Inspiration in South Carolina

Karen and I just returned from the South Carolina Association of Nonprofit Organization's annual conference.  We were truly inspired by the passionate, professional and determined folks we met there.  Many were from towns where textile industries that employed so many are just gone.  All are dealing with increased demands for services and decreased funding from traditional sources.

Yet, the positivism and optimism was contagious.  Their work has never been more critical and they are assertively looking to build and cultivate their community of supporters like never before.  We are humbled and happy that GiftWorks is a critical part of this transformation for so many. 

We met quite a few of our customers in person too, which is always wonderful. Here's me with our client Edwina Hoyle Executive Director of Memory Matters in Hilton Head (http://www.memory-matters.org/).  Her organization is a center of excellence for persons with Alzhemier's and their families.

 

And I was also delighted to meet client Darlene Pitts, Community Support Coordinator of A Place for Hope in Rock Hill (www.aplaceforhope.net/index.html).   They are a social service agency dedicated to meeting the needs of one of the poorest areas of South Carolina.

GiftWorks in New Zealand!

Through our partnership with Techsoup Global, we are bringing GiftWorks to New Zealand!  We are thrilled to be part of Techsoup's integral and international mission to bring technology to nonprofit organizations.  

In addition to New Zealand, GiftWorks has partnered with Techsoup Global in:

• Hong Kong and Macau through TechDonation for NGOs
• Australia through DonorTec
• Germany through Stifter-Helfen
• and Canada through Techsoup Canada

Stay tuned as more countries are on the way!

New Report on Using Social Media to Meet Nonprofit Goals

Have you checked out Idealware (www.idealware.org)?  If not, you should!  Laura Quinn and her team do a a wonderful job of keeping up with nonprofit software and make it very understandable and accessible to all who are interested - both techies and non-techies alike.  They offer reports, articles and online seminars covering a variety of topics on a regular basis.

They have just published a new study on using social media to meet nonprofit goals:  http://www.idealware.org/sm_survey/ that is both interesting and free.  Here are some highlights of the findings (from Idealware):

• Generally, respondents felt social media channels were effective for enhancing relations with an existing audience and reaching out to new supporters, but considerably less so for raising money.
• Twitter was in the top three channels for every goal, and was considered the most-effective channel for reaching potential new supporters.
•  Although Facebook was the most widely used tool by a considerable margin, and the one that those not yet using were most likely to start, it was seen as the most-effective only in terms of raising money-and then, only by a small margin.
•  MySpace was not widely used, and ranked lowest for each of the three goals. LinkedIn was considered comparatively effective for fundraising, but lagged behind everything but MySpace for the other goals.

What is your experience with using social media to meet your goals?

GiftWorks on the Road: We'd Love to Meet You In Person!

In March and April we will be at several tradeshows and would really enjoy the opportunity to meet with as many current and future customers as possible!  We'd also love to connect with our current and potential consultant partners.

Here's where we'll be, please email us at info@missionresearch.com if you'll be there too, and we can plan to meet you in person!

March 10 and 11:  Mary Pat and Karen will be at the SCANPO (South Carolina Association of Nonprofit Organizations) 2010 Annual Conference in Hilton Head.

April 6: Mary Pat and Karen will be at the PANO (Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations) 2010 Annual Conference in Harrisburg.

April 8-10:  Mary Pat and Steve will be at NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Conference) in Atlanta.

April 11-13: Mary Pat, Ellen, and Karen will be at AFP International in Baltimore.  We are going to be hosting a little get-together one evening there - let us know if you'd like to be on our invite list!

We hope to see you soon!