Social Media

According to industry benchmark reports, the majority of nonprofit organizations have yet to reach the level of social marketing success that the mainstream business community enjoys. Data shows that nearly 90 percent of charities on Facebook and other social networks have raised less than $1,000 each on social networks in the past year.

Recognizing the pressure nonprofits face in meeting their 2011 goals, Social Edison opted to launch the BluCard this week by donating the proprietary application to a select group of charitable organizations. The technology allows organizations to build enduring, one-to-one relationships with their social network supporters.

Fundly, a leader in social fundraising for nonprofits, announced a $5 million round of financing led by Morgenthaler Ventures, bringing the total investment in Fundly to $7.5 million. Existing seed investors, Kapor Capital, Correlation Ventures, Seraph Group, and Accelerator Ventures also participated in the round. Mark Goines, a partner at Morgenthaler Ventures, has joined the Fundly board of directors.

Facebook is making big changes in how it organizes and displays information about people who create profiles on the site. And nonprofits stand to benefit from the new format.

Facebook this week said it will soon roll out a different format that will rely heavily on algorithms to decide what gets the most attention on a profile page. The change will also provide smoother integration with applications like Causes, a fundraising tool many charities use.

This is expected to help nonprofits stand out more.

Your social-media campaigns are only as good as the human beings behind them. For your nonprofit to succeed on social-media sites, make sure your social-media manager has most of the following qualities:

Here are eight ways to amp up your e-mail marketing and fundraising with social media.

How can you best spread awareness about your special event to as many potential supporters as possible when you have limited budget and resources? Leverage social media to get the word out quickly and efficiently throughout your nonprofit's network.

In support of the upcoming 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance, American Express announced the launch of the I WILL VOLUNTEER Facebook application, powered by HandsOn Network, the volunteer activation division of Points of Light Institute. This new app is designed to connect volunteers across the country to service projects in their communities.

The 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance is a federally recognized initiative being led by MyGoodDeed and HandsOn Network.

While it certainly hasn’t reached a tipping point, the number of foundation chief executives using Twitter is growing — slowly.

Jeffrey Raikes, chief executive of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, started tweeting last month. His boss, Bill Gates, has been on Twitter since January 2010.

James Knickman, head of the New York State Health Foundation, signed on recently. Alberto Ibarguen of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Risa Lavizzo-Mourey of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are tweeting their way to significant numbers of "followers."

People expect nonprofits that provide disaster aid to use social networks to communicate, according to a new survey by the American Red Cross.

Eighty percent of Americans said they expect national relief groups to monitor their social-media feeds and websites where disaster victims might make urgent requests for help. And they expect those groups to act quickly. About 35 percent of respondents said that it is reasonable to expect assistance to arrive within an hour after a request for help is posted online.

Ted Hart, CEO of P2P Fundraising, GreenNonprofits.org and TedHart.com, spoke with Rochester Institute of Technology professor Mike Johansson about social media in June on his Nonprofit Coach radio show.