Don’t Merge Your Facebook Page & Places Page

"Don't Merge Your Nonprofit Facebook Page with Places Page," warns the heading of an interesting Dec. 17 guest post on Beth's Blog. The post, by Ivan Boothe, explains if your organization accepts Facebook's invitation to claim your Facebook Places geolocation page, you'll lose your ability to specify a default landing tab on your regular Facebook page. That means all the time and money you put into creating a beautiful custom landing tab will go to waste. Since … [Read more...]

‘Special Sauce’ for Online Contest Success

The special recipe networked nonprofits use to win online contests was revealed in a video the Case Foundation posted on its website last week. The video features Beth Kanter and Allison Fine, authors of The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Changet, with research on the successful social media strategies of contest winners. It also features Scott Beale from the Atlas Service Corps, a nonprofit which has won five online competitions and … [Read more...]

Super Shock! Non-Profit Client’s Domain Stolen

I was in for a shock last week when I visited the website of a non-profit whose website I recently redesigned in WordPress. Instead of seeing the non-profit’s website, I found a page full of ads reading at the top, “This page is parked free courtesy of [a different web hosting firm than the one the non-profit uses].” Using Network Solution’s WHOIS behind that domain? page, I discovered the non-profit’s domain registration information had been deleted, causing … [Read more...]

Ning Users to Say Good-Bye to Free Networks

Ning--the popular service allowing users to build their own social networks,--is making massive staff cutbacks, increasing its fees for premium services, and cutting off its free services. All Ning users who have been getting their social networks for free of charge will now be asked to start paying fees or phase off the Ning platform. Ning claims more than 46 million users spread over 300,000 social networks. The vast majority of its users are non-profits and … [Read more...]

Video Clip of the Month: Social Media for Good Causes

My April 2010 video clip of the month features Beth Kanter giving a 40-minute presentation on how non-profits can use social media to promote their causes and raise funds. Kanter is the author of Beth’s Blog, one of the longest running and most popular blogs for non-profits. Here's the YouTube video: … [Read more...]

Do-It-Yourself Media Relations: 5 Easy Steps

Public relations is vital to building your company and promoting your brand. If you're a small business, non-profit, or start up, however, your budget might be too tight to hire a public relations firm to publicize your products and services to reporters and bloggers. Here are five easy steps for successful do-it-yourself media relations: 1. Create a Press Kit Every company should have a press kit: a hard-copy version, contained in an attractive folder, and an … [Read more...]