Even if you haven't taken on any social media initiatives yet, but plan to start something in the next 6 months or so, you should fill out the survey. In just a few weeks, we'll have solid information about social media initiatives that associations are tackling. So I've asked Jason to report on the NCFR's progress on Facebook.

This morning’s Washington Post article, “To Nonprofits Seeking Cash, Facebook App Isn’t So Green&# , takes some not-very-new shots at Causes, the friending and fundraising app on Facebook, while not providing any new insights.

If you’re planning or evaluating any form of social media activity, then it’s worth taking a look at eMarketer’s summary of a recently released research report examining which marketing uses of Facebook and Twitter are working best. Bottom of the list is the use of Twitter to drive direct sales.

With this in mind, I spotted a handy application today that helps answer this question, at least for Facebook users - and with over 150m active users worldwide that’s often the first site considered by marketers and fundraisers. However, it does still show that Facebook is gradually attracting an increasingly mature audience.

But in today’s world, it’s wise to consider complementing these appeals with tools like Facebook and Twitter. Since you’ve already designed and implemented your year-end direct mail effort, here are some pointers for integrating it with social media: Use same theme as the letter. Facebook Ideas. Facebook Pages.

Yesterday I attended a workshop organized by one of my favorite bloggers (and NTC roomie) Nancy Schwartz on how you deal with branding issues for your organization within social media. She would prefer the NPCA logo to be on everything and does not want individual program managers to set up microsites or their own pages on Facebook.

Writing in Engage: Hispanics , interactive marketing consultant Lee Vance provides this astonishing stat: Back in February 2008, Facebook produced a Spanish-language version (note: with help from its user community). million Facebook users in Spanish-speaking countries. At the time, there were 2.3 million, a remarkable gain of 7.5

Once, when I was representing social media on an arts marketing panel, a fellow panelist said to me, one-on-one, something along the lines of “ okay, but how does this sell tickets ?” The longer answer is about social media metrics and the complexity of conversation, and it’s not really an answer. Same thing with social media.

I was just on a call with fellow members of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy folks when someone asked, “Does anyone here use Twitter or Facebook ?”. Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn and YouTube are sites that are in the broad category of “social media.” Millions of people are using sites like Facebook and Twitter.

When I talk to people in the arts about social media, there is a common rationale for opting out: “Our patrons are over 55 – they don’t do social networking, the older ones don’t even have computers, so we’re not wasting our time on it.” Well, yes, you can waste a lot of time flailing about in the social media pool if you have no plan.