5 Tools to Complement a Nonprofit’s Website Development & Social Media Engagement Initiatives

Through my on-going research for our Social Media Series on how nonprofits can benefit from the various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest and Google+,  I have come across many tools that can be incorporated into online marketing strategies. These tools are free or low-cost and they would be particularly beneficial for smaller or start-up nonprofits to maximize overall efforts with less resources and today I am highlighting 5 that can help with engagement on social media platforms, websites & blogs.

1. ShortStack. Creating a Facebook Page that is engaging and that increases fan participation and engagement can be challenging. ShortStack is an excellent tool that can help a nonprofit design a Facebook page that includes applications, contests, sweepstakes, videos and customized forms. The platform also provides detailed analytics that show just how well your programs or campaigns are performing. It’s a great starting point for nonprofits just starting out on Facebook or who have a following of under 2,000 fans, as the service is absolutely free but pricing increases as your fan base grows. In addition, if you are new to Facebook they offer free online tutorials called “ShortStack University” which can help with the setup and administration of your nonprofit page and you can also read 7 Facebook Page Set-Up Tips for Nonprofit Fundraising.
   

   Image courtesy of indglobal.in

2. Facebook Images. Nothing is more frustrating and a waste of valuable time than uploading images to your Facebook page only to realize that the size of the image is too large or too small. Understanding Facebook’s image size restrictions and limitations will ensure that you are uploading quality pictures that are the right fit the first time every time. Dreamgrow, a full-service internet marketing and social media agency has compiled a handy ‘cheat-sheet’ that provides all Facebook optimal image sizes and dimensions. This resource will certainly help save you time.
3. Tweet Charts & Sheet. Maintaining a Twitter presence can be overwhelming because of the amount of information and the speed in which it is delivered. Often Twitter activity can be monitored and managed through a 3rd party platform. We touched on this in a previous post on Twitter tips but it’s also a good practice to get an overview of what is being said about your organization and how your Twitter efforts are progressing. TweetCharts and TweetSheet both help in these areas respectively. In TweetChart simply enter the keywords you want to get more information on and within seconds you get a variety of relevant information on the overall picture of those keywords. TweetSheet connects directly to your organization’s Twitter account and delivers a cool infograph with information on the impact of your Twitter presence.
4. Formstack. When creating and developing your organization’s website, data collection is extremely important, especially when accepting donations, building on your newsletter email list, fielding cause and volunteer related inquiries. Formstack is an easy to use platform where forms can be created to collect your desired data and also process donations through online credit card processing with payment gateways like PayPal, Google Checkout, First Data and Chargify. Plans start as low as $14 per month and can be the easiest way to build a launch and publish a website that helps you collect the very valuable information you require from your donors and supporters.
5. Clipix. Nonprofits always come across an array of information on the internet in search of content to share on social media platforms, write about on their website or blog, or for research purposes. Recently I wrote about bookmarking platforms like StumbleUpon and Delicious and similar to them Clipix also can help nonprofits organize favorite links or sites they would like to revisit in the future. Its layout contains boards (or categories) much like Pinterest boards and can be easily accessible on their main website. Although it is a smaller tool that is growing in popularity it’s just as easy to use and share with others.

Often building a website or implementing a presence on a social media platform can be a daunting task. Fortunately the web has many free and low-cost tools that make the process easier which reduces the time and human resources required to accomplish the simplest of tasks, such as the ones we have explored today. Feel free to browse through the other posts in my Social Media Series for nonprofits which includes a series on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Pinterest along with other related topics.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.