Monday Buzz: The Secrets of Nonprofit Social Media Success

Struggling to develop a strategy to get your organization’s voice heard amid the din of online conversations? Then look no further: SproutSocial’s Strategic Guide to Social Media for Nonprofits  (opens in a new tab), brought to our attention via this repost on SocialFish  (opens in a new tab), dives deep into each of the moving parts that enable nonprofit social campaigns to gain traction and engage audiences.

The guide, rife with insights from five nonprofit communications pros, offers a step-by-step breakdown of how to plan, execute, and analyze social media campaigns.

For example, nonprofit consultant Beth Kanter  (opens in a new tab) provides insight into how to make social more strategic.

“Social media shouldn’t be out there alone; it should be integrated and aligned with your strategic goals and target audiences,” she advises. “The role that it can play really well is engagement, especially donor engagement and donor retention, getting people to pay attention—capturing their attention.”

And as fundraising coach Marc Pitman  (opens in a new tab) points out, social media is about more than just a handful of networks.

“Facebook could change the rules; Twitter could shut down. You should have a healthy mix of content that points back to your site and helps your email list where you give away helpful content—an ethical bribe,” he says. “Then, you can track how many people are coming from social and signing up or taking action.”

To explore the eight-step guide in full, click here  (opens in a new tab).

Back-to-School Lesson of the Day

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Don’t sit at your desk and tell yourself it’s too late to advance your professional education. To gain some motivation as other students prep for class, check out this LinkedIn post  (opens in a new tab) from National Retail Federation  (opens in a new tab) President and CEO Matthew Shay on his own return to business school in his 40s.

Other Good Reads

“Raffles and door prizes are great incentives for attendance and money raisers (in some cases) but after a while, they all start to look the same,” which means it’s time to take Christina Green  (opens in a new tab)‘s advice and check out these three new giveaway ideas  (opens in a new tab).

Is it possible for publishers to monetize mobile? As Wall Street Journal reporter Jack Marshall  (opens in a new tab) discovers, even some of the biggest names in traditional and digital media  (opens in a new tab) are struggling to make mobile ends meet.

Detroit’s revitalization was a frequent topic of discussion during the ASAE 2015 Annual Meeting & Expo, and now, Forbes reporter Natalie Robehmed  (opens in a new tab) explores how the city is using techno music  (opens in a new tab) to raise its profile even higher.

(Wilfred Iven/StockSnap)