Advocacy Avenue

More favorite nonprofit strategy and technology blogs

Ever since Sally Heaven's roundup of "nonprofit-strategy-and-technology blogs" on the Convio Connection Cafe, I've wanted to list a few of my own favorites to add to hers.

Sally's list (visit her post for the excellent reasons):

• Frogloop, Care2's nonprofit online marketing blog
• Beaconfire Wire
• Mobile Commons
• Sea Change Strategies
• The Agitator

And mine:

Three smart consultants:

• Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media - Lots of great advice, plus additional projects like We Are Media.
• Katya's Nonprofit Marketing Blog - Using marketing techniques for social good - she's the author of Robin Hood Marketing.
• SocialFishing by Maddie Grant - How associations can use social media, along with the Nonprofit Technology Network Water Cooler weekly chats.

Two software companies Convio would (for very understandable reasons) not list:

• Wild Apricot Blog - Advice for nonprofits and associations, centered around technology but going beyond their own products.
• Blackbaud's NetWits Think Tank - Some ideas posts, some technology posts, with an aggregated list of jobs at their clients at the bottom - nice touch.

And one innovative foundation:

• Pro Bono Junkie's Blog - News of the volunteering world and how to integrate volunteering into your career.  The Taproot Foundation puts together teams of volunteers that provide strategy, marketing, and technology consulting to nonprofits (I've volunteered with them as a project manager).

Would love to hear anyone else's favorites as well.

Why create an integrated advocacy campaign

An individual advocacy action can be successful on its own, but a campaign that reinforces its message using a variety of channels, media, and communicators can build greater momentum and involvement. In a world flooded with more and more information, your constituents will be most enthusiastic if you're available where they are and interact with them on their terms. If you understand them, they'll join your efforts.

On the corporate side, integrated marketing communications and multichannel marketing are responding to the same trends, and companies know that "Users who interact with your company over multiple channels are more loyal than single-channel customers." The trick is to become part of people's lives, something they choose to become more involved in over time - and keep reaching them in different ways, so they don't get bored.

We think about integrated advocacy campaigns as including:

• traditional public affairs - Hill briefings, media relations, coalition building;
• conventional online tactics - petitions, email newsletters, tell-a-friend forms;
• and new social media tools - virtual events, micromedia, social networks.

It's not easy to coordinate everything, but each piece increases your impact. Why not add something your constituents will want to tell their friends about?