SMBME #15 – Nonprofits Taking Action with Social Media
By popular demand we featured non-profits again for this month’s breakfast. We had three experienced professionals in the non-profit space share their knowledge with us. This month’s breakfast was sponsored by flyte new media and was held at the Eastland Park Hotel.
We started the breakfast with Emily Brackett from Visible Logic. Emily gave us a great round up of current popular social media sites and how people are using them. She also discussed some of the struggles nonprofits may have. As your message is being broadcasted out online, you want to make sure your message is being diluted by the very people who are trying to help you.
Social Media : Promoting and Protecting Your Non-Profit Brand
Our second presenter of the day was Cyndi Amato from SARSSM (Sexual Assault Response Services of Southern Maine). Cyndi explained how her organization works and the services they offer. In their situation they felt as those they had certain challenges that social media, and more specifically Facebook, could help them. SARSSM has separate Facebook accounts for the agency and their events. Each has a separate audience and they feed each with different content.
SARSSM Using Social Media to Make a Difference
Marc A. Pitman, the Fundraising Coach, did a great job closing out the breakfast! He talked to us about how you can use social media for fundraising and gave examples of successful campaigns he has seen. He emphasized that is this where nonprofits need to be because it is where their target audience is. He also gave us some figures on who donates the most money to charities. His presentation is below.
SMBME 15’s Speakers
Cyndi Amato
Cyndi is the Executive director for SARSSM (Sexual Assault Response Services of Southern Maine). SARSSM is the state’s oldest and largest rape crisis center. It was founded in 1973 to support survivors of sexual assault, their family and friends, and to help eradicate sexual violence. From these roots, they have grown into a major crisis intervention and resource center for all of southern Maine. SARSSM is also well known for the Chocolate Lover’s Fling – the organizations largest annual fundraising event.
Emily is president of Visible Logic, Inc. Established in 2001, Visible Logic is a boutique graphic design firm that works across all media, from web sites to logos to print materials, to build cohesive and consistent identities for their clients. Based in Portland, Maine, Visible Logic builds complete branding systems and designs individual projects for clients across the U.S. They serve small businesses, not-for-profits, entrepreneurs and publishers who want to use high-quality design to compete with companies of all sizes.
Emily has a BA from Carleton College and a BFA in Graphic Design from The Massachusetts College of Art. This combination of liberal arts foundation plus graphic design education creates a skill set unique in the industry. Good graphic design is ultimately about communication. Having the “word” skills to complement the “visual” talent allows Emily to create materials that truly work as demanded—whether to inform, entertain or persuade.
Marc A. Pitman (@marcapitman) is the author of Ask Without Fear! and founder of FundraisingCoach.com, a website dedicated to practical ideas for fundraising more effectively. He also teaches internet marketing at Thomas College.
Marc’s experience in nonprofit fundraising in many sectors (colleges, prep schools, and healthcare) and his expertise in executive coaching and leadership training has caused him to be sought out by NBC, CBS, Fox News, Reuters, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and the American Marketing Association. His lively presentations at conferences and fundraising seminars get him invited to various organizations like Blackbaud’s Conferences for Nonprofits, Habitat for Humanity International, the New England Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, and the Association of Fundraising Professionals.