2011 Tips for Nonprofits

As we embark on a new year with new goals, I want to offer a few “low cost” tips to our grantees and other nonprofit practitioners that can pay dividends for you. They are:

• Strengthen Your Boards- The staff can only do so much. If you find and recruit new board members that can be passionate about your organization and help you raise money, then you will be in a much better place by the end of the year. New board members can open doors and help you access and raise new dollars.
 
• Embrace Social Media- Today’s world requires immediate and up to date information. A stale Web site and a printed newsletter distributed a few times a year is not enough. You are missing opportunities to market yourself and let the larger community know what is happening with your organization. If you haven’t already done so, then start a Facebook page, connect your organization on LinkedIn, tweet on Twitter, create an electronic newsletter and begin to write a blog. All of these tools are essentially free. It is just a matter of taking the time to learn and implement. There are plenty of people that are knowledgeable about social media that would be willing to assist you. 
 
• Get in front of the Public- Clubs, organizations and business groups often meet every week. They are always looking for speakers. Make an effort to develop a presentation that you, your staff and your volunteers can use. Then make the contacts with Rotary, Kiwanis, Lion’s, Civitan, Chambers of Commerce, VFW’s, American Legion and many other clubs and ask them to get on the calendar for a presentation about your organizations. Many professional associations allot part of their meetings for presentations from nonprofits. Only good things can happen from these efforts. People will learn more about your organization and they may be willing to volunteer and even donate, once they are informed.
 
• Be Efficient- Spend wisely. Seek “in-kind” services. Some company may not give you money but they might print a brochure for free. In my former fund raising life, I asked a bank for a financial donation. They said no but they offered me five billboards for a three-month period all over town. They put me in touch with their ad agency and the agency donated the cost to prepare the billboard. Because the bank was such a good customer, the billboard company put the five signs up for free. We had free advertising for three months at no cost to our organization. 
 
• Network- We can all learn something from each other. When you attend a workshop or conference, make sure you walk away from the event with at least one new contact and, hopefully, at least one new idea.  If someone is doing something that is working, there is no reason it can’t work for you. It is worth a try.
 
• Be Willing to Change- Often times, we get use to doing things a certain way. We get stuck in our own organizational mindset. Be willing to welcome change. Look for new ways to grow and improve your organization and yourself. If the old model is not working, then change course. If your ideas are no longer enough, then find new ideas by learning from other people. It can only help your organization move forward progressively and positively and that is what you want.
 
There are no easy solutions to complex problems in today’s nonprofit world. Many times cost prohibits us from accomplishing certain goals. However, there are other ways to grow and succeed that do not cost anything other than your time and energy. I encourage you to consider these “tips” as you move forward in 2011. Remember the old adage “Nothing ventured; nothing gained.” Now is your opportunity to try a few new things that will, hopefully, bring positive results and at little or no expense.



Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina

Building a presence on Web 2.0; How the Foundation embraced social media and why you should too

It is likely you’ve heard of Web sites like Myspace, Facebook and YouTube. These types of tools, referred to as social media or Web 2.0, allow individuals and organizations to shift fluidly and flexibly between the roles of audience and author. By integrating technology, social interaction and words and images, social media allows people to share opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives with each other.

The types of social media are broad and are still being created, which may cause those unfamiliar with the tools to be overwhelmed by the possibilities. But the key to understanding all social media is that it is the great leveler where users no longer just take in information that is supplied to them, but interact with that information, rate it and upload their own.

Social networking sites have received a lot of attention from the nonprofit world because they align with nonprofits' desire to reach out to larger communities. What’s more, most sites are free, making them an economical choice for effective marketing. When deciding whether or not to participate in social media, there are a few things to consider.

Audiences have shifted online. Consumers are taking control of how, what and where they access information. According to Neilson, in June 2010 three of the world’s most popular online brands are social media related: Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia, and the average visitor spends 66% more time on these sites than a year ago (6 hours in April 2010 versus 3 hours, 31 minutes last year).
                            
There are more than 100 million unique impressions delivered on networks like Myspace and Facebook per month. Facebook added its 500-millionth member this year. The site now has users on every continent, with half of them logging in at least once a day. Chances are people are already online talking about you; join them.

It is a good way to build support, build your database and promote specific actions, like donating to a cause, writing your congressman on an issue or attending an event. Once you connect with a contact, friend or fan, you are also connected to their list of contacts and friends, and their contacts and friends. Essentially, you are accessing the means of exponential growth as 10 of your contacts connect with 10 contacts (10x10=100) and then 10 more contacts (10X100=1,000). For those organizations that do not have a Web site, it is an easy way to establish a simple and fluid web presence. 

For a better perspective, check out this video on the social media revolution.

Web 2.0 replaces the idea of a Web site as a static brochure on the internet and instead transforms your Web site into a community in which you can share your voice, your vision and your brand. It does have the potential to reach new people, including new donors or supporters of your organization.

It is, however, a conversation and if you are not committed to upholding your end of the conversation, then it doesn’t make sense to launch into social media. It requires regular maintenance and updating in order to keep the content fresh and attractive to visitors.

The Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina embraces social media with this blog and through a presence on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. The Foundation began publishing this blog in 2008. Through the blog, the Foundation shares thoughts and news on the Foundation, philanthropy and the plight of poverty in South Carolina.

The Foundation has a profile on LinkedIn, a professional networking site, and a Facebook page. The Foundation also uses Twitter to send 140 character updates, called tweets, to its followers which include legislators, nonprofit and community leaders and media outlets. It is another way for the Foundation to continue to build awareness, network and share its impact. While the current followers may not reach the masses, these tools have led to stories about the Foundation on other organizations’ Web sites, blogs and electronic newsletters.

Despite all of the trends and excitement around social media, many organizations struggle with getting executive buy-in to social media strategies. If there is difficulty in getting understanding and buy-in, discuss social media in the context of the mission of the organization and how it can help achieve the organizations goals, rather than the new and cool factor of the tools.

Conduct internet searches and see what is currently out there about your organization. If there is negative information or worse, no information, show the appropriate persons and have a social media plan to combat current online content and spread your organization’s message. Better yet, see what the competition is doing. Are they reaching audiences and participating in social media? Is your organization left behind?

Recommend more than one platform. If top executives can’t grasp the benefit of YouTube, offer another platform and encourage participation.

Lastly, provide examples of success stories from organizations using social media. In the Society for New Communications 2008 report titled “New Media, New Influencers & Implications for Public Relations” the Mayo Clinic notes that by launching a podcast campaign to share the stories of its customers and advocates and knowledge of its experts, the Clinic significantly increased traffic to its Web site and enhanced its influence.

Another case study in the same report focuses on the American Red Cross and the aftermath of the effects of social media following the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005. At that time the American Red Cross was not participating in social media and was unprepared to respond to the criticisms online, much of it incorrect and misinformation. The Red Cross now has a disaster portal where it creates all of its disaster-focused RSS (syndication) feeds, a blog called Red Cross Chat, a Flickr community where people can share their photographs online and uses Twitter to update followers with alerts during a disaster.

Social media is timely and can influence action. For example, with the recent BP oil spill a Facebook Cause Page was set up called Help Wildlife Impacted by the BP Oil Spill and raised over $67,000 in a short time.

The importance of being social isn’t new. It builds understanding, fosters trust, develops relationships and can act as a catalyst for change. Social media does the same and allows organizations to expand their audience, discover others who share or support a similar interest and creates an online network of contacts and supporters. Go where the conversation is happening: What you give up in control you may gain in valuable information that you didn’t already know.

Brooke Bailey is the director of communications and public policy for the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina

Leaders of the Future Must have Different Skills

It is time for baby boomers to face the fact that our time is running out in the work force. Unless, we plan to work until we are 80, then our years are dwindling quickly and, sooner than later, we will be gone. You might ask, “so what?” and that is precisely why I write this.

I believe there is going to be a gaping hole between current leadership in the philanthropic world and the next group of leaders. Why? Because we don’t really have a plan in place to truly prepare the next group of leaders, and the skills and abilities needed for the next generation of leaders is going to be vastly different than those we exercise today.

Reflecting on when I first started with the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina back in the mid-90s, I think about how we only had one computer in the entire office and it belonged to the secretary. Everything was copied and filed manually. We still used an electric typewriter for goodness sakes! We transformed in the past 15 years and will continue to evolve in the next 15 years with new and innovative ways to operate. Information technology, communications, social media, etc. is at an accelerated pace.

Information technology will be the single most important force that will drive philanthropy over the next two decades. I think about the goals of the Sisters of Charity Foundation in the coming years. We will utilize technology to teach and train hundreds more nonprofit practitioners than ever before. We will communicate and inform through mediums that have not be used before. We will report and share findings in exciting new ways. We will be able to take the Foundation office with us no matter where we go. Everything will be a click away.

The next generation leaders must be willing and able to embrace this reality and treat it as an opportunity. We have a chance to make philanthropy more efficient, more informative and with better and more definable results. This may also change staffing patterns and the role of staff. Our future leaders will be able to utilize new tools and analyze old methods to improve the organization’s overall effectiveness both internally and externally. There is no prescriptive CEO manual that we can hand to the next generation of leaders. It is not available and it shouldn’t be. To me, it will come down to a select group of people that are high energy yet compassionate, mission-driven, flexible, innovative and technologically savvy.

People are at the heart of our work in philanthropy and that should never change. However, doing business in 2025 is going to be a whole new ballgame. I hope I am still alive to see these leaders in action. It will be as invigorating and exciting as anything you could ever imagine and I think the opportunities are endless. Oh, if only I was age 35 again!

Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina