I was very surprised to find out that the Dallas Woman's foundation has met its yearly fund raising goals months before the goal's deadline. Watch the major milestones in this video: This is a great accomplishment for the Dallas Woman's Foundation, especially considering the difficult economic times. A recent news report shows donations to U.S. charities have dropped by about 11 percent. The report says this is "the worst decline in 20 years since the Chronicle of Philanthropy began keeping a tally." Of course, there are plenty of reasons to support the DWF. "Dallas Women's Foundation promotes women's philanthropy and raises money to support community programs that help women and girls and build stronger communities. An investment in women gives them the resources they need to be successful leaders of the households and of the communities," it says on the DWF website. However, I also believe the increase in fund raising for DWF is also due to excellent marketing and communication efforts by Stephanie J. Norsworthy, the foundation's communications Manager. She puts a heavy focus on social media. I found active Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube accounts for the foundation. However, she also says traditional media remains a large part of her communications efforts. I thought it was very interesting to hear about nonprofit PR. Vin Hoey explained the differences between for profit and non profit PR strategies.
1) The goal is different. For profit businesses' goal is to increase the profit, non profit organizations' focus is on fulfilling its mission.
2) Volunteers play a bigger role in non profits.
3) In for profit organizations, R&D plays a high role in innovation. R&D is lacking in non profits because it is costly. However, Hoey did explain R&D could be used in nonprofits through available market research. So, non profit organization's main goal is to fulfill its mission. This is usually mainly achieved through the work of volunteers.Hoey said there is a big tie between volunteering and giving. Volunteers are more involved in the organization and more willing to give money.
The main question is: how do you involve people throughout the year? I think social media could play a crucial role in this, especially considering DFW is the fourth largest market with Generation X.
Stephanie's statistics show that social media is very prevalent among young people, and it's growing among all demographics. So, I think it's crucial for non profits to focus on social media. After all, the Dallas Woman's Foundation's focus on social media (combined with traditional media) seems to be working!
1) The goal is different. For profit businesses' goal is to increase the profit, non profit organizations' focus is on fulfilling its mission.
2) Volunteers play a bigger role in non profits.
3) In for profit organizations, R&D plays a high role in innovation. R&D is lacking in non profits because it is costly. However, Hoey did explain R&D could be used in nonprofits through available market research. So, non profit organization's main goal is to fulfill its mission. This is usually mainly achieved through the work of volunteers.Hoey said there is a big tie between volunteering and giving. Volunteers are more involved in the organization and more willing to give money.
The main question is: how do you involve people throughout the year? I think social media could play a crucial role in this, especially considering DFW is the fourth largest market with Generation X.
Stephanie's statistics show that social media is very prevalent among young people, and it's growing among all demographics. So, I think it's crucial for non profits to focus on social media. After all, the Dallas Woman's Foundation's focus on social media (combined with traditional media) seems to be working!
