Milston Consulting, LLC

Fundraising and Social Media – To Do or Not to Do

milstonconsult — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:44:37 +0000

Click on the image for a a pdf of a presentation made on March 22, 2012 to the Central Virginia Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Nonprofits and Pinterest – A tactical guide of Ideas

milstonconsult — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:38:16 +0000

Last week Pinterest became the fastest growing website…ever. I consult with and teach social media for nonprofits and before each semester I try to find a new thing to add to the curriculum.

This semester, pinterest.

First, what is pinterest? I like to say it is the internet, but curated. It is essentially a visual bookmarking tool with a social media angle. Here is a good overview wiki article. http://bit.ly/whetI0

It started out to be fairly female dominated but over the last six months men, brands, and a few nonprofits have started migrating over. So in the mix of everything you need to do as a nonprofit, is pinterest worth your time? The easy answer is probably yes.

Why?

It really depends on your organization’s ability and need to tell your story. Pinterest would be perfect for a museum, garden, a humane society. If you are already using a visual storytelling engine like Tumblr or Flickr, pinterest would be a great and easy tie in.

How?

For detailed examples and a list of 7 ways you can use Pinterest, download the Tactical Guide for Nonprofits.

Pinterest For Nonprofits Download Here

Want to learn more? Here are some links on Pinterest

How to use it for your nonprofit http://bit.ly/wrSLAC
11 nonprofits to follow http://bit.ly/npopinterest
Should you? http://bit.ly/xYF4Xc
Facts and Figures http://cnet.co/xLiZ2L
Cool ideas to steal http://bit.ly/wBUrOU
Pinterest Tips and Tricks http://on.mash.to/yKwYrG

Board Matrix Template

milstonconsult — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:14:30 +0000

I’ve had a few clients lately request help in building or rebuilding their boards. When considering such a thing I always caution that it is important to take diversity into consideration. By diversity I mean age and ethnicity etc., as well as, thought, experiences, background, and skills.

The easiest way to do this is with a board matrix. Map out the attributes, expertise, core competencies and connections of your current board and use that to guide your recruitment process. Here is a template that you can use. Please feel free to use it, but please let others know you found it here.

Board Matrix Template

Speaking Engagements in the First Quarter 2012

milstonconsult — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:29:26 +0000

Seems like 2012 is getting off to a busy start. In addition to my biannual events with Southside Community Partners and Nonprofit Learning Point I am also speaking a few other places. Below is a list of events and links to registration if applicable.

January 24 – Southside Community Partners – Getting Started with Social Media register here

March 22 – Central Virginia Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals – Fundraising and Social Media – Making it Work More information here

March 28 & April 4 Nonprofit Learning Point – Social Media for Nonprofits register here

April 19 – Virginia Society AIA More information Here

Fall nonprofit Learning Point Class

milstonconsult — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:07:02 +0000

This is a test post.

Welcome 2011

milstonconsult — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 21:23:57 +0000

Milston Consulting has some great things brewing. Here is a list of upcoming classes. More information will be posted as soon as it becomes available.

February 15 and 22 – Social Media For Nonprofits – Nonprofit Learning Point
March 24 Organizational Tune-up – Co-Presented with Floricane
March 10 Fundraising for Small Nonprofits – Southside Community Partners
October – Organizational Tune-up – Co-Presented with Floricane

HYPERichmond Program on Nonprofit Board Service – Coming Soon

milstonconsult — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:48:43 +0000

I am partnering with HYPERichmond a program of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce to plan and facilitate an educational session in August.

Session: August 18, 2010
Time: 6-8pm
Location: CarMax Headquarters

Topic: Serving on Nonprofit Boards, What’s in it for You?

More details are coming soon but look for a panel including nonprofit executives, chamber members, and young professionals sitting on nonprofit boards.

Upcoming Social Media Class – Still Open!

milstonconsult — Fri, 28 May 2010 17:32:23 +0000

June 8th and June 15 at VCU’s Nonprofit Learning Point Program
To Register go to http://nonprofitlearningpoint.org/classes/registration/

Social Media for Nonprofits

Do you get lost when people start talking about Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs? These things do not need to be scary or time vacuums – Learn how to use social media effectively to engage your constituents in your good work. This class is designed for individuals and organizations new to social media or for those who have a facebook page – but have not touched it since they created it. Learn about human resources implications, how to use these tools to start a conversation with your stakeholders and raise money, and how to get the word out about your mission. For more information follow me on twitter as I work on the curriculum - look me up at @MilstonConsult.

To Register go to http://nonprofitlearningpoint.org/classes/registration/

Upcoming Classes for Nonprofits in Central Virginia

milstonconsult — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:14:22 +0000

I am teaching classes in the next few months on development and social media topics. Below are the links to the classes and registration information. If you have any questions, feel free to touch base.

January 21 9:30 – 12:30 – $20
Development BootCamp - Revamp your development office in 2010 with a self audit and development plan. Register Here Sponsored by Southside Community Partners NPTrainings Program.

February 3 and 10 9am – 3pm, $45
Social Media for your Nonprofit - Learn the basics for facebook, twitter, blogs, and other types of new media and how to apply them to your Nonprofit Organization. Read More here. Sponsored by Nonprofit Learning Point.

March 2 9:30 – 12:30 $20

Social Media for the Intermediate User - This class is designed for NPO professionals who are using social media or at least have their twitter and facebook accounts but want to learn some tweaks and tips. We will not review signing up or use of media but rather focus on strategy and implementation. Sponsored by Southside Community Partners NPTrainings Program.

Your Twitter Personality

milstonconsult — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:06:02 +0000

I finished teaching my first Social Media for Nonprofits Class last week at Virginia Commonwealth University, for a program called Nonprofit Learning Point. I had a great class of 24 patient students as we navigated the basics of twitter, facebook, wordpress, roi, fundraising on social media, and more. I fielded some great questions and even got some great ideas.

John Sarvay (two links for this guy!) a local blogger, small business owner, dad – spoke about the separation between the personal and professional. Got me thinking about spending more time defining who I want to be on twitter and why that is an important excercise. John Sarvay shared some less than stellar words on some local tweeter’s mishaps including blurring the line between chatty and caddy and political and irrelevant. Today I witnessed a national author (from @wired) post 55 tweets in 15 minutes. Basically she used twitter to post an article. It was neither interesting nor an effective use of twitter. So, it is easy to mess up on twitter which is why creating your twitter personality is important.

1. Clear Boundaries - It is just as important to define who you are as who you are not. Spend some time thinking about what you will not do on twitter.

2. It’s a Conversation – Twitter more so than other forms of social media, is a conversation. It should be back and forth. As a small business or nonprofit on twitter you must dance the line between getting involved in local issues and getting too involved. Tweeting about your local dinner at a restaurant might or might not be a good idea for a nonprofit – maybe they are a donor – or a future donor (or a former donor after your tweet.)

3. No more than 3 Reasons to Exist – This part is key. If you have more than three general topic areas to tweet about – it will become difficult for your followers to stay interested and you will not be able to engage with your audience.

4. Decide your follower identity – Are you choosy or do you want a follower count like Ashton Kutcher? Being thoughtful about who you will follow will improve your twitter experience. I suggest nonprofits should follow newsmakers (@philanthropy), funders (130 foundations that tweet) and local and national #nonprofits (here is the rva list)

5. Who you are on twitter should match who you are in life. If you are a feisty advocacy organization, by all means your tweets should be feisty and fierce. If you are a conservative and safe organization – your tweets should follow suit.

So my twitter identities?

@MilstonConsult is an RVA based consulting company specializing in nonprofit organizations. I tweet on 1. local issues to create conversations. 2. Local and national nonprofit news and trends 3. local and national social media news and trends. I never use a client’s name unless I am celebrating a success we are having together. I will tweet about vendors I am working with- both positive and negative interactions. I will follow local and national nonprofits and nonprofit interests as well as local and national social media people/places/things. I will also be active in my RVA community. I will not tweet about my personal life (except those occasions where I am sleepy or otherwise distracted and I experience multi-tasking #fail and tweet under the wrong username.)

@SarahMilston is an RVA attachment parenting wife and mother. I will tweet on 1. my partner 2. our life 3. our daughter Since she is a toddler that includes tweets about breastfeeding, diapers, and her neverending quest to stay up all night. I will converse with friends about the aforementioned topics and comment on all things rva related. I will not tweet about my business except just every so often.