Tag Archives: Communication

The Difference Between Making the News and Being the News

Collaboration. It’s such a great word. It’s also one of those words that is great say and believe in, but much harder to execute and implement. However, this is not so true for some of the top research universities in the United States, the U.K and Canada. Why? Get to know Futurity.org.

According to the website, Futurity.org aggregates the best research news from a number of top universities (see image below for the list). The site, which is hosted at the University of Rochester, covers research findings in a range of topics, including the environment, health, science, and society–and it’s interesting and made relevant even for the general consumer.

But here’s the best part: Rather than try to get their research in the news, they have become the news. And this my friends, marks a huge shift. Because I’m going to go to THEM, rather than them having to try to find their way to ME. Now–what if government did something similiar?

So let’s talk about the government:

This past week, the great Susannah Fox posted the tweet shown to the right. There’s been conversations about government opening up its data–but opening up can mean more. It can also mean content-wise. What is the government followed Futurity’s model? You don’t need to look too far to know there’s a lot of content on .govs–as well as duplicative content. But there are also the hidden gems. But to find the hidden gems, you have to dig, be savvy and subscribe to a number of different RSS feeds, blogs and email lists. Also in the content equation, the government, like universities, have worked with journalists for years to communicate their work to the public–spending both time and resources. When, we don’t have to go too far to know that in-depth and technical reporting is on the decline as newspapers are slimming down.

So, I say, bravo to the universities of Futurity.org, you’ve gone from trying to make the news–to becoming the news. Quite a big bridge to build and you’ve turned your gems into online currency I can easily find, comprehend and share. Thank you.

Collaboration + Aggregation

To see another example of what happens when collaboration meets aggregation, head over to Alltop.com. How we communicate is evolving–don’t think about how you can make the news. Instead, think about how you can be the news.


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Helpful Listservs

mailbox Today, someone wanted a list of helpful social marketing websites/resources on the social marketing listserv. Not wanting to be redundant of my Links page….and out of my own curiousity, I’ve created a list of helpful social marketing listservs , and how to join.

First, let’s define a listserv. TechSoup, one of the oldest and largest nonprofit technology assistance agencies, who offers nonprofits a one-stop resource for technology needs, defines a listserv as:

“[an] electronic mailing lists that distributes written discussions to those who subscribe; each posted unit of a discussion shows up in the subscribers’ e-mail boxes. One of the most useful features of e-mail lists or listservs is the fact that you can send the same message to many people at once. Similarly, you can also receive many messages at once in a compiled and organized fashion.”

Social Marketing Listserv

The list is a place for those in academia, in research, and in practice to exchange information to advance the field, create discussion, present issues and debates, and encourage collaboration of resources. Alan Andreasen runs the list.

To join the Social Marketing listserv, subscribe to listproc@listproc.georgetown.edu through email and type subscribe soc-mktg <your name> in the message body (i.e., subscribe soc-mktg John Smith).

Social Marketing in Higher Education Listserv

The purpose for the Social Marketing in Higher Education Listserv is to allow engagement and participation in discussion of the application of evidence- and practice-based social marketing to bring about positive health and social change and enhanced learning on campuses. (taken from the website.)

To subscribe, you must go to this here and fill out the 5 second form.

Fostering Sustainable Behavior Listserv

The Fostering Sustainable Behavior Listserv currently has over 6000 subscribers from around the globe who are involved in delivering environmental programs.

To subscribe, send an email to fsb-on@cbsmlist.com You will receive a reply asking you to confirm your subscription. Once confirmed, you can post message by sending them to fsb@cbsmlist.com

American Communication Listserv

To join, compose an email to listproc@listproc.appstate.edu, and in the text area enter: sub ACA-L your name (Write your actual name there instead of “your name.”) Or, go to the online subscription page, and enter in your name and email address.

The Nonprofit-Social-Marketing Listserv

This smaller listserv I think is out of the UK. To subscribe to this list serv, you must fill out the 5 second online application found here.

ORG-MARKETING Listserv

This list focuses on the subject of marketing for non-profits and NGOs. A partial list of topics include PSAs, low (or no) budget marketing, promotion and advertising, surveys, service quality, marketing planning for non-profits, positioning, market models, relationship marketing, database marketing, and marketing ethics.

To subscribe to Org-Marketing, send the following command to the server listserv@amic.com in the BODY of the e-mail: SUBSCRIBE Org-Marketing

Nonprofit-Net Listserv

This list covers nonprofit and internet related topics. To subscribe, send the email message ‘SUB NONPROFIT-NET’ to: listproc@lists.nonprofit.net

Webcontent.gov Listserv (for Federal employees only) Web Content Managers Listserv

This list is open to web content managers from any level of U.S. Government: federal, state, and local. Since the purpose of this group is to exchange ideas among those of us who are in these roles, they do not admit contractors or other private individuals.

To subscribe, send an email to webmanager@hud.gov with ‘web content managers listserv’ in the subject line along with your email address, name, job title, and agency.

More

  • For a list of environmental listservs, this site provides a good comprehensive list.
  • For more nonprofit and related listservs, Idealist.org offers some great ones here.
  • For a long, comprehensive list of more list servs on a variety of communication related topics, the University of Iowa provides a good list here.
  • The American Marketing Association also provides a fuller list of its list-servs and chats.
  • This site also lists about 100 marketing and advertising listservs available.

***

Please leave the name of your favorite and helpful listserv in the comments. From my search, I have a feeling there are many more out there! Or, which ones, out of them all, do you find most helpful?

 

Carnival of Non-Profit Consultants: Cha-Cha-Chaaange

Hello and welcome to my first time as a host for the Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants! This week was an open call, with a personal preference for social change and social marketing type posts.

The posts listed below largely discuss and point to current nonprofit marketing trends and potentially future marketing trends. Though this might not reflect social marketing per say, it is a reflection of social change….how trends surface, alter, flourish, downsize and in essence, change. So enjoy this week’s carnival!

  • ***Inserting my special ‘bonus host post’ here, as it follows up well with Mr. Viator’s idea. In my post Consumerism. What’s Your First Reaction?, I too coin my own term ‘optimistic consumerism,’ explaining that with changing media and times, the consumer is becoming more empowered than ever by having a choice. In particular, not only do we have a choice of what products or services we consume, but we also have a choice in the place we consume our information. *Props to choosing the Carnival, 😉
  • Rebecca Leaman at Wild Apricot continues the discussion of change in her post titled 5 Keys to Effective Knowledge Transfer for Nonprofits, where she outlines how effective communication can transfer through each phase of a message. No matter how the times and technology change, Ms. Leaman’s insights and download-able resource is priceless.
  • Bryan Miller at Giving in a Digital World maps out the technology hype cycle in his post titled Online Fundraising and the Hype Cycle. Mr. Miller points out how web 2.0 is making the way for community fundraising 2.0 and that knowing where your nonprofit’s fundraising efforts are will put you and your organization ahead of the curve.
  • Jason Dick at A Small Change-Fundraising blog outlines three core values of traditional nonprofit fundraising in his post: Cultivation, Solicitation and Stewardship. However, Mr. Dick points out that while the traditional model is good, the big umbrella term that deserves attention is relationship. According to Mr. Dick, a good relationship means good fundraising and “all bets are off” on the traditional process.
  • J. Karlin at Marketing and Fundraising Ideas sets the stage on how to implement change in the post Powerful yet Reasonable Goals. Karlin says that before change can even be accomplished as was in the case study given of Tufts University, one should dream big, and not overlook setting reasonable, attainable goals.

Thanks for tuning in to this week’s carnival. Thank you for all of the submission’s this week, as I’ve found new blogs and bloggers to follow, along with some great ideas about cha-cha-chaaaange!

Keep track of the Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants, no matter which blog is hosting, by subscribing to the Carnival feed.


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