Let's Link Up!

Social networking is all the rage online these days. Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, and MySpace are some of the more popular among the literally hundreds of sites designed for this purpose. A Google search for "social networking nonprofits" returns over 22 million hits.

There are links to articles and blogs that will help you understand how social networking can benefit your organization. There are links to newspaper articles talking about how nonprofits are using social networks to raise money. Heck, you can even find people writing or blogging about how the death knell has already sounded for nonprofits and social networks.

I started small and am working my way up a bit. About a year ago, I created an account on LinkedIn, which was recommended to me. Over the course of a few months, I built up a profile and added a great deal of work experience and some personal information. Eventually I got into the habit of actively looking for clients to connect to, and reviewing my contacts' contacts to see if there are other people I should be connecting to. I now belong to a number of LinkedIn groups, all related to nonprofits. I receive regular emails listing discussion points and questions that group members have posted, and when I feel I have something to contribute, I post responses.

When people come to me to talk about changing jobs, I encourage them to use LinkedIn or something like it to begin building a network that can help lead them to jobs that might be a good fit for them. LinkedIn has its own job source and also connects its members to another, larger job source for additional opportunities.

When I joined LinkedIn I thought I had done what I needed to do in the social networking arena. But then I started getting requests to join people's networks on Plaxo, which sends me reminders when my contacts are having a birthday, leaving me no excuse to forget to call or send a card. A young woman that I used to babysit for now has a baby of her own and the only way to see his picture is to view her Facebook page, so I have just spent the last hour setting up my Facebook page. I'm completely sick of me, having just typed up all my interests, activities, favorite things, etc. But eight people have already added me as a friend, so I felt somewhat validated until I noticed that my friend David has 571 friends. He must have a huge postage bill when it comes time to send holiday cards.

I get the sense that it could easily become a full-time job to maintain a presence on a variety of networks. I'm also considering creating a webinar about social networks to help those unfamiliar with them get started. I'd like your help.

Please click on the word Comments below this post and let me know which online networks you belong to or are considering. If you have thoughts about the viability of a social networking webinar, I would welcome your thoughts about that as well.

In the meantime, if you're on LinkedIn or Facebook or Plaxo -- let's link up!

How Much Is Not Enough?

A couple of months ago I was trying to figure out an affordable way to help a group of interested professionals get an introduction to The Raiser's Edge, a software product for which training is available only if you work for an organization that uses it.

While I was not able to offer a free session, as I initially hoped to do, I did find that I could offer an online seminar for a very reasonable $40 per person, and the CJW webinar series was born.

Since that first session at the end of May, we have led three webinars: Interfacing and reconciliation between Development and Accounting offices; Raiser's Edge Export Functions; and one about what it takes to get a job as a support person in a Development office. There are 6 more scheduled during the month of July, and we will be adding others to be held in August and September within a couple of weeks. Each session is 90 minutes long. Registrants are given a web link to view the webinar and a toll-free number to call in order to hear it and be able to participate.

I thought long and hard about the price for these sessions. I get emails inviting me to webinars frequently, including those from Blackbaud, who is offering 3-hour sessions priced at about $240 per person. My sessions are half as long as those Blackbaud is offering, so at half their price I'd be charging $120 per person, which is pretty much in line with what I'm seeing from other companies offering such services.

I know that it can be dangerous to price services too low. There's all that "if it seems to good to be true it probably is" and "you get what you pay for" stuff hanging in the air around a low-priced opportunity. But as this firm is very small and our overhead is kept as low as possible, our rates have consistently been lower across the board, although I'm confident that the quality of our services meets or exceeds our competitors. I've never liked the idea of charging more than I felt I needed just because I could.

What do you think? Would you invest $40 and 90 minutes? Would the low price be off-putting to you? If $40 is too low, what do you think an online seminar is worth?

I'd like to ask that you go to the Events/Webinars page of this web site and review our offerings. Then come back here and tell me what you think about the webinars and the prices.