Social media is the leading way the study subjects report finding out about causes – and in some cases, that information spurs further action like donating or volunteering. Above all, it sparks conversation about issues – and that’s good news for causes seeking greater visibility. Katya Andresen CSO and COO Network for Good

How about you – do you need help with getting greater visibility?

I love talking to people about how to get their name and cause out there. This quote set the tone for a recent presentation to DuPage County’s leading nonprofits.

Thanks to Kathi Wagner, Director of Fundraising and Development at Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, for inviting me to speak at the March West Suburban Philanthropic Network event. I learned so much from my co-presenter Frank Hudetz, an expert in QR code marketing. Here’s a quick recap . . .

Three Reasons People Share Causes

According to a study by Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication and Waggener Edstrom, social media drives action and support for causes for these reasons.

1. We are proud. We like to show off our affiliations with favorite causes to family, friends and colleagues. 

2. We want to influence others. We want to recruit others to our cause – and make a bigger difference.

3. We want to look smart and nice. By posting about our causes, we can seem knowledgeable and charitable about issues that matter.

Question: How does your cause contribute to making your community members more proud, influential, smart or nice?

Social Global is Moving Local Mobile

Gartner believes that mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common web access device worldwide by 2013.

In some countries, like Africa, almost everyone connects on phones or tablets. And, that’s the way the world is moving, too. Even right here at home in DuPage County.

In the presentation, we looked at NPR, a top-ranked nonprofit, for ideas on how to send messages, engage interest and interact with communities on websites and mobile devices.

NPR is a media outlet and your nonprofit should be, too. When you position your organization as a newsbreaker, an entertainment outlet and a destination for community conversation, your organization becomes relevant, interesting and shaereable.

Share in the comments => What’s your social or mobile marketing success story?

Mobilize & Socialize: 5 Ways to Maximize Marketing to Grow Communities – and Contributions!

Even if you don’t have a mobile site yet, you can still integrate social media into your marketing and enhance your mobile presence – for free! Here are five ways to mobilize your marketing with social media.

1. Set up a profile on Yelp. com. If this is where iPhone’s Siri [a voice assisted search engine] goes to find information, shouldn’t your organization be where she can find you? But wait – can’t people leave reviews? Yes, and you want them to. Here’s why: reviews, both positive and negative, build up profiles. Negative reviews offer constructive feedback and overall account for only about 5% or responses.
2. Go for a Google+ account and get all this: search benefits, powerful event platform, segmented messaging, community communications, photo editing and live hangouts that can be recorded as YouTube videos.
3. Land mark your territory on LinkedIn with optimized personal profiles, company pages with followers and dedicated group discussions.
4. Tweet up your organizations with influencers who can help spread your message on twitter around a community cause hashtag.
5. Mobilize your site with a responsive WordPress template like Responsive or add in a free plug in. Here’s a list of 25+  WordPress mobile themes and plugins.

Wondering what you can do with mobile? Here’s one cool campaign . . .

About the presenter: Barbara Rozgonyi works in DuPage County with organizations that touch the world. A speaker, trainer and consultant, Barbara developed the Strategic Marketing 301 for nonprofits for the Academy for Nonprofit Excellence at the College of DuPage. She believes everyone has a story that compels and contributes – as soon as it starts getting shared.

Over to You: How do you socialize and mobilize your organization?