Social Media Strategies for non-profits

I have also had the opportunity to serve on the board of a non-profit here in Denver. As a result of my exposure, I have come to the conclusion that leaders of non-profit start ups who adopt the methods and tools of for-profit businesses give their organizations the best chance of success.

While many non-profit founders are visionaries (almost by definition), they all too often are not strategists. While visionaries and strategists deal with managing the big picture, a strategist has the added competency of being able to translate a desired big picture outcome into strategic planning and tactical execution.

One trait that marks the strategists is their ability to recognize the core challenges they face, and to quickly identify resources to overcome those challenges. The most successful nonprofit founders turn out to be big picture dreamers, masters at every day bootstrapping and problem solving.

Social media represents one of the highest leverage tools for bootstrapping funds, followers and fame (publicity). Non-profits using tools like Ning Websites, Facebook fan pages, and other such platforms are able to meet their milestones while stretching very limited budgets.