Introducing npENGAGE

There’s a new kid on the nonprofit blogosphere block. It is both an all encompassing one-stop-shop and a tailored-to-you destination. I may be quite biased but I think it is going to knock your socks off.

Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I am pleased to present to you npENGAGE.

To know npENGAGE is to know three key elements.

First, npENGAGE is home to nine blogs, each customized to a different need of the nonprofit sector. As a reader, you’ll have the flexibility to consume information across the whole spectrum or to just subscribe to the individual blog that speaks to your needs and interests.

npENGAGE’s blogs are

• Analytics
• CRM
• Event Fundraising
• Fundraising
• Integrated Marketing
• Interactive
• Nonprofit Management
• Research & Trends
• Technology

Second, npENGAGE is built on the content from five leading nonprofit blogs, including Connection Café. The content of those five blogs will populate the npENGAGE archives and ensure that each individual blog within npENGAGE starts strong. This will give npENGAGE the unique distinction of being a new site with years of proven, useful content already present.

Third, Connection Café will redirect to npENGAGE starting this weekend. If you are an RSS subscriber to Connection Café, your feed will be automatically updated with the main npENGAGE feed. From there you can decide if the main feed is right for you or if one of the more specialized feeds is a better fit.

If you have questions about npENGAGE or your Connection Café subscription, please ask in the comments below or by email.

Finally, thank you so very much for being a part of Connection Café. Your feedback, passion and sense of mission inspired our bloggers to contribute every week. We look forward to more of the same in our new home on npENGAGE!

See you there!

Facebook Marketing Cheat Sheet

You want to learn everything you can about marketing your nonprofit via Facebook. But you don’t have all day to learn it. No worries. I’ve done the searching, so you can do just the reading.

Quick & Dirty How-Tos

• A Simple 6 Step Plan to Creating a Facebook Page That Works
• How to Create a Cover Photo for Your Facebook Timeline
• How-to Start Marketing on Facebook

Idea Mega-Lists

• 22 Ways to Stay Connected to Your School's Alumni on Facebook
• 8 Ideas for Social Media Rewards
• 50 Social Media Content Ideas

Stats & Research

• Nonprofits Value a Facebook Like at $214.81
• The World is Obsessed with Facebook
• Stats on Facebook 2012 [Infographic]

You can also check out Sarah-the-intern's "How to Increase Facebook Engagement" for more ideas.

The Real Power of the Purse

As a grown up Girl Scout who also served as a camp counselor, assistant troop leader and staff person, I’m a certified geek for all things girl power.

Imagine my excitement when I read “Women exert new influence on philanthropy” on MSNBC last week. You should read the full article but I’ll share some of my favorite gems here:

• “…female-headed households are more likely to give to charity than male-headed households; and that in nearly all income groups women give more than men.”
• “’We raised over $6 million in 30 seconds,' said Melanie Sabelhaus…”
• “A $34.7 million Red Cross text campaign to aid victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake was put together by a team of women…”
• “But the real surge in woman's philanthropy may be yet to come.”

Holy guacamole. Look at the first three points and then think about the fourth. Women are doing all that and the real surge isn’t even here yet? Wow.

If you aren’t already purposefully targeting women, it’s probably a good time to start.

I wish the next part of this post was “5 things you can do to woo women donors” but alas, I don’t have a fail-proof plan. Like any segment that is half the population, there’s a lot of variance. However, I can happily offer you more resources for learning. So, here you go:

• The 2011 Study of High Net Worth Women's Philanthropy
• Marketing to Women Quick Facts
• What do Women Want in a Laptop? (a what-not-to-do story)

Make the Most of Your Holiday Week

Office a little dead this week with the 4th of July holiday? Hearing crickets instead of coworkers (and no, I’m not talking about the Austin cricket infestation)?

Sometimes…OK most of the time, a slow week like this can be great for knocking through projects. But sometimes it can bring you to a standstill if everyone you need to work with is out enjoying an extended holiday. If you fall into that latter category, this blog’s for you! Here are 5 things you can do, sans coworkers, partners, donors, anyone at all, that will keep your mission on track.

1. Data Hygiene: Data nerds rejoice! This is the perfect opportunity to do a little merge/purge on your constituent records. If your merge/purge is complete (give yourself a high five), take a minute to add more detail like the preferred title (Ms, Mrs., Miss, etc).
2. Clean Your Desk: It’ll make each workday seem so much less hectic going forward. Promise.
3. Thank You Calls: Whether catching up on long-overdue thank yous or just reaching out to your board and committee members with an extra thanks, these will go a long way in building relationships.
4. Professional Development: All those on-demand webinars and how-to blog posts you have bookmarked, this is the week to actually learn from them. And if you don’t have any bookmarked, check out these guides on nonprofit best practices.
5. Me Time: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. That’s right. If the whole office is on vacation, leaving you high and dry on projects, this might be your perfect opportunity to catch some R&R yourself. Go play some golf, get a pedicure, have a mojito by the pool. Do whatever it is that will rejuvenate you and leave you ready to hit the ground running next week.

Happy Fourth of July!

How to Use Twitter Better

Home school your way to a more successful Twitter presence. Here’s a baker's dozen of resources that can help you wow the socks off your colleagues. I humbly suggest bookmarking this page right now.

Beginner

• Twitter in Plain English (YouTube)
• How to Use Twitter
• Twitter 101 for Nonprofits (Slideshare)
• 20 Tips for Nonprofits Using Twitter

Intermediate

• 40 Twitter-iffic Event Day Ideas
• 10 Ways Your Nonprofit can use Twitter
• Social Media 4 Nonprofits (includes Prezi)
• 40 Twitter Tips that Turn Newbies into Students, Experts into Pros
• How to Use Twitter for Business

Advanced

• 3 Tips to Improve Online Marketing
• The Business Impact of Twitter
• 4 Ways to Use Twitter for Customer Service and Support
• How to Gather and Use Twitter Metrics

What other great tips, tricks or best practices have you found or started using for Twitter?