Tag Archive for 'action'

Great reads from around the web on July 19th

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I come across so many great conversations, ideas, and resources all over the web every day. Here are some of the most interesting things I’ve found recently (as of July 19th). You can join the conversations in the comments, or click through to the original posts to find what others are saying.

To follow more of the things I find online, you can follow @amysampleward on Twitter (which is just a blog and resource feed), or find me on Delicious (for all kinds of bookmarks).

  • Blood and Milk » Blog Archive » Ushahidi, Twitter, and the future of foreign aid – Alanna's post is a great example of the power of networks, social media, and open systems. As she notes, her example has luck but it is an example of a growing model of a changing world. What do you think?
  • Net2 Think Tank Round-up: Age Segmentation in Social Networking | NetSquared – "For this month's Net2 Think Tank, we asked you to share your thoughts and best practices for using social media with or for a particular age group. We are hoping to understand what tools or practices appeal to different age groups online and how organizations can best target their efforts to those audiences. This round-up is a summary of the responses we received from the community and it will hopefully serve to help you re-think the ways that you're targeting your limited audience." Add your thoughts or blog posts in the comments!
  • Marketing for Nonprofits: Want to Build Community Online? Become a Bridge Builder. – "Marketing online, in particular, is much more than putting up a static website to announce your gala or ask people to volunteer. It's about having a CONVERSATION with people who care about your work and can help you reach your goals. OK, you've heard this before. But the real question is, HOW do you become a community manager and/or how do you find the right person for the job? What is the skill set you should be looking for?"
  • Social Spaces – I'm really excited to see Social Spaces, a project fueled by a friend a colleague, take off! Social Spaces is project which studies positive community projects and aims to test if these types of projects can be stimulated elsewhere through spreading ideas and practices. It is currently focused on 5 main areas: Hand Made – Portraits of Emergent New Culture, Traveling Pantry, Community of Practice, Organizational Workshops, and Research. Check it out!
  • Don't focus on technology, focus on behavior — SocialFish – This presentation by Paul Adams, Senior User Experience Researcher at Google, reposted on the SocialFish blog, nails home a point I feel like I talk about it every day: it's not about the technology, it's about the people! Great slides.
Published on July 19, 2010 by Amy Sample Ward. 2 Comments

GreenPeace: An Example in Connecting with your Supporters

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Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the issues highlighted by Causes leaving MySpace and ideablob suddenly shutting down.  One of the biggest issues that has come out of the blog posts and the conversations in the comments is the idea of data.  To review the other blog posts about these topics, visit the Causes post, ideablob post or the guest post for Tactical Philanthropy.

This evening, Joe Solomon pointed out a great example that touches on data, social media, 3rd party platforms, and being proactive with getting your supporters connected directly with your organization – all things we’ve touched on in the conversations about Causes and ideablob!  That example? Greenpeace International on facebook.

FGgreenpeace

When visiting the Greenpeace International facebook page, visitors see the Take Action tab as default, instead of the typical facebook wall or information pages.  Why I think this is a great example of leveraging the tools within a 3rd party site:

  • Data: GP is letting supporters connect with the organization directly by giving their email address straight to the GP database, not the facebook database.  If anything were to happen to the facebook fan application, or facebook all together, GP would still be able to communicate with supporters.
  • Action: It’s not just about getting email addresses, but also cutting straight to chase: take action!  This strategy ensures that users (whether they are already “fans” or not) are given opportunities to take action as soon as they visit the page.
  • Community: Remember that using social media platforms is all about going where your community already is and making supporting your work part of the process they already have online.  That doesn’t mean that because a user first found you on facebook (maybe through another friend’s actions, etc.) does not also mean that they only want to connect with you in that same platform.  Some users may only want to be a “fan” of your work on facebook, others may want to be on your email list or become a major supporter, fundraiser, or activist on your behalf.  This is an example in providing options, and not assuming a 3rd party platform connection is all that’s wanted.

Thanks, Greenpeace, for being a great example and a leader!

Published on November 16, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 2 Comments

Taking Action on YouTube

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YouTube is set to publicly launch the “Call-To-Action Overlay” feature.  This will allow users to place calls to action (messages and links) on top of videos.  This is huge news as it means a revolutionary shift in the video platform with the largest global audience.  The Call-To-Action Overlay means users will be prompting viewers to click away from YouTube (not exactly the action a platform like YouTube is after).

It won’t be everything nonprofits are looking for though.  There are two major qualifications for use:

  • You can only place customized overlays on a video that you’ve entered into YouTube’s CPC Promoted Videos program.
  • You have to be a paying YouTube advertiser, but do not have to pay extra for the Overlays.

You can include calls to action and links in the description of your videos, but moving those options literally on top of the video can mean a lot for getting results.  According to TechCrunch,

The feature has been in testing with select partners and non-profits for some time, and the results have been extremely positive. Last March, the organization charity:water managed to raise $10,000 in a single day by including an overlay on one of its videos. A handful of politicians have also been trying it out, using it to entice voters to sign their petitions. It’s worked well enough that politicians who haven’t had access to the feature are clamoring for it.

I’m really excited to see what happens tomorrow – but also interested in groups like Call2Action that are already focused on the combination of actionable opportunities and compelling video.

Published on June 30, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments