Bill Gates's New Online Effort to Talk About Philanthropy

Bill Gates, the world’s wealthiest man, is now sending messages through the popular social-networking site Twitter about his philanthropy. It includes discussions about public education, climate change, and even a travel diary. Also, to discuss his charitable work the world’s wealthiest man has started a new Web site known as Gates Notes.

Full text article by Ian Wilhelm is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 1/20/10.

Using Twitter to Keep Connected With Supporters

Allison Fine, the host of Social Good, talks to Jake Brewer, engagement director of the Sunlight Foundation, to discuss how Twitter can help organizations expand their influence as well as stay in touch with supporters.
Full text article is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 1/8/10.

Charities tweet on social media

Want to help the poor? There's an app for that. More charities are jumping on the digital bandwagon, seeking potential donors through social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Full text article by Catherine Jun is available via The Detroit News, 12/28/09.

Most Charities Are Trying Social Media, But Few Can Measure Its Impact

Nearly all charities are experimenting with social-media tools like Facebook and Twitter to get attention for their groups, but few have found ways to measure the tools’ usefulness, according to a new survey. The survey of 200 charity and foundation professionals, conducted by the public-relations firm Weber Shandwick, found that 88 percent of groups have tested the tools, but only 51 percent are using them regularly.

Full text article by Caroline Preston is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 11/12/09.

Navigating New (Media) Frontiers

Nontraditional news sites and social networking present challenges that campus PR officers couldn't have imagined a few years ago.

Full text article by Kristine Maloney is available via The Chronicle of Higher Education, 8.10.09.

Philanthropy Goes Digital

Nonprofit organizations attempting to engage a new generation of philanthropists - youth who are plugged into a digital world and expect immediate results - are turning to social networking and digital technology to connect young philanthropists with those in need.

Full-text article by Jenna Weiner is available via TheDailyTell, 7.7.09.

Microsoft Veterans Aim to Make Philanthropy More Personal

Microsoft veterans are launching two separate Seattle nonprofits aimed at encouraging a new generation of philanthropists by using mobile phones, social networking and online connections between donors and people in need.

Full-text article by Kristi Heim is available via The Seattle Times, 6.29.09.

Why Non-Profits Are So Good at Social Media

Online community and social media are hot areas for business these days, as companies recognize the Internet's potential to deepen customer relationships, share knowledge and strengthen teams. In the nonprofit sector, relationships have always been the key currency: the relationships with the members, donors and supporters that NGOs depend on for volunteer labor, financial support and advocacy muscle.

Full-text blog post by Alexandra Samuel is available via HarvardBusiness.org, 6.16.09.

Prius Pushes Philanthropy

Toyota’s Prius will combine three hot areas of marketing—community service, social networking and digital outdoor advertising—with a program that lets consumers promote their pet causes via Gas Station TV.

Full-text article by Todd Wasserman is available via Brandweek, 6.13.09.

Time Spent on Facebook up 700%, but MySpace Still Tops for Video

Facebook increased nearly 700 percent year-over-year, growing from 1.7 billion minutes in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in April 2009, making it the No. 1 social networking site when ranked by total minutes for the month. See complete rankings via link below.

Full-text blog post is available via Nielsen Wire, 6.2.09.

No Actors, Just Patients in Unvarnished Spots for Hospitals

Advertising is showing fewer “skilled” doctors and “caring“ nurses, and a more YouTube-influenced sketch of what hospital care is like for patients.

Full-text article by Andrew Adam Newman is available via The New York Times, 5.4.09.

Researchers Call for National Strategy to Adapt Social Networks to Public Good

Facebook and Wikipedia are just the beginning. The real power of social networks will be showcased by projects that unite far-flung participants to help track disease outbreaks, revolutionize neighborhood-watch programs, encourage energy conservation, and serve other civic and community goals, according to a group of researchers calling for greater government and university investment in social networking.


Full-text article by Jeffrey R. Young is available via The Chronicle of Higher Education, 5.4.09.

The Online Divide Between Work and Play

A growing number of colleagues have requested to connect with you on social networking Web sites. You have mixed feelings about giving these professional contacts a window into your personal life. What should you do?

Social networking is “all about establishing boundaries,” she says. “If you have something online that you wouldn’t share openly with people in the office, you probably want to think twice about inviting them in.”

Full-text article by Matt Villano is available via The New York Times, 4.25.09.

Special YouTube Ads Earn Nonprofit $10,000 In A Single Day

Earlier this week YouTube launched a new feature for non-profit organizations called “Call to Action”, allowing these organizations to place special overlay ads on their videos free of charge.

Full-text blog post is available via YouTube, 3.2009.

Is Facebook Growing Up Too Fast?

Facebook soon expects to add its 200 millionth user. As it manages its growth, it must balance an increasingly disparate audience.

Full-text article by Brad Stone is available via The New York Times, 3.29.09.

A Collection of Social Network Stats for 2009

Compilation of social networking web statistics by Jeremiah Owyang, an analyst for Forrester. Stats will be updated throughout the year.

Full-text blog post is available via Jeremiah Owyang's blog, Web Strategy by Jeremiah.

When Characters Count: Advice for Charities on Making the Most of Twitter

Charities that use Twitter say it helps them connect with supporters and spread awareness about their work. A handful have even tried using Twitter to raise money.

Full-text article by Caroline Preston is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 2.26.09. [Subscription required.]

Twitter's Charms Sort of Grow on You

Twitter always reminded me of my dog, squirming around, tail wagging -- demanding a little more attention than I felt I could give. But when I devoted a few minutes of attention, it was usually worthwhile.

Full-text article by James Rainey is available via The Los Angeles Times, 2.18.09.

Nonprofits Scramble for Funding

With endowments and donations shrinking and demand for some services rising, nonprofits are using all their ingenuity to raise enough money to stay afloat.

Full-text article by Prashant Gopal is available via BusinessWeek, 2.4.09.

Facebook's Land Grab in the Face of a Downturn

The social-networking site is moving aggressively to sign up more users around the world while much of Silicon Valley hunkers down.

Full-text article by Spencer E. Ante is available via BusinessWeek, 11.20.08.

Teenagers Benefit From Online Socializing, Says MacArthur Study

Teenagers who spend hours online socializing are sharpening their ability to handle 21st-century communications, according to a new study by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, in Chicago, reports the New York Times. “It may look as though kids are wasting a lot of time hanging out with new media, whether it’s on MySpace or sending instant messages,” said Mizuko Ito, who led the study of 800 young Web users for MacArthur. “But their participation is giving them the technological skills and literacy they need to succeed in the contemporary world. They’re learning how to get along with others, how to manage a public identity, how to create a home page.”

Full-text article by Tamar Lewin is available via the New York Times, 11.19.08.

Vast Obama Network Becomes a Political Football

It is the biggest and broadest American political force ever created -- a vast, electronically linked network of activists, neighborhood organizers and volunteers who raised record amounts of money and propelled Barack Obama to the White House.

Full-text article by Peter Wallsten and Tom Hamburger is available via the Los Angeles Times, 11.14.08.

Charities Step Up Efforts to Use Online Networks to Raise Money

More charities are establishing Web sites that make it easy for people to distribute information about charitable causes to their friends and urge them to donate online.

Full-text article by Paul B. Carroll is available via the Wall Street Journal, 7.14.08.

College Alumni Magazines Struggle to Compete With Facebook

The advent of social networking on the Internet has created a quandary for alumni magazines, which want to maintain a conversation with alumni but have been slow to embrace the Web. Most schools have set up password-protected sites where graduates can change their contact information, drop a class note or donate money.

Full-text article by Cate Doty is available via the New York Times, 6.2.08.

Social Networks: A Tool for Fundraising

Last winter, the Case Foundation launched an experiment in online giving, partnering with two media outlets, Parade Magazine and Facebook, to promote grassroots fundraising through Web 2.0 tools like social networks and charity badges.

Together, the giving challenges pulled in some 80,000 donors and raised more than $1.7 million for thousands of causes, not counting the extra $750,000 put up by Case and partners as prize money for causes with the largest number of unique donors.

The challenges brought some insightful revelations about the benefits of Web 2.0 fundraising.

Full-text article by Elizabeth Floyd is available via The Philanthropy Journal, 5.6.08.

Colleges Create Facebook-Style Social Networks to Reach Alumni

Trying to emulate the popularity of Web sites like Facebook and MySpace, hundreds of college alumni associations have begun to offer their own online social networks, seeking to stake a claim on the computer screens of current and former students, especially young alumni.

Full-text article by JJ Hermes is available via The Chronicle of Higher Education, 4.25.08. [Subscription required.]

Few Charity Supporters Read Nonprofit Blogs

Only a small percentage of charity supporters — 6 percent — read blogs, social-networking sites, or RSS feeds to keep up with the organizations they care about, according to a new survey.

But 43 percent of the people surveyed said that they were interested in receiving such information through social-media tools.

The survey of 2,275 adults who reported that they had donated, volunteered, or advocated on behalf of a nonprofit organization within the past 12 months was conducted by Harris Interactive, in collaboration with Virilion, a Washington consulting company formerly known as Mindshare Interactive Campaigns.

For more information: Go to http://www.virilion.com.

Full-text blog posting (above) by Nicole Wallace via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 4.17.08. [Subscription required.]

Facebook Generation: Is Philanthropy Ready for the Revolution?

The recent issue of Contribute considers the imapact of social networking on philanthropy (see links below).

Innovators
Virtual Communities
Q&A with virtual philanthropist, Anshe Chung
Viral Advocacy
Security

Contribute Magazine

The Case Foundation's Giving Challenge

America Online founder Steve Case's private foundation is launching America's Giving Challenge, one of the nation's most ambitious efforts to draw the masses to philanthropy through the Internet.

More information is available via The Case Foundation Web site.

Agents of Social Change

Changents, a philanthropic networking site for people in their 20s and 30s, is highlighting the new innovative ways that Generation X and Y are working to promote social change.

Deron Triff and Alex Hofmann, co-founders of the site, say that Changents, based in Alexandria, Va., and Boston, offers a place where innovators can post stories and videos to generate buzz about their projects, pick up new ideas, or even find potential donors. Readers can comment on the stories, contact the innovators, or send copies of the stories to friends or peers.

Full-text article by Sharon McLoone available via The Washington Post, 11.20.07.

Heads are turning to Facebook

Facebook has become such an integral part of some people's lives that it's replacing e-mail. It also plans to let companies target their advertisements on the site based on what its users and their friends buy and do on the Internet. If users greet marketers with open arms, Facebook could generate "the most valuable data in the history of the media world," Pali Capital analyst Rich Greenfield said.


Full-text article by Jessica Guynn is available via The LaTimes.com, 11.18.07.

Top 10 U.S. Social-Network and Blog Site Rankings

MySpace is the top social networking site and Blogger is the number one blog site.

Full-text article via MediaBuyerPlanner.com, 11.15.07.

My Network, My Cause

The research firm Datamonitor estimates that by the end of this year sites like Facebook and MySpace will have more than 230 million members. The growth in social networking has stimulated online giving. The Causes on Facebook Project allows Facebook users to set up Web pages to promote charitable or other activist goals. The Causes pages can also be used to solicit and keep track of donations.

In its first five months, Causes was downloaded by 6.3 million of Facebook’s 51 million users, with another 75,000 or so registering daily.

Full-text article by Alan Krauss is available via The New York Times, 11.12.07.

Web 2.0 and Social Networking

Facebook has 41 million users and growing. In Ellen McGirt's article on the "it" company in November's issue of Fast Company, CEO Mark Zuckerberg discusses what is next for the social networking company.

In the 19 October issue of The New York Times, Natasha Lomas comments on the life cycle of the social networking sites and the recent Web 2.0 conference.