Massachusetts nonprofit social media survey

Being very interested in how nonprofits are using social media ourselves, we’d like to pass along a survey whose results we look forward to seeing.

—————————–

Talance is launching the Massachusetts Nonprofit Social Media Survey, whose objective is to gauge how Massachusetts nonprofits are using social media.

The results will help delineate where nonprofits fall in social media adoption rates, how that varies (for example by the size of the org), and what kind of benefits they’re receiving from their efforts. The findings will provide solid practical value for nonprofits that want to benchmark their own practices.

The survey will be open until Nov. 21, 2008.

Anyone can receive a free executive summary of the survey results when they become available this winter. Every organization that submits a completed survey will receive a complimentary copy of the full survey report, available in February.

Keeping the reins on viral marketing?

Last year, marketing for the Nonprofit Workout was simple in one key way – we promoted it in as many places as possible. We had several hundred seats to fill, after all.

The challenge is that we don’t necessarily know what worked and what didn’t. There were obvious spikes in our web traffic and registrations that could be tied to specific e-Newsletters or partner events, but as is the way with these things, most people registered in the final weeks before the conference. And while there is a “how did you hear about us?” field in the registration process, it’s not detailed enough to pinpoint which specific websites/calendars/partners were most effective.

So the conference wound up selling out — and even had a waiting list! — and we breathed a sigh of relief.

This year we are running a training series, so the marketing plan is very different. Instead of several hundred seats available at an all-day conference, we’re only trying to fill 30 seats at a half-day training — each month. We’re trying to find the right balance between promoting it enough places to sell out each training, but not having a long waiting list full of disappointed people.

Executive experience? The art of staying on message

Have you noticed that the phrase “executive experience” is being used to answer questions about a certain politician who has taken center stage in the last few weeks? No matter what the question is, inserted into the response (since often there is no actual “answer”) is the phrase “executive experience” — whether it is provided by the politician or by a supporter or spokesperson.

The phrase “executive experience” is even being used by detractors, as they dispute what is implied by the statement.

This is a real-world, real-time example of the art of staying “on message.” And by doing so, the general public is picking up the phrase — and the intended message behind it — with many taking that message as fact.

While I don’t suggest that nonprofit staff should practice “truthiness,” I do think that we can learn a lot from this process about getting our message across to the media while answering their questions honestly.