Tips for Growing Your E-mail List

He recommended nonprofits think like rock bands: Always build your list, be scrappy, leverage the work of volunteers who care about your issue (the value of a volunteer hour is about $18), and put your fans first and empower them to spread the word for you.

But he warned that while social networks are effective at branding and attracting new — especially younger — people to be engaged and involved with the organization, the results in terms of fundraising are limited.