Social Media

This story from the Sacramento Bee about local—and national—nonprofits using social media to help with fundraising and building supporter community, is another reminder of the importance of understanding and using technology.

An excerpt.

“Women Escaping a Violent Environment in Sacramento needed cash, and needed it fast.

“So the nonprofit agency, which serves victims of domestic violence, sent out a modern-day SOS.

“With a critical program on the chopping block last summer because of the loss of county money, WEAVE enlisted the pro bono help of technology firm Activate Direct, and launched an elaborate e-mail, Facebook and Twitter campaign.

“The effort created a viral response that raised nearly $25,000 in less than three weeks, enough to save the group's Sexual Assault Response Team program, which provides an advocate to meet rape victims at hospitals.

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

"We knew we could not do without this program, and we needed to find the money fast," or lose matching federal dollars, said Amber Stott, WEAVE's director of community development. "It used to be enough to send a newsletter through the mail. That's no longer the case."

“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. Ninety percent of charities described social media campaigns as successful, and 45 percent said the approach is "very important" to their fundraising strategy.

“Savvy nonprofits now are able to instantly tap into longtime supporters while cultivating a whole new audience through forwarded messages and blogs, shared links and re-tweets, said Lesley Miller of 3fold, a Sacramento marketing company that contracts with agencies to design and run campaigns.”