Social media become key tool for nonprofits - Crain's Clevelan... http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20091207/SUB1/91204...

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LISTS & DIRECTORIES 4:30 am, December 7, 2009
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RESOURCES At first, the only purpose the Jewish Community Federation had for Facebook was to help
its Young Leadership Division find new recruits. But that was two years ago.
Archives
Blogs The federation today is one of many nonprofits in Northeast Ohio that use social media
Classified Ads web sites for many purposes, ranging from raising money and promoting events to
Events Calendar building more ties with their organizations.
Golf Event Guide
Going Places These days the federation uses Facebook to recruit volunteers young and old, and to
Multimedia promote its events. It also a few months ago started an account on Twitter to let people
Home know about issues of interest to Northeast Ohio’s Jewish community.

Now it’s looking to hire a digital communications strategist who will oversee the
ADVERTISE organization’s online efforts and further expand how the group uses social media tools,
said Daniel Blain, senior vice president for the federation. For one, the federation aims to
Advertising Information
use social media to enhance relationships with donors and raise more money, Mr. Blain
Editorial Calendar
said.

FEATURES “(Social media) is clearly a growing

area of interest for us,” he said.
Business Breakfast Series
CFO of the Year Same goes for the Cleveland
Emerald Awards Foundation. It already is using tools
Forty Under 40 such as Twitter and Facebook to spur
Health Care Heroes donations for a fund it created in May Ohio Growth
NorTech Innovation to help fight poverty during the Opportunity: Aero
Awards recession. 101
Twenty In Their 20s Tue 12/08
Women of Note The foundation has been pleased
Home with the amount of people who have Electronic
been visiting the Basic Needs Fund Resources for
web site by clicking links that it posts Finding Funders
NEWS BY INDUSTRY Tue 12/08
on Facebook and Twitter, said Tara
Finance & Legal Jefferson, public affairs associate for
Grantseeking Basics
Government & Nonprofit the foundation. Wed 12/09
Health Care
Manufacturing Beyond fundraising, the Cleveland Foundation uses social media tools to promote groups The Rise of the
Real Estate that receive its grants, and it expects to find more uses over time, Ms. Jefferson said. Cleveland Food
Technology Scene
Home “Right now we’re seeing social media as more of a long-term strategy,” Ms. Jefferson said. Wed 12/09

Time well spent Holiday Networking

THIS WEEK'S ISSUE
Lunch "Spa for the

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Social media become key tool for nonprofits - Crain's Clevelan... http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20091207/SUB1/91204...

Soul"
About 86% of 929 nonprofit professionals nationwide reported that their organizations use
Thu 12/10
social media in some form, according to an April 2009 survey by the Nonprofit Technology
Network, online fund-raising agency Common Knowledge and web-based software firm
View the complete
The-Port Network Inc. Most nonprofits dedicate less than the equivalent of one half of one
Events Calendar >>
full-time employee to overseeing social media efforts, and 60% allot no extra budget
dollars to such efforts.

Social media tools can help nonprofits if they use them correctly, said Rick Cohen, director
of administration and operations for the National Council on Nonprofits in Washington, D.C.
December 7, 2009 Mr. Cohen noted how Facebook is particularly good for finding people who already have a
strong interest in a particular cause, but it’s easier to raise awareness on Twitter, because
networks formed on the site typically are larger but less close knit than those on Facebook.

Sign up for free daily and Getting those benefits takes time, however, so many nonprofits — particularly those that
weekly e-mail news are struggling — choose instead to focus on day-to-day activities, Mr. Cohen said.
alerts.
“This is something that, while useful, is not a core function of nonprofits,” he said.

United Way of Greater Cleveland considers its time spent using social media to be a good
investment, said Stephanie Gertner, marketing assistant for the organization.

For instance, it used Twitter to post a play-by-play account of the 7th Annual Sports
Auction on WTAM-AM, 1100, in early November, which generated proceeds for the United
Way’s annual fundraising campaign.

Several Twitter posts encouraged the group’s 600 followers to click through to another site
to bid on particular items, including a free round of golf at Firestone Country Club’s South
Course, a Zamboni ride at a Lake Erie Monsters hockey game and signed sports
memorabilia.

“It was a great way to reach a lot of people and not have to spend a lot of dollars,” Ms.
Gertner said.

Look us up

Among the uses the West Side Catholic Center has found for social media is promoting its
events, which often serve as fundraisers, said Kristin Duke, a contractor who serves as
communication systems coordinator for the center. Facebook should prove particularly
effective next year when the center promotes fundraisers involving activities such as golf
or running, because the group can use the site to promote the events to people with
corresponding interests.

Being on social media sites also should help make the center more visible to young people
who populate them, Ms. Duke said.

“We’re in the phone book, if you will,” she said.

Twitter is particularly good for nonprofits that want to reach new audiences, said Kristina
Austin, director of community outreach and marketing for The Gathering Place.

The cancer support center mainly uses social media to communicate with people within
driving distance of its offices in Westlake and Beachwood.

Twitter, however, has helped it tell a broader group about “Someone I Love is Sick,” its new
book for children who have relatives with cancer.

Then others spread the word themselves, Ms. Austin said.

“It’s just that ripple effect,” she said.

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