up for your newsletter? Engage in a quiz or play a game?
• Admins can make certain pieces of copy “sticky” on the page for an extended period of time, so when your organization makes news or you have an urgent appeal going on it won’t slip down your page.

You can read more about the changes to Facebook pages for brands on Mashable.

During DC’s first annual Social Media Week, I stopped by Salsa’s panel, “Spicing Up #Social Media: A Recipe for #Nonprofit Success.” The room was packed with marketers and the energy was palpable. Everyone was looking, it seemed, for The Answer: “What is the key to social media?” with the implied follow up, “…and how the heck do I use it at a nonprofit where budgets are tight, staff is overworked, and we’re fighting with big brands for our constituents’ attention?”

The panel allayed the fears of the audience, assuring them that from their experience social media can and does work. And I agree wholeheartedly. If (and only if) you set appropriate expectations, understand what ROI means in the social sphere, and make it a priority – at least one of the many, many priorities your organization has. Bonus! In this case, “priority” doesn’t mean a lot of time, it just means quality time and an understanding of the power and value of the medium.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing my thoughts on the power of social media nonprofit organizations and how you can put it into action today. Let’s get started!

Social media is absolutely a direct response tactic… if you completely redefine direct response. The power of “social media” is that it’s SOCIAL. You have direct access to your constituents in a way that you’d have to pay big, BIG money for through research organization and marketing tactics. If you want to know about your audience, ask them! “What interests you? What do you care about? What do you love about us? What would you like to see us do?” Commenting on posts is a primary feature of Facebook, and Twitter allows you to get feedback in real time. And if you ask a question, check back and respond. These are community members who care enough to take the time to talk to you. They are raising their hand – sure it’s just a Facebook comment or Tweet now, but if you take the time to respond to them, if they feel connected to you, another action could be just around the corner.

Do you engage your community with questions or polls on Facebook? What kind of responses have you received? And, more importantly, how have you used that information?

Ok, here goes.  My name is Amy and I am addicted to Pinterest.  Maybe just a little addicted.  And definitely, I’m not the only one.  In case you hadn’t heard, Pinterest, the virtual scrapbook, is currently the fastest growing social network and is a particular hit with women.

Why is Pinterest growing so fast? Here are a couple things that make it appealing…

• Low-barrier to entry
  Once you get an invitation and set up an account, it’s pretty easy to figure out how to pin – especially if you’re using the bookmarklet, and how to find and follow other pinners.  Pins do best when they have a short, relevant description.   Sweet relief!  You don’t have to write an entire blog post and you’re also not limited to 140 characters.  The image does most of the talking and, as you know, a picture is worth…

• Visual elegance
  The beauty of Pinterest is the simple but elegant layout.  An adaptable grid presents discrete chunks of information in fixed column widths. This is brilliant, really. The design leverages your cognitive processing skills – allowing you to quickly scan the columns and detect what’s new and/or interesting.

• Curated content
  The curated content model is working well around the web.  Being able to post and share content that you find valuable / interesting / funny throughout your network is a fairly common practice now.  In general, most follows beyond your personal network are based on an affinity you have for the quality of the individual pinner’s posts.   Pinterest employs one-way permissions process which allows you to follow whoever you want without their needing to give permission or follow you back.

• The Ripple Effect
  One of the things I find most unique about Pinterest is how quickly and broadly a pinned item can be shared outside a circle of followers.  Last night I posted a hand-drawn quote from the book “The Little Prince.”  A few hours later, it had been repined by 11 people – only 1 of whom I actually know. It reminds me of the shampoo commercial, “And she told two friends and so on and so on…”

Nonprofits using Pinterest

Mostly I’ve been using Pinterest for personal posts – Words that Inspire, Places to Go, Stuff for Home.  But over the last few weeks, I’ve been seeing more and more about nonprofits making use of Pinterest.

At first I wasn’t completely convinced of the value for nonprofits, then I clicked on over to Amnesty International’s boards.  Amnesty pins to multiple boards.  A couple that I like in particular: Fair Trade (goods), Inspiring Quotes & People, Human Rights Reading List, Facts (infographics!) and Little Activists (stuff for kids).  Just a couple quick clicks and I had the perfect present for my nephew’s fifth birthday!  Well done, Amnesty, well done.

Some other nonprofits that are worth a look are Charity : Water, National Wildlife Federation, and AARP.

I can’t speak to whether Pinterest is having a significant impact on these nonprofits’ bottom line as of yet.  But, it is increasing visibility and if you are talking about your social media strategy, it’s definitely worth including in the conversation.

Is your organization on Pinterest already? Let me know – I’m always looking for more great boards to follow. You can follow me at: http://pinterest.com/amyk1203/