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Twitter has been buzzing for over two years, a lifetime for Internet technologies. Other technologies have come, peaked and gone away but Twitter has survived.

We talk about a number of services in the webinar, so get ready for a big ‘ol list of links:

• Twitter Search this links directly to the advanced search, which is much more useful
• TweetDeck this is a Twitter client that I’ve found useful, we’ve had some reports of some stability issues on Macs. So make sure to add your favorite Twitter client to the comments
• Twist graph the mentions of terms on Twitter
• Hoot Suite online tool to manage multiple Twitter profiles (good if you are “editing” Twitter for a company) and track clicks on shortened URLs in Twitter
• #apowerfulnoise the campaign page for Care’s sponsored hashtag effort
• Twestival homepage for one of the largest twitter centered fundraising efforts
• TipJoy the easiest way to directly raise money on Twitter

Questions? Comments things we missed, comment it up. Also if you want to follow me on Twitter my username is j8ke. Make sure to post your username in the comments!

[UPDATE] TipJoy has closed its doors. You can read more here. TipJoy had tons of advantages, but still couldn’t get enough traction to make it work. They even had a business model – which is more than we can say for Twitter. As I mentioned in the webinar direct fundraising on Twitter was complicated, perhaps too complicated to be widely adopted.

In January, we gave a webinar on Following Conversations in a Web 2.0 World. It was one of our most popular to date.

But just knowing the conversation is happening on the web likely isn’t enough to get busy people like you and I to do something about it.

A few weeks later, Beth Kanter wrote a great post titled Getting Your Nonprofit Organization Ready to Listen.

I’d encourage you to read it. Beth makes some great points that will help ensure you get real value from following these conversations.

I’m curious – how are you applying what you’ve learned about conversations online to actual action for your organization?

Twitter has been buzzing for over two years, a lifetime for Internet technologies. Other technologies have come, peaked and gone away but Twitter has survived.

Register Now

You probably have heard people talk about Twitter and its potential and you have yet to connect the promise to the practice. In this webinar we will talk about four use cases for Twitter. These are not theoretical ways you could use Twitter, but specific examples of where using Twitter will bring value to your organization today.

After a quick overview of the service, we will focus on these use cases:

• Monitoring Conversations — people are talking about your brand and your issues, are you listening?
• One-way Publishing — send real-time updates to devoted supporters.
• Building Relationships — how to win friends and influence tweeps (Twitter peeps [people]).
• Fundraising — micro engagement and word-of-mouth marketing.

Details

Cost: FREE
Presented by: Jacob Smith, New Media Strategist, Masterworks
Dave Raley, Director of New Media, Masterworks
Who should attend: Advancement and marketing folks who want to find new ways to connect with donors and constituents. Anyone who has wondered about Twitter or other micro-blogging methods out there.

Please join us for by registering now.

A study released today states that the number of homeless children is around 1.5 million. With this number only expected to grow.
Read more of One in Fifty Children are Homeless

Nonprofits need to understand that the current economic crisis makes their work more important than ever. And they need to communicate that effectively.

Today’s messaging must emphasize the critical nature of continuing what we’re doing and doing it better. “We’re resetting some things to ride out the recession.” “We’re restructuring to work stronger and smarter.” “We’re cutting expenses.” “You can count on us to do more with less.” “Our mission is providing extraordinary value.” “We’ll keep you informed as to how all this is shaking out.”

Make your donors a partner through this difficult journey.

I’m reading a book by Stephen M.R. Covey, son of Stephen Covey (The Seven Habits guy).  The book is titled The Speed of Trust.

Mr. Covey shares this formula to demonstrate how a high trust organizational culture will result in faster execution of strategies and lower cost:  Trust = Speed = Cost

As Trust goes up, the Speed of execution goes up, and the Cost goes down.  The inverse is true.  If there is a lack of trust in an organization, the speed to execute strategy goes down and the cost goes up.  One question you should ask is “how is trust defined.”  Trust is afforded someone who has character and competence.  In other words, we trust people who have integrity, are truthful, live what they preach (character) and produce results (competence).  You might question including competence in how trust is defined.  Let me help by giving a personal example.

Many years ago my wife needed back surgery.  Her surgery required the skill of a neurosurgeon.  While I was concerned that the surgeon was a good man, I was equally concerned that he was a good surgeon.  I needed to know that I could trust this man cutting into my wife’s back.  I asked a lot of questions about his experience and past surgeries to build my trust.

What’s the take away for you and me?  First, if we want to be trusted, we must consistently live out values like integrity and honesty.  Second, we must develop competency in the area God has called us to work.  Regarding the former, put integrity and honesty before anything else.  Tell the truth, even if it costs you.  Regard the latter, be a lifelong learner.  If you are working in major gift development, read and study all you can about how to cultivate donor relationships.  Hire someone to coach you and your development team if necessary.  If you are a manager, read the latest and most highly recommended books on leadership, then put the principles into practice (check out a book I just finished titled “The Art of Engagement”).

Someone asked me why I don’t just write about marketing or fundraising?   What does this management and organizational culture stuff have to do with raising money?  I do write and teach on these subjects.  However, I know that unless we work at creating a culture of trust in our organizations we will never achieve all that God has intended for us.

As we’ve mentioned before, our very own Steve Woodworth is serving as Chair of the Communications Working Group for the Lausanne Congress in Cape Town, South Africa in 2010.

Curious as to what Lausanne is all about? Check out this latest article from ChristianWeek.org. It’s one of the best articles yet on the topic of Lausanne…

Text a Bible.

Megan just forwarded a fascinating press release from Open Doors USA. They’ve introduced a $5 offer to provide a Bible to someone in a persecuted church around the world. The creative twist? You can text to give $5 to provide that Bible.

The long-term value of text donations.

One major question we continue to ask ourselves is what is the value of a $5 text donation? Our traditional fundraising research shows us that donors who give low dollar amounts (such as $5), have a commensurately low lifetime donor value. Often, we’ve found that the cost to cultivate (e.g., mail, email, call, etc.) these donors exceeds the donation income they provide. In other words, we end up LOSING money in cultivating donors who give very small amounts.

This is a real concern for the long-term viability of text donations in their current state. The good news is in the long term, mobile technology will progress to the point where it will be very easy to give that $50 gift just as safely and easily.

Micro-philanthropy as a growing trend.

Whatever our concerns may be right now about the long-term value of $5 text donations, one thing is for sure, and that is that micro-philanthropy is a growing trend.

Micro-philanthropy is a part of a concept I’ve been calling micro-engagement. It’s basically the movement in our culture to reduce things to bite-size chunks.

Examples of micro-engagement include:

• Micro-blogging (Twitter, Tumblr, etc.)
• Micro-fundraising (e.g., Text $5 to 12345, or Send this email and $1 will be donated in your name, etc.)
• Micro-volunteering (the capability to use technology to volunteer in very small chunks of time, say, while waiting in an airport)

Are you using micro-engagement in any way?

Are there other examples of micro-engagement that you think I’m missing?

Comment away!

The always helpful Agitator strikes again.

In the post linked above, Tom talks about two studies. One showed people who touched a product were more likely to buy it and the other that a positive first time experience is strongly correlated to long term brand loyalty.
Read more of Providing an Experience

World Vision has recently launched a micro-site focusing on children they care for in Indian Slums.

The headline of this micro-site references “Slumdog Millionaire,” the Best Picture winner at the Oscars this year. This site launched right after the Academy Awards.
Read more of Being ready when opportunity knocks