A lot of great pictures were taken over the Fourth of July weekend. Perhaps you took a few. But shooting a photo is only half the battle these days, as today’s Social Media Roundup attests:

A Celebration of the Visual Form

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Think about the countless photos you took during the holiday. Then consider the multitude taken by your coworkers, your members, and those outside your circle. If a photograph is worth a thousand words, then a social photograph is worth at least a thousand more, as Steve Drake over at SCDdaily reminds us.

And it’s not all about fireworks and whatever’s being cooked up on the grill. Images of celebrations past are a reminder that we are all geared toward visual information. For many audiences, a shot of an American flag lit up by fireworks, with sparklers shimmering in the foreground, has far greater impact than a written description of the scene.

Likewise, visual documentation of the work your association is doing to aid its members or the community often speaks more profoundly than a blog post summing up your actions.

And therein lies the importance of using Instagram, a means not only for your members and volunteers to document and celebrate the good they’re doing for the world but also for your association to be recognized as the source of that good work.

Crowdfunding, Potato Salad, and You

A new project is taking the crowdfunding community by storm, one that steps beyond the realm of virtual reality or reworked literary classics and into the world of … potato salad.

Launched earlier this month, Zack Danger Brown’s Kickstarter effort to raise $10 to make a potato salad has turned into an internet sensation, raising more than $24,00 from more than 1,800 backers.

So what do crowdfunded salads have to do with associations? Well, if so many people are willing to donate an average of nearly $13 for a joke, think of the possibilities for your association’s valuable, and less starchy, cause. The fundraising world is undergoing a vast series of changes, and cash and publicity are out there for those who act boldly and creatively to stand out from the competition.

Of course, be transparent about any hurdles the projects you’re looking to fund may run into. As Brown warns potential backers on his Kickstarter page: “It might not be that good. It’s my first potato salad.”

(Adnan Islam/Flickr)