#HOWTO: Get Guidance From Google On Simple SEO Success
Is your site worth searching for?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a social media buzzword: gotta have it, gotta work at it, gotta pack it in to your website or blog! And it is true that SEO needs to be a part of your nonprofit’s online and outreach strategies. Why develop a new site or even update your outdated one if people will struggle to find it, much less relevant information on it? The go-to standard for web searches (including images and videos) is, of course, Google. Even as the e-behemoth develops Android and G+ and even augmented-reality glasses, millions of us use it simply, almost exclusively, for web research.
So why not find out what the folks at Google recommend to bolster the searchability and discoverability of your website?
Popularity: 2% | Category Advice, Blogs, Cause Marketing, Communications, How-to, Marketing, Marketing Budget, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Public Media, Public Relations, Resource, SEO, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Storytelling, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Video, Web and Print, Web Design, Writing, YouTube | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#TECH: Designing A Mobile App? Design For A Mobile Device!
Who needs an app for that?
The nonprofit world is going mobile. The move might be slower than in the corporate world, but it’s steady, and nonprofits are developing ways to get around software or contractual walls. Mobile apps encourage supporters to stay engaged with your organization and its programs, and the apps also can give volunteers and staff in the field access to necessary information from the home office and/or report developments to that office. Best of all, mobile apps could links developments on projects directly to the mobile donors who can instantly see the link between their support and the progress the charity is making.
But before you get all buzzed about the synergy, you should be aware of the challenges of developing an application for mobile devices, including the fact that there are so many kinds of mobile devices.
Popularity: 2% | Category Blogs, Communications, Design, Desktop Apps, Graphic Design, Hardware Review, How-to, iDevice, iPad Apps, iPad/Tablet, iPhone Apps, Marketing Skills, Mobile, Nonprofit, Resource, Reviews, Site Administration, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Web Design | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#FUNDRAISING: 2011 Was A Good Year For Email Outreach By Nonprofits
With all the excitement about all the social networks and all the purchases that Facebook has been making lately, it’s worth remembering that not only do more ‘traditional’ media exist but they also can be of greater value than the newest platform that has all the media and investor eyeballs. Such should be especially remembered by nonprofits who might not have the resources to establish a presence on the latest Pinterest trend.
According to the latest eNonprofit Benchmark Study by NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Network) and M+R Strategic Services, a substantial email list and a well-crafted email campaign remain the most valuable fundraising tools in your charity’s box. Just how valuable?
Popularity: 3% | Category Advertising, Advice, Campaigns, Cause Marketing, Communications, Community, Crowdfunding, Design, Development, Donor Acquisition, eBook, eNewsletter, Facebook, Fundraising, iPad Apps, iPad/Tablet, iPhone Apps, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, Mobile, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Publications, Report, Resource, Reviews, Social Media, Technology, Web Design | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SM4NP: Scoop.it! For Information ‘Curation’ & Social Interaction
Yesterday we explored Pinterest, a social network that puts a premium on visuals and offers ‘pin boards’ of topics collected/bookmarked/’pinned’ by the user. The metrics on the platform show amazing growth over the last few months, and many are still waiting for an invitation to join up. Scoop.it! has, on the surface, a strikingly similar mission: to provide a webspace to present ‘magazines’ of (hopefully) related materials based on a user’s interests and what information she or he has ‘curated’ for his or her site.
Let’s look at Scoop.it, and to do so we must appreciate what this notion of ‘content curation’ means.
Popularity: 2% | Category Blogs, Branding, Cause Marketing, Communications, Community, Design, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Public Media, Public Relations, Research, Resource, Reviews, Scoopit, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Storytelling, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Web Design | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SM4NP: Are Pinterest & Scoop.it Part Of Your Social-Network Arsenal?
Staying up-to-date with developments in the social-networking world is no easy task. Facebook engages most of our oxygen/eyeballs, but plenty of other services are available. Most of them are designed around a particular kind of presentation rather than a particular set of topics or audiences (Of course, certain kinds of presentations − photos, for instance − will draw markedly from certain kinds of audiences). Part of our vocation and business mission is to keep tabs on such evolution so you don’t have to (quite as much). This week, we want to focus on Pinterest and Scoop.it, with a How-To follow up on Scoop.it later this week. Interest in Pinterest has exploded only in the last few weeks, so let’s catch up with that one first.
Popularity: 2% | Category Blogs, Communications, Community, Design, How-to, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Pinterest, Resource, Scoopit, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Technology, Web Design | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#TECH: Google+ Gets Redesign To Emphasize Visuals & Customizations
This morning Google announced a striking rise in income that beat stock analysts’ predictions for this first quarter of 2012: $10.65 billion for this past quarter. The number represents a 24% increase from last year’s Q1. Just before the search giant released these huge numbers, it announced a redesign of its social network, Google Plus. Though little if any of this influx of cash came from the social network, Google seems to be heavily invested on making their platform a vibrant competitor to Facebook, and the redesign seems geared to emphasize photos and video (Google owns YouTube) just as the new Timeline does on the competitor’s platform.
Let’s take a little tour.
Popularity: 2% | Category Blogs, Communications, Dashboards, Design, How-to, Media Review, Newspaper Article, Resource, Reviews, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Software Review, Technology, Web and Print, Web Design | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#HOWTO: Tumblr’s Advanced Features Won’t Overwhelm Ease Of Outreach
We have been working our way through Tumblr now for a few weeks in the hopes of inspiring you and your colleagues to consider creation of a Tumblr presence for your nonprofit. Tumblr got going in 2007, and really took off a couple of years later as twenty-somethings found in the platform a sweet spot of posting stories longer than those allowed by Twitter but short and quick enough to make sharing a breeze. Since then, organizations − especially those who want to present a lighter and strikingly visual face to their followers − have also gotten on board. See, for examples, Doctors Without Borders and Good Neighbors USA (whose Tumblr page is featured above). Both charities do critical work in the areas of health and economic support around the world, and yet their Tumblr sites put the visceral joy of such work front-and-center.
To develop your organization’s site, you might want to explore some of the more advanced features of Tumblr that offer all kinds of customization of look and behavior. We want to introduce a couple of those features here.
Popularity: 4% | Category Blogs, Branding, Cause Marketing, Communications, Design, How-to, Marketing Skills, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Posterous, Public Media, Resource, Reviews, SEO, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Software Review, Storytelling, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Tumblr, Web Design | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Tech: The Net Is Not Quite Dead, But It’s Not Your Mom’s Web Anymore
First of all, an adjustment/correction to yesterday’s story: Facebook pushed back its rollout of Timeline across all accounts until tomorrow, the 31st. Facebook did this rather quietly and did not state why, but you now have about 20 hours to get your Timeline up-and-running, as we outlined yesterday. (Thanks to Cody Damon of Damon Strategic for the heads-up!)
Today’s tech topic is related in so far as it is about how we interact with Facebook and other online services in new ways. The traditional ‘internet via browser’ model is fading away, to be replaced by a more precise paradigm − one that moves us from our mobile devices directly to the service/platform/medium that we want. The opportunity it presents will streamline, and perhaps redefine, the internet as we knew it. How?
Popularity: 3% | Category Advice, Apple, Case Study, Communications, Desktop Apps, Fundraising, iDevice, iPad Apps, iPhone Apps, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, Nonprofit, Publications, Report, Resource, SEO, Site Administration, Social Media, Software Review, Strategic Marketing, Technology, Web Design | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#HOWTO: Facebook Timeline Goes Public Tomorrow! Ready?
Are you ready? It goes live tomorrow!
Facebook has been rolling out its new ‘Timeline’ feature for a few months now, and we hope we have given you a helping hand with the changes. Timeline redesigns your social interaction into a chronological sweep that is also distinguished topically and physically (that is, by being placed in different sections of your FB home page). It allows an individual, a nonprofit, or a company to present a visual banner or ‘Cover’ to introduce themselves, and it offers greater opportunity to control the ‘Story’ on the page by giving users means to ‘back fill’ their histories.
And the fact is, Timeline becomes the default interface of all Facebook accounts tomorrow! If your charity is on Facebook, you need to be prepared. We found a couple of great sources to help you tidy up your page in preparation of the final stages of implementation.
Popularity: 4% | Category Advice, Blogs, Branding, Cause Marketing, Communications, Facebook, Facebook, Facebook, Fundraising, How-to, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, Nonprofit, Public Relations, Resource, Reviews, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Software Review, Storytelling, Study, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Video, Web Design, YouTube | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SOCIALNETWORKS: Facebook Opens Timeline To Organizations
On Leap-Day Wednesday Facebook took a leap to the social-media future for nonprofits and businesses by opening up features that had hitherto been accessible only to individuals. Those features – of which Timeline is perhaps creating the most buzz – will be hidden until 30 March if you wish, so you have time to play with the features and prepare your organization’s new public face. If you get yours up-and-running early, you can already push the publish buttons, as Livestrong has already done.
Although the announcement went out today, there’s already plenty of assistance to introduce the new features and make them work for your charity.
Popularity: 3% | Category Branding, Communications, Facebook, Facebook, How-to, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Public Relations, Reviews, Site Administration, Social Media, Storytelling, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Web Design | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#HOWTO: Create A Tumblr Account And Why It Might Replace Your Blog
If you follow the tech developments and platform inventions of social media, you can get a headache. Facebook and Twitter seem to rule the net, but FourSquare and StumbleUpon are out there too, and many are wrestling with developing a presence on Google+. Et cetera! We want to help cut through that clutter for our clients and readers, and we hope to guide your nonprofit, small business, or charity toward the outreach and development and communication channels that can be most beneficial for you and your audiences.
One such channel that has been around for a while but is not high enough on people’s minds is Tumblr, a (micro)blogging site that offers wonderful ease of construction, numerous ways to customize and brand your site, and some of the easiest means to post quick stories or even audio messages we have ever encountered. Think of it as some of the most accessible features of Microsoft Word linked to the wide reach of Twitter with some of the under-the-hood muscle of a full-fledged website if you want to get your hands dirty. If not, you won’t be disappointed, or much limited, by your creation.
Popularity: 5% | Category Communications, Design, How-to, Nonprofit, Public Relations, Reviews, SEO, Site Administration, Social Media, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Web and Print, Web Design | | 7 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Interview: Gail Perry, Fundraising Consultant, Trainer & Author of Fired-Up Fundraising
Gail Perry is a fundraising consultant and trainer and the author of Fired-Up Fundraising: Turn Your Board’s Passion into Action. She is a highly sought speaker and writes a popular blog. Her most recent venture is an online coaching group. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: What are the issues that are keeping your clients awake at night?
GAIL: I think the economy is just a huge issue. People are worried about whether they can raise the money they need or not. But I’m also seeing a really interesting problem. My consulting clients are struggling to learn how to take donors who are identified as potential major prospects and bring them into the major prospect arena by closing a gift. It’s a very delicate, step-by-step, intuitive process to bring a major donor along. That’s a lot of what I’m teaching my clients, all these little subtleties of developing that type of relationship.
Popularity: 31% | Category Blogs, Campaigns, Cause Marketing, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, Crowdfunding, Design, Development, Direct Mail, Donor Acquisition, E-Mail, eNewsletter, Facebook, Facebook, Fundraising, Grants, Grants and Funding, Interview, Major Gifts, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Permission Marketing, Perspectives, Perspectives, Research, SEO, Social Media, Sponsorship, Storytelling, Strategic Marketing, Twitter, Web Design, Writing | | 1 Comments
Written by: Don Akchin
#Interview: Howard Adam Levy, Principal of Red Rooster Group
Howard Adam Levy is Principal of Red Rooster Group, a New York City-based branding, marketing and design agency for nonprofits. Howard, who began working with nonprofits as a graphic designer in 1991, founded the agency 10 years ago. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVEnonprofit blog.
MKC: What is most challenging about branding nonprofits?
HOWARD: Nonprofits face a wide variety of constituents, from clients, referral sources, donors, partner organizations, board members and others. So a lot more is involved in reaching out and developing messages and strategies for each of those audiences.
Businesses, especially small businesses, can make unilateral decisions on their marketing. Nonprofits are typically more consensus oriented. And particularly when it comes to the brand, you really want to get everyone’s input and have a feeling that everyone is contributing to the process of what we’re all about. So you need a process that can build consensus in a politically neutral environment and get everyone feeling really good about the brand and their role as brand ambassadors.
Popularity: 6% | Category Blogs, Branding, Campaigns, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, Design, Donor Acquisition, E-Mail, eNewsletter, Fundraising, Grants, Grants and Funding, Graphic Design, Interview, Major Gifts, Marketing, Newsletter, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Permission Marketing, Perspectives, Perspectives, Publications Design, Slide Presentations, Social Media, Storytelling, Strategic Marketing, Web Design, Writing | | 1 Comments
Written by: Don Akchin
#SocialNetworks: Google+ For Business Is Now Open!
Yes, the release of Google+’s Business Pages is the biggest news in social media this week. And in business news. And in design news… The release of business pages within Google+ did not go without incident: Many were led to believe they could get their pages up, only to discover their accounts were not part of the list allowing early adoption – an inconvenience that mirrored the rollout of individual accounts as well.
But over the last day or two, the Business Pages have been presented to all Google+ users (one must have a Google+ Personal Page before one can build a Business Page), and the bandwagon has been overwhelmed ever since. What will Google+’s Business Pages bring to the social-media landscape?
Popularity: 3% | Category Advertising, Advice, Communications, Community, Design, Facebook, How-to, Marketing, Measurement, Media Review, News and Current Affairs, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Public Relations, Reviews, Site Administration, Social Media, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Web Design | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SocialNetworks: Facebook Updates User Experience With Focus on Timelines
Last week Facebook presented its latest iteration and updates with fanfare unusual even for Facebook. The changes were announced just as Google+ wanted to open its services to everyone who wanted to subscribe, so clearly the two wanted to land some PR punches against each other. Now that Google+ has been out long enough for a broad array of users to find what they (don’t) like about the platform, the criticisms have grown sharper. For example, Google+ finds its clientele strikingly young, male, and white. Moreover, the platform still is stressing the ‘real you’ user (no pseudonyms and no organizations), so nonprofits and socially-engaged groups on Facebook have made no efforts to get on board the Google+ train.
We wanted to offer our audience a few opportunities to walk through the new features, and we want also to follow public reactions to the changes. So far, the updates are being treated with greater excitement and anxiety than often accompany FB updates.
Popularity: 4% | Category Blogs, Communications, Community, Facebook, Facebook, Marketing, Media Review, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Opinion, Permission Marketing, Social Media, Software Review, Storytelling, Technology, Web and Print, Web Design | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Interview: Rob Wu, Founder of CauseVox, On Building Online Tools For Nonprofits (Part 2 of 2)
Last week, we introduced one of the founders of CauseVox, Rob Wu, who told us about the integrated platform he and Jefferson Chang developed after their experience working with nonprofits in Uganda in 2008. The young men saw the need to bring together online tools like website customization, social-media outreach, and donor tracking for smaller nonprofits so that they could use all these tools in an affordable and scalable manner. This week Rob shares the lessons he and Jeff learned while building CauseVox.
Rob Wu, Cofounder of CauseVox
Rob and Jeff began to rollout CauseVox in 2009, not an especially auspicious year to start a new business. We asked Rob if the ongoing Great Recession has been hard on the company and how he and his colleagues see CauseVox going forward through this recession. He answered in a manner-of-fact tone that suggested the confidence of an athlete whose team is in a rough patch: “We started CauseVox in a down economy, and we’ve been doing well. So in a way, we’re not too worried about a double-dip or triple-dip recession. We’ve been working through one anyway. But in a way a recession drives nonprofits to look for new sources of funding. They become more willing to try new things. As they are trying new things, we think they will want to try CauseVox.”
Popularity: 5% | Category Advertising, Campaigns, Communications, Community, Crowdfunding, Development, Donor Acquisition, Fundraising, Grants and Funding, Interview, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Perspectives, Perspectives, Public Relations, Social Media, Technology, Web and Print, Web Design | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Tech: Pew Internet Project Breaks Down Use Of Communications Tech Across Generations
Click to enlarge (from the Pew Internet Project)
The contours of the findings of the Pew Internet and American Life Project report on ‘Generations and their Gadgets’ you probably already know: Younger Americans use more mobile devices than older Americans. Older Americans generally access the internet from a desktop computer, whereas those under 35 tend to do so with a laptop/netbook. Etc.
But within those contours the project’s latest study, this one by Kathryn Zickuhr, we see growth in mobile use across all generations, and we even see some reticence to own any device across all generations as well.
Popularity: 7% | Category Aging, Campaigns, Communications, Fundraising, GI Generation, iDevice, Internet, iPad/Tablet, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Media Review, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Public Media, Public Relations, Report, Research, Resource, Seniors Life, Silent Generation, Social Media, Technology, Technology for Aging, Web and Print, Web Design | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Interview: Rob Wu, Founder of CauseVox, On Building Online Tools For Nonprofits (Part 1 of 2)
CauseVox offers a unique combination of online tools to nonprofits. It acts as a website building Content-Management System (CMS), a social-media platform with built in connections to a nonprofit’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube… accounts, and a system to track donors’s contact information and their relations with your organization (for example, how much they have given over time). Though other developers have built each of these modules, CauseVox is the first to bring them together precisely to give smaller and mid-sized organizations the opportunity to reach online audiences with the same robust tools usually available only to their larger brethren.
Popularity: 5% | Category Campaigns, Communications, Community, Crowdfunding, Design, Development, Donor Acquisition, Facebook, Fundraising, Graphic Design, Interview, Marketing, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Perspectives, Perspectives, Public Relations, Site Administration, Social Media, Technology, Twitter, Web and Print, Web Design | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#Fundraising: Getting Your Donation Web Page Ready For The Holiday Rush
Not really
Most any nonprofit or charity has a website. And likely on that website is a page for donors to give to the cause. Such a page is considered a sure way to keep some funding trickling in. Probably not the biggest donations of the year, but enough of a stream to help further your cause.
But has your organization ever really checked to see if that page is doing all it could? Might a few tweaks in wording or layout help increase the number of people ready to give something? A study from Convivio and reported on FrogLoop‘s blog shows that a few strategic changes could increase gift-giving up to some 30%.
Popularity: 5% | Category Campaigns, Communications, Crowdfunding, Development, Donor Acquisition, Fundraising, Grants and Funding, Marketing, Nonprofit, Nonprofit, Web and Print, Web Design | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Mobile Websites: A Quick How-To and Primer
The developments of mobile technology is likely familiar to all of us to one degree or another. Smart phones and iPads and micro-laptops mean more and more of us are capable of accessing the internet at any point in the day and from almost any place. Sure, we are more likely to access the game ‘Farmville‘ than the BBC News while waiting for a bus or standing in the grocery-store line. Nevertheless, charitable organizations should get ahead of the curve (or at least ‘catch up to the curve’!) and be prepping their sites for easy and pleasing access via such mobile devices.
Popularity: 1% | Category Fundraising, iDevice, Marketing, Media Review, Public Relations, Site Administration, Social Media, Technology, Web and Print, Web Design | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD