Using 4 Online Tools to Inspire Volunteers and Donors, Part 2

Facebook

• Who is on it? More than 500 million people, and most likely many of your donors and prospects. Facebook's user profile cuts across ages, races and locations, making it the best known and most used social network in the world.
• What do people do there? Facebook makes it easy for people to share news about their lives, photos, interesting articles and mindless games with their friends.
• Why should you care? The sheer volume of Facebook usage makes it important, but more importantly, people do more than connect with friends. They connect with businesses and nonprofits, sharing the news, deals and interesting content they get from each other and from organizations they connect with.

Twitter

• Who is on it? Twitter is ranked as one of the 10 most visited websites and enables anyone to share and consume information they find interesting.
• What do people do there? Twitter users post news, articles, promotions and jokes all in 140-character chunks. By "following" someone on Twitter, you can see all of their posts and easily share them with the people who "follow" you. For many, Twitter is a great source of real-time news and insights about the things that matter most to them.
• Why should you care? Twitter gives brands a voice and is another fast and easy way to share your messages and get feedback from your donors and prospects in real time. And because it's so easy for messages to spread quickly, Twitter can bring your message to new audiences that you might not be able to find through traditional marketing.

LinkedIn

• Who is on it? LinkedIn is the most widely used social network for connecting people professionally (based on business profiles, not personal lives).
• What do people do there? LinkedIn users create professional connections based on their interests and experience, often participating in group discussions relating to their industry or areas of expertise. "I think your LinkedIn profile will become even more important going forward," Mintz said, as nonprofits look to connect with vendors and corporations for cause marketing.
• Why should you care? LinkedIn is a great way to create professional connections that can give you ideas and advice for running your organization and help spread the word about the value you provide your donors and beneficiaries.

The key to using these social networks to successfully market is making them true two-way conversation portals. Organizations are not in control of the message anymore — they are part of a conversation. They must listen and interact with these spaces in a way that engages and incorporates the audience. The messages must be relevant and personal, so real connections are made. That way, donors and supporters become raving fans. Then in turn, they become advocates of your organization, spreading your message and the great work that you do to their networks on their own, thus marketing on your behalf.