{"id":302,"date":"2012-10-04T23:01:20","date_gmt":"2012-10-04T23:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/?p=302"},"modified":"2012-10-05T00:18:21","modified_gmt":"2012-10-05T00:18:21","slug":"why-el-paso-area-non-profits-need-social-media-in-their-revenue-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/why-el-paso-area-non-profits-need-social-media-in-their-revenue-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Why El Paso-area non-profits need social media in their revenue plans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/MoreMoneyForGood200.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-312\" style=\"margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px; border: 2px solid black;\" title=\"MoreMoneyForGood200\" src=\"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/MoreMoneyForGood200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"364\" \/><\/a>If you work for a non-profit in El Paso and Southern New Mexico and don&#8217;t think you can afford the time to use social media, you should know the truth is <em>you can&#8217;t afford not to<\/em> when it comes to getting donors to take action. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guidestar.org\/rxa\/news\/articles\/2012\/what-donors-want-from-nonprofits.aspx?hq_e=el&amp;hq_m=1819677&amp;hq_l=15&amp;hq_v=2a15e53408\">A new report from charity monitor GuideStar<\/a>\u00a0reveals the types of information donors want from a non-profit organization including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>&gt;The financial picture, including how an organization spends its money<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>&gt;That a nonprofit is legitimate<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>&gt;The basics of the organization\u2014its mission, approach, and make up<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>&gt;The breadth and depth of the cause<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>&gt;The nonprofit&#8217;s impact<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;Some of the information donors want, such as\u00a0financials, is fairly easy to come by,&#8221; the report More Money for Good says. &#8220;In fact, donors state\u00a0they are able to find each of the first four items on the list\u00a0without much difficulty.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The obstacle for donors comes with not knowing the non-profit&#8217;s impact. They want to know about more than a list of programs being offered. They want to hear the organization&#8217;s story to make sure their dollars are going to make a difference. Photos from an annual event posted on your website aren&#8217;t going to cut it.<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->&#8220;The first step is collecting and organizing the right\u00a0information about your organization, your strategies, your\u00a0successes, and how you are changing the world for the better,&#8221; says the report. (The free guidebook for non-profits by\u00a0GuideStar and\u00a0<a title=\"Hope Consulting (opens in new window)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hopeconsulting.us\/\" target=\"_blank\">Hope Consulting<\/a>\u00a0can be <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guidestar.org\/rxg\/give-to-charity\/money-for-good-ii.aspx\">downloaded here<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>The next step is to communicate your organization&#8217;s stories to show how you are changing the world. This is where many non-profits in the El Paso and Southern New Mexico area are challenged. According to an \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.helixeval.com\/HS\/NP.html\">analysis of the non-profits sector in El Paso County, Texas by Helix Solutions<\/a>, &#8220;nearly 63% of the public charities in El Paso produce annual revenues of a quarter of million dollars or less.&#8221; Many operate on a shoestring and don&#8217;t have communications staff, or even administrative staff to develop a communications strategy. But unless a group has a major angel benefactor or a never-ending grant, the major source of revenue is dependent on donors &#8211; which is why it is important to self-publish stories that show impact.<\/p>\n<p>Social Media is a no-cost or low-cost way to reach potential donors who are researching your non-profit and reinforce relationships with current donors. It does take a small investment of time up front for training and planning, but organizations can quickly set up efficient workflows and soon see it become part of the routine.<\/p>\n<p>Adding a Facebook account, a Twitter feed and a blog are the simplest ways to publish your own information instead of just relying on an annual report or hoping the media put out a blurb based on your press release and \u00a0a donor will tune in at the moment of broadcast.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/UnitedWayBlogPage400.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-122\" title=\"UnitedWayBlogPage400\" src=\"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/UnitedWayBlogPage400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"360\" height=\"372\" srcset=\"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/UnitedWayBlogPage400.jpg 400w, http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/UnitedWayBlogPage400-290x300.jpg 290w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/a>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.unitedwayelpaso.org\/\">United Way of El Paso County<\/a> had a great website with a lot of data for donors, but decided to <a href=\"http:\/\/unitedwayelpaso.org\/news\/\">add a WordPress blog <\/a>to tell the stories reflecting the impact the organization&#8217;s programs were having on the community.<\/p>\n<p>The blog posts don&#8217;t have to be long stories. They can be quick updates on programs. They can be announcements that reinforce the organization&#8217;s mission and partnerships.<\/p>\n<p>Setting up a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/our-portfolio-post\/\">planning template<\/a>\u00a0can help build an editorial calendar that ties into the organization&#8217;s goals and becomes a guide to prompt content ideas.<\/p>\n<p>You can get some ideas on how non-profits are using social media in this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.redroostergroup.com\/2010\/11\/11\/nonprofit-social-media-case-studies\/\">PDF from the Red Rooster Group.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>You can also follow <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/digitalegre\">@digitalegre<\/a> on Twitter or like us on Facebook at <a href=\"www.facebook.com\/DigitAlegre\">www.facebook.com\/DigitAlegre<\/a>\u00a0where we post general tips on social media as well as highlight news and ideas from the El Paso digital community. If you&#8217;re feeling really lost, <a href=\"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/contact\/\">drop us a note here<\/a> \u00a0and we&#8217;ll try to help.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IS128sCCJUQ\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you work for a non-profit in El Paso and Southern New Mexico and don&#8217;t think you can afford the time to use social media, you should know the truth is you can&#8217;t afford not to when it comes to getting donors to take action. The obstacle for donors comes with not knowing the non-profit&#8217;s impact. They want to know about more than a list of programs being offered. They want to hear the organization&#8217;s story to make sure their dollars are going to make a difference. Photos from an annual event posted on your website aren&#8217;t going to cut it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2wBu4-4S","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":305,"href":"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302\/revisions\/305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/digitalegre.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}