Social Media Roundup: Lessons From HealthCare.Gov’s Flopped Launch

What your association can learn from HealthCare.gov’s bungled launch. Plus: one word to take out—and alternatives to consider—when wording your fundraising appeals.

Not even HealthCare.gov’s biggest backer would give the rollout of the federal healthcare insurance enrollment site a gold star. (Who says there’s no bipartisan agreement in Washington?) But history doesn’t have to repeat itself: Here’s what your association can learn from the site’s early hangups.

That, and more, in today’s Social Media Roundup:

Botched Job

Is Your Association’s Website Any Better Than http://t.co/L20sZMQVxh  (opens in a new tab)? http://t.co/zdm3aUOEyj  (opens in a new tab) #assnchat  (opens in a new tab)

— Jamie Notter (@jamienotter) January 9, 2014  (opens in a new tab)

Political beliefs aside, there’s a general consensus that HealthCare.gov’s launch was a bit of a bust. What can your association learn from it? To always have a backup plan, for one thing. And, Maggie McGary writes on Social Fish  (opens in a new tab), that websites really matter. Some questions to ask regarding her criteria for what a successful site should have: Does your site offer online registration, or are you stuck in the printable PDF days? Does your webpage fit a mobile device screen, and can smartphone users pay by phone when accessing your online store? In today’s digital age, modern, efficient, and—as we learned from HealthCare.gov—working sites are essential to providing a solid user experience. “It’s 2014, people, and your org’s website IS your org to a lot of people … so please invest in it accordingly and enlist qualified people to develop and manage it,” McGary writes. (ht @jamienotter  (opens in a new tab))

We the People (Won’t Be Donating to Your Cause)

RT @johnhaydon  (opens in a new tab): RT @npshana  (opens in a new tab) For More Effective Fundraising, Avoid ‘Royal We’: http://t.co/iHNUZEHNIP  (opens in a new tab) via @fundchat  (opens in a new tab) Ditto! #associations  (opens in a new tab)

— Steve Drake (@SteveDrake) January 9, 2014  (opens in a new tab)

“You,” not “we”: Fundraising is not about selling your nonprofit as the greatest, but instead about letting your donors know why they are the best, writes #fundchat’s Mary Cahalane  (opens in a new tab). Try this: Go through your fundraising content. Scrap all mentions of the word “we” and replace it with something along the lines of “thanks to you,” she suggests. Make your potential donors feel special and let them see how their donations benefit your mission. “Focus your writing on the people you’re writing to and the people you help,” Cahalane says. Your organization isn’t the star; your members and their generous donations are, she adds. (ht @SteveDrake  (opens in a new tab)).

Have any fundraising tips of your own? Tell us in the comments.

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