I understand handshake agreements but it’s better to get everything in writing. Make sure your project has a clear timeline. What will happen if a deadline is missed? This street needs to go both ways because it’s not always the company that’s dragging its feet. Nonprofits can be notoriously bad at allowing endless discussions to delay decisions.
Make sure there is a clear understanding about how many revisions can be made to the project. Does one side consider a revision to be fixing a typo while the other believes it means starting from scratch?
Will your assignment, like a a website, be based on a template? There’s nothing wrong with using something that’s been successful in the past. The downside is that when you use a template, it looks like everyone else’s website. Keep in mind that original work costs more.
In all of these scenarios, don’t worry about being demanding. You represent your stakeholders and they trust that you’ll make a smart investment. Take that responsibility seriously.
I get tired of seeing nonprofits post the same old kind of pictures of clients, volunteers, and board members. You gather up a bunch of people, force them to line up in an orderly fashion, and just as they’re tired of the whole endeavor, you take a picture that’s worthy of the Department of Motor Vehicles.
While I know these shots are necessary for recognition purposes, do they make you want to stop and find out more? After a while, you consider them to be nothing more than visual noise.
As you might guess, this defeats the purpose of the picture! Now look at the snapshot below:
There’s an energy to it that makes you smile. You want to find out more and you have to admit that these volunteers look like a fun group. The personalities came out.
Just a moment before, I covered my bases by taking a traditional shot of the group. (I’d show it to you but it was so boring that I deleted it.)
Then I told the group that on the count of three I wanted them to say, “hooray.” I also said that it okay if they wanted to gesture as they said it.
The group did a great job of making a memorable photo. Give your subjects some guidance and then let them have some fun.
Bonus tip: I stood on a chair while taking this picture. This makes it a lot easier to see the people who are in the back rows.
Every thought about getting some consulting? Ken can help!
I keep hearing about nonprofits that are struggling with social media. You’re job is hard enough without not knowing how to use these free and powerful tools.
I want to offer you the opportunity to pick my brain for 30 minutes. We’ll talk through Skype or over the phone and you can ask me whatever you like about social media. This is a chance for you to learn. I won’t be selling anything. It’s all about helping you.
In my career, I’ve benefited from the wisdom and generosity of others and I want to continue the tradition.
Contact me to set up your call. I’ll take the first five to sign up.
It’s a tough time for nonprofits and I want to pass on some marketing advice. Follow this link to read a two part article that will change the way you think of potential supporters of your organization. While the it was written for the sales world, you’ll find a ton of applications for the nonprofit world.
Nowadays you have to be strategic. Let me know what you think.
Several studies have found that you have less than 10 seconds to capture a visitor’s attention on your hompage. So despite the fact that you’ve designed a wonderful website, they may never see anything more than the homepage. How do you get them to stick around and look around? Embed a welcome video on your homepage.
This is easy to do with YouTube. The video doesn’t have to be long. In fact, it can be better if it’s less than 30 seconds. Welcome people, put a face on your organization, and tell them a quick fact or two. That’s all you need to do. Click here to see an example of this kind of welcome video from my speaking website.
In the past I’ve talked about how nonprofits can get terrific exposure by having a Facebook fan page. Facebook is one of the most popular websites in the world. Doesn’t it make sense to associate your organization with it? Remember people are much more likely to see your updates on Facebook than on your website.
I Facebook "Like" You!
With that in mind, in the past you wanted people to become, “fans,” of your page on Facebook. But now things are slightly different. Facebook has switched out being a “fan” with “liking” a page. So you need to tell people who might want to join your Facebook presence to click the “like” button.
Facebook likes to make these occasional tweaks to its system even though they sometimes seem to be change for changes sake. Nevertheless, Facebook is a great platform for connecting with your followers.
You’ve probably heard about blogging but may not know how to get started. It’s an important and free social media tool that you need to use.
With the downsizing of the media, you’re going to have a much harder time getting coverage of your organization. Doesn’t it make sense to control your message and make sure it’s being heard by your supporters?
If it’s important to you to get a good return on investment of your time, then you need to invest in the presentation below. You’ll find out how to get started, how blogs can be multi-media platform, and how often you should be blogging.
Click on this picture to be taken to the online presentation.
Your nonprofit has spent a lot of time putting together a video about your agency. In most cases these run about five to six minutes in length. You’ve put it up on YouTube, which is a great social media tool. Maybe you’ve even embedded it your website. But then you stop. In this case you’re not getting as much as you can out of your video.
I’m guessing that your video is composed of several sections. Why not make each of these chapters into their own clips. So out of a 5 minute video, you might get four or five clips.
People consume information differently online. Some may not have the patience to watch a five minute video. But they will watch clips that are about a minute or two in length. Think of it like a restaurant that offers a lunch and a dinner portion of an entree. It’s the same food but it’s just presented in a different way.
In some cases, you’ll need to edit a slide to come before the video that can help set it up. Maybe in the big video, one segment is about mentoring. Pull that out and create an open that says something like, “mentoring minute.” Just a little bit of editing allows you to dramatically increase your video footprint.
Small and large videos should both be used and featured in your website. Maybe the big one goes on your home page and the smaller clips should be posted near the related programs.
Remember that social media marketing is not an exact copy of print marketing. Make sure that on your website or blog, you are limiting the number of words that you use. Pictures and video can sometimes say a lot more than just words.
Recently, on my speaking website I removed some copy and replaced it with a short, 38 second video. The goal was to create a short welcome that would also lay out the purpose of the website and my speaking business.
Through YouTube, I’ll be able to track the number of times people have watched it. I think the home page of the site now looks a bit more dynamic with the clip and also make the reader not shake in horror at having to read a lot of copy. Depending on the results, I may create a brief video for some of the other pages, that would give the basics about what the page is about.
YouTube is a free tool and embedding a video can improve the look and “readability” of your website.
I understand handshake agreements but it’s better to get everything in writing. Make sure your project has a clear timeline. What will happen if a deadline is missed? This street needs to go both ways because it’s not always the company that’s dragging its feet. Nonprofits can be notoriously bad at allowing endless discussions to delay decisions. 
Posted by Ken Okel 
Social Media for Nonprofits 