Social Media once again ranked as the top category for blog posts, reports, articles and news stories submitted to and voted on by visitors to Association Jam this month, but Leadership and Events both tagged along very close behind.
Here’s a look at the most popular links in each “AJam” category – Membership, Events, Leadership, Volunteers, Fundraising, Social Media, Fun, Technology, and Other – for the month of April 2010:
Membership
Do Nonprofit Boards Really Want Younger Members?
Rosetta Thurman | Chronicle of Philanthropy
Boardsource's Next Generation and Governance Report on Findings showed that nonprofit boards understand the benefits of having younger members, yet the report also highlights several disincentives for nonprofit boards to actively seek out younger members. Just because there are a lot of Gen Y'ers out there, doesn't mean nonprofit boards are looking for them.
Events
43 Social Media Tips, Tricks, Big Ideas & Real World Examples for Meetings & Events
Samuel J. Smith | Interactive Meeting Technology
Think of this rich list of resources as a "social media launching pad" to get your event’s social media program off the ground:
• Resources & Communities of Practice
• Planning Your Event
• Promoting Your Event
• Social Networking & Community Building
• Backchannel & Twitter
• Other Useful Resources
Leadership
Print Grows Trees
Kerry Stackpole | Wired for Leadership
Association executives who want to lead on "going green" will benefit from understanding the issues more completely.
Volunteers
Can A Spontaneous Mob of Strangers Change The World?
Jessica Kirkwood | HandsOn Blog
If the power of the internet is enough to persuade people to go to work without pants on, I wonder if it could mobilize people to make a spontaneous and meaningful difference.
Fundraising
Fundraising Tips: A Snapshot of Rural Donors
AFP | Association of Fundraising Professionals
A study by Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy gives useful demographics on rural US donors: they may be less likely to donate, but give a signficantly higher percentage of their income to charity than their urban counterparts, and rural donors are more likely to give to religious causes than to secular causes.
Social Media
What's a Fan Worth to an Association?
Maggie McGary | Mizz Information
Adweek reported that value of a Facebook Fan has been calculated: $3.60. Does this value hold true for fans of association's pages?
Fun
How to Construct an Informative Presentation
Scott Meyer | Basic Instructions
A comic for anyone who’s ever had to create or deliver a presentation:
"Couldn't you just stop at the introduction?"
"Then I'd be introducing nothing, and what kind of introduction is that?"
"In this case...
Technology
Why You Need a Content Management System
David Gammel | High Context Consulting
Running a site without a CMS today is like writing a book on an old Selectric typewriter. You could do it but why in the world would you want to? If you want a site that encourages collaboration, sharing and participation - the main elements of social media - then you need a CMS that supports those types of activities.
Other
Branding Basics for Nonprofits
Howard Adam Levy | Nonprofit Brand Institute
Over the long-term, organizations with strong brands become well known and tend to raise more money… Three components create a brand: differentiation, credibility and authenticity. By assessing your organization’s strengths in each area, you’ll begin to understand how your brand value can be built, communicated and delivered.
Do You Have an Associations Story to Share?
If you’ve got a stand-out blog post, article, presentation, video, or other online resource to help associations and other not-for-profit organizations to be more effective, submit your links to AssociationJam.org. Follow @associationjam on Twitter (hashtag #ajam) to catch all the front page stories – and don’t forget to vote for your upcoming favorites!