Your Junk is Your Responsibility

Communication to your business or nonprofit is like wind is to a kite.  A kite can look great lying in the grass however, when the wind sends it soaring in the sky, it dances effortlessly with such delight.  Communications is what connects your business to the outside world and can send it soaring into the sky or falling to the ground.  You are the one holding the kite string so lets, briefly in this first of the “Communications Series,” cover some basics and in the next few articles we will cover all aspects of what you should have in place to communicate effectively with everyone.  Make sure you grab the RSS or email feed above to receive all the articles.

Many Flavors

It is important that people can communicate with your nonprofit in the flavor that is comfortable with them.  You may prefer old fashioned methods like email or postal mail, but the world is changing and you need to change with it. Yes, email and postal mail are old fashioned.  I remember the days when people would give you a blank stare when you asked them for their email address or web site address, and have no idea what I was talking about. Well it’s time to update to the year 2009.  Read on and I will explain how you can move your nonprofit into the current year and help people connect to you better and more efficiently.

Your Junk is Your Responsibility

First lets talk about your current means of communication paths.  I will assume you have a postal address and an email address.  If you are attempting to run a successful nonprofit, then a blog or at least a website is also necessary.  My choice of words in the last sentence is important, you should have a blog and at the very least a website.  This day and age, the blog is the most important means to communicate rather than a website or newsletter.  The blog affords you everything the other two do plus the ability for everyone to read the latest news about your nonprofit, not just those that subscribe to your newsletter.  To keep this post shorter, if you want to know more about blogs and why your nonprofit should have one, read the post Top 10 Reasons Nonprofits Should Blog oceangrand.org/top-10-reasons-nonprofits-should-blog/.

Your Junk

Now about your email.  The most common thing I hear from others regarding the message I sent them on email is “I did not receive your email, could you resend it?”  To which I reply “could you check your junk mail?”  Many times the person has no idea how to locate or check their junk mailbox.  99.9% of the time if they did not receive my email it is sitting in their junk mailbox along with other important mail.  I mention this because if I resent the email it would also end up in their junk mail.  My email ending up in their junk mail is not my problem and there is little I can do to prevent it. I realize that a junk mailbox is there to catch spam and mail you do not want so you do not have to look at it.  Instead, once and for all locate where your email program sends junk mail.  Every couple of days check your junk box like it is your second inbox and skim the senders names and subject lines to make sure there are no messages there that you should have received. I check mine several times a day because as much as I wish that it only collected junk, many times important messages were moved there automatically by my email program.  Take responsibility for the mail you receive and get on top of your junk mailbox.

Welcome to 2009

It is the year 2009 and communication is not as simple as it was last year. Or is it easier?  Social Media has transformed the world and as a nonprofit your responsibility is to give people the ability to communicate with you like they want in all the flavors of the rainbow.  Especially with the ease of communication on mobile devices, many find it easier to Tweet than to email you.  At the very least your nonprofit should have communications set up on FaceBook and Twitter.  Last month we did a whole series of articles on Social Media for the NonProfit and you can find all the articles below.  The first and most important one to read is Tweet or Not to Tweet oceangrand.org/tweet-or-not-to-tweet/ which gives you a brief overview and then the steps to set up a FaceBook and Twitter Account.
Other articles you will want to read are:

• Tweet or Not to Tweet
• Building NonProfit Relationships Equals Success
• Tweet Tweet Nonprofit
• Top 10 Reasons Nonprofits Should Blog
• 14 Advanced Twitter Tips

Take some time this week and make sure your online communications are up-to-date.  This allows people to stay in contact with you how they feel comfortable.  To some it is easier to drop you a note on Twitter and others will prefer email.  Whatever their preference, it is easy enough to accommodate them.  Finally, check your email, Twitter, and FaceBook accounts on a regular basis it shows you care and want to be connected.  Nothing is worse than unanswered communications with someone who wants to be connected to you and your business.

In the next articles in this “Communications Series” we will discuss all the aspects of keeping those that want to be connected to your business informed, connected and happy.  Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS or email feed above so you don’t miss our step-by-step guide to making the most of your communications.

Most Popular Posts of February

February has been a big month for great posts that help nonprofits learn to fundraise, brand their image, and use social media to get their messages out. We thought a nice post to round out February would be a link to many of these articles on the same page for easy reference.  Maybe you dream to start a Nonprofit but don’t know how.  There are even links to great articles on how to start a nonprofit.  Whatever your depth of knowledge in the nonprofit arena, there are quick and timely articles for everyone below that are sure to help you increase the success of your nonprofit.  Read on and enjoy the free information, all we ask is that you pass the web site address on to at least one other nonprofit that could benefit from the information also.

Fund Raising

Every Nonprofit wants to know more about how to fund raise successfully.  The 4 articles below will guide you with step-by-step instructions on how to build stable and dependable financial support even in a challenging economic economy.  Great articles for the beginner to the expert.

• Simple and Effective NonProfit Fundraising
• A Simple Fundraising Formula
• Fundraising Ideas
• $2K in 2 Hours

NonProfit Branding and Design

Nothing increases your success in running a successful nonprofit more than its image.  A great looking image and professionally designed marketing materials helps retell a nonprofits story with class.  A professional image is one of the keys to running a successful nonprofit and the articles below can help you step through that process with ease.  Whether you are a church or other type of nonprofit, these articles can help you.

* Is Your Image the Problem?
* The Secret to NonProfit Success

Philanthropy

These are great articles to get to your donors and those interested in your nonprofit, as well as great encouragement to you if you’re involved in a nonprofit. These articles will help your donors and supporters understand the importance and best way to get involved with your nonprofit.  Hopefully we have made your job a little easier just by having your supporters read these articles.  Feel free to direct those involved in your nonprofit back to these articles.

• What Have You Done Lately That You’re Proud Of?
• 6 Steps to Making a Bigger Splash
• The Wonder of a Star
• 401K Alternative

Social Media

Never before has it been so easy to connect with ongoing relationships and build new ones with a couple clicks of the mouse.  The 5 articles below give you step-by-step instructions on how to use the internet and social media to connect better to your supporters and donors while

easily finding 1000’s more who would enjoy being involved in your nonprofit.  Read the 5 articles below and apply them, and you will be on your way to connecting your nonprofit to others in a highly visible way.

• Tweet or Not to Tweet
• Building NonProfit Relationships Equals Success
• Tweet Tweet Nonprofit
• Top 10 Reasons Nonprofits Should Blog
• 14 Advanced Twitter Tips

Start a NonProfit

Have you dreamed of starting a nonprofit but don’t know how to get started?  You might already have a nonprofit but are not seeing the success you had hoped for.  Either way, the articles below will guide you step-by-step through the process of easily starting, funding and running a successful nonprofit. Starting a nonprofit does not have to be expensive, and funding and running it does not have to be hard.  The articles below take the guess work and difficulty out of starting and running a successful nonprofit.

• Rebranding the NonProfit
• The Secret to NonProfit Success
• 3 Most Common NonProfit Hurdles
• 6 Steps to NonProfit Freedom
• NonProfit One Stop Shop
• NonProfit Job Listing
• Start a NonProfit | Medical

Types of NonProfits

There are hundreds of charitable causes that nonprofits address.  In the articles below, we explore 5 charitable causes that you may not have thought of as being a cause to start a nonprofit around.  While reading the articles you may think of friends, family or acquaintances that could enjoy the benefits of having a nonprofit directed toward one of these causes.  We would be glad to help them start, learn to fund and run a successful nonprofit directed toward one of these charitable causes.

• Actors Are People Too!
• Medical Foundation Success
• Start a NonProfit | Medical
• Family Foundations
• NonProfit Adoption
• NonProfit Memorials and Tributes

We Are Committed to NonProfits

As always, Ocean Grand is committed to helping those around the world who dream of starting a nonprofit do so with ease and efficiency.  Likewise, we are committed to those that run nonprofits to better fund and run successful nonprofits. For the last 12 years, we have helped thousands of nonprofits make their dreams a reality and in the next years we will help thousands more.  Join the Ocean Grand Network and let us help your nonprofit connect better, be better funded and see the success you have always hoped for.

If your dream is to start, fund and run a successful nonprofit and want to do it in the least expensive, most efficient and quickest way, while having the most support, get started today by visiting us on the web http://oceangrand.org/start-501c3/

Don’t Forget

Make sure you take a moment and subscribe to our RSS Feed or by email subscription so that you do not miss another article.  Our subscribers get timely articles delivered to them for free plus other information and tips that help them to implement strategies to make their nonprofit as successful as it can be. Subscribe to our blog and get a free bonus copy of my book – “Simple and Easy Fundraising” once it is published.

The last two articles Tweet or Not to Tweet and Tweet Tweet Nonprofit should have gotten everyone up-to-date on the basics of Twitter.   Now that you have your twitter account set up and hopefully following a few people as well as being followed I wanted to take this space to give you some tips to get you tweeting like a pro as well as being well mannered in the twitter arena (etiquette).  Read on to get some more advanced Twitter tips.

1. Hashtags

Hashtags (#) are a way to create or follow a stream on Twitter.  By typing a word with a hashtag in front of it (#airplane), your twitter message can be followed and added to by anyone who is also interested in that particular subject.  Thousands of hashtags are already established and are easy to join into or add to conversations about a particular topic or industry.  For example, if you’re interested in fundraising, #fundraising is a hashtag you can add into your twitter message and can be followed easily by anyone else interested in fundraising.  The same goes for thousands of topics.  Many times fast breaking news can be followed more closely on Twitter than even news channels.  Because millions use twitter, eyewitnesses can tweet details, pictures or information quicker using Twitter than it takes for a news crew to get to the scene of the story and get information to the TV or internet.  The way you follow hashtags is either by creating a search on tweetdeck with the hashtag you want to follow or following it on http://search.twitter.com ,  http://twemes.com/ or http://hashtags.org/

You can create your own hashtag to tweet about your live fundraiser or event so that others can follow the developing story from anywhere in the world.  You need to make sure the hashtag you create is unique and not already being used or else your tweets will be mixed into another ongoing conversations.  This way everyone can stay up-to-the-second connected to what is happening at your event.

2. Following Keywords

To follow topics you are interested in, it is not necessary to even find a hashtag for the subject. Many times you can go to http://search.twitter.com and type in the subject or word (i.e. giants, newborns, etc.) and instantly see all the tweets that happened around the world that include those words and subjects.

3. Etiquette

This is a huge topic and to my knowledge there is no definitive guide to the etiquette on twitter.  There are some things you should and should not do as a manner of politeness and to make Twitter a better experience for everyone.  I will list a few obvious ones below.

Ongoing Real Conversations- Twitter is meant to be a tool to facilitate real-time ongoing conversations.  Engage in getting to know those you follow and let others that follow you get to know you.  Twitter can be very fun and engaging; however, if you follow too many people there will be no way to keep up with all the conversations.  A good rule is to follow 250 or fewer people and to keep your posts and replies real.  Your posts should be like you’re having a conversation, not like your posting billboards.  The reason you want to keep who you’re following down to a number of people you can actually know is because think if all 250 people all posted one tweet during the day, that’s 250 tweets you have to keep up with.  Follow some people you find interesting and if you find later they are not interesting, unfollow them and follow some that are.  Your tweets do not have to be profound, instead make your conversations and tweets like real conversations.  Imagine you answered the phone and your friend asked you “What are you doing right now?”

No spam- Keep your conversations real and try hard not to always be focused on getting your message in everyone’s face.  Once you build some relationships there will be plenty of time to let them know how they can help.  Sometimes it is unavoidable to send people to your web site or info if they ask for it.  It is important they know what you do and why you do it, just don’t plaster them with that type of information.  Remember, Twitter is supposed to be a social conversation and many are following you because they want to get to know you and even your nonprofit.

Following and Being Followed- Do some searches on http://search.twitter.com for subjects that you are interested in.  Find those that seem interesting and follow them.  As you get involved with conversations others will follow you.  Above all enjoy the conversations.  Make it a habit to tweet several times a day and let people know (what you are comfortable with) what you’re doing, thinking, information you found interesting, etc.   Don’t worry if those following you, unfollow you.  They simply moved on to other conversations.  Another way to find interesting people is by looking at the profiles of the people that follow you to see who they are and might be interesting to follow.

Virtual Water Cooler- Remember that Twitter is like a virtual water cooler.  You don’t have to camp out at it all day spouting off everything that is going on in your life and listening to everyone else.  It is a good way to take breaks throughout the day and talk with a few people.  It is also a great way to ask questions about things you need answers to.  For example, “Where is the best place to eat in Dallas?”  People will let you know what they think.  Throughout the day I tune in for a couple minutes as I am taking coffee or water breaks to see what everyone I follow is up to, then it is back to business.

Here are 101 great dos and don’ts from Lauren Rothwww.laurennroth.com/?q=node/227″ target=”_blank”>

4. Twitter Clients

There are a lot of Twitter apps that can make your Twitter experience a lot more pleasant and you may want to take a look at each of them and decide it they are for you.  I will briefly go down a few and let you make your determination on whether they are helpful to you or not.

Tweet Deck- This is one I highly recommend.  Once you begin using it I believe it will make the whole twitter arena more interesting and manageable.  In a future post I may do a video of how to use TweetDeck.  Tweet deck will even translate tweets in other languages if you have friends in other countries.

Twirl- another desktop app for Twitter.  Very simple but keeps you from needing to go to the web to tweet.

Twitpic- is an app that is quickly accessible in TweetDeck or on its own.  It allows you to share pictures of anything on a tweet.

5. Tweet From Your Mobile Phone:

iphone:

Twitter Mobile- straightforward interface
PocketTweets – robust application
iTweet- good straightforward application
Hahlo 2.0- Great robust application

Blackberry

Twitterberry- Hands down the best on the blackberry (if you can’t afford an iphone)

6. Posts, Replies, and Direct Messages

When you post a tweet, the tweet goes out to everyone that is following you and can also be searched by searching your username on sites like http://search.twitter.com. Likewise when you reply (@scottringo), the message still goes out to the public but the person you replied to will receive it as a reply. If the recipient is using TweetDeck, they will get the reply in a separate window that is easy to identify.

However, there is another way to send and receive messages that are not so public- Direct Messages.  If someone is following you and you want to reply to their tweet only to them and not in a public way you can Direct Message them.  This is accomplished by putting a “D” in front of their user name (D scottringo).  If the recipient is using TweetDeck, the Direct Message (DM) shows up in a separate window from public messages or replies.  Many have their DM messages set to also come into their email or phone.  So a good rule of thumb is only to DM if it is confidential or urgent.  This way your conversations stay more public, but if you need to get a sensitive message to someone, you can.

7. Search

There are a lot of ways to search topics, subjects and messages on Twitter from the web.  If you use TweetDeck, the search can be done right in the application.  By far one of the easiest searches is done on search.twitter.com; others are twitscoop and twemes.com.  Play around with the searches and see what you can find.

Twitter Search – search for topics, subjects and areas of interest
Twitscoop -search for topics, subjects and areas of interest
Twemes -search for topics, subjects and areas of interest

Some other searches to explore:

TwitterFall- TwitterFall is the coolest way to read all or filtered posts on Twitter like a waterfall. BEWARE addictive
Retweetist - the freshest, most often Retweeted items
Twitt(url)y – Twitturly counts links posted on Twitter and then ranks the content.
Tweetmeme – shows Blogs, Images, Video and Audio that are linked to popular tweets
TweetLists - the most popular links over the last 24 hours
Twitter Search – most popular way to search for anything Twitter

8. Twitter in FaceBook

If you are a FaceBook fan, you can automatically update your Facebook account through Twitter which keeps you from going back and forth between accounts.  By updating your Facebook account with Twitter, your friends on FaceBook will know what you are doing throughout the day.

9. Blogging for Nonprofits

If your nonprofit has a blog, which I highly recommend, http://oceangrand.org/top-10-reasons-nonprofits-should-blog/, you can post your blog articles automatically to your twitter account using twit_this and then also updates your FaceBook profile.  That’s three “birds” with one stone.

10. Upload All Your Friends

Twitter is way more fun if all your friends, supporters, donors, board members, etc. are on Twitter so that you can tweet back and forth.  From your Twitter settings, click on “Find Friends”.  Once there, you have the option to find friends who are already on twitter by typing in their name.  With the next tab “Find on Other Networks” you can upload you address book by first importing your address book to gmail if it is not already there and then Twitter will check that against all the people in your address book.  Once found, you can add who you like or everyone.  With the third tab, “Invite By Email”, you have the option to invite all those you know who are not already on Twitter by entering their email addresses.  Adding your friends to Twitter will make Twitter a blast and easy for you to keep everyone you know and those interested in your nonprofit up-to-date.

11. Pace Yourself on Your Posts

Too many posts promoting yourself, your organization, or your nonprofit and people will get turned off.  Also, spending too much time on Twitter can wreck havoc on your work ethic.  Take it easy and find your groove on Twitter.  Beware- it is addictive.

12. Retweet

Retweet (RT) is a way to tweet again a post that someone tweeted that you think is interesting.  By putting a RT in front of the tweet either by copy and paste, or if you’re using TweetDeck, there is a button that automatically fills it all in, you can retweet others’ posts.  People love it when you retweet their posts.  It is a way to gain people’s affection and loyalty.

13. Spend Time on Your Profile

Spend some time on your profile and make it interesting so people will want to follow you.  You might also want to get a customized Twitter background on your profile which will give you more room to give people information, plus it just makes you look cool.

14. Have a Blast!

So now you have some advanced techniques and how to get the most out of Twitter.  This is certainly not an exhaustive list of ways  you can use Twitter, but it is a good start.  Above all, have a blast and don’t get overwhelmed.  Twitter is a powerful application that when used consistently  and with moderation can get you well connected to those you love and those you may not yet know you love.  Once you get connected, follow us at @scottringo and let the games begin.

Subscribe to our RSS feed or email subscription to learn more about how to start, fund, and run a nonprofit successfully.  We will be giving you some tips in the coming weeks about how you can do a “Tweet Up” as a fundraiser for your nonprofit.

Other Articles on “How to Be a Social Media Pro:”
Tweet or Not to Tweet
Tweet Tweet NonProfit
10 Reasons a NonProfit Should Blog

Part of the Series “Be a Social Media Expert Series” here.

When you start and run a nonprofit, you’ve just signed up to become the best storyteller in history. If there is anything you need to do well, it is to develop your story and then tell it over and over and over again. See http://oceangrand.org/a-simple-fundraising-formula/ for a step-by-step on how to develop and tell your story. Telling your story needs to happen in all kinds of ways, shapes and forms and in this article I am going to explain why your nonprofit should have a blog and be telling your story on it. Read on and I will break this complicated subject down into 10 bite-sized pieces.

Blogs and Web Sites

Blogs are not much different than web sites anymore except for a couple of critical differences. Web sites contain mostly “static” information which is information that you or a webmaster puts on the site, but once there, rarely changes. It resembles a brochure on the web more than anything. On the other hand, a blog has pages also, but the “blog page” (like what you are reading here) has ongoing posts or stories that are easily changed and updated. The blog gives you the ability to quickly post new information without needing the help of a webmaster. The other pages on a blog can also easily be changed. So in essence a blog is a web site with multiple pages that are easily changed with the addition of an area that has ongoing new information posted to it. It much better resembles an effort to tell an ongoing story. There are a lot of added benefits to having a blog rather than a static web site, that I will outline 10 reasons below, and then take you through the 10 reasons to set up a blog for your own nonprofit.

Blogging Benefits

I get asked a lot if every nonprofit should have a blog and I personally believe they should. Every nonprofit understands the benefits of having a newsletter whether it is one you design, print and mail or one that you put together on the web and send out in an HTML email. A blog, if done well, can serve as the newsletter for your nonprofit with constant updates, success stories, pictures, and needs that are accessible by more people in more ways. When I say accessible in more ways, I am referring to RSS and email subscriptions which we will cover below.

Benefits of a Blog For Your NonProfit

1. Easy to Update

   Blogs are much easier and quicker to update for the average person. A new article or change can be updated and be live on the web as fast as you can type and push the publish button. This gets your most relevant information to the web and in front of the world quicker than any other method. No more static web pages; instead, every page on your site will be relevant and up-to-date with the latest information about your organization.

2. Blogs Increase the Traffic

   Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an important part of getting your web site or blog ranking better in search engines like Google. Many blogs are automatically better optimized for search engines, which can take a lot of guesswork out of trying to get your web site closer to the top of web search engines. More traffic equals more people who know and are involved in your nonprofit work.

3. 

   RSS and Email Subscriptions

   Getting your message out in multiple formats helps people subscribe to your constant updates easier and in the format they prefer to read them. Blogs can instantly give you multiple ways to deliver your message without you doing any other work. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way that many prefer to read information from the web because it allows them to subscribe and see the information as soon as it is updated.

4. Email Subscriptions

   A blog makes it easy for people to subscribe by email to your updates and is very easy to set up. By updating a blog you are in essence writing a constantly updating newsletter that is live and accessible to anyone at anytime. Unlike a printed newsletter that only gets published and mailed every couple weeks or once a month, your blog is always up-to-date and gives people the ability to read the stories and info in bite-sized chunks. Images are also easy to share with people. RSS and email subscriptions have definite advantages for getting your supporters information and are easy to set up if you use a blog.

5. Help You Build the Relationships

   There is no substitute for building personal relationships with volunteers, board members, donors, grant makers and anyone that is interested in your nonprofit. Like in a previous article http://oceangrand.org/building-nonprofit-relationships-equals-success/,the ability to build relationships is something that we are born with; however, many times while growing up we forget the fundamentals. Relationships are the life-blood for your nonprofit and to dismiss them as unnecessary is a fatal mistake. A blog is more of a relationship builder and can be an ongoing conversation with those that are involved in your nonprofit. Building relationships is much easier on a blog than a web site and people will feel more connected to you.

6. Gives You Feed Back

   Blogs are more like conversations because they have an area where people can comment on each article or post. This gives followers the ability to be a part of a conversation about your information, projects and fundraising. Blogs give you an automatic feedback mechanism through these comments and anyone can subscribe to the comments to keep up-to-date on the conversations. These comments and conversations can be powerful as it keeps all those involved in your nonprofit interacting with each other in real time.

7. Connects All the Social Media

   In our Social Media articles and How-to’s, we have covered how important it is to have other Social Media avenues open such as Twitter and Facebook. A blog can easily connect all those other avenues of Social Media. Each time you post a blog article, a blog can update your Twitter stream with the article and simultaneously post the article and URL to your FaceBook profile. This way no matter how people follow your organization (Twitter, Digg, FaceBook, RSS, email, etc.), they get your new content and information the way they prefer it, but it all connects back to your blog. Your blog becomes the “hub” of all your nonprofit information and updates and sends it out to multiple publishing avenues.

8. Easily Embed Video

   Video has arrived as an important part of keeping people up-to-date with nonprofit organizations. By taking even the most primitive video of a project, those supporting your organization are instantly “teleported” there. Embedding video on a blog is fairly simple now. By using video services like vimeo, viddler or utube, you can take a video and upload it to the web and have it embedded in your blog in a matter of minutes. Even those with the most basic computer skills can embed a video in a blog post, whereas doing the same in a web site would be challenging.

9. Makes it Easy for Others to Share Your Info

   When you use a traditional web site, you can share the URL, but then people have to actually go there. When you print and mail a newsletter, the people you mail it to get the newsletter but what about all the others they would like to share your information with? However, with a blog, it is not only easy for you to share information with others, it also makes it easy for them to re-share your information. When people want to share your information that is on a blog they have a library of ways in which to do so. At the end of each post, your article can have a “share” button that will transport your article to any number of hundreds of social media sharing sites. In addition, they can forward the emails or RSS feeds, print the articles, or even publish references to it on their own blogs (called trackbacks). This allows you to post information and allow others to share it in the way that best fits their preferences. Every time you make it easier for others to share your information, you win.

10. Easy for the Beginner and Pro Alike

    When I was the VP of Business Development for an internet company, several years ago we used to develop our web based software for a fictional user we lovingly dubbed “The Gray Haired Lady”. The Gray Haired Lady was a typical grandmother who was not terribly internet savvy. She did however want to learn and would stick it out as long as things made sense. We thought if we could get our software simple enough for her to use, practically anyone could use it. Many blog software companies must develop around the same type model because updating a blog is just about as simple as writing an article in word processing software. Yes, you have to learn a little but there are a ton of people willing to help. So whether you are a Gray Haired Lady or a teenager, blogging is very simple.

Whatever you’re doing in the nonprofit world, my stance is you should have a blog. If you have a web site, then you should also have a blog. A blog gives you so many benefits and other than maybe not looking as flashy as a flash site, they look good and work great. You would never want to compromise looks over how well a tool gets your information out there and known. If you need some help figuring out how to get your blog up and running, subscribe to our RSS or email feed by clicking here. In further articles in the next weeks, I am going to take you step by step through the set up and use of a blog for your nonprofit. Stay Tuned and tell others about our Social Media for the nonprofit series.

Catch the rest of our “Be a Social Media Expert Series” here.

Grab our RSS feed so you don’t miss out on any of of the articles

So you are ready to Tweet?  Great.  If nothing else, give it a try and see if it is for you.  As a nonprofit or any business, the more avenues in which you can make yourself available to others the better your chances of developing relationships that stick.  For more on building relationships that stick, read  http://oceangrand.org/building-nonprofit-relationships-equals-success. Twitter is an avenue that can make a huge difference in your knowledge about how to run a successful nonprofit and is a great way to stay in touch up-to-the-minute with supporters, donors, volunteers and grant makers.  Read on to learn how you can use Twitter to make a difference in your nonprofit.

Last week we talked about whether “To Tweet or Not to Tweet”, read that here. Hopefully you’re reading this because you have decided to tweet.  Take it from us, for an organization that stays in touch with lots of people, nonprofits and others all around the world on a minute by minute basis, you can’t get better than Twitter.  By using Twitter, we can keep in touch with all the nonprofit news, initiatives, info on nonprofits we work with, while keeping all that want our information informed up to the second.  It’s awesome and once you get the hang of it we believe you will agree.  I will briefly run through the benefits to you and your nonprofit using Twitter, then list the steps on how you can get started “Tweeting” yourself.

Real Simple

Twitter is messaging that uses only 140 characters per message, called Tweets.  It is easy to send and receive tweets from your computer or mobile phone.  Because the messages are short, reading and writing them are quick.  People that want to keep in touch with you “Follow You” and receive your tweets.  You follow people that you want to keep in touch with.  Several short tweets a day is all it takes to keep everyone up-to-date with what you or your nonprofit is up to.  Twitter is short conversations that keep everyone in your life connected.

How it Could Help You

As a nonprofit, keeping your supporters, donors and volunteers up-to-date with daily updates and many times minute by minute reports have huge benefits.  The more you can keep your organization in front of those that are involved with your nonprofit the more they will be involved with you.  Likewise, staying transparent and keeping people more informed will let them know exactly the kind of help you need and when you need it.

Several tweets a day from you can:

• Update those following you on on projects status
• Tweet your fundraising and program events for those that cannot be there (play by play)
• Let others know of fundraising needs
• Keep grant makers updated with progress
• Quickly find volunteers
• Find others who would like to involved with your nonprofit

How You Can Start Tweeting

When using Twitter, “less is more” and keeping track of your and other people’s tweets can be managed easily on your computer by using TweetDeck http://www.tweetdeck.com.  Throughout the day,  “tweet” several times and let people know what you’re up to; you will be amazed at how interested they are in the little things you do each day.

Twitter Steps:

1. Go to http://www.twitter.com.
2. Sign up and create an interesting profile. Definitely add a photo.
3. Use the site’s “find friend” feature to search your email address book for people you know.
4. To find people you maybe interested in following, go to Twitscoop http://www.twitscoop.com/ and search topics you’re interested in.
5. Search websites that you are interested in to see if they have a “Follow Us on Twitter” link.
6. You may find more people to follow by reading the posts of those you are already following whose conversations seem interesting.
7. Keep the number of people you follow to less than 150 so that you can actually keep up with all the posts.
8. The number of people you allow to follow you depends on you but the more people following you, the farther your tweets will go out to the masses.
9. Try to think of ways to allow those that follow you to get to know you and your nonprofit.
10. Think of ways that you can introduce what your nonprofit is doing without giving a sales pitch.
11. Get all your donors and those interested in you and your nonprofit (donors, volunteers, board members) signed up and promote your Twitter link so people can connect to you.
12. Put your Twitter link on your email signatures, your web site, your literature and every place you, can making it easy for people to follow you.
13. A few “What I am doing” updates a day goes a long way.  Likewise, reply and respond to other people’s updates.
14. Give it a couple weeks to find those to follow and to find a “following”

Above all have fun and see what Twitter can do for you and your organization.

Later this Week in our Twitter Series: Tweet Like a Pro (sign up for our RSS so you don’t miss an article)

Advisory: All the information, pictures, video and updates on Twitter are able to be seen by all your followers and your profile can be seen by anyone, so keep that in mind when you put information on the internet.

On a phone call today I was asked what I believe was the most important factor in the success of a nonprofit that most forget. For me that is an easy question and one I believe is also the same for any business. In this day and age of email addresses, usernames, and twitter accounts many forget that relationships are golden. Whether you are in business for profit or not-for-profit, if you are not devoting a large percentage of your business toward building relationships, you are missing one of the most important aspects of marketing. If you build the relationships with your volunteers and donors and forget the rest, the finances, programs, and success will fall into place. Read on and let me show you how to build loyal relationships that can make all the difference in your business. I will start out with explaining the why and give you practical how to at the end.

The Missing Puzzle Piece

In this day and age more than ever people want to be known. It is a need that we are all born with, that we want people to know who we are. Think about it for a minute, when you walk into a room of strangers, doesn’t it feel great when someone knows you? Sure it does, it feels awesome. It does not matter whether you are in a room of strangers, in the cyber world, or walking into a restaurant for lunch. When someone knows you or wants to get to know you it makes you feel really good. Imagine what it must feel like when you are in one of those venues and everyone in the room or restaurant knows you. Everyone wants to be known and it feels even better when they know you because of something good you did.

I believe it was the main reason that the sitcom “Cheers” was so successful and intriguing to America. The tag line was “Where everyone knows your name.” When I used to watch “Cheers”, I too wished I had a place, even if it was a bar, where everyone knew me and I could share life with them. In the age of suburbs and cyberspace, it is getting tough to get to know people and for them to get to know you. We get up in the morning, jump in our car, drive out of our neighborhood to work without encountering even one person we have to say “good morning” to. We arrive at work and spend most of our day in a cubicle, eat lunch at our desk and have few conversations even emailing the person in the cube next to us. At the end of the day we jump back in our car, drive into our neighborhood and into our driveway, walk into our house and still rarely have to encounter another human being outside of our immediate family. Sure you say “hi” to the neighbor across the hedges, which will be tall enough next year that you can ignore them, while you’re cutting your grass on the weekend. However, it is possible to go an entire week with very little interaction with others. It is one of the huge reasons that facebook, twitter and online chat rooms are so popular. People are searching for a way for others to know them. Do you really think that people would put up personal profiles with all types of information and jot 140 characters about their lunch fare on twitter to thousands of complete strangers if they were not screaming out for someone to know them? Those that are involved in your business or nonprofit also have a need to be known and it is your job to see that they are. I will give you some tips below on how you can attract and keep loyal clients and donors by simply taking an interest in them more than the other guy.

Building Relationships that Stick

Building relationships can be simple. However it is an art that is quickly being forgotten, especially in the business world. Starting from the premise that most people in this world want to be known, we can focus a majority of our attention on building relationships, even if it is through social media, to form strong loyalties. Relationship building should start immediately when someone shows interest in getting involved with your nonprofit/business. Each person is different in the level in which they want to build a relationship and respect should be given to them to build that relationship to the level of their expectations. True, if you have thousands involved, there is only so much of you to go around but there are easy ways to make more of you go around than you may have thought. The key is to extend yourself out to others in as many avenues as you can and let each individual choose the level and avenues that are comfortable to them. However, most of your volunteers, donors and grantors of funds want to be acknowledged at some level and most likely want to form more of a relationship than you will ever realize. Now your challenge is how can you acknowledge those involved in your business enough while still having enough of yourself and organization left to do the projects that you are involved in. If someone does not want the acknowledgment or relationship, they will make that apparent by giving an anonymous gift or letting you know up front.

Likewise, the amount an organization or individual gives should not be a consideration for how much they need acknowledgment or desire relationship. For many a little is all they have but is proportionally bigger in their finances that the large gift from a wealthy individual. Everyone should be treated equally regardless of their gift or the time they donate to your organization. When the “rubber hits the road” the person that is willing to donate their Saturday to you may be worth all the finances your nonprofit has in the bank when you really need the help but have few to turn to.

Gloat!

A good rule to apply and hardly ever go wrong with is gloat continually on your donors and volunteers. If, by some strange reason, an individual want you to rant about them less they will let you know. However, in all my years in business I have rarely had someone say to me that I needed to notice them less. People love when you notice their efforts, donations and involvement and by doing so you secure people falling all over themselves to do things that you will gloat about.

Some things You Should Know

I will give you some basic things you should know about all your donors and then some ways that you can make yourself more accessible to them to allow them to decide for themselves the level of relationship they want to establish with you. You can never know enough about your donors and volunteers, period. Asking about these things I will list below will establish that you care enough about those that get involved in your nonprofit work to build relationships with them. Granted this is only a few things you can know and do to begin to establish rapport with them, but it is a fantastic start.

Things you should know about your donor and volunteers:

• Spouse and Children’s names and ages
• Birthdays- Spouse and children’s birthdays and acknowledge them on or before the date
• Special Interests – When you come across those hockey tickets you can’t use, give them to the one it means the most to.
• Special Skills- You may need to call on their special skills (construction, fundraising, scrap booking, making blankets, computer).
• There are a ton more but that will get you started.

Open the Relationship Avenues

There are many levels that relationships can happen on. Your responsibility is to open as many avenues to relationships that you can, then let your donors and volunteers choose the ones that best fit their lifestyle, technical skills and comfort level. Below are a few to get you started and then add more as they become available or you are comfortable with. Remember, you are now a public figure and when serving your community you are going to need to be somewhat open with the public about who you are and what you stand for. It may get scrutinized, but hey, how important is the work to you that you are doing? You will find that by being open you will gain loyal supporters and allies that will help you accomplish your dreams.

Avenues you should make available for your donors and volunteers to get to know you:

• Quarterly get-to-know-you lunch where people can “touch and feel you”
• Ability to “Follow you on Twitter” if you don’t know what this is, see http://oceangrand.org/tweet-or-not-to-tweet
• Ability to be your friend on Facebook- yes if they give blood, sweat and tears they are your friend
• Ability to subscribe to weekly or monthly email updates- yes, you need to have a monthly email newsletter
• Ability to subscribe to RSS feeds about your nonprofit
• Ability to give you feedback either by email or forum
• Consider consistently blogging about your nonprofit on your own blog

Your Touch

Now that your volunteers and donors can “touch and feel” you there is a minimum touch that you should extend to them. These are only minimum guidelines and the more you get to know them and they know you the better the support for your nonprofit you will have. Don’t put these primary “touches” off until the end of each month but do them immediately each time you have the opportunity.

Ways to reach out and touch your supporters when they have donated or put forth and effort to help your nonprofit:

• Personal handwritten thank you notes for any donation or effort to help your nonprofit
• Public acknowledgments for donations and efforts to help your nonprofit
• Periodic person-to-person lunches and meetings with each donor and volunteer
• Simple thank you gifts go a long way – nothing fancy just small inexpensive gifts
• Ongoing acknowledgment in newsletters of donations and volunteer efforts

Building Relationships is Easy

The ability to build relationships is something that we are born with; however, many times while growing up we forget the fundamentals. Relationships are the life-blood for your nonprofit and to dismiss them as unnecessary is a fatal mistake. Everybody wants to be know to some degree and it is the nonprofit’s job to cultivate the relationships and bring value to those people’s lives who are involved and giving their hard earned time and finances to it. No matter how hectic things get or how bad the economy becomes, when all the cards are down, if you have good relationships your going to be OK.

I am writing this after spending the morning on Twitter and FaceBook.  You may not have any idea what I am talking about or know just enough to believe it is a waste of your time.  That is the whole reason we at Ocean Grand have decided to put together a series of ongoing articles around “social media” for non profits.  Read on to learn how social media is here to stay and how you can get on board to help your nonprofit become more successful.

The key to getting, keeping and engaging donors, funders, and corporations is by building a relationship with them.  There is no alternative to building relationships, the relationship comes first and always first.  There is also no alternative, not even through social media, to engage your non profit supporters in the “flesh”.  However, social media is a great platform to tell and retell your story (read more about “your story” here).  The more ways you are able to get the information and successes out to people who are interested in them the farther your reach.  Social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc) is another way to get your story and successes out to those that want to know about them, plus find some others that maybe interested in the mix.

Social media is also a way to keep donors and others up-to-date with your cause and what you’re doing to impact the world in a simple and easy way.  A couple “tweets” (tweets are short messages on twitter) a day will help all those following the progress of your non profit to know what you’re doing today to help the cause.  Likewise, it is a great way to invite people to your fundraisers, events and projects.  By using Twitter, others who get your tweets can pass the message along very easily, possibly generating lots of buzz about your upcoming function.  If those tweets are also posted automatically on your FaceBook “wall”, then you have reached two audiences that otherwise would have had no idea what you were doing.  For example, maybe you are holding a fundraiser or event in Virginia.  Several tweets throughout the day from your mobile phone and everyone around the world knows how it is going.

This morning I wrote an article on “What Have You Done Lately That You Are Proud Of?”  When I posted the article from the Ocean Grand blog http://www.oceangrand.org the post was tweeted and then also sent to our FaceBook wall.  Almost instantaneously several people joined our twitter following who were not following before.  The link to the article in the tweet was also clicked on and read by many from our twitter following.  It was a quick, easy and effective way to let those that were interested know there was a new article.

The Virtual Water Cooler

Social Media is the present day water cooler and unlike the water cooler in your office, it is an ongoing global conversation.  If you want to be more successful in the non profit world, you want your non profit activities to be a part of that conversation.  From Twitter and FaceBook conversations I have connected to other non profit organizations who were ecstatic to find out about all the free information and help we provide to non profits at Ocean Grand.  Through those same social media channels I have also made new friends and reacquainted myself with old friendships halfway around the world.

The Afternoon Coffee Break

As I’m going throughout the day I hit points where I need a pick-me-up and many times caffeine does the trick.  However, while I am getting my afternoon infusion I also check in on my FaceBook and Twitter accounts to see what is happening around the world.  Inevitably I run across a quick conversation or am able to offer some input that renews my inspiration to motivate me on to the end of the day.  It has been well documented that the human brain needs breaks throughout the day and can be much more productive once given one.  You would be surprised at all the little notes of encouragement you can get on Twitter and FaceBook that can get you through the day.

Each platform of Social Media has its own nuances and particular use, but the lines quickly become blurred once you start integrating them together.  We will show you how to get the best use out of each in further articles.  We are going to focus on FaceBook and Twitter below and give you some quick instructions on getting started.

FaceBook

The simple explanation: FaceBook is a platform where you can add “friends” old and new to your profile.  Then you can message each other back and forth, add video and share pictures.  You are able to keep tabs on your “contacts” and and they can do the same with you.  It’s a quick glance at what everyone you know around the world is doing, interested and involved in.  As a nonprofit, you can also create a “cause” page where people can join to be involved and even donate online to your nonprofit.

FaceBook Steps:

1. Sign up and create an interesting profile. Add a photo and definitely put up a “cause” page so others can join into your non profit work.
2. Use the site’s feature to search your email address book for people you know.
3. Each time a friend adds, look at their friends for others that you may know and add them as a friend.
4. Use your existing friends as a way to find more friends. Try to stay within the boundaries of people you actually know and have some type of relationship with.
5. Create a “home like” feel to the information you put on your site.  You want people to get to know you better or all over again if it has been a while.
6. There are a ton of “applications” you can use that will allow you to share books your reading, videos you like, blogs you read etc.
7. The number of “friends” you have depends upon you but the more friends you can connect to the farther your message will go out to the masses.
8. Keep in mind, as a non profit you want people to both get to know you and your non profit so try to think of ways that you can introduce what your non profit is doing.
9. Make sure you are actively getting your donors and those interested signed up and promote, promote, promote your FaceBook link so people can connect to you.
10. Focus your efforts on building relationships and letting people know what you are doing.  A few “What am I doing” updates a day goes a long way.  Likewise, reply and respond to other people’s updates.

Twitter

Twitter uses quick posts of 140 characters or less to let people know what you are doing throughout the day.  The same goes for your responses to others’ posts.  Unlike FaceBook there are not pages or places to put video and “causes” but instead you do short updates, “tweets”, throughout the day and reply to others’ tweets.  In some aspects “less is more” and keeping track of your and other people’s tweets can be managed easily by using TweetDeck http://www.tweetdeck.com.  Throughout the day  “tweet” several times and let people know what you’re up to; you will be amazed at how interested they are in the little things you do each day.  Respond to a few tweets.  You can find others to “follow” (when you follow someone you are able to see their tweets) that you may have interest in and again you will be amazed at what you learn.

Twitter Steps:

1. Sign up and create an interesting profile. Add a photo.
2. Use the site’s feature to search your email address book for people you know.
3. Find people you maybe interested in following at Twitscoop http://www.twitscoop.com/ by searching topics you’re interested in.
4. You can always find more people to follow by reading the posts of those you are already following that seem like interesting conversations.
5. The number of people you follow or allow to follow you depends upon you but the more people following you the farther your message will go out to the masses.
6. Keep in mind, as a non profit you want people to both get to know you and your non profit so try to think of ways that you can introduce what your non profit is doing without giving a sales pitch.
7. Make sure you are actively getting your donors and those interested signed up and promote, promote, promote your Twitter link so people can connect to you.
8. Focus your efforts on building relationships and letting people know what you are doing.  A few “What am I doing” updates a day goes a long way.  Likewise, reply and respond to other peoples updates.

Remember that all the information, pictures, video and updates are able to be seen by all your friends or followers so keep that in mind when you put information on the internet.

If you contact me I can help you integrate your tweets to automatically be posted to your FaceBook which keeps you from needing to update two different places.

To Tweet or Not to Tweet, That is the Question

Social Media is a great way to get your message out and also connect people across the globe to your non profit cause.  It is time well spent if you keep focused while using these media.  It is easy to get caught up in it; however, now is the time to get involved because Social Media looks like it is here to stay. This is just a brief introduction to the Social Media arena and we will cover each separately and give more detail on how to use these great platforms to your advantage other posts.  Stay tuned.  In the meantime, sign up for an account and begin getting a feel for them.

Don’t forget to add us as a friend on FaceBook and follow us on Twitter.  The links are to the right of this post and also below.

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=32978279968
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/ScottRingo

If you are an actor, actress or know an actor or actress, you need to read this article on how you can better launch your career by focusing on what many actors do once they are successful.  Read on and I will show you how you can begin to network like crazy in circles of successful actors like you never thought possible.

We have all seen the commercials and ads when a famous actor or celebrity jumps onboard with a charity or “save the world” cause.  Suddenly that actor seems more “touchable” and real.  It helps us consider what we could do to make a difference in the world and focus our attention on those that need our help.  The fact is, lots of well known actors do all types of non profit charity work and not only does it bring awareness to the cause, but helps them network with others in their field.  Many successful actors actually own non profits which promote their cause and accept donations.  Why then, if successful celebrities and actors can own their own non profit, promote great causes, take advantage of the high-end networking, and accept loads of donations, don’t up-and-coming actors take advantage of these same opportunities?  Most simply do not know how easily it is to jump-start their career and influence by doing so.  In this short post I will explain the benefits that every actor or person in the entertainment industry can leverage by owning their own non profit and shift their entertainment career into high gear.

The Power of Networking

Everyone knows that networking is powerful in any career or endeavor.  Sometimes the toughest decision is where and how to network the most effectively.  In the world of entertainment, competition is fierce and “who you know” is many times critical to getting the gig, the audition, or being cast.  Sure, once you get the part or gig then you must turn on your best social skills and network like crazy with those for the short time you are working with them.  However, what if there was an easier and more effective way to network 24 hours a day with actors, directors, producers, and support staff even when you are not on the set or even employed?  What if that networking tool could even financially support you while you were between gigs?  How exciting would it be if you also learned that the same avenue of networking could be highly satisfying in itself, and help make the world a better place?  The type of networking I am talking about can do all that plus include you in circles of influence and contacts that you never thought was possible until you were walking the red carpet.  What is this amazing tool?  Read on.

When the Director says “Cut”

Even if you were on a set or playing a gig there is work to be done and little time to network and when the director says “cut” everyone is in a hurry to get to their family, gala, fundraising dinner, etc.  Wait, what if you could be involved in those people’s lives and interests after the final scene of the day?  You can and its not hard.  What if you were off to the same galas, fundraising dinners, and nonprofit volunteering that the other stars were off to?  That is where the “real” mingling takes place.  Even if you were between acting or music gigs you could still be off to the same events.  There are two easy ways to do that and one that assures you more success than the other.  Follow along.

Scenario One

Say there was a particular actor, director, producer or casting director you knew being associated with would give you much better exposure?  With very little research you could find with which non profit causes and charities they were involved.  If they are involved with a cause then most likely others are also involved that are in your industry.  If those charities and causes are something that you are interested in then simply get involved with the cause.  Here is where you need to check your heart and integrity because if you are not sincerely interested in those same causes there is no integrity in you being involved.  Once involved, focus on helping and being involved with that non profit, they will appreciate your help.  Stay involved to help the nonprofit and you never know, you might find yourself networking with those in your industry that will give you a leg up.  See http://oceangrand.org/6-steps-to-making-a-bigger-splash/ on how to get seriously involved in helping a non profit in the right ways.

Scenario Two

Most people in non profit work associate with others in the non profit arena.  Instead of waiting until you are famous to find a cause you could help to make the world a better place, start now.  You could easily start, build stable funding, and run your own successful non profit.  I am sure you are saying “Yeah, if I had that kind of time.”  You eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, right?  Then you have time to create and manage a well funded and world-changing non profit.  Really.  Once you are finished reading this article jump over to http://oceangrand.org/6-steps-to-non-profit-freedom/ for all the information you need to, step-by-step, get a non profit successful over breakfast, lunches and dinners.

By starting your own non profit or charity you get to decide what world-changing task you are going to focus on.  You create the non profit around your passions and interests.  Then you start networking with all the other non profits in your city attending their fundraisers, benefits, and likewise them attending yours.  If you have a world-changing non profit cause and you begin to network, it does not have to be long before you are in the same room and at the same events that those you would like to network with about your career.  However, this time you are the one with whom they are wanting to be involved.  Now you have two levels in which to network with them.  You would be amazed at who you might have involved in your non profit.

No More “Starving Artist”

One of the great advantages of the second scenario is that your non profit can employ you.  Yes, say goodbye to the days of the starving artist.  Once your non profit has steady donations coming in it can employ you with a salary for the work you do on its behalf.  Not only are you building a successful non profit that can change the world, but it can provide you an income while you are between or in addition to gigs.  Now you get paid on and off the “clock.”  Meanwhile your non profit cause is networking for you 24 hours a day as those involved are telling others about the great charitable cause of yours that they are involved in.

Why Not “Arrive” Through the Back Door?

While many are trying to network, get auditions and gigs through the front door, by starting a non profit you may just find that you “arrived” through the back door.  You can change the world even before you become famous, supplement your income, and be working on your career all at the same time.  If nothing else, you can leave a legacy for your family and friends to carry on when you depart.  You may have noticed that a lot of charities are focused around the arts and could be an easy passion for you to discover.  We at Ocean Grand would enjoy helping you start, learn to fund, and run a successful nonprofit.  You never know, you might be starring in your own movie one day that documents the success of the non profit you started.

Everyone is involved in non profit work, however, some are more focused on changing the world with their involvement than others.  Read on and figure out how you can make a lasting impact in that which you focus your charitable giving and involvement.
We all give money to charities and we all volunteer doing charity work, some just have more to show for their giving and time than most.  You may not have even realized you had even been involved charitably.  Let’s face it, whether the most you’ve done is give someone holding a sign a dollar, let all your friends know about a benefit walk-a-thon or volunteered some time to help a friend, we have all been involved in charity work.  The fact is, unless you live under a rock you are going to be involved in charity work again one day.  Wouldn’t it be great if you focused your involvement in a way that had a measurable impact?

Many people get to the end of a year and receive a few statements from charitable organizations that show a few dollars here or there that they contributed charitably and can count on their taxes.  However, to most it seemed like we gave money and time in more ways to make a difference in the charitable arena, didn’t it?  There are a couple easy ways to start focusing your efforts this year on making a bigger and more meaningful impact on the charitable things you do, while knowing exactly what you did and the significance of that impact.  I will show you 6 simple steps you can take to make the most of your charitable efforts.

Stop Shrugging Your Shoulders and Make a Difference

1. Focus Your Non Profit Activity

While being involved in random charitable activities is good, focusing your nonprofit activities and giving to one or two causes helps you make a larger and more memorable impact.  Being focused on a few charities can help you keep focused and plan out your year and involvement.  Likewise, the charities that you focus on can better count on you for your involvement making it easier for them to plan budgets and events knowing they can count on you for your contribution and volunteerism.  Focused involvement can also help you get excited about the significant difference you are making in the world by your charitable activity.  There are some easy steps to help you discover what you might like to be involved in and then how to focus your efforts on those charitable causes.

Steps to Better Focus Your Non Profit Involvement

1. Take a week and decide what you are passionate about being involved in.
2. Narrow your passions down to a couple that you would be excited about pursuing this year.
3. Do a google search, ask friends or contact us to find charities that you could make an impact in around your passions.
4. Look at your budget and decide what you would like to designate financially to making an impact this year.
5. Look at your schedule and figure out how many weekends or evenings you could devote to helping those charities.
6. Contact the charities and let them know of your desires and availability to help.
7. Stay focused and make your giving and volunteering a priority by putting it on your calendar and following through.

2. Streamline your Giving

Many times, people fail in their commitments to give to charities because they simply forget to write the check.  Likewise, many non profits fail to make it easy for donors to make financial gifts by not setting up online giving.  Make your giving automatic by setting up reoccurring gifts online either through your bank or the charities online giving.  By setting up automatic payments you will be assured that your financial gift is not forgotten and always delivered right on time.

Another way to make your charitable giving more significant is to save up your weekly or monthly contributions and purchase or give toward more tangible needs that the charity has.  You could even save up your charitable contributions for several months or the year and give toward something with which you can feel like you made a memorable impact.  For example, saving up several months and paying for the entire roof for an orphanage may be a better way for you to see your financial gift at work than giving a few dollars here or there.  Plus it is more fun to give to items or projects in which you can look back and see you had  more tangible impact.  Ask the nonprofit what significant items or goals you can give toward in larger chunks to develop more excitement in your giving.

3. Volunteer Intentionally

Volunteering spontaneously when a charity needs help is great.  However, you will be able to account for your impact and make your efforts count more if you intentionally volunteer for specific events during the year or consistent weekends.  It will be easier to volunteer and be involved if you can look back at the year and know for example that you volunteered one weekend a month or for two significant events during the year.  You will be able to look back at the year and know you had a consistent impact by the events or weekends for which you volunteered.

4. Multiply your giving by getting others involved

Your personal involvement in a charity is a great starting point, however if you had friends, family or even neighbors involved in the work with you, you can have a larger and more fulfilling impact in your efforts.  Organizing a simple fund raising dinner at your home, or even a larger event and inviting friends, family and neighbors to attend can be a great way to make a huge impact  You will develop stronger relationships and be able to use your influence to impact your charitable projects by simply getting others involved with you.  It can be a lot of fun when you have many you know involved in changing the world as a group rather than attempting to stay involved with the efforts by yourself.

Matching gifts are also a way to multiply your contribution’s impact.  Let the nonprofit know that you will match other’s gifts up to the amount you can afford, and you will give the nonprofit the motivation to find others that will give, which will double your giving efforts.

Some Ideas that can get others involved:

• A fund raising dinner at your home
• Matching gifts of either equal or double amounts
• Benefit Concert
• Organize a Car Wash
• Walk-a-thons, bike-a-thons, running and swimming events
• Craft Festivals
• Rummage Sales
• Golf Tournaments
• Tennis Events
• Bingo and Casino Nights
• Wine Tasting Parties
• Auctions

Any non profit should jump on the opportunity to let you organize and hold any of the events above.

5. Start Your Own Nonprofit Focus

While it can be very satisfying to give your time and finances to any number of great non profits, nothing is as exciting as custom tailoring your charitable activity directly toward one of your own passions.  Many spend time raising funds, giving financially and volunteering their time to a nonprofit that has a great cause. However, they wish they could spend those resources and time on a non profit that matches exactly their passions.  Creating and running your own non profit cause and organization is not as hard as it may sound.  Imagine making an impact in the charitable arena custom tailored to fit your lifestyle and passions exactly.  I know from experience that it is highly satisfying and not at all hard.  Everyday at Ocean Grand, we enable and empower individuals to create their own non profit focused on the charitable activities that they are willing to invest their time and resources in and many even employ themselves it its full time work.  For more information see http://oceangrand.org/6-steps-to-non-profit-freedom/ for how easy it could be for you to create your own highly focused non profit.

6. Social Networking

Facebook and other social networking sites provide you an easy way to let others know what you are focused on, recruit friends to help, and let them know how they can get involved.  By setting up a “cause” or page associated with your social media account, you have an easy way to get those you know involved and contributing to the charitable organizations and activities you are passionate about.  If you have a facebook account you can see http://apps.facebook.com/causes/201049 for an example.

Conclusion

Most everyone can make a bigger splash with their charity involvement and charitable giving.  Whether you simply focus your giving better or start a non profit to benefit the causes you’re passionate about, we can all do a better job of supporting charitable activities.  A non profit could be the beginning of a world wide revolution, a great alternative to a 401K, the answer to a person’s medical bills, or an honorable memorial to a love one that has passed away.  There are non profits focused on just about every type of challenge you can think of.  The question that remains to be answered is what are you going to do to change the world to be a better place?

Regardless of whether you believe you are involved with charity and nonprofit work, you are in some form or fashion, it may be hard to pinpoint your impact.  Why not take a couple minutes, implement a couple of the ideas above and make your impact measurable this year?  Believe me that it is a highly satisfying activity to get to the end of a year and be able to quantitate your impact in changing the world to be a better place.