This is also archived on the We ARE Media . What are Social Media? Social media comprise the vast array of communications vehicles including blogs, wikis, e-mail, and social networking sites that are powered by the Internet. Social media can be best understand by what they are NOT.

This photo is from dvs' Photostream . This spring, Facebook made some significant changes to the functionality of Pages on their site in order to help brands market more effectively. This has led to a lot of discussion and encouragement aimed at nonprofits about how to market via Facebook. I'm not anti-Facebook but I do want to lend a little objectivity to this discussion

It's almost a year since President Obama's election, but there is still a LOT of interest in the staggering success of Obama for America (OFA). In particular, people want to know how the campaign used online tools to raise $500 million and win the presidency! Did the money come in through Facebook, MyBarackObama.com, email or SMS? More important, what can the average nonprofit learn from this historic campaign and what can never be replicated?

Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing Corporate Blogging Book by Debbie Weil Flipping the Funnel by Seth Godin Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin Media Rules! by Brian Reich and Dan Solomon Momentum Igniting Change in the Connected Age by Alison Fine Power to the Edges: Trends and Opportunities in Online Civic Engagement by the Evolve Foundation Robin Hood Marketing Stealing Corporate Savvy to Sell Just Causes by Katya Andresen The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki The Cluetrain Manifesto, by Locke, Levine,

My friends at Network for Good have created a new guide to help you glide through year-end fundraising called 25 Steps to Fall & Holiday Fundraising Success . You can download your FREE copy by signing up here . I particularly like their suggestions in Step 10 for building your online list.

How many of you have taken Andy Goodman’s storytelling seminar ? Pretty mind-blowing, huh?  Andy unlocks the secrets of good story-telling, decoding a formula for narrative going at least back to Aristotle’s Poetics. There are easily thousands of non-profit communicators who have passed through Andy’s program. 

I am completely biased in this post because of my own studies in journalism. That said: Newspapers are downsizing. Jobs are being cut. The journalism field is in the midst of a re-invention.

Let's face it: People have short attention spans. Especially when it comes to the Internet. We're all clicking around furiously trying to nab the quickest, most-reliable answers to our questions. (And, And, often, we're just browsing for things to entertain our instant-gratification-seeking minds.)

By my most recent count, there are 106 fundraising blogs out there. My definition of "fundraising blogs" is deliberately broad -- these are blogs that are touch on fundraising in some way, at some time. That's a lot of talk about fundraising. More than a normal person can (or probably should) read.

I can guarantee you this: A lot more people hate the US Air Force than hate your nonprofit organization. For that matter, a lot more people love the Air Force. And that means people say all kinds of things about the Air Force in blogs and other social media places. And the Air Force is doing something about it.