Social Media and Grantwriting - Survey - Deadline now 5/10/12

The intersection of social media and grantwriting fills my thoughts regularly except today when they were interrupted by news of the passing of Beastie Boys Co-Founder Adam Yauch. The outpouring of mourning was remarkable.  There were literally thousands of tweets an hour to honor the memory and accomplishments of MCA. You can check out my Twitter feed @adeptdiva to see how I paid tribute.  As grantwriters, we face the challenge in being potentially overwhelmed by the volume of tweets, status updates, pictures, etc. that flow through social media. I can be your guide to navigating the seemingly endless stream of information for that special tweet or update that can tell you just what you need to know to make the right ask, at the right time, for the right project, and for the right amount from the right funder!

To be a good guide, I need to know where you want to go.  Give me your input on how you use social media in your grantseeking work! I'm putting finishing touches on my presentation for WVDO's Regional Conference. You can hear me speak on Thursday, May 17 from 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. on grantwriting and social media. You can find out more about the conference on Twitter at @WVDO_OR #wvdoconf12 or visit http://www.myfundraisingconference.org/ .

So, here's the link to my survey - http://svy.mk/gsmadc2012 and if you reply by 5/10/12, you just might win one hour free consulting from the Adept Diva!

Social Media and Grantwriting - WVDO Third Thursday Presentation

Social media and grantwriting are terms that you don't hear often used together. As demonstrated in this presentation I created for WVDO's Third Thursday series, more grantmakers - especially the larger foundations - are regularly utilizing platforms like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. to share their messages about the causes they support and their grantmaking practices. The presentation is available at http://www.wvdo-or.org and click under program and then past program summaries.

For experienced and novice grant professionals alike, you still have to perform due diligence through traditional means such as examining a funder's Form 990s or visitng a funder website to learn about guidelines and grantmaking.

This presentation provided an overview and examined the social media presence of a number of funders. I've begun work on a Part II presentation that will drill down on more technical elements of mining the data and employing social media to build relationships with funders.

Nancy Lublin's letter - "We Really Need to Talk."

In this column, Nancy Lublin sends "an open letter from Nancy Lublin to her powerful "friends" at foundations." The letter reads mostly tongue-in-cheek and makes some valid points including asking funders to "stop hating on overhead." I think Ms. Lublin missed an incredible opportunity to address another important issue: measuring the success of a program. Is it possible to have a uniform measure of success like having a uniform grant application?

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/142/do-something-we-really-need-to-talk.html

PND - News - Many Small and Mid-Sized Foundations Plan to Cut Grantmaking This Year, Survey Finds

PND - News - Many Small and Mid-Sized Foundations Plan to Cut Grantmaking This Year, Survey Finds

Posted using ShareThis


Without knowing the size of the sampling, the geographic location of the respondents, or the methodology of the survey, how do we correlate the results to our work as grantwriters in different geographic regions or areas of grantmaking? I think it would also be helpful to understand the size of the organizations being funded by these grantmakers and the size of the grants being awarded.

I have requested the executive summary of the survey from the Association of Small Foundations and will post an update on my questions once it is available.