Social Media

Causes, a for-profit company that lets Facebook Inc.'s users give money to charities, raised $9 million in new funding and began selling gift cards in supermarkets as it tries to bring more philanthropy to the Web.

Causes' Facebook application connects 119 million people to a range of charities, making it easy to donate small amounts.

A social-media campaign by the retailer Target was one of two charitable efforts that won a spot on a new list of top 20 social-media campaigns compiled by Forbes magazine. Over two weeks, visitors to Target’s Facebook page were allowed to vote on which of 10 charities would receive the biggest portion of $3-million Target had decided to give.

As big-money donors cut back and government funding grows scarce, nonprofits are successfully turning to social media to solicit smaller donations to make up for shortfalls.

During the past two years, social media campaigns have become an important part of the communications and fundraising repertoires of nonprofit agencies in Sacramento and across the country.

According to a Dartmouth study published last year, 89 percent of the 200 largest charities in the United States were using at least one form of social media in 2008.

How does Generation Y choose to give, and in what ways? One example of a Generation Y stereotype-busting, charitably conscious individual is Carlo Garcia, an actor and producing director for Chicago’s Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co.

Foundation leaders are starting to use social media but not yet making it a regular part of their work, a new report says.

While many foundation executives regularly use more traditional social media like e-newsletters and Listerves, much fewer leaders are using so-called "Web 2.0" applications such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Podcasts on a regular basis, says the report by the Foundation Center.

There's much debate underway regarding the effectiveness of traditional fundraising sources. We're hearing a lot about social media, the importance of websites, emerging technologies and the transitioning of direct mail to electronic media.

This new research shows that charitable organizations are still outpacing the business world and academia in their use of social media. The latest study (2009) revealed that a remarkable ninety-seven percent of charitable organizations are using some form of social media including blogs, podcasts, message boards, social networking, video blogging, wikis and Twitter.

During the presentation “The Skinny on Independent & Integrated Social Media: How to Measure, Track and Weigh-in!” at the Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation’s 2010 New York Nonprofit Conference held Aug. 24-25, the presenters gave tips on how to use and measure social media.

The demographic sands are shifting — there will be an increasing number of older donors with more disposable income as the baby boomer generation matures, and those donors are going to have to use technology to support their nonprofit organizations of choice. With the likely long-term demise of checks as a method of payment, nonprofits are going to need to make sure their technology is incredibly easy to use so anyone can utilize it.

C-level executives Angel Aloma, Danny McGregor and Atul Tandon, along with moderator Tom Harrison, discussed the biggest issues concerning fundraisers at the DMA Nonprofit Federation New York Nonprofit Conference.