Each month we highlight the posts and articles that
received the highest votes on Association Jam - a community website created to provide a forum for association,
non-profit and membership managers, staff and volunteers.
This month, the top-rated blog posts and
articles
were in the membership, social media, volunteers, and events categories. Here’s a
look at the most popular links in each “AJam” category – in order of
votes – for the month of May 2011:
Membership:
Carol-Anne Moutinho | Association Resource Center - ARC Blog The term
‘member-driven’ is something that comes up a lot: I know a lot of
association folk spend time talking about it in your board and staff
meetings. Goodness knows we beat people over the head with it here on
our blog...We know it can mean the difference between an association
that is doing Okay and one that’s truly hitting it out of the park...but
it’s an elusive beast. ..Or is it?
What does your association do to incorporate member feedback into its day-to-day operations?
Social Media:
If your company
[or non-profit] has not (fully) embraced the web yet and decided to do
so today, it isn’t as simple as flicking a switch. Nor should it be.
Digital marketing is a journey, one in which both team members and
organizations should embark on rather than simply taking a “check the
box” mentality. It is naive of any consultant, agency or client-side
marketer to think you can simply throw money at digital marketing and
achieve success. ... It’s actually more about philosophy, devotion of
time and, well, passion.
Volunteers:
Is There a Magic Bullet for Successful Volunteer Recruitment and Retention?
Carol-Anne Moutinho | Association Resource Center - ARC Blog
The more I read
and the more I see, the more I realize that there is no magic bullet
where volunteer recruitment and retention is concerned. While everyone
seems to have their two cents to add to the conversation, however, there
are some common themes...
Events:
Paula Hultman | Event360
In November my
husband and I will participate in our twelfth 3-Day event. We are the
poster children for the loyal repeat participants that every non-profit
dreams of. What brings us back year after year? Here is my formula for
building a loyal repeat participant base for your event…
Technology:
How to: Get Started with Google Analytics Meghan Peters | Mashable.com
Whether you built a
personal site from the ground up or oversee digital strategy for a huge
corporation, many of us are managing a web presence these days. There
are millions of websites out there, and tracking how people are getting
to your site and what’s performing well is a must for being competitive
in the online market.
Fundraising:
When Fundraising Goes Right, Really Right
Earlier this week I
wrote about a national nonprofit that continues to send me fundraising
appeals, even though I have been lapsed for 11 years. A reader of the
post on the Social Velocity Facebook page raised a great question: “I
would love to know how this nonprofit could have turned you into a
donor…step by step?” So this post outlines what my nonprofit stalker
could have done differently to keep and upgrade me as a donor.
Other:
Not Your Grandparents Annual Report: New Ways and Tools to Connect With Readers
Kimberlee Roth | GettingAttention.org
Still not entirely
convinced annual reports present opportunity over drudgery? Many
nonprofits are bridging print and digital content in creative ways that
make their annual reports interactive, engaging and attention-grabbing.
Fun:
On Being Wrong: Kathryn Schultz on Ted.com
Kathryn Schultz | Tedblog
Most of us will do
anything to avoid being wrong. But what if we're wrong about that?
"Wrongologist" Kathryn Schulz makes a compelling case for not just
admitting but embracing our fallibility.
Do you have something to say to Associations?
If
you’ve got a stand-out blog post, article, presentation, video, or
other online resource to help associations and non-profits be more
effective, we invite you to submit your links to AssociationJam.org and vote for your favorites. Follow @associationjam on Twitter to see which stories make it as #ajam front page news!