#NONPROFIT: Some Models Of How Charities Use Tumblr
We’ve sung the praises of Tumblr a number of times on this blog, and today we want to present a few examples and ideas of just how nonprofits are using this free platform as a means to spread the word of their great work. One of the many great things about Tumblr is its simplicity of setup. That said, you don’t want to treat your organization’s efforts simplistically.
First off, you might want to consider Tumblr as your calling card to a larger audience, rather than as a venue for in-depth reports to your committed constituents. Tumblr loves images, quotes, and videos, but few go to their accounts to read long analyses. Your nonprofit definitely should have a place for such detail, but Tumblr might not be that place. How have nonprofits used it?
| Category Blogs, Branding, Campaigns, Cause Marketing, Communications, Crowdfunding, Design, Fundraising, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, Nonprofit, Public Media, Public Relations, Reviews, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Networks, Storytelling, Technology for Nonprofits, Tumblr, Web and Print | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#HOWTO: Curate Information To Make Sense Of Your Nonprofit’s Ambitions
‘Content Curation’ is on of the new buzz concepts of the internet. The term refers to the activity of collecting, sharing, and responding to information on the internet in a consistent and focused manner. A ‘curator’ is traditionally defined as “a keeper or custodian of a museum or other collection.” And the new concept follows a similar line, albeit for a website or social-networking account. In a sense, many of us are already doing it, both as individuals and as spokespersons for our nonprofits and charities. If you are updating a Pinterest account or sharing what engages you on Scoop.it!, then you are already a ‘curator’ in some sense. But how can you push that activity to the proverbial next level, and how might curation be a boon for your nonprofit?
| Category Blogs, Cause Marketing, Communications, How-to, Marketing, Measurement, Media Review, Nonprofit, Pinterest, Project Management Tools, Research, Resource, Reviews, Scoopit, Site Administration, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Networks, Storytelling, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Tumblr | | 0 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#INTERVIEW: John Kenyon, @NTEN, Helps Nonprofits Understand and Benefit From Technology
John Kenyon has been helping nonprofits understand and benefit from technology for more than two decades. Before becoming the education program manager for the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) in February, he was a well-traveled consultant and speaker. He was a contributing author on “Effective Online Communications” in the book Managing Technology to Meet your Mission (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2009. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: How did you get started consulting with nonprofits?
JOHN: I started volunteering with TechSoup Global (then known as Compumentor), who connected people with technology skills with nonprofits. I started volunteering to get to know nonprofits, as they are much different animals than for-profits. That grew into a consulting position with a nonprofit in San Francisco, where I started building a technology-consulting practice with a group of affiliates. Then I worked for GroundSpring.org as their training and consulting manager. I went around the country teaching nonprofits how to use the Internet. I was also hired by the University of San Francisco to teach the technology course for their Masters of Nonprofit Administration degree program. All that melded my experience with nonprofits and technology and being an educator.
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| Category Blogs, Book, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, eBook, Facebook, Fundraising, Interview, LinkedIn, Marketing, Mobile, MySpace, Nonprofit, Pinterest, Posterous, Resource, Scoopit, Social Networks, Special Series, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Tools, Tumblr, Twitter, YouTube | | 0 Comments
Written by: Don Akchin
#INTERVIEW: Craig Lefebvre, Designer of Public Health & Social Change Programs, Discusses Social Marketing
R. Craig Lefebvre, Ph.D., is an internationally known designer of public health and social change programs. He is chief maven of socialShift, a consulting practice, and is a Research Professor at the University of South Florida College of Public Health. His blog, On Social Marketing and Social Change,” has been ongoing since 2005. He is the author of On Social Marketing and Social Change: Selected Readings 2005-2009 and a forthcoming textbook on Social Marketing (Jossey-Bass, 2013). The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: You got into blogging back in 2005. You must have been one of the first ones.
CRAIG: I was in there pretty early.
MKC: Does the blog get much response? Is there a conversation going on?
CRAIG: I would say there are periodic conversations going on. In the neighborhood of 4,000 people a day are coming on to it. It’s a long way from six years ago, when we were getting readers by the ones and twos!
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| Category Advice, Blogs, Campaigns, Case Study, Cause Marketing, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, Facebook, Health, Interview, LinkedIn, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Nonprofit, Pinterest, Posterous, Scoopit, Social Marketing, Social Networks, Special Series, Tumblr, Twitter, Wellness, YouTube | | Comments Off
Written by: Don Akchin
#INTERVIEW: Chris Forbes, Co-Author of Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits, Offers Great Advice to Groups
Chris Forbes is the co-author of Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits and a certified guerrilla-marketing coach. His varied background in marketing includes experience in the faith sector and work on five continents, and he has pioneered several media initiatives in public relations, television, radio and the Internet. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: What drew you to the marketing field?
CHRIS: I grew up in a marketing family. My mom had a product-administration service and worked with grocery stores and established networks with, say, free samples of food. When I was 14, she wanted me to dress up as Twinkie the Kid in a big foam-rubber costume to pass out Twinkies. When I was 15, she wanted me to dress up as Freddy the Fresh Guy from Wonder Bread. Then at 16, she asked me to be the Planter’s Peanut guy, but you have to wear leotards for that costume. I drew the line there.
| Category Advertising, Advice, Book, Branding, Campaigns, Case Study, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, Facebook, Facebook, Facebook, Interview, LinkedIn, Marketing, Marketing Budget, Marketing Skills, Measurement, Nonprofit, Permission Marketing, Pinterest, Public Relations, Research, Resource, Social Media, Social Networks, Special Series, Strategic Marketing, Tumblr, Twitter, Twitter, YouTube | | Comments Off
Written by: Don Akchin
#INTERVIEW: Michael Hoffman, CEO of See3 Communications, Discusses Why Nonprofits Need to Embrace Video
Michael Hoffman is co-founder and CEO of See3 Communications and a leading authority on online video for nonprofits and online fundraising and outreach strategies. After turns as a political consultant and developer of Internet startups, he founded See3 to bring together his vision of the web and his passion for nonprofit fundraising. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog.
MKC: What was the concept of See3 when you founded it?
MICHAEL: See3 was a coming together of my background, which was really on the web side in terms of Internet business and strategy, and that of my partner, Danny Albert, which is video. Danny has been a documentary filmmaker for 20 years. Around 2004-2005, we both saw some trends that we call our ‘your chocolate and my peanut butter moment.’ I was telling Danny about changes on the web and the development of broadband (It’s hard even to remember that only a few years ago, some 90% of people were still using dialup). Broadband was around the corner and Danny asked me, ‘What does that mean? What will broadband do?’ And I immediately answered ‘video.’ When you have broadband web, the web will become a platform for video, just as it is with us talking over Skype now on this interview.
| Category Campaigns, Communications, Community, Cross-Post, Facebook, Fundraising, Interview, LinkedIn, Marketing, Marketing Budget, Measurement, MySpace, Nonprofit, Pinterest, Posterous, Scoopit, Social Media, Social Networks, Special Series, Storytelling, Strategic Marketing, Technology, Tools, Tumblr, Twitter, Twitter, Video, YouTube | | Comments Off
Written by: Don Akchin
#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.
| Category Blogs, Branding, Cause Marketing, Communications, Design, How-to, Marketing Skills, Nonprofit, Posterous, Public Media, Resource, Reviews, SEO, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Software Review, Storytelling, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Tumblr, Web Design | | 2 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#HOWTO: Get Your Nonprofit’s Tumblr Blog Up, Published, & Read
Signing up for Tumblr takes seconds and is free, so there’s no economic reason your nonprofit might resist learning the platform. As we introduced last week, Tumblr offers the opportunity to have a fabulous and well-connected online presence without needing to learn the tricky coding behind a traditional blog or website. Our excitement about this platform has inspired us to continue to try to inspire you to consider Tumblr for your organization’s outreach. Every software package has its quirks and features, but Tumblr really seems to offer a wide array of opportunities to use the skills you already have (proven by the fact you are reading this blog!) to present a professional, flexible, and elegant web-face to the world. Let’s set up our first post!
| Category Advice, Blogs, Communications, Dashboards, How-to, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Nonprofit, Resource, Reviews, Site Administration, Social Media, Social Networks, Software Review, Technology, Technology for Nonprofits, Tumblr, Web and Print | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD