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The WASH Sustainability Charter: Collaborating for Best Practices

Posted by Alexis Nadin on May 9th, 2012

On Thursday, April 26th, GlobalGiving hosted Brian Banks, the Director of Sustainability for Global Water Challenge (GWC) for a discussion about the WASH Sustainability Charter. The Charter is a document that has been endorsed by nearly 100 organizations in the water, sanitation, and hygiene sector as a set of guiding principles for sustainable programs. Brian discussed the steps the GWC took to create the Sustainability Charter and win signatures, the successes of the charter, and what lessons the development community can learn from this experience.

View the presentation slides here. Listen to the training recording here.

Training Summary

Globally, nearly 1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water and more than 2.5 billion do not have access to a toilet. While much progress had been made meeting these critical global needs, ensuring that projects last long-term has been challenging:

  • Approximately 30% of all hand-pumps installed in Sub-Saharan Africa have failed prematurely.
  • Over the last 20 years, over 180,000 hand pumps installed in Sub-Saharan Africa have failed  pre­maturely, representing a total failed investment of between $1.2 and $1.5 billion
  • If every hand pump installed in Africa in the past 20 years still worked, nearly 70 million more people would have access to water.
  • Less than 5% of projects are visited after project completion, and far less than 1% have any longer-term monitoring.

WASH Sector

The WASH sector is made up of a broad range of organizations including donors such as the Hilton Foundation, implementers like CARE and WATERAid, and local NGOs like CREPA, Nepal Water for Health, and Kenya’s Water Services Trust Fund, among other stakeholders.

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services are critical to achieve success in international development. Sustainable WASH projects lay the groundwork for improvements in economic development, education, environmental conservation, human health, nutrition, international security and women’s empowerment.

What is the GWC?

Coalition of corporations, NGOs and other stakeholders committed to achieving universal access to WASH.

What is sustainability?

Lasting service provision; ensuring the long-term return on investment for a WASH project.

Developing the Charter

The development of this Charter was initiated at a series of WASH Sustainability Forums hosted in Washington, DC. The first event was hosted in January 2011 and consisted of 50 different WASH stakeholders and 90 individual participants. The purpose was to bring donors and implementers into the sustainability conversation, identify best practices of sustainability, and build consensus around key elements of sustainability and establish charter of principles.

From the collaborative work at these events, a draft Charter was created. Following several rounds of wide public feedback, the final document has now been launched. To date, close to 100 organizations have endorsed the Charter.

The final document is:

  • Open source. It is developed by the sector, for the sector. Rather than one organization, over 100 organizations have contributed to the document.
  • Brought to life by endorsers. It is endorsers that put the Charter into practice that transform this charter from a document into a powerful force for changing the way we, as a sector, do business. The Charter is an aspirational document, not a governing one.  It will not be directly monitored or enforced. However, it is intended that WASH stakeholders will encourage and assist each other in applying the Charter’s principles, and ultimately, in improving the sustainability of WASH services around the world.
  • A value-add for all. The Charter was developed to be applicable wherever you are on the sustainability spectrum. Also, it has been developed to apply whether you focus on water, sanitation, or hygiene education.
  • Agreed upon best practices. The principles in the Charter carry authority, as they represent the combined learnings and experience of the sector as a whole.
  • Strengthened by broad endorsement. The universality of the document advances its role as a common platform for progress. The fact that it has over 150 endorsements cements its value as a valuable common language and universal framework.

The Charter is made up of 16 principles among 5 areas:

  1. Strategy and Planning
  2. Governance and Accountability
  3. Service Delivery Support
  4. Financial Management
  5. Reporting and Knowledge Sharing

Read the complete Charter here.

From a Document to a Movement

As a result of the Charter, the sector has come together to support other sustainability initiatives including the WASH Sustainability Webinar Series, a sector-wide survey, and more. Learn more here.

Lessons for Other Sectors

In creating the Charter, the WASH community looked to other sectors for ideas and resources. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Use these tips to develop your own sector-wide best practices:

  • Start talking with your peers to “build buzz”
  • Don’t worry about the details
  • Start small, both in size and scope
  • Find the specific need to address
  • Engage peers throughout the process

Have additional questions? Feel free to contact Brian Banks at the Global Water Challenge at Brian.Banks@globalwaterchallenge.org.

Posted in External Opportunities, Trainings | No Comments »

Make the Most of GlobalGiving in 2012

Posted by Alexis Nadin on January 23rd, 2012

A few weeks ago, GlobalGiving announced our 2012 Calendar. It includes the dates of our 2012 Bonus Days—March 14, June 13, and October 17–along with our contests and campaigns for the year. In February, we’ll be hosting our first-ever video contest, giving your organization the chance to be featured in GlobalGiving’s Facebook and Twitter outreach. In May we’re hosting a Tribute Card Campaign in time for Mother’s Day and in September we’re offering our first-ever Fundraiser Campaign. Check out the calendar to learn more about these campaigns and more!

On Wednesday, January 11th, GlobalGiving hosted a training to go over this calendar and to help you develop a fundraising strategy for your project(s) on GlobalGiving in 2012. Listen to the recording here. Take a look at the presentation slides here. We’ve provided a brief summary of the training below.

Create Your GlobalGiving Strategy

Over the years, we’ve found that organizations are most successful on GlobalGiving when they take the time to set goals, create benchmarks, and make a plan for fundraising success. To help you get started, we’ve put together a strategy worksheet. When developing your strategy, make sure to:

  • Include your GlobalGiving strategy in your overall fundraising strategy.
  • Set ambitious, but realistic goals.
  • Plan a calendar. Take advantage of Bonus Days, fundraising campaigns, and contests on GlobalGiving to spur giving throughout the year.
  • Create quarterly benchmarks to help you evaluate your success.
  • Incorporate GlobalGiving’s Partner Rewards Program into your strategy. Understand what your organization needs to do to achieve Superstar status and integrate this into your strategy for the year.

When creating your GlobalGiving strategy for the year, consider whether your organization is making the most of GlobalGiving. There are three things you can do to optimize your fundraising on the site:

Attract New Donors

In 2011, 2.55 million individuals visited GlobalGiving. Over 102,000 donors gave to projects on the site. What can you do to attract GlobalGiving donors to your project(s)?

  • Write a compelling and easy to understand project description! Donors usually spend 30 seconds on a project page before deciding to give. So, grab donors’ attention right away with close-up, high resolution photos, a specific, action-oriented title, an easy to understand, jargon-free project summary, and tangible and realistic donation options. See a great example. Read additional tips for your project description here.
  • Improve your project ranking(s). GlobalGiving ranks projects on the site based on frequency of reporting, the number of donors, and the overall donation volume. This ranking is used to determine the order in which projects appear under each theme and country on the site, as well as the projects that are featured on the homepage. Learn more. You can find your project(s) ranking on the dashboard of the project entry system.

Engage Existing Donors

Attracting donors to your project(s) is only the first step in developing a long-term, valuable relationship with donors. In order to retain donors, it is important to recognize their donation and to continue to engage them through project reports, fundraising campaigns, and donor tools.

  • 46% of donors stop giving because they feel like their donations are not recognized or appreciated. (Read more.) Make sure to send a personal thank you to donors within a week of a donation being made. Read tips for sending a thank you email from the donation manager here. Use thank you notes to notify donors about upcoming campaigns and opportunities to get involved.
  • Campaigns are designed to help you keep your donors engaged! The deadlines and added financial incentives create a sense of urgency to give now. Campaigns also give your donors a reason to reach out to family and friends about supporting your cause. Use the calendar to identify campaigns to keep your supporters engaged throughout the year.
  • Build donation tools—recurring donations, donation as a gift, fundraiser pages—into your regular interactions with your supporters. Are they looking to support your organization around a holiday? Ask them to consider making a donation as a gift. Are they interested in supporting your organization long-term? Recurring donations make it easy!
  • Share success stories and opportunities to get involved through project reports. Don’t forget: project reports are emailed directly to your donors. Use reports as a tool to keep donors engaged and interested in supporting your work. Read more about great project reports here.

Become a Superstar!

We use the Partner Rewards Program to identify organizations to recommend to our corporate partners and to feature in our donor outreach. Superstar and Leader organizations are more likely to be recommended than Partner organizations. You can find your organization’s Partner Rewards Level on the dashboard in the project entry system. Learn how you can become a Superstar by clicking on your Rewards Level.

 

As always, we’re happy to work with you to develop your organization’s fundraising strategy. Set up a call with a GlobalGiving team member here.

Posted in Campaigns, Fundraising Tips, GlobalGiving, GlobalGiving Tips, Trainings | Comments Off

Holiday Fundraising Training – recording & slides

Posted by Alexis Nadin on November 14th, 2011

On Tuesday, November 8th GlobalGiving hosted a training on holiday fundraising. You can listen to the recording here. Read through the slides here.

The following blog posts provide an excellent summary of the information covered in the training:

Posted in Fundraising Tips, GlobalGiving Tips, Trainings | Comments Off

Mobile GlobalGiving

Posted by acarlman on October 20th, 2011

One of our core values is to never settle, so we’re constantly finding new ways to add value to your experience as a nonprofit partner of GlobalGiving. Today we’re excited to announce the soft-launch of mobile giving options for each of your projects on our site! This means that each of your projects has its own specific keyword that people can text to donate $10 to your project. The $10-per-text is charged to the donor’s phone bill and the donation shows up immediately in our project entry system where you manage your donations. (Please feel free to try it out now, and we’ll be doing a full-fledged launch to donors on Oct. 25.)

Why is mobile giving such a big deal?
In the last 3 years, more than 4.4 million Americans have made mobile donations through our partner mGive, resulting in over $50 million for nonprofits. Starting today, we’re making it possible for any project on GlobalGiving to receive text message donations from US donors.

Please read through this entire post to find out more about mobile giving through GlobalGiving! Here are the three main points we’ll cover:

  • You now have mobile giving capabilities for each of your projects (at no extra cost)!
  • Your text-to-give call-to action is: “Text GIVE <space> [PROJ. ID] to 80088 to give $10 to [PROJECT NAME] on GlobalGiving”
  • You must include the carrier compliance terms anytime you invite people to text-to-give.

 

_______________The GlobalGiving Mobile Giving  Manual________________

 

What’s the mobile giving call-to-action for my projects?
Every GlobalGiving project has its own project ID number. You can find it on your project page above the project title. You’ll use that Project ID number to create you own text-to-give code.

Find your project ID just above the title of your project.

Once you’ve found the Project ID, you can enter it into the the magic formula for your mobile giving call-to-action:

“Text GIVE <space> [PROJ. ID] to 80088 to give $10 to [PROJECT NAME] on GlobalGiving. [DISCLAIMER.]”
or, for example:
“Text GIVE  7481 to 80088 to give $10 to The Underdog Fund on GlobalGiving. [DISCLAIMER]”

Some key points here:

  • [PROJ.ID] is your unique project ID number
  • There is a space between the word GIVE and your PROJ.ID.
  • You must include “GlobalGiving” as a part of the call-to-action because the charge will be listed on their phone bill as a donation to GlobalGiving. (It’s the law!)
  • [DISCLAIMER] indicates the required carrier compliance language.  You must include carrier compliance disclaimers whenever you talk about mobile giving. (It’s the law!) Look below to find out what the proper disclaimer is for your communication medium.

DID YOU CATCH THAT? You must include the [DISCLAIMER] – the proper carrier compliance language whenever you talk about mobile giving.


What is Carrier Compliance?
GlobalGiving, mGive, and the U.S. wireless carriers are committed to ensuring the future of the mobile fundraising platform. To that end, the carriers have implemented rules and regulations to address privacy and transparency to all wireless subscribers regarding mobile donations. These mandatory notices are required in all mobile calls-to-action across all marketing mediums in the form of disclaimers and terms and conditions. mGive provides the required terms and conditions, but it is GlobalGiving’s responsibility to disclose the required information within the disclaimer with all mobile calls-to-action in market.

Therefore, EVERY TIME you make a “call-to-action” (inviting people to text-to-give) YOU MUST include the correct legal disclaimers verbatim visibly on the same page. Find the type of medium you’ll be using to broadcast your call-to-action below, and then find the proper disclaimer to include:

For posts on Facebook or Twitter:
Terms: mGive.org/t
i.e. “Text GIVE  7481 to 80088 to give $10 to The Underdog Fund on GlobalGiving. Terms: mgive.org/t”

For other online messaging:
$10.00 donation to [PROJECT NAME] on GlobalGiving. Charges will appear on your wireless bill, or be deducted from your prepaid balance. All purchases must be authorized by account holder. Message and Data Rates May Apply. Text STOP to 80088 to STOP. Text HELP to 80088 for HELP. Full Terms: mGive.org/T. Privacy policy: goto.gg/privacy

  • This disclaimer must be in at least 12 pt font and not blend in with the background. It must be viewable on the same page without scrolling.
  • “Help” and “Stop” language must be in bold
  • The Privacy policy and mGive.org/T hyperlinks must be active for web promotions

For messaging in print:
$10.00 donation to [PROJECT NAME] on GlobalGiving. Charges will appear on your wireless bill, or be deducted from your prepaid balance. All purchases must be authorized by account holder. Message and Data Rates May Apply. Text STOP to 80088 to STOP. Text HELP to 80088 for HELP. Full Terms: mGive.org/T. Privacy policy: goto.gg/privacy

  • This disclaimer must be in at least 12 pt font and not blend in with the background. IT must be viewable on the same page without scrolling.
  • “Help” and “Stop” language must be in bold
  • The Privacy policy and mGive.org/T hyperlinks must be active for web promotions

For messaging at events:
Strive to have a visual call-to-action with the full disclaimer visible during the event, but if it’s verbal only, please include: “Message and data rates may apply. Full terms at mGive.org/T”

Got that? Ok. Now that we’re clear with the carrier compliance issue, we’ll move on to some other frequently asked questions.

 

What happens when a donor sends a text?
The best way for you to figure out how mobile giving works is to try it out yourself! If you’re in the United States, test it on your own project. If you’re not, please read the steps below to see how it works.

Step 1:
Donor texts: GIVE 7481 to 80088
Auto Response: To confirm your $10 donation to GlobalGiving reply with the word YES. Info? Visit: mGive.org/T or txt HELP. Msg & Data Rates May Apply

Step 1: Text "Give Proj.ID" to 80088 and get response

Step 2:
Donor must respond with: Yes
Auto Response: Thanks! $10 charged to your phone bill. Txt GIVE up to 3x for GG donations. Info? Visit mGive.org/T or txt HELP.STOP to end. Msg & Data Rates May Apply
Auto Response: Reply with YES for GlobalGiving Alerts to find out how your donation is used! Up to 4 msg/mo. Info? Txt HELP, to end txt STOP. Msg & data rates may apply.

 

Step 2: Reply with "Yes" and recieve "thank-you" message. After that, donors receive an invitation to sign up for mobile updates. (They must reply "Yes" to confirm.)

There are two VERY IMPORTANT things to note here:

  • Donors must first text the keyword to 80088, and then they must reply with YES to confirm their donation. Both steps must happen for the donation to go through.
  • The final auto-response message invites donors to sign up for future messaging. (They can also reply YES to this if they choose to do so.) This will be helpful if we want to send them to the GlobalGiving website to see project updates, for example.

 

How do we get the word out about our new mobile giving option?
We recommend spending some time thinking about how text-to-give will work best for your audiences. Here are two ideas:

  • At Events: Inviting supporters to make mobile donations during a live event could give you the opportunity to instantly engage or give in the moment. Potential donors may not have their laptops nearby but they will certainly have their cell phones handy.
  • In combination with other media: If you’re creating a video on YouTube, for example, you could easily add the text-to-give details at the end of the video so viewers can react quickly and easily without going to a different website.

You can tell your donors about mobile giving the same way you’d spread the word about your GlobalGiving project page(s). HOWEVER—and this is important, as we discussed earlier: whenever you spread the word about text-to-give options, you must abide by mobile giving carrier compliance laws. (See above explanation.)


Can we change the donation amount?
Donation amounts are set at $10, but most people can give up to three times to the same keyword/code, giving up to $30 to your project per billing cycle. (The number of maximum mobile donations per wireless subscriber billing cycle varies carrier.)

 

Are there any fees for mobile donations?
GlobalGiving will cover all the costs associated with maintaining a mobile giving account (through mGive) and distributing the money. Therefore, mobile donations are only subject to GlobalGiving’s standard 15% fee.

Normally, it would cost a nonprofit somewhere between $800 and $2000 per year to maintain a basic mobile giving account with mobile giving service providers, and then an additional fee (approximately $1.25) would be charged to each $10 donation. GlobalGiving is managing the account and covering all these expenses for our projects.  The fees associated with each transaction are covered by (and not charged on top of) GlobalGiving’s fee. We’re truly working hard to bring you more value in this partnership!

 

Will I see the money in my donation manager?
Yes, we’ve integrated mobile giving into your donation manager (GlobalGiving’s Project Entry System, also called PE), so you can see your mobile donations right after they happen!  The donation will simply show up as a mobile donation, but you won’t have access to the donors’ phone numbers or email addresses.

It is important to note that the mobile donations in PE are donation pledges. These pledges do not become actual, received donations until the wireless subscriber pays their phone bill in full. Common discrepancies between pledges and donations received include a bill not paid, a late payment, or the account holder disputes the charge (or donation added to the phone bill.) These situations happen at a very low rate, but it is important to note for reporting purposes.

 

How long does it take to receive money from mobile donations?
The distribution of funds is based upon the donor’s mobile carrier billing and payout schedule, and is then subject to GlobalGiving’s disbursement cycle. The mobile carriers require time to reconcile funds, so it could take 60-120 days, depending on the wireless carrier, to receive mobile giving funds in your account. We know that’s a lot of time. Unfortunately, we’re subject to mobile carriers’ conditions. (See the answer to the question above.)

 

Can I send Thank You’s or project reports to mobile donors?
Mobile donors will be automatically thanked via text message immediately after their donation. You won’t be able to send them personalized thank you emails from the Project Entry system (PE) like you could for an online donor.  Unfortunately, mobile donors may not receive project reports, either (they may simply be sent to the GlobalGiving site to view project reports but we can’t guarantee that they’ll receive specific notifications yet.) That’s why it’s important to consider when mobile giving might be the best strategy and when it might not be.

 

What about receipts?
Donations through our mobile giving platform are actually donations to the mGive Foundation, and not GlobalGiving. The mobile phone bill can act as a receipt, or a full mobile donation report can be viewed and printed at mGive.org/receipt (or mGive.org/r)

 

Are there customization options?
In the future it may be possible for us to set up “vanity” keywords for projects. It may also be possible to arrange for more sophisticated back-and-forth messaging campaigns for our project leaders, but there will be additional work and fees involved. Try out the mobile giving platform as it is for now, and stay tuned for more information about customized mobile campaigns.

 

Phew.  That was a lot of info.
We know. It’s a lot to take in. You deserve a coffee break. Fortunately, we’re having a webinar about mobile giving to help explain the details on October 25, 2011. Please attend the webinar at 9am or 3pm ET on that day, or look for the recap recording here on the Tools and Trainings Blog later.

In the meantime, just try to remember these three points:

  1. You now have free mobile giving capabilities for each of your projects!
  2. Your text-to-give call-to action is: “Text GIVE <space> [PROJ.ID] to 80088 to give $10 to [PROJECT NAME] on GlobalGiving”
  3. You must include the verbatim carrier compliance disclaimer anytime you invite people to text-to-give.

 

I have feedback!
Do you love it?  Do you hate it? We definitely want your feedback on how mobile giving works (or doesn’t work) for you! We’ll be listening to project leaders and to donors to find out how we can improve the mobile giving experience.  Please tell us how it’s going and how we can help you! We’d especially love to hear any feedback that you have prior to our public launch on October 25. Please ask questions or leave feedback below (that helps everyone learn!) or you ca email Britt at blake@globalgiving.org with your thoughts.

 

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Posted in Fundraising Tips, GlobalGiving, GlobalGiving Tips, Trainings | Comments Off

Storytelling through Film

Posted by Alexis Nadin on October 18th, 2011

On Thursday, October 13th, GlobalGIving co-hosted a training on storytelling through film with Rob Holmes from the Green Living Project. Listen to the recording here. See below for a complete summary.

Storytelling is conveying events in words, images and sounds.  Your organization can use storytelling to educate, engage, and captivate supporters.

In today’s busy, multi-media world, film is a great way to share your organization’s story in a lasting and memorable way. Studies show that people are more likely to remember content when it is conveyed in an interesting and unique way.

Telling your story

So, where do you start? First, decide what you would like to accomplish with your film. Outline your goals. Determine who you are trying to reach. What types of stories would they like to hear? Consider involving your supporters in the filmmaking process. Use social media to ask them what they’d like to learn about your organization.

Next, pick a story that demonstrates your organization’s passion and drive. Take a look at the history and culture of your organization. Think about the staff that work with you, the organizations you collaborate with, and the people that you help. Reflect on the challenges that you’ve faced and the ways that you’ve grown and evolved.  Consider what makes a story great:

    • Unique and different. Tell a story that’s never been heard before. Help people understand what makes your organization special.
    • Short and simple. Tempt people to want more. Use your short film to entice viewers to visit your website, meet your staff, sign up for your newsletter, etc. Don’t try to tell your viewers everything about your organization. Just give them enough information that they’ll want to come back for more! Rob recommends that you keep your video to 3-5 minutes, or shorter.
    • Educational yet entertaining. Short films are certainly a teaching opportunity but make sure to captivate your audience by making them laugh and smile. People will keep watching if they’re enjoying themselves.
    • Familiar and personal. Make sure that your audience can relate to your story. Give them the necessary context to understand the circumstances. Tie the story to something relevant in your viewers’ lives. Demonstrate the emotion and passion behind the story, making it personal for the storyteller and the viewer.
    • Positive and uplifting. At Green Living Project, Rob and his colleagues like to share positive stories to show how the organizations they’re highlighting are making a difference.
    • Transparent and honest. Be prepared to be up front and open about your organization’s challenges and struggles. Don’t try to hide information from your viewers. Audiences respond well to transparency and authenticity.

      Once you have your story laid out, get to filming! Nowadays, there are lots of cheap ways to make films. Digital cameras are often equipped to take short films. Most laptops even have built in webcams! Get creative to shoot a film on a tight budget.

      Looking for help with editing?  There are some fantastic resources available to you online. Visit Lynda.com, among other sites for online training and support. Or, consider hiring a video-savvy college intern to help or post a volunteer request online.

      What is Green Living Project?

      Green Living Project makes documentary-style films about sustainable development work being done by nonprofits and companies throughout the globe and promotes those short films in North America through events, television, social media, and more.

      Watch the training recording for case studies of stories that Green Living Project has told through film. Watch some of Green Living Project’s short videos here.

      Posted in Trainings | Comments Off

      Facebook Measurement, part 3 of 3

      Posted by Alexis Nadin on September 30th, 2011

      On Thursday, September 29th, GlobalGiving hosted a webinar on Facebook Measurement in collaboration with Make Me Social. You can listen to the recording here or view the slides here. This webinar was part of a three-part Facebook webinar series. Each session focuses on a different topic:

      Session 1: Strategy and Planning
      Session 2: Best Practices & Implementation
      Session 3: Measurement and Monitoring

      See a below for a summary of the second webinar:

      Facebook Insights – Data provided to you by Facebook about your Page!

      As the admin on a Facebook Page, you have access to “Insights.” Facebook Insights provides you with metrics around the content that you post on your page. It also gives you a better sense of who your audience is by providing you with valuable demographic information.

      Please note that Insights are only visible to Page admins and you will need a minimum of 30 likes on the page to access Insights.

      The data that you get is not available in real-time, but at most will be 48 hours old. This will make sense when we move on to the next slide.

      You will see that Facebook has provided you with some basic metrics under your posts on your Page. You can access more detailed information by clicking on “View Insights” on the right sidebar on your Page.

      Facebook Metrics Vocabulary

      Impressions: The number of times your post is seen. This includes views on users’ Recent Stories, Top Stories, and visits to Pages.

      Feedback: The total number of comments and likes on your story divided by the total number of impressions. This is the percentage of people who, after seeing your post, engage in some way with the post.

      Inside the Insights Section

      Inside the Insights section, you get access to an overview of the  analytics related to the level of awareness and engagement on your page. Insights is split into two sections: “Users” and “Interactions.”

      (more…)

      Posted in Social Media Tips, Trainings | Comments Off

      Facebook Engagement, Part 2 of 3

      Posted by Alexis Nadin on September 23rd, 2011

      On Thursday, September 15th, GlobalGiving hosted a webinar on Facebook Engagement in collaboration with Make Me Social. You can listen to the recording here or view the slides here. This webinar was part of a three-part Facebook webinar series. Each session focuses on a different topic:

      Session 1: Strategy and Planning
      Session 2: Best Practices & Implementation
      Session 3: Measurement and Monitoring

      See a below for a summary of the second webinar:

      Create Your Project Page – It’s easy!

      Step 1: Go to Facebook.com/page.

      Step 2: Select the category that your organization falls under.

      Step 3: Create your custom URL (once you set it, you can’t change it, so make sure you love it!).

      Step 4: Upload your profile picture.

      Step 5: Develop your page’s information section (before you begin inviting friends).

      Step 6: Select your admins (remember, admins have the ability to edit your page and control participation).

      Step 7: Begin inviting your friends!

      Listen to the recording for examples of great Facebook pages.

      What makes a great profile picture?

      • Eye-catching;
      • Communicates information about your organization;
      • Includes a message about your work; and
      • is more than just your logo!

      What is a landing page?

      The landing page is what your visitors see before they  “Like” your page. Traditionally, this page is your wall. You can edit this setting under “Manage Permissions” when creating the settings for your page. In some cases, you might choose to direct first time visitors to your information page, rather than your wall.

      Facebook also has a landing page application that allows you to customize your landing page with a personalized design. These branded landing pages can be an effective campaign tool. Customized landing pages generally cost $150-500 to have professionally built.

      What content should you be posting on Facebook? (more…)

      Posted in Social Media Tips, Trainings | Comments Off

      Facebook Strategy, Part 1 of 3

      Posted by acarlman on September 7th, 2011

      Guest post from GlobalGiving intern, Brian Karanja:

      On Thursday, September 1st, GlobalGiving hosted a webinar that was focused on Facebook strategy in collaboration with Make Me Social. If you were unable to attend the webinar, you can listen to the recording or view the slides. This was part of a three-part series of webinars with each session focusing on a particular topic:

      Session 1: Strategy and Planning
      Session 2: Best Practices & Implementation
      Session 3: Measurement and Monitoring

      This blog post is a summary of the first webinar:

      Defining Social Media Goals

      With over 750 Million active users of Facebook, it’s potentially difficult to get your content to bubble up and get users attention. To make these connections work, we need to think about:

      • Motivating people to be interested in what you have to say and
      • Mobilizing them around your cause.

      The most important component to integrating social media into your nonprofit communications or fundraising strategy is to have a plan!  You’ve got to figure out what you want and understand how to motivate the community to do what you want.  We highly recommend that you write out your goals and the objectives you want to achieve through social media and how your audience can get you there.

      Identifying Your Audience

      The next question to address is: who is your audience? Who are the people who can help you reach your goals? Take some time to define your audience groups.  If you decide that one of the best ways to reach one of those groups is to use Facebook, then great!  Let’s talk about some Facebook strategies:

      First, you’ll need to understand the difference on Facebook between a Personal Page and a Branded Page on Facebook.  A personal profile should be used by an individual. People can be “friends” with a personal profile. Alternatively, people “like” branded pages to interact with them.  Content on branded pages should be more structured because they represent the voice of the organization.

      Your Facebook followers will generally fall into three segments:

      • Audience segment A – People looking for information and ways to get involved.  These are people who are open to your message but haven’t yet heard all that you have to say.
      • Audience segment B – People who are helping to support those impacted by the causes your organization directly addresses. They might not know all the details about your work – yet.
      • Audience segment C – People who have bought into your mission. These followers are already established and interested in what you have to say. They are your foundation.

      Building and Maintaining Relationships

      What do you post on Facebook? This is up to you! What messages will help you reach your goals? You should plan to have consistent message that builds engagement and gets your audience to respond. When planning your content, you should keep in mind the “social funnel.”  Not all of your audiences are going to give to your organization based on your first post. They’ll generally fall through the “social funnel”:

      1. Awareness posts get people on the page and get them aware of your cause (targeting Audience Segment A)
      2. Engagement posts are built around whether people are ‘liking’, ‘tagging’, and ‘sharing’ your content with their friends. Interest your audience and make them build an emotional connection with your org (targeting audience segment B)
      3. Donation asks should target engaged and attached people. If they participate and adopt your cause they become ambassadors for your organization (targeting audience segment C).

       

      The key point here is that:

      AWARENESS LEADS TO ENGAGEMENT WHICH LEADS TO DONATIONS

      Engaging in Conversations (more…)

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      How to Write a Winning Grant Proposal – Training by the Foundation Center

      Posted by Alexis Nadin on August 15th, 2011

      On Thursday, August 11th, GlobalGiving hosted a training, “How to Write a Winning Grant Proposal,” in collaboration with the Foundation Center. Listen to the recording. View the slides.

      Planning

      Questions to ask yourself before approaching a foundation:

      • Do you have enough time?(6-9 months for U.S. registered organizations. 12-18 months for organizations based outside the U.S.) This is a very lengthy process involving research, the writing process, and further back and forth while the foundation is considering your proposal. Foundations also require a significant amount of deliberation time to select grantees.
      • What kind of support do you need? (General Operating Support or Program Development) Listen to the recording to learn about the difference between the two and how to apply for each.
      • Are you a credible non-profit?

      Research

      It is important to remember that, like you, foundations and grantmakers have their own goals and objectives. They are looking for organizations that match their field of interest.

      In order to determine if you are good match, take the time to find out what the foundation is interested in supporting, where they want to work, and the type of support they provide. The grantmaker’s 990—the tax forms that all U.S. registered organizations must file with the government—provides useful information about what organizations the funder has supported in the past. Take the time to see if they have supported organizations and projects like yours in the previous years. Guidestar is a great resource for finding 990s of other organizations.

      It is not a valuable use of your time to apply to grantmakers that have not expressed interest in funding your type of work.

      Proposal Contents (usually 8-10 pages)

      (more…)

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      Monitoring and Evaluation with Jennifer Lentfer

      Posted by Alexis Nadin on August 9th, 2011

      On Wednesday, August 3rd,  Jennifer Lentfer, the former Head of Head of Organizational Learning & Capacity Building at Firelight Foundation and the author of How-Matters.org, guest hosted a training on Monitoring and Evaluation for GlobalGiving’s partners. A brief summary is provided below.

      Listen to the recording.

      View the slides. (more…)

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