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HOW TO: Custom Design Your Nonprofit’s Facebook Timeline

March 5, 2012
The new Facebook Timeline for Pages design provides nonprofits a great opportunity to make a strong first impression on potential new fans. My graphic design skills are average at best – as the graphics on the new Nonprofit Organizations Timeline attest to, but I have detailed the how-to of custom designing your nonprofit’s Facebook Timeline below. I will also be demonstrating...

11 Inspiring Nonprofit Facebook Timelines

March 4, 2012
Most nonprofits have not yet upgraded to the new Facebook Timeline for Pages design, but as more and more admins begin to realize that the Timeline design and tool set is much more than just uploading a photo to the top of your page, I think we’ll see many of our favorite nonprofits take the leap and upgrade before the...

11 Donate Now Best Practices for Nonprofits

February 27, 2012
The following is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of  Social Media for Social Good: A How-To Guide for Nonprofits. These best practices serve as a foundation for your online fundraising campaigns, but much of your nonprofit’s success also depends upon the service you choose to process your online donations and the design and frequency of your e-newsletter. That said, these online fundraising...

Google+ Best Practices for Nonprofits

February 26, 2012
UPDATED 2/26/12: Please note that the best practices listed below are a work in progress and are updated regularly. To be alerted of when new best practices are posted, please subscribe to the Nonprofit Tech 2.0 e-Newsletter. Also, since the Google+ Pages launched after the release of Social Media for Social Good: A How-To Guide for Nonprofits, please consider this...

11 Must-Follow Nonprofits on Pinterest

February 13, 2012
With 10.4 million registered users, Pinterest hit the 10 million-user benchmark last week making it the fastest growing website ever. My theory on why Pinterest has become so popular so fast is that it has arrived at at time when people are increasing becoming overwhelmed by the volume of tweets, status updates, and “Breaking News!” being thrown at them...

Social Media for Social Good :: Your Nonprofit Tech Checklist

February 8, 2012
At the end of the Social Media for Social Good: A How-To Guide for Nonprofits is a nine-page “Nonprofit Tech Checklist” which I have copied and pasted below. Each item on the list is discussed in the book and some items won’t make sense unless you have read the book, but most will. I hope you find it useful....

Facebook Timeline Launches With Three “Giving” Apps – Many More Likely To Come

February 7, 2012
As Facebook Timeline continues to roll out to individual users site wide, it’s worth noting that three ‘Giving” apps have been launched in Facebook’s new App Gallery for Timeline: Causes, FundRazr, and Artez Interactive:  Organized under the category of “Giving” in the new App Gallery for Timeline, two of the apps focus on social fundraising (friends asking friends to donate...

22 Must-Circle Nonprofits on Google+

January 23, 2012
As a follow-up to Google+ Best Practices for Nonprofits and 22 Must-Circle Nonprofit Bloggers and Resources on Google+, below are 22 nonprofits that are regularly using Google+ effectively to engage and inspire the Google+ community. As traffic continues to grow,  new tools and functionality are added almost daily. Google+ is definitely a work in progress. Most nonprofits are still...

Nine Nonprofits Offering Timeline Covers for Their Facebook Fans

January 22, 2012
The new Facebook Timeline design is now available for upgrade to all Facebook users. The design was meant to be rolled out site wide in December 2011, however a lawsuit with Timelines.com is prolonging the mandatory switch – most likely only temporarily. Whatever your personal feelings are about Facebook Timeline, nonprofits would be wise prepare for it’s launch site wide including a...

HOW TO: Get Your Nonprofit Started on Pinterest

January 16, 2012
When Mashable first started buzzing about Pinterest in December 2011, I took a quick look at the site and thought to myself, “Shopping, crafters, and foodies. Not relevant to the vast majority of nonprofits and (whew!) not another site I need to pay attention to.” Now, just two weeks into January, I am completely addicted to pinning boards for...

11 New Year’s Resolutions for Nonprofit Social Media Managers

January 3, 2012
There’s no shortage of year-end-and-beginning blog posts about social media, but I thought I’d throw mine into the mix as well. I took some much-needed time off in December and was able to spend some down time reflecting on the future of social media and mobile technology for the nonprofit sector. The truth is I think it has only...

Social Media: What To Do If Your Boss Doesn’t Get It

November 28, 2011
Originally published in the November 2011 issue of Fundraising Success Magazine where I have written a quarterly column throughout 2011. In June 2007, I presented my first social media training to a small group of nonprofits in Lowell, MA. At the time, nonprofits were primarily only using Myspace and YouTube. Though Facebook had gone public nine months previous, Facebook Groups were only...

Free Mini-Webinar: Social and Mobile Media for Nonprofit Executive Staff

November 28, 2011
Date: Wednesday, February 15 Time: 1-1:45pm EST Cost: Free Presenter: Heather Mansfield Register:  Here! The content of this mini-webinar is specifically tailored for executive staff in the nonprofit sector, particularly those that are skeptical of the value of social and mobile media. The idea for this webinar arose from presenting more than 100 social and mobile media trainings and webinars in 2011...