Social Media

Marketing email vendor Silverpop launched a Facebook "marketing innovations" sweepstakes campaign, in which marketers can win prizes while Silverpop makes donations on their behalf to charity: water. The nonprofit organization seeks to bring clean, safe drinking water to developing nations.

The campaign, which began on Nov. 21 and will run through January 2012, is geared toward marketers and is running on Silverpop's Facebook page. For each new fan, the company will donate $1 to charity: water, with a maximum of $5,000 over the course of the promotion.

Executives have come a long way in understanding the social Web. However, as I travel the country this year giving trainings on social and mobile media to nonprofits of all sizes, I'm somewhat flummoxed that the No. 1 complaint by nonprofit social-media practitioners is still that, "My boss doesn't get it! What can I do to make him understand?"

For the first time, Walmart is empowering Facebook users to write in — or nominate — local nonprofits to receive part of $1.5 million in grants this holiday season. Through its “12 Days of Giving” campaign, the company will accept submissions via Facebook with an eye for local organizations that are providing basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing and baby supplies.

Through Nov. 30, users can visit Walmart’s Facebook page to nominate a nonprofit for the “12 Days of Giving.”

Here are some lessons that you can incorporate to avoid making social-media mistakes that many others have made.

Ted Hart speaks with Randal Moss, social media and digital marketing manager at MeadWestvaco and co-author of "The Future of Nonprofits: Thrive and Innovate in the Digital Age," about nonprofit fundraising innovation on his Nonprofit Coach radio show.

Nonprofits are finally getting their opportunity to create a presence on Google’s new social network.

Until Monday, only individuals were allowed to create pages on the Google+ network, which went public this summer with great fanfare. But now nonprofits and businesses will also be able to, according to Google’s official announcement.

Ted Hart speaks with Meg Garlinghouse, vice president of employment branding and community at LinkedIn, about the mutual benefits of social networks like LinkedIn for nonprofits and corporations.

For the first time, business and nonprofit executives trying to harness Facebook’s enormous audience to power cause marketing campaigns have an in-depth guide to what’s working and what’s not.

The Norwegian Cancer Society's Beate Sorum shared her top 10 tips for digital fundraising success at IFC Holland last month.

Ashton Kutcher, Kanye West and other big-name celebrities don’t do as much good for charity on Twitter, Facebook or other social networks as less-famous people, a new study finds. Actors, comics, singers and bloggers with deep personal ties to causes and potential donors raise far more money for charities.

The report, released this week by the consulting firm Zoetica Media and PayPal, the online donations portal, studied six major online fundraising campaigns.