Personal Fundraising  Campaigns   

As  older  baby  boomer  board  members  get  more  and  more  disconnected  from  technology  it  is  important  to  explore  the  possibilities,  through  blogs  and  wikis,  of  how  nonprofits  can  use  social  media  to  support  their  work  and  help  disseminate  their  messages.   

Most  nonprofits  need  to  explore  all  the  facets  of  the  existing  Web  2.0  tools  in  order  to  use  and  adopt  them  for  raising  funds.  Recently  many  proactive  nonprofits  have  been  tinkering  with  how  to  mix  social  media  with  fundraising,  as  well  as  experimenting  with  personal  fundraising.   

I  read  about  a  woman  whom  less  than  a  year  ago,  launched  a  personal  fundraising  campaign  on  her  blog  using  a  Web  2.0  fundraising  tool  called  ¡°ChipIn  to  send  a  young  Cambodian woman  to  college  through  a  program  sponsored  by  a  nonprofit  called  the  Sharing  Foundation.  The  woman  was  able  to  raise  eight  hundred  dollars  for  a  year’s  tuition  and  on  campus  living  expenses,  in  less  than  two  weeks!   

Several  weeks  later,  she  experimented  with  an  organizational  approach  to  group  fundraising  working  with  a  team  of  twenty  Sharing  Foundation  board  members  and  volunteers  to  raise  $100,000  via a blog,  using  a  Charity  Badge.  She  was  successful.  It  was  quite  an  accomplishment,  given  that  the  organization  had  an  operating  budget  of  less  than  $400,000.    

Read the Conclusion of the article here:

The  Non-profits  that  successfully  integrate  Web  2.0  tools  and  techniques  effectively  into  their  communications  and  programming  strategies  are  showing  signs  of  breaking  away  from  the  pack  and  reaping  the  many  benefits  Web  2.0  has  to  offer.  They  do  not  necessarily  raise larger  dollar  amounts  than  others  but,  the  Web  2.0  enabled  organizations  are  reaching  large  amounts  of  new  potential  donors,  particularly  younger  groups,  and  laying  important  ground  work  for  the  next  generation  of  philanthropic  supporters.   

Web 2.0 Adoption  Challenges  When  it  comes  to  putting  web  2.0  opportunities  into  practice  in  the  humdrum everyday  nonprofit  work,  most  non-profits  must  deal  with  adoption  issues,  as a recent  study  from  the  Overbrook  Foundation  has  shown.   In  spite  of  the  popularity  of  many  Web  2.0  tools  like  social  networking  and socialized  media,  a  lot  of  nonprofits  are  just  embarking  on  the  early  stages of exploration;  some  are  even  paralyzed  by  unanswered  questions  or  concerns, a  lack  of  knowledge  or  skills,  concerns  about  control  of  branding  or messaging,  or  others  simply  do  not  view  web  2.0  as  a  priority.  Many organizations  feel  pressured  to  adopt  these  tools  or  see  Web  2.0  as  a  trend that  will  go  the  way  of  the  dodo.   

Some  nonprofits  feel  that  they  need  to  adopt  a  new  way  of  making  their allies the  carriers  of  their  message,  and  their  mission.  To  help  make  this  shift happen,  there  is  a  need  to  educate  more  nonprofits  about  what  potential Web  2.0  tools  offer  to  them  and  the  most  practical  ways  to  get on  the  bandwagon. It  took  years  for  many  organizations  in  the  nonprofit  world  to  change  from faxes  to  using  email  and  it  will  most  assuredly  be  the  same  when  bridging the  gap  from  Web  1  to  Web  2.0.    Those  organizations  that  have  successfully  answered  the  question  and  found out  why  Web  2.0  is  so  important  are  now  starting  to  grapple  with  the following  questions:   

How does this affect our mission?  

And how do we do this the right way?

Read how they get answers from GutZy Women LLC here:

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Debbie Ducic, of GutZy Women and David Skul of Relativity finally get it right. The right way to build solid business building relationships, that is.

After a series of videos where they roll play the right and wrong ways of social interaction, comparing it to the kind of relationship building that happens on “social networking” sites, this video shows what the most beneficial interaction looks like.

Take a look and then let other GutZy Women know what YOU think works best for social networking by commenting below:

To try YOUR skills at the right way to Social Network on the GutZy Women Social Networking Site, Click Here:

Promote your events.

Facebook is a great place to promote your organization’s events. Simply create the event, add pictures, and invite your contacts to join. In addition to groups, you can post details of events in your profile so people can RSVP. You also have the option to leave the event open to people in your network or open for everyone.

Promote your blog or newsletter.

Facebook also helps you to promote your blog or newsletter. This feature allows you to share information beyond what’s in your profile in two ways. You can either post a note on your page or import your external blog. It is a nice way to communicate with your constituents and update them on your organization.

You can also integrate an RSS feed into your blog with notes. When you post it, the note is displayed in your profile and every one of your “friends” is notified and other members can add
comments.

Keep in touch with your members.

Facebook has a feature called “News Feed” that allows you to see all kinds of activity within your network. It’s very similar to an RSS feed, in that when you log in to Facebook you mmediately receive an update of all of the actions your contacts have taken. And if someone posted a new photo album or RSVP’d to an event, you’ll be notified right away.

Maintain some privacy: CliCK Here to read the end of the article:

Find Friends and Connect with Your Community 

Now  that  you  have  a  Facebook  account,  connecting  to  people  in  your  community  is  easy.  Start  by  using  the  Search  feature  to  find  friends  who  are  already  using  Facebook  and  request  to  be  their  friend.  You  can  add  just  about  anyone  you  can  think  of,  including  your  members,  supporters,  volunteers,  staff,  and  even  your  board  members.  Don’t  worry  if  you  don’t  have  a  big  list  right  away.  Once  you  have  two  or  more  contacts,  you’ll  be  able  to  expand  your  social  network  by  locating  mutual  friends  and  contacting  them.  

Finding Friends on Facebook.   

Facebook  offers  a  message  board  feature  called  ”The  Wall”  that  displays  member  profile  pages.  You  can  use  it  to  post  all  kinds  of  messages  to  your  network.  But  beware:  Comments  can  be  viewed  by  all  your  contacts  in  your  list  of  Facebook  friends. 

 Create a Group for Your Organization or Event

Just  like  every  other  social  networking  site,  you  can  create  and  join  groups  on  Facebook.  And  there  are  a  growing  number  of groups  dedicated  to  social  change.  Why create  a  group?  Creating  groups  allows  you  to  share  information  about  pretty  much  anything.  You  can  create  groups  for  your organization  or  event  to  make  announcements,  join  discussion  groups,  or  even  to  share  pictures.  There  are  two  kinds  of  groups  on Facebook - open  and  closed.  So  be  sure  to  create  open  groups  so  that  people  can  find  it  and  your  members  can  invite  others  to join.   

CLICK HERE to read more including Uploading  and Sharing  Pictures.