Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Marketing and nonprofit

Help me become a social media marketing expert

pwnguin — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 19:34:48 -0800

I want to transform my department's social media team into the campus experts on social media. What are the books, workshops, tools, websites and communities I should be looking into? The person who managed this stuff left a year ago, and it's clear that our student team that was hired in the lurch isn't getting enough attention or guidance. What I'd like to do is learn enough to mentor this team, partially to help build my own niche within the dept, and partially to become competent enough to relieve our director of the duty of managing this team.

I know how to use most social media (except maybe Pinterest) on a personal level, but I'd like to figure out the 'srs bsns' side of it. For example, Twitter. We have a few accounts, with a total of around 3500 followers. I'd like to have some guidelines on what / how much to retweet, when to use a hashtag, and what relevant metrics (other than the obvious, followers) to track.

I'd also love to have some software (preferably open source) to queue up stuff and release it over time, to help compensate for variable student schedules. You can tell which days our social media student employee is in, for example, because we get five to ten tweets / posts that day, and none on the others. I think having a buffer will help smooth things out, and let us focus on reaching goals.

I know there's a lot of sketchy advice on SEO and social media, so I'm turning to the metafilter for advice!

ISO Web Gurus for Charity

metajc — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:59:02 -0800

Can you name some digital marketing sales and marketing gurus in the non-profit, charity, NGO worlds? Looking for the brightest flames in the world of online Internet marketing for non-profits.

Who knows the most about the CRMs, the CMSes for online donor management? Who also knows Salesforce, not to mention how to cram Facebook and Twitter data into Blackbaud, Convio, Salsa, etc?

OR -- maybe the best of the best leave these matters to the DB team and focus solely on the external worlds of organic, paid search, email marketing, social, etc.

US/English-writing folks would be best but I'm open. Accessible types are of the most interest. I want to learn more and might have to ask.

Arts council seeks examples of effective marketing materials.

AnOrigamiLife — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:46:40 -0800

[Nonprofit Filter] Small-town arts council needs your help! We seek effective examples of 1) an "ask package" or a "leave behind" to use as a guide when creating our own, and 2) an affordable and duplicatable example of a simple artist's database/registry. We are a small-town nonprofit arts council emerging from the fire and working hard to reintroduce ourselves as the arts authority in our region. We have many projects planned to this end. I see no sense in reinventing the wheel for solutions that already exist, and would appreciate your suggestions and/or links to creative, professional examples of the following:

1) A fundraising "ask package" or "leave behind" to provide to big potential funders. We imagine this in the form of a basic bound 8-1/2 x 11 booklet that includes much of what may appear in a standard funding proposal (history, misson, programs/activities, accomplishments, board information, calendar, etc) and possibly more. Perhaps in the style of an annual report? We may present it bound with a plastic comb binding so as to be easily and inexpensively revised and customizable. We seek some really creative ideas for content and presentation, as well as your input as to what has worked (or not) for you.

2) A searchable artist database to include the names of the ~300 talented artists in our community, along with complete profiles, artist statements, sample images, pricing, and contact information, etc. I've found many gorgeous examples online. The kicker is, of course, the cost to create something like this. We have a $1,000 budget to hire a local web professional to do this. We want it to run itself when it's all done, so artists may create and update profiles all on their own.

Take this job and restaff it

mellifluous — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:29:10 -0800

I got offered this internship that I really don't want. Would I be foolish to turn it down anyway? I applied and was accepted for an unpaid internship at a small non-profit. I would be devoting approximately ten hours a week, mostly from home, to various "public relations" tasks - drafting press releases, corresponding with media contacts, maintaining a presence on Facebook/Twitter, etc. The work is of no interest to me and the thought of accepting the position makes me feel really nervous - I anticipate finding the tasks burdensome and feeling obligated to stay on for the entire duration (several months.) In addition, since the position is very part-time, and I would be tele-commuting, I'm not sure if I could develop the kind of connections and relationships that would help me find a "real" job soon. Finally, I inquired about the prospect of long-term paid employment when the internship ends, and I was told it was very unlikely.

Why did I apply, then? Because I'm about to graduate, I wouldn't mind doing work in the non-profit sector (although I would like the work to be of a different nature), and most of my past work experience lies in assisting research projects for professors on a part-time basis - not something a lot of "real" employers seem too interested in.

Does turning down this internship represent a significat missed opportunity, or should I hold out for something that accords more with my interests?

What's Cooler Than Dancing in a Train Station?

Lipstick Thespian — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:55:52 -0800

What Are Some Creative Ways To Get People Interested In A Giving Campaign? I'd like to hear from the Metaverse from any marketers, non-profit superstars, or performers about how you have created interest in a campaign, performance or idea you want to get out to the public.

I'd like to hear responses that go beyond the flyers and flashmobs level, and hopefully get inspired by your answers as well.

I'm coordinating a campaign this year and am having difficulty rousing folks to the cause.

Help me use these minions wisely

faineant — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 03:06:18 -0800

Looking for useful marketing projects for volunteers I need to come up with a laundry list of open-ended or broadly focused projects that volunteers to the organization can do to assist with marketing/pr for an educational nonprofit. Said volunteers will get to choose the projects that interest them, so a wide variety of potentially (actually, if not necessarily immediately) useful activities is the goal. Said volunteers are also, obviously, volunteers, so if they lose interest two weeks after beginning, the projects need to be something that isn't critical if abandoned and/or is relatively easily picked up by a new volunteer.

They will not be able to assist with any organizational website-related projects.

This is not my area of expertise, so please don't hesitate to suggest the obvious.

Some of the ideas I've got:

a) research news clippings;

b) conduct surveys;

c) take photos of staff/student interaction;

d) interview/profile staff/students/corporate partners/sponsors for the newsletter;

e & beyond) ??

Any ideas gratefully received. Thanks.