Gardens on Pinterest

April is National Garden Month. Since gardens are visual, I was curious to see how gardens were using Pinterest to show photos of their gardens. Listed below are links to Pinterest pages for gardens that I think are great examples.

Atlanta Botanical Garden

Chicago Botanic Garden

Desert Botanical Garden

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

Longwood Gardens

Missouri Botanical Garden

Naples Botanical Garden

New York Botanical Garden

Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden

Powell Gardens


What boards are gardens creating and pinning/repinning to?

• Colors
• Birds
• Butterflies
• Insects
• Wildlife
• What's in Bloom
• Crafts and Art
• Books
• Weddings
• Special Events
• Types of Flowers
• Pins from Visitors

I took the picture above at the Butterfly Garden at Brookside Gardens in 2010

2013 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study

NTEN and M+R Strategic Services recently released their annual  eNonprofit Benchmarks Study. Here are some of the findings:

• The two sectors with e-mail list growth in 2012 were Health and Wildlife & Animal Welfare. Health has gone up since 2010 by about 10% in each year. (10% in 2010, 20% in 2011, and 31% in 2012)  Wildlife & Animal Welfare went up by 27% in 2012. (17% in 2010, went down to 5% in 2011, and went up to 32% in 2012)
• The Environmental sector had the most e-mail open rates with 16%. 
• The Environmental sector had the most e-mail click through rate with 2.6%.
• The Environmental sector had the most e-mail advocacy click through rate with 5.5%.
• The two sectors with the highest e-mail newsletter click through rates were Environmental (with 2.9%) and Wildlife & Animal Welfare (with 2.1%)

Treasured Links About Blogging and Nonprofit Blogging

Blogging

5 Types of Blog Content That Drive Engagement (Social Media Today)

50 Blog Ideas to Help You Keep Your Blog Fresh (Marluck Marketing)

Social Media: 23 Ways To Promote Your Blog (Heidi Cohen)

How To Get More Blog Traffic (Business 2 Community)

Blogging Tips A-Z: the Ultimate Guide (Business 2 Community)

What Painter Bob Ross Can Teach Us About Blogging (Business 2 Community)

The Secret to Creating Stellar Content Marketing (Heidi Cohen)

65 Metrics To Track Blog Success (Heidi Cohen)


Nonprofit Blogging

Should Your Nonprofit Start a Blog? – Benefits and Drawbacks (Wired Impact's Blog)

11 Blog Content Ideas for Nonprofits (Nonprofit Tech 2.0 Blog)

Quick Guide to Starting A Nonprofit Blog  (Nonprofit Bridge)

Four Things A Blog Can Do For Your Nonprofit (The Salsa Scoop)

7 Tips for Successful Nonprofit Blogging (Miratel Solutions)

Clairification's Series of Posts about Nonprofit Blogging



Image from tao_zhyn on Flickr

How Nonprofits Are Like Snowflakes

Nonprofit organizations are like snowflakes. There are many organizations that are trying to solve the same problems. But each organization is unique in their way of solving the problem. Just like snowflakes, no organization is the same.

One way for nonprofits to share how their organization is unique is by sharing their stories on the Internet.  Nonprofit Quarterly has some great web content ideas for nonprofits in their article titled "The Role of Hope in the Nonprofit Website".

Here are some ideas mentioned in the article -

• Showcase your past impact my sharing your past successes
• Share stories about individuals
• Share data
• Let community members tell their own stories

How Nonprofits Can Take Advantage of Their LinkedIn Page

While researching nonprofits on LinkedIn, I noticed that many organizations are not taking advantage of their LinkedIn page.

Nonprofits can upload their logo, add a header image, share news, and add products & services.  LinkedIn members can follow nonprofits to stay updated on their news and recommend their products & services.

I like how organizations (and companies) can add a thumbnail image for their products & services. The product or service has its own page on LinkedIn with a description and a link can be included to that product's page on the organization's website.

Examples of products & services listed:

• The American Red Cross lists donating blood and disaster relief as services. The disaster relief page has a link to their newsroom on their website.
• The American Cancer Society lists Relay for Life (which has 52 recommendations) and their blog as products. The Relay for Life page has a link to the Relay for Life website and the blog page has a link to their blog.

Listed below are links to LinkedIn pages for nonprofits that I think are great examples. These organizations have updated their pages with their logo and banner images. They have also listed products & services. Most of these organizations keep their followers updated by posting videos, photos, news updates, and links to their website.

American Red Cross

American Cancer Society

American Heart Association

National Kidney Foundation

Invisible Children Inc.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The World Bank

Action Against Hunger | ACF-USA

The Nature Conservancy



Links for more information about LinkedIn pages:

HOW TO: Claim Your Nonprofit’s “Company Page” on LinkedIn (from Nonprofit Tech 2.0)

Company Pages - Frequently Asked Questions (from LinkedIn)

LinkedIn Offers Personalized Banner Image For Company Pages (from Business 2 Community)



What are your favorite nonprofit pages on LinkedIn?