MySpace Best Practices for Nonprofit Organizations

Heather Mansfield, owner of Los Angeles-based Web marketing firm DIOSA|Communications and keeper of the Nonprofit Organizations MySpace site, offers the following best practices for creating a presence for your nonprofit organization on MySpace. Visit http://diosacommunications.blogspot.com for a more detailed explanation of each of these points, as well as tips for using Facebook, YouTube, Change.org and other social-networking sites to engage with donors and other supporters.

Design
1. Center your Friends and Comments sections.
2. Link to your organization’s Web site.
3. Use your organization’s logo for your default MySpace profile image.
4. Don’t use an acronym for your MySpace profile name.
5. Don’t “Add” a song to your organization’s MySpace profile.
6. Don’t hide your Comments or Friends sections.
7. Make sure your Contact Table is working correctly.
8. Reserve a MySpace URL that matches your Web site’s URL.
9. Don’t embed videos that play upon load.
10. Don’t disable html Comments.
11. Use MySpace to drive your Friends to other social-networking sites.
12. Limit images to 180 pixels on the left of your MySpace, 445 pixels on the right of your MySpace.
13. Tap into the hundreds of free MySpace Profile Editors.

Comments
1. Post Comment images that are no larger than 600 pixels in width.
2. Use the New Birthdays! function.
3. Regularly post Comments on the NPO MySpace.
4. Link to your organization’s Web site in Comments.
5. Use the New Friends function.

Bulletins
1. Link to your organization’s Web site in Bulletins.
2. Post one to two Bulletins per day.
3. Use a Bulletin signature.
4. Every couple of days, delete previously posted Bulletins.

Fundraising
1. Create and embed a fundraising widget onto your MySpace profile.
2. Put your donors in your Top Friends.
3. Thank your donors with Comments.
4. Use your blog to organize a fundraising campaign.
5. Ask your MySpace friends to create a fundraising page to benefit your organization.

Blogs
1. Use your blog to inspire support and action.
2. Post a blog announcing your MySpace Group.
3. Post a blog asking your Friends to create a fundraising page for your organization.
4. When posting blogs, use the “Tell us what ...” and “Current Mood” functions.
5. Post a blog titled, “If we are in your top friends, please let us know!”
6. Use the html function when posting blogs.
7. Promote your MySpace blog using RSS.

Friends
1. Invest the time and energy in acquiring Friends.
2. Feature 40 Top Friends.
3. Update your Friend Status two or three times a week.

Groups
1. Create a MySpace Group for your organization.

Apps
1. Add the My Favorite Nonprofits App.
2. Add the iThink App.

Other
1. Link to your MySpace profile on your organization’s Web site.
2. Be thankful!
3. Embrace the chaos that is MySpace.
4. Back up your MySpace html code.
5. Let go of your fear of MySpace!
6. Do not put your profile on Private.
7. Don’t waste your time with introduction e-mails.
8. Pressure Top Artists on MySpace to support nonprofit organizations.
9. Use MySpace to drive individuals to your e-advocacy campaigns.
10. Put your MySpace URL in your e-mail signature.
11. Use MySpace to build your e-newsletter mailing list.
12. Disable the “Require CAPTCHA” for Friend Requests, e-mail and Comments.
13. Get a social-networking intern/volunteer.
14. Use the MySpace Calendar.