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Twitter Follow of the Week 4/28

Twitter: @THON
Name: Penn State Dance Marathon
Web: www.thon.org
Bio: THON is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world! It’s a year-long effort that raises funds and awareness for the fight against pediatric cancer.
Followers: 4,529+ you!
Why Follow? THON is more than what the average person thinks of upon hearing the phrase "dance marathon." Great organization with a Twitter feed that is managed by current Penn State student. Provides good insight into how current students - and their generation - is using social media for campaign awareness. A big gain for @THON was when Klohe Kardashian put her support behind THON.

She helped propel #THON into the top ten worldwide trending topics:

social media tools @ oneforty

For those using Twitter and not familiar with oneforty.com - you should visit the site that currently has "2759 Twitter tools that make Twitter more useful for your business, career or life." Though the root of oneforty.com is in Twitter, it also has tools that are useful with blogging, Facebook, URL shortening, etc.

The tools are given ratings and reviews from users, which provide helpful insight into what may fit your needs. The site also provides you the ability to search for what fits your needs. As a taste of what oneforty.com provides, here are some of the highlighted tools from various categories:

Tweet Deck - A personal browser for staying in touch with what’s happening now, connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook and more. TweetDeck shows you everything you want to see at once, so you can stay organised and up to date.
oneforty.com user rating: 4.0/5.0 stars

TweetStats - Graph your Twitter Stats including - tweets per hour, tweets per month, tweet timeline and reply statistics.
oneforty.com user rating: 4.5/5.0 stars

Brizzly - Thing Labs' new browser-based Twitter client allows you to use multiple accounts, monitor searches, share photos, save drafts, interact with Facebook and edit trending topics. It's in public beta.
oneforty.com user rating: 4.5/5.0 stars

Check out these and 2756 other tools @ oneforty.com.

See What People "Like" & new Facebook tools

Interesting tool from the people at Like Button -A one stop dashboard to see what people are currently liking on various popular websites (or specify a category: news, video, tech, music, Facebook, games, entertainment, reviews, photos, sports or movies). If you are logged into your Facebook account, you will see your friends listed first, above a divider, followed by items that are trending with the general public. This is using the social information that lies underneath Facebook and is accessible to all with whom you share. There is also a way to do with without Like Button, where you set parameters within Facebook and it will generate the proper code for you to use in iframe / Javascript SDK. First the Like Button version:


And then the Facebook plugin version:



The advantage to the latter is that it is concise and you can tailor it to a specific URL, as the example is tailored to The More Donors Blog. The advantage to the former is that you can look across various sites quickly at one site, without having to create any code or install it into a format for viewing.

Other new / more useful tools:

• Add the Like Button to your pages
• Create a Facebook "Like Box" (used to be a "Fan Box")
• The Live Stream Box - great potential for NPOs! As Facebook puts it: "...works best when you are running a real-time event, like live streaming video for concerts, speeches, or webcasts, live Web chats, webinars, massively multiplayer games." This ties in well to the post on using videoconferencing to bring experts to your constituents and take stakeholders on a virtual field trip - add the Live Stream Box and get instant feedback!
• A Recommendation Box - ...as you'll now see in the upper right corner of The More Donors Blog.

Enjoy these tools and share your success using them!

Through Non-Profit Eyes... again.

* Jumped the gun this week and interpreted another Mashable article rather than the "Social Media Resources You May Have Missed" bit... So rather than spend a bunch of time on my mistake, let's just look at it as a bonus post for everyone ;) A revamped, supplemental Through Non-Profit Eyes follows. - DTM

Every week Mashable.com summarizes their stories and blogs of the week on social-media resources. As a corresponding resource for the non-profit world, I take it each week and share some of the applicable tools through a pair of non-profit spectacles. You can see Week of 4/18, part I here.


1) This week, one topic is 9 Ways to Do Good with 5 Minutes or 25 Dollars. The examples are mostly for international aid operations such as Kiva, Deki and Free Rice, where the concept is more challenging to duplicate for other non-profits. One example, though, seemed applicable for everyone. I had not spent much time exploring SocialVibe previously, but this video intrigued me and led me to explore it further. Check it out:


SocialVibe connects your online networks and preferences to give you an easy way to support your cause-of-choice. I think you'll see some familiar causes on the page. Such as...



@charitywater and USA Today winner @TWLOHA are both right there on the front page.

2) 4 Tips for Tapping Into Twitter Conversations

• Anticipate Conversations - Last week is a great example... Did you know National Volunteer Week was coming? Did you have a strategic plan for engaging, recruiting and/or thanking volunteers? Do you have November 15th circled well in advance on your marketing plan? (It's National Philanthropy Day) As pertinent laws, public debates, events and trends are on the horizon, are you ready to get on Twitter and say what you need to in order to make your case relevant and compelling?
• Don't Just Post - Engage - I hope this is a truth we know as self-evident in the social media world, but sadly that is not the case for many. Notice who is tweeting about you, reply to DMs (when appropriate), identify the key influential followers of your account/cause and directly engage them. Treat them like you would a potential future board member (which they may be!).
• Move Fast - All you have to do is look at the #AmericaWants Twitter campaign to realize the impact moving fast can have. As Jamie Tworkowski, founder of To Write Love On Her Arms (@TWOLHA), told USA Today last week - ...his team discovered the contest pretty much right when it launched on April 13. "A few of us were awake and knew we had to jump on it," said Jamie. "We tweeted right away, got something up on the website, and started making noise." There is not a shortage of examples where urgency can make a difference in a NPOs campaign. Haiti, Chile and other such disasters illustrate that urgency mixed with a nimble NPO can result in significant giving.
  
• Be Relevant - Easily one of the most common mistakes I have seen NPOs make on Twitter and Facebook is ignoring this advice. Rather than engaging and being "human" the accounts are used as a press-release machine with 0% personality; a one-way communication that fails to add value to the larger conversation. If you provide insight and personality, your audience will be more inclined to pay attention to you and your cause in the future.

3) Five Ways Classrooms Non-Profits Can Use Videoconferencing

• Connect with Experts - No matter what kind of NPO you are - Education, Religion, Environment, Health... and on and on - there are experts in your field. Ideally they are on your staff or partnered with your org, but you can connect your constituents with the experts easily via one of these videoconferencing options. Put the researcher in front of your donors and illustrate the difference she is making. Put a child sleeping in under a mosquito net in front of potential donors half-a-world away.
  
• Virtual Field Trips - This is very closely tied to the previous bullet point. However, rather than just bringing an expert to the computer screen, you can illustrate a cause, need or success story. Habitat-for-Humanity can take a virtual field trip to a completed house and show those who helped build the abode just how the family appreciates the volunteerism (and the decorations!). PETA can take you to the Canadian coast and show brutal seal hunting.
• Working Together - The example Mashable gives here is of two classrooms working on a school project together. Now imagine that instead of two classrooms it is two NPOs. We often stay within our silo and avoid working with other NPOs. What if the phone programs for soliciting alumni at the University of Florida, Boston University and Texas A&M brought student managers together to share best practice via video once per month? Each could share a challenge and get support from the other institutions while building a professional network. Why shouldn't multiple chapters of the American Diabetes Association meet via video to brainstorm event and fundraising initiatives? A successful community organization in London, UK could meet with on in London, ON to share tips.
  
• Assessing Previously Unavailable Courses - If you are fortunate to have volunteers and donors that are outside of your local area, you can provide fundraising and event training via video. This limits the resources you must dedicate to training and keeps your travel budget down (hopefully!).
• Teaching the Teachers - I return to the first point about connecting with experts. These experts, conversely are connecting with your constituents. This connection can help the researchers, doctors, organizers, leaders and other experts better understand what challenges you have when fundraising ... a lesson that can be valuable to your internal relationships.
  

Also, if you did not see last week's Through Non-Profit Eyes - check it out here. Lots of useful information!

Images courtesy of SocialVibes.com & Mashable.com

Through Non-Profit Eyes: Mashable's weekly social-media summary

* Jumped the gun this week and interpreted another Mashable article rather than the "Social Media Resources You May Have Missed" bit... The original post is below and focuses on the changes to Facebook. You can also check out Part II which deals with SocialVibe, tips for tapping into Twitter conversations and ways to use videoconferencing to further your efforts.

Every week Mashable.com summarizes their stories and blogs of the week on social-media news & tools. As a resource for the non-profit world, I take it each week and share some of the applicable tools through a pair of non-profit spectacles.
Frankly, this week's summary was lacking in items for non-profit specificity, but there is one theme worth considering in the following phrase:

...changes to Facebook — the introduction of the web-wide “Like” button, the death of Facebook Connect...

I cite these simply as a word of caution to those depending on external sources for their non-profit marketing efforts - don't get me wrong... you should be on Facebook, Twitter, etc. ...but you have to operate in a manner that is nimble and understanding. Facebook is not beholden to you, no matter how many "We won't pay for Facebook" and "Bring back the Become a Fan button" groups or pages there are.

Some were bemoaning these changes because of time or thoughts invested in "Become a Fan" marketing campaigns or the tech work to introduce Facebook Connect to websites. But as I mention in my presentations on social-media, you have to work with caution and the understanding that your platform could be gone tomorrow. Case-in-point... Remember about two years ago when everyone was scrambling to be the best non-profits on MySpace? Hmm... MySpace is not gone, but it is certainly not where most thought it would be at that time.

How do you address this? For one thing, do not subscribe to anyone's (even your manager's) point-of-view that social media is a "silver bullet" for your marketing efforts. Much like some in upper-management proclaimed that email would solve everything circa 1995, some do so with social-media. They are all helpful tools, but they cannot exist alone.

Additionally, if you have the resources to do so, have a team that provides input on your social-media strategy. This can be internal staff, external stakeholders or a combination. This will make it less stressful when strategies need to be adjusted.

Finally, use links within Facebook, Twitter and other channels that redirect constituents to the pages you control at www.YourOrg.org - the more you have control over the less impact changes in the platforms will have on your organization.

Other useful links from the week in Mashable:
Top 10 YouTube Tips for Small Businesses
Why Retention Should Be Your Top Priority in Social Media Marketing (This one we will tackle from a non-profit point-of-view soon)

Also, if you did not see last week's Through Non-Profit Eyes - check it out here. Lots of useful information!

Image courtesy of Mashable.com

#AmericaWants Top 100 gets own ad in USA Today

Here you go - another advertisement in USA Today for #AmericaWants... this one with the entire top 100 (click on picture to see in detail):

Kudos USA Today. Kudos.

Grading #AmericaWants on the Curve

So we know that To Write Love On Her Arms (@TWLOHA) won the USA Today #AmericaWants competition. They now get to create a full-page advertisement and see it run for free as the prize for their efforts.

But who did the most with what they had?

TWLOHA has over 77,000 followers on Twitter.
JJ's List has 377.
charity:water has 1,314,766.

It is fair to say that the organizations started the competition with different "tweetable resources." That being said, I have taken the figures from the competition and the top 100 ranking and graded it "on a curve" to see which orgs were able to get the most tweets per follower. I had to make a few assumptions:

• Only those organizations in the top 100 are considered, so the 60,342 were split amongst the group. This should not affect the analysis significantly.
• I have applied a smooth distribution of the tweets/votes for the sake of comparison. While this is certainly not how the tweets were split between the 100 organizations, it provides relative data for comparison.
  

A few items of note that I stumbled upon in the data:

• There is not one institution of higher education in the list. Considering the number of alumni and fans many large institutions have, it is disappointing that none are represented. This is further illustration that higher education institutions are less likely to be recognized by alumni as a non-profit institution (a study we conducted during my tenure at the University of Michigan found that over 70% of recent graduates did not realize the institution was not-for-profit). This also illustrates the difficulty higher education often has in making its case seem in need of urgent support and attention. It could also indicate that the often-bureaucratic environment of higher education management was unable to react in the same nimble fashion other organizations could.
• Twenty - one out of five! - organizations did not have a link to their Twitter account on their org's home page. This needs to be remedied! Some examples of promoting your social-media presence nicely on a home page: VH-1 Save The Music, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Lupus Research Institute and UNICEF.
  

• The breakdown of the top 100 by category:

1. Medical (35 orgs)
2. Relief (17)
3. Children (14)
4. Community (8)
5. Animals (7)
6. Legal/Justice (5)
7. Environment (3)
8. Agriculture / LGBTQ / Music / Religious (2 each)
9. Camping / Disabilities / Military (1 each)

Now... drum roll please... the organizations that did the most (got the most tweets) with the least (with the lowest number of followers):

1. The ALS Therapy Development Institute - estimated 32.9 tweets per follower
2. Levantando Chile Fund - 22.3 t/f
3. American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders - 18.8 t/f
   
4. The Carcinoid Cancer Foundation - 7.0 t/f
5. The Pablove Foundation - 4.8 t/f
6. teensMAD4Rwanda - 4.78 t/f
7. Down Syndrome Association of Orange County - 4.6 t/f
8. Thrive Africa - 4.3 t/f
9. The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation- 3.9 t/f
10. aHomeinHaiti.org - 2.2 t/f
    
11. Ride for Kids - 2.1 t/f
    
12. Camp Fire USA - 1.8 t/f
    
13. Essilor Vision Foundation - 1.29 t/f
    
14. Drop in the Bucket - 1.28 t/f
    
15. Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure - 1.24 t/f
    
16. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta - 1.23 t/f
    
17. Small Army for a Cause 1.2 t/f
    
18. JJ's List - 1.0 t/f
    
19. LA's BEST - 0.7 t/f
    
20. Dreamcatchers for Abused Children - 0.6 t/f

Average of the top 100? 0.018 t/f.

Obviously you did not have to be a follower of the organization to tweet your vote, but this provides a scale for comparison. So CONGRATULATIONS to all of these organizations for doing a great job getting organized and promoting their efforts... including our "#AmericaWants on the Curve" winner, the ALS Therapy Development Institute - visit their page here:

#AmericaWants Top 100 Charities

I will be doing some analysis on these rankings to add # of followers, but for now... here's the list courtesy of USA Today (Given that this was a Twitter campaign, I'm surprised the links USA Today provided aren't for the Twitter accounts...):

1. To Write Love on Her Arms

2. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

3. teensMAD4Rwanda

4. aHomeinHaiti.org

5. Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation

6. International Justice Mission

7. Human Rights Campaign Foundation

8. Charity Water

9. Official Love146

10. NOH8 Campaign

11. The Humane Society

12. Convoy of Hope

13. Muscular Dystrophy Association

14. Feeding America

15. Operation Homefront

16. The Moyer Foundation

17. American Cancer Society

18. United Way

19. The Boy Scouts of America

20. Make A Wish Foundation

21. Autism Speaks

22. The Trevor Project

23. Rotary

24. THON

25. Camp Fire USA

26. Compassion International

27. Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure

28. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

29. Farm Sanctuary

30. Ricky Martin Foundation

31. Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases

32. Farm Aid

33. The Pablove Foundation

34. Kids Are Heroes

35. Goodwill

36. Susan G. Komen for the Cure

37. Ronald McDonald House Charities

38. World Vision

39. Share Our Strength

40. Drop in the Bucket

41. Thrive Africa

42. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

43. The American Diabetes Association

44. Samaritan's Purse: Operation Christmas Child

45. Levantando Chile Fund

46. Dreamcatchers for Abused Children

47. The Lymphoma Research Foundation

48. LA's BEST

49. The Salvation Army

50. UNICEF USA

51. PanCAN (Pancreatic Cancer Action Network)

52. Oxfam America

53. Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation

54. The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation

55. Heifer International

56. World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA USA)

57. American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders

58. Save the Children

59. Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure

60. Break the Cycle: Empower Youth to End Dating Violence

61. Bailey Baio Angel Foundation

62. The Alzheimer's Association

63. DoSomething

64. Essilor Vision Foundation

65. VH1 Save The Music Foundation

66. WildCare

67. ChildFund International

68. The ALS Therapy Development Institute

69. Small Army for a Cause

70. Music Saves Lives

71. JJ's List

72. Warrick Dunn Foundation

73. Goodwill Detroit

74. Solar San Antonio

75. Boys & Girls Clubs of America

76. Ride for Kids

77. The Carcinoid Cancer Foundation

78. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

79. First Book

80. Friends of the World Food Program

81. AmeriCares

82. CARE USA

83. Morgan's Wonderland

84. Bring Change 2 Mind

85. Catholic Relief Services

86. Susquehanna Service Dogs

87. Youth Service America

88. WITNESS Inc.

89. Starlight Children's Foundation

90. The Lupus Research Institute

91. Heartbeat International

92. The Community FoodBank of New Jersey

93. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

94. Immigration Equality

95. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals LA

96. Down Syndrome Association of Orange County

97. Girls Inc of Orange County

98. The Nature Conservancy

99. The Children's Hospital - Denver

100. Surfrider Foundation

American Idol Gives Back...

American Idol - the mega-money-making-marketing machine - brings back its "Idol Gives Back" charitable push this Wednesday. The beneficiary organizations are at the end of this post.

A few years ago, when Idol started this event, I was impressed with how involved the campaign and event were with MySpace. Given the downward slope of MySpace's importance and the exponential growth of Facebook and Twitter, I am surprised to see very little presence for the Gives Back campaign on either of the latter platforms. There is a brief video buried on the Idol Facebook page that is equally buried in the official Idol Twitter feed. I would suspect we'll see this make some Twitter waves Wednesday evening.

Upon visiting the Gives Back page, I thought social-media may be put to use when I saw the Spread The Word link, but unfortunately this is only for emailing friends. I would think a show like Idol, which certainly makes more money in a year than some countries, they would be further ahead of the times than this.

Are there any lessons here for the average non-profit org? Lesson 1 - create the most popular show in the country and make sure your org is highlighted for giving. On a more serious note, I'll take a look at the case for support each org makes during the show and see what the takeaways are.

Idol Gives Back '10 Designations:

The Children's Health Fund

Founded in 1987 by singer/songwriter Paul Simon and pediatrician/advocate Irwin Redlener, MD, Children's Health Fund (CHF) is the nation's leading pediatric provider of mobile-based health care for homeless and low-income children and their families. CHF's mission is to bring health care directly to those in need through the development and support of innovative medical programs, response to public health crises, and the promotion of guaranteed access to health care for all children. Teams of dedicated medical professionals in CHF's 24 pediatric programs in 15 states and the District of Columbia have brought essential primary care services through more than 2 million patient visits.

Feeding America (...for which Josh Grobon tweeted #AmericaWants support!)

Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms.

Malaria No More (Arguably one of the best social-media orgs on the '"interwebs")

Malaria No More is determined to end malaria deaths in Africa. Every 30 seconds, a child in Africa dies of this preventable and treatable disease, but a simple mosquito net can save lives. Malaria No More leverages breakthrough communications, global advocacy and smart investments to reach its goal of providing universal access to malaria interventions by the end of 2010 and ending deaths by 2015. Through the support of IDOL GIVES BACK, Malaria No More has helped millions of families in Africa protect themselves from malaria in Uganda, Zambia, Angola, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In addition, generous sponsorship of IDOL GIVES BACK from ExxonMobil helped Malaria No More strengthen country capacity and improve the delivery and use of malaria interventions in Africa. Together, we can make malaria no more.

Save the Children

Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating real and lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world. Save the Children's U.S. Programs focus on underserved rural areas, where one in five children lives in poverty. Partnering with schools and community organizations, Save the Children provides high-quality early childhood education services for children from birth to age five as well as literacy, physical activity and nutrition programs for children in kindergarten through eighth grade, benefiting over 52,000 children nationwide. Save the Children's work in the United States also includes emergency preparedness, response and recovery. When a disaster strikes, Save the Children deploys trained teams to help displaced children and families and provide more secure environments. In addition, Save the Children works with local, state and national governments to ensure that the unique needs of children are integral in emergency response plans.

United Nations Foundation

The United Nations Foundation, a public charity, was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner's historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. The UN Foundation is an advocate for the UN and a platform for connecting people, ideas, and resources to help the United Nations solve global problems. The UN Foundation's work is focused on decreasing child mortality, improving disaster relief, protecting diverse cultures and environments, creating a clean energy future, empowering women and girls and improving U.S.-UN relations.