14 Things Nonprofits Can Learn from The Millennial Impact Report

The Millennial Impact Project published their 2013 Report.  Here are some of the findings -

• Millennials prefer to share information about the cause, not the organization itself
• Millennials use websites first to learn about the organization, and then connect with their social networks to stay updated
• 75% of Millennials like, retweet, or share content on social media
• Millennials like photos
• Millennials' biggest website pet peeve is when the information has not been recently updated  (I wrote a blog entry on Website Pet Peeves in 2005)
• Millennial Action Taken On Websites - 51% connect via social media, 46% donated to a cause, 46% read a blog post
• More than 60% of respondents liked it most when nonprofits shared stories about successful projects or the people they help
• Organizations should post regularly on Facebook with photos, infographics, and videos 
• Make sure the "About" section on your website is easy to find
• Make it clear how to get involved with your organization
• Include a way to donate on your homepage
• Show a clear call to action in e-mail messages
• Show how the money donated goes towards specific projects
• Include photos of who or what the money donated goes towards

How the National Museum of American History Uses Social Media

The National Museum of American History does a great job of using social media. Since today is the 4th of July, I wanted to share examples of how they use social media.

Blog 

The museum's blog, O Say Can You See?, has been around since 2008.  The blog has lots of content about their collections with photos in each post.

Pinterest
http://pinterest.com/amhistorymuseum/

Their account currently has 1546 pins, which is the most of any Smithsonian account on Pinterest.  Boards include American Flag, Flags at the Smithsonian (group board for Smithsonian), and Today in History.

The Smithsonian Twitter account shared their group board in a tweet on Flag Day (June 14). Their tweet was "Check out our pinterest board showcasing U.S. flag use http://s.si.edu/11nEJhX".  This is such a great way to spread the word about a Pinterest board.

Twitter
@amhistorymuseum

They share daily "Today in..." tweets with links to their website.

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/americanhistory

They post "Today in..." posts, links to their blog, and links to Pinterest.  Each post has a photo.