The NonProfit Times - June 1, 2008 - (Page 22)

Continued from page 21 money.” What he has promoted more is the tool that allows members to donate to add more space to the MyChurch home page. MAKING THE CONNECTION Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter and other social media tools are just as popular with religious organizations. InterfaithFamily.com, (IFF) based in Newton Upper Falls, Mass., has been using a variety of social media tools for the past couple of years to connect with those of the Jewish faith.The nonprofit works to bring together families where one spouse is not Jewish. Many of the people to whom they reach out include Jewish moms in interfaith marriages with young children. Ruth Abrams, online editor for IFF, said the nonprofit is beginning to use more social media tools to drive people to the organization’s Web site.Tools, such as Twitter, LiveJournal and Facebook are now a regular part of Abrams’ vocabulary. Although Abrams and other IFF staff members are constantly looking for ways to post links and blog entries on the many social media sites, it’s hard to keep up with all of the activity. “We can do a little, but it can’t be our main duty each day,” she said. Abrams often uses the chatter and conversation on the social media forums to determine what types of articles to include in the nonprofit’s regular e-newsletter communication. She’s also careful to strike a balance between that personal feel on social media sites versus a more formal organizational feel. “Social media is really a mixed bag,”she said.“You want to reveal enough to give that personal connection, but not too much. It’s a real balance in terms of striking the right tone between personal and a more formal, journalistic tone. But it’s up to us to put a more human face on all the statistics surrounding interfaith marriages and what’s happening in the Jewish community.” Not surprising, Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) has become entrenched in Facebook with its major audience of university students flocking to the site 24/7 (the popular social media site ranks just behind text messaging as the preferred communication among young people). Although the nonprofit’s main focus is connecting with these students where they are, that doesn’t mean this outreach doesn’t translate into dollars for the organization. By reaching out to the college crowd, the religious organization is furthering its mission with every Facebook post, link and connection made. Some of the organization’s campus locations have been using social media sites such as Facebook for fundraising, but nationally CCC hasn’t moved in that direction -- yet, said Tony Arnold, media relations director for the nonprofit.“But we’re looking at it strongly.” The students who CCC reaches often make spiritual connections on Facebook, Arnold said. One example is a freshman from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga who posted to her Facebook page that she didn’t know much about God, but wanted to find out more. “Through Facebook, she made a spiritual decision, and now her Facebook profile conveys her personal journey -- the photos changed, the postings changed,”Arnold said.“That’s typical of one of our student’s pages; the content is different but the look and feel isn’t. It’s still Facebook, and these pages don’t look weird or different than others. It just might be that some kids have a Bible verse of the day versus the drink of the day on their Facebook.” THE IMPORTANCE OF LINKING The links on Facebook pages of those connected to religious organizations can also be fairly different than your “average” Facebook. Links to religious Web sites and programs are common and important to the fundraising efforts of nonprofits, said John Carley, president of Trinet Internet Solutions Inc., a full-service Web firm that works with many religious organizations on social media strategy. “People can become your donation sponsor by putting a ‘bug’ on their home page.That allows others to donate to a cause directly from that person’s Facebook page. It’s pretty new and something we’re really encouraging our clients to do,” Carley said. Sites such as del.icio.us and Digg also allow organizations to link and provide additional opportunities for topics to be discussed further. With people furthering the discussion, it also leads to more people wanting to donate and support the cause, said Carley, who added that his firm typically looks at six to seven social networking sites when making recommendations to clients. Furthering the discussion and connecting people closer to the cause is why so many religious organizations and other nonprofits are diving head first into social media networking. For the Valley Bible Fellowship Church, social networking has allowed the “mega” church to relate with members and others on a more intimate level, Doss said.“A lot of people have a problem with big churches, and this has allowed us to have a smaller feel and allow specific groups (prayer groups, singles, single moms, musicians, etc.) to fellowship with one another.” NPT Email Evangelism Ministries are using advanced email tactics BY NATALIE GHIDOTTI hree years ago, the leaders at Revive Our Hearts (ROH) women’s ministry decided to take its growing Internet program to the next level.The religious programming for women, part of Life Action Ministries, based in Buchanan, Mich., was looking for a better way to integrate what its audience heard on Nancy Leigh DeMoss’ popular radio show with deeper, more insightful information on its Web site. T According to Aaron Paulus, interactive media director for Life Action Ministries which rolled out ROH’s email strategy three years ago, the ministry started simply by emailing transcripts of the radio program to interested listeners.What Paulus and others found was that there was quickly an interest from its audience to receive more ecommunications, which were also forwarded to friends. “We decided we needed to help them go deeper with the resources on our Web site and truly connect with that day’s content,” Paulus said.“We started with our flagship enewsletter, The Daily Connection, and now offer several different e-newsletters that women can subscribe to.” Of course, the e-newsletters that are distributed on a daily and weekly basis all link back to the ROH Web site. And there’s not a page on the site that doesn’t somehow remind viewers that they can subscribe to these e-newsletters. All of this is used to help women “go deeper” with the ministry. “Our email strategy is to get them back to the Web site and challenge them spiritually,” Paulus said.“We want to be talking to them on an ongoing basis and encourage them and invest in them long term.” Of course, the next step is to encourage these women (mostly mothers with children) to become even more involved with the ministry, hopefully at a donor level.“Before we send our printed year-end solicitation piece, we send out an email -- a ‘coming to your mailbox soon’ type communication,” he said.“We also include a video link in that email that highlights our year-end needs.” Five to 10 days after prospective donors receive the printed piece, they are sent a follow-up email making sure they received the mailed piece. If they didn’t, there is a link provided to download the piece from the Web site. 22 JUNE 1, 2008 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.nptimes.com http://InterfaithFamily.com http://www.nptimes.com

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The NonProfit Times - June 1, 2008 First Kroc Center Set To Open It’s Layoffs And A Lawsuit At ARC In The Twin Cities Hospices Put On Life Support Contents Who...When...Where...How...What? Idol Charities Still Waiting For Funds Heck Of A Job Play On Words Make Endowments Pay Donor Management Software Who’s Next? Joining The Masses Online Email Evangelism Three Corners Business Briefs Fiduciaries And The 990 Calendar United Way Refocusing On Programs, Reducing Affiliates NPT Jobs Resource Directory

The NonProfit Times - June 1, 2008

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