Elizabeth Ricca « Nonprofit Communications: Duck Call Blog

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Share your posts with the nonprofit blog carnival September 1st, 2010 by Elizabeth Ricca

Come one, come all to the nonprofit blog carnival. We Ducks are hosting the September edition, and we know you’re as excited as we are*.

‘Tis the season for freshly-sharpened pencils and year-end appeal strategies, so we invite you to submit your best and brightest blog posts on this month’s theme:

Back to school in nonprofit communications

If you’re a blogger, here’s how it works:

Write a blog post that relates to this month’s theme, or sift through your recent posts for one that fits the bill.
Submit your permalink to the Nonprofit Blog Carnival, or just email it to nonprofitcarnival [at] gmail [dot] com) by Tuesday, September 28.
Visit the Duck Call on Thursday, September 30, and eagerly hit “refresh” until the carnival goes live to find out if we’ve included your post.

If you’re a reader, here’s how it works:

Visit the Duck Call on Thursday, September 30, and eagerly hit “refresh” until the carnival goes live. Read lots of helpful articles that will make you feel that first-day-of-school excitement all over again.

The nonprofit carnival is a great opportunity to drive traffic back to your own blog, so we hope you’ll submit a post and tell all your friends to do the same. We’re most likely to include posts that are recent, easy to read, and (at least loosely) related to theme.

Check out August’s carnival to see the excitement in action—the topic is “creative ideas you can make your own,” and it’s hosted by Kivi Leroux Miller on Kivi’s Nonprofit Communications Blog.

See you at the carnival…

* If you’re asking yourself, “what the heck is a blog carnival?”, this is the link for you.

Tags: nonprofit blog carnival
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Spice up your subject lines | Weekly Roundup August 27th, 2010 by Elizabeth Ricca

In these times of email overload, your nonprofit’s messages have to work hard to separate themselves from the pack. Check out these tips from Brian Clark on Copyblogger to help you write email subject lines so awesome, your recipients can’t help but click.
Facebook makes my head ache sometimes (okay, most of the time), so it’s nice to be reminded of the ways it helps nonprofits do good in the world—like this interesting post from Inside Facebook, examining how the Red Cross uses Facebook to support disaster relief efforts.
Does your nonprofit have an official Place on Facebook? Get ready for check-ins with these tips from Nonprofit Tech 2.0.
Recent research from Pew Internet shows that millenials are eager online sharers, and they’re not likely to grow out of the habit anytime soon. What does this mean for your nonprofit, both in the workplace and as you reach out to younger donors?
A little online eye candy to sweeten your Friday afternoon: TIME magazine’s 50 best websites of 2010. Commence oohing and aahing.

A weekly roundup of interesting reads from the online world of nonprofit communications. Follow me on Twitter @elizabethricca for more noteworthy links.

Tags: best websites of 2010, facebook, Facebook Places, millenials, nptech, roundup, subject lines
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There’s a new mayor in town | Weekly Roundup August 20th, 2010 by Elizabeth Ricca

Facebook has jumped into the location game this week with the launch of Places, an application that lets users “check in” to venues and share their real-time location with Facebook friends.
What it means for nonprofits, and whether it will overtake, complement, or prove irrelevant to the success of similar popular applications like foursquare, remains to be seen. For now, a big initial concern is (surprise, surprise) privacy: check out this post from ReadWriteWeb for instructions on how to update your Facebook account privacy settings in light of the new features.
Should that button say “Donate” or “Give”? When in doubt, look to the data. Elliot Harmon on TechSoup Blog has put together a great post about the ins and outs of A/B testing, and how your nonprofit can use it to improve your communications.
Whether or not your nonprofit is active in social media, sooner or later, you’ll probably need to respond to a tough or touchy topic raised by a member of your community online. It can’t be avoided, but Chris Tuttle on NetWits Think Tank has put together some strategies and tips for how to approach sensitive situations when they arise.
Given the speed at which the digital world is changing, the future of online communications is unpredictable at best. How can nonprofits make smart choices about where to invest time and energy online? Brett Meyer on NTEN’s blog reviews some recent prognostications about what’s to come on the Web, and breaks down what they mean for nonprofits.
Does your web writing need a makeover? Kevin Cesarz offers some helpful tips for structuring your online copy to let the content truly shine.

A weekly roundup of interesting reads from the online world of nonprofit communications. Follow me on Twitter @elizabethricca for more noteworthy links.

Tags: A/B testing, facebook, nptech, privacy, roundup, social media, writing for the web
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Have you warmed up your online voice lately? | Weekly Roundup August 6th, 2010 by Elizabeth Ricca

To get the most out of your organization’s presence in social media, it’s important to strike the right tone—and Chris Koch on Social Media Today has created a great list of the characteristics that your online “voice” should have. (I’m particularly pleased to see “grammatical” on the list.)
We know that mobile giving will probably be a big part of our fundraising futures, but is now the right time for your organization to dive in? On The Case Foundation’s blog, Joshua Tabb looks into some of the reasons why nonprofits may want to keep off the mobile bandwagon, at least for the time being.
On Getting Attention, Nancy Schwartz describes how the New Jersey State Library created a successful advocacy campaign by empowering messengers at all levels, from staff to supporters. The Library’s success is a helpful reminder: everyone at your organization is a communicator, not just those with “communications” or “marketing” in their job descriptions.
When someone posts a comment to your organization’s website or Facebook page, do you have a strategy for how to respond? John Haydon explains why creating a response workflow is an important part of your social media plan.
If your organization has a blog, get excited: this month’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival, hosted by Britt Bravo on Have Fun • Do Good, is chock full of links and other goodies to help you make the most of your nonprofit blogging efforts.

Speaking of the Carnival, the September edition will be taking place right here on the Duck Call. So sharpen up your blogging fingers, and stay tuned for more info in the coming weeks.

A weekly roundup of interesting reads from the online world of nonprofit communications. Follow me on Twitter @elizabethricca or check out my Delicious bookmarks for more noteworthy links.

Tags: blog, blog carnival, campaign, comments, mobile, nptech, roundup, social media
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Say, thanks. | Weekly Roundup July 16th, 2010 by Elizabeth Ricca

What’s the goal of your annual report? For the BC Cancer Foundation, it’s simple: say thank you. So this year, that’s just what they did. On his blog, Jonathon Grapsas highlights the successes of the simple video and microsite they created in place of a print annual report.
In order to communicate effectively for your nonprofit, you may need to be comfortable being wrong from time to time. Amber Wobschall on Connection Cafe shares tips and examples for how nonprofits can challenge past assumptions and make the most out of missteps.
Are you giving your donors, supporters, and other website visitors the right tools to get in touch with you? Create an inviting “Contact Us” page with the help of these tips from John Paul Titlow on ReadWriteBiz.
Not sure how to break out of broadcast mode with your organization’s Facebook updates? Miriam Kagan shares a nice example on DonorPower Blog of how nonprofits can use Facebook to build relationships with donors and inspire them to act and interact online.
With all the fuss about social media, traditional marketing can start to feel like the ugly duckling. Elaine Fogel reminds that while integration of online and offline tools may not be the hottest topic, it’s still the key to successful communications.

A weekly roundup of interesting reads from the online world of nonprofit communications. Follow me on Twitter @elizabethricca or check out my Delicious bookmarks for more noteworthy links.

Tags: annual report, integrated communications, nptech, roundup, thank you, website
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