Monthly Archives: June 2011

The ABCs of Social Media While Job Hunting


Posted by ajlovesya

Puzzle Job Search

Earlier this month I gave a presentation on how to use social media while job hunting at the annual Fundraising Day – NY Conference.  It was a blast connecting with fellow fundraisers, gaining a deeper understanding of philanthropy, and some new resources and best practices.

In my presentation, I covered the basic framework I think people should have when trying to get into social media for career development purposes.  Most people were using social networking for personal reasons, however they wanted to know what simple specific actions or new techniques they should use to gain access to job opportunities and expand their network (remember, the #1 way nonprofits fill positions is through their network!)

Before we get into the ABCs, there are some basics to keep in mind:

  • Have a complete profile: take advantage of the space you are given and share a bit about who you are! Include a link to a place where people can read more about you.  No blog or website?  Start with about.me
  • Be prepared to help others: you really do get as much as you give
  • Be specific in your approach: you dont need to connect with everyone–it’s not a numbers game
  • Be in it for the long haul: it’s about building relationships, which takes time

A:  Awareness

Use social media to learn about job opportunities and increase your knowledge of trends in your field.

To get started: Subscribe to key blogs in your field. Visit nonprofit.alltop.com or fundraising.alltop.com to look at the most popular blogs in the nonprofit and fundraising spaces.

B: Branding

Develop a strong reputation as the go to person in your field by adding value to conversations taking place online.

To get started: Answer questions on LinkedIn. Check out http://learn.linkedin.com/answers/ to get a better sense of how to search and answer questions in your field.

C: Connections

You can build relationships online that can provide support and resources during the job hunt and beyond.

To get started: Find leaders on twitter to follow by using wefollow.com and introduce yourself by congratulating or complimenting them.

Here are some additional resources for job seekers using social media:

True Story: How Social Media Can Land You a Job

Three Tactics to Boost Your Network Using Social Media

How LinkedIn Can Transform Your Job Search

10 Smart Ways to Use Social Media in Your Job Search

What questions do you have about using social media while job hunting?  What resources or advice would you share for folks wanting to get started with social networking for career development?

Photo Credit


Three Ways to Cultivate Professional Relationships


Posted by ajlovesya

This is the last guest post of my advice series featuring insights from young nonprofit professionals.   Check out the other articles and be sure to subscribe to my blog via email so you never miss a post.

By Guest Blogger Jessica Journey

After graduating from college, figuring out the next steps in your career can be daunting – not to mention exhausting! Searching job boards, requesting informational interviews, drafting cover letters, attending events, calling contacts…

Don’t let your efforts be in vain – invest your time and energy strategically and build your network for the long-term. Take these three steps to cultivate professional relationships with your networking contacts:

Send an email immediately.

  • Most professionals expect quick online communication. As soon as you can get to your smart phone or a computer, send your new contact a friendly message.
  • Keep it simple but personal. Express your gratitude for their time and attention. Be sure to include a specific reference to something you two discussed.
  • BONUS TIP: Still have an old Yahoo or AOL account? It’s time for an update! Get a Gmail account – make the username your name. No numbers in the username. Please.

Follow-up with a handwritten note.

  • Online technology is great, but a handwritten note offers its advantages, too! Your contact will definitely take notice if they receive a small card with a kind note.
  • Especially as young professionals, we need to break down stereotypes about our generation. Sure we enjoy social media, but it’s because we really love people and relationships – a handwritten note shows just that!
  • BONUS TIP: Prepare the envelope with address and stamp before the meeting. That way, you won’t forget to finish the note and drop it in a mailbox. You’ll be so glad that you did!

Connect over social media.

  • The easiest way to keep the conversation going with your new contact is social networking. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn – there are plenty of possibilities.
  • Which network depends on you and what networks you’ve decided to leverage for professional purposes. Maybe you use Facebook for your friends and LinkedIn for your career – so, only connect on LinkedIn.
  • BONUS TIP: Make the request personal. For example, replace the default connection message on LinkedIn with your own personal message. Using the standard language just looks lazy. Period.

Implement the three steps with your networking contacts – whether it be after a quick introduction at an event, a one-on-one coffee conversation, or a formal interview. You’ll be glad you did; your career will benefit from this long-term approach!

What other ways do you follow-up with networking contacts? How do you keep the connection alive and the conversation going past the initial meeting? Please leave a comment with your idea!

Guest Blogger Jessica Journey is a nonprofit professional, thriving in the Indianapolis community. She has more than six years of experience in fundraising and philanthropy. Follow @Jessica_Journey on Twitter and read her blog at www.jessicajourney.com


The New Nonprofit Kid on the Block: Tips on Integrating into a New Community


Posted by ajlovesya

This is the third guest post of my advice series featuring insights from young nonprofit professionals.   Check out the other articles and be sure to subscribe to my blog via email so you never miss a post.

By Guest Blogger Sarah Percoulis

Have you ever considered moving out of the area you live in, but were discouraged? Ever moved to a new city and felt like you knew no one, and you suffered because of it?
As I have lived all around the US, and even in Europe (as a nonprofit professional) – I’ve used these experiences to help others when it comes to moving to “strange” new places. Recently, I presented at the YNPN (Young Nonprofit Professionals Network) National Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan and led a session to hold a frank discussion about the barriers to integrating to a new community. It was a great experience to get feedback from young nonprofit professionals who came from all over the US.  This blog post is a summary of the pointers discussed during the session.

As most nonprofit professionals know, no matter your area of expertise (programs, direct service, finance, etc.) – your personal life is closely intertwined with your work life. And when one decides to relocate due to job or family, it can be a difficult lifestyle change or hard on their professional life when having to create a new network of contacts.

During my YNPN session, I polled the participants and we fine-tuned my tips to help those who are looking to successfully integrate into a new community. These tips are separated into professional and personal tips, which can be interchanged. Of course, these tips are completely dependent on your status and lifestyle (whether you have family in the area, have children, have a shy personality, etc.) – which will ultimately affect on how well you’ll integrate.

Tips for Integrating Professionally:
1. Try to get support at your work to help integrate (if possible). Utilize your supervisor or support staff, and have them make connections for you to meet with community members and nonprofit leaders.
2. If you don’t have support at work – go to professional events on your free time and introduce yourself. Check out your local YNPN chapter or Chamber of Commerce as places to start.

Tips for Integrating Personally:
1. Do your research about the community before you move. If there’s no time to do so beforehand, do it as soon as possible.  What are some popular restaurants?
2. Physical presence is key regardless of city size – it seems so simple, but if people see you often, they’ll be more apt to start a conversation with you.
3. Try local “mom/pop” places for restaurants, coffee, etc., because that is where you can build relationships with locals.
4. Follow local media: Newspapers (especially for events and cultural activities), Blogs, Online News Sources, TV, and Facebook/Twitter.
5. Are you extremely shy for these tips will work? Wait until family or friends visit and go explore the town with them!

Important Side Notes:
1. Each community has its own dynamic. Make sure to reflect on the barriers you will encounter, and decide on how to move ahead based on your observations.  For example, do the people you live with speak a different language?  Maybe you want to take a class or actively try to converse with your neighbors in their language.
2. Remember, relationship building and community integration take time.
3. Go out of your comfort zone. You’ll never know who you’re going to meet.

If you have moved to a new community – what have been your experiences?
Do you agree with these tips? Do you have new ones?
If you haven’t moved but considered doing so, what are you questions?

Please feel free to share your feedback!

Sarah currently works at the Battle Creek Community Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan, serving as the Youth Program Associate. Sarah is passionate about collaboration and innovation, and strives to go deeper into solving the most basic of community issues. She is all about global thinking and grassroots action.

What the rise of young entrepreneurs reveals about the future of social change


Posted by ajlovesya

In a recent article in Stanford Social Innovation, Carol Sanford explores the growing trend of young people opting to be entrepreneurs rather than pursuing careers at organizations. What stood out to me in her post was the last paragraph:

NextGenNow leaders are not social entrepreneurs because they don’t start with social or environmental problems, and build businesses around them. They start with and stay with their own drive and a unique vision. They use their personal passion to find ways to contribute in the world.

Up until now we’ve been hearing about how young people want to be involved in social change and are pursuing careers in the nonprofit sector or as social entrepreneurs. However, in her research she sees that young people are beginning to change the world without necessarily making that an explicit goal or pursuing a typical career at an organization. This is a unique shift in perspective, one that I think has many implications for social change and nonprofits.

What impact will young entrepreneurs have on social change?

1. Social change is a built in core value: Making the world a better place is simply a way of living. It’s not an additional action added onto an already hectic day. Instead it’s making conscious decisions about what we buy, what we eat, how we travel, and how we live.

2. Social change is more accessible: Once we remove the need for an organization to be at the center of a movement or social change in general, it becomes easier for people to feel as though they can take action wherever they are.

3. Social change is expected: Greater accessibility and the shared belief that all actions should have a positive impact will mean that people expect others to be mindful and engaged in social change. There is no reason not to be.

So what do these changes mean for nonprofits?

I see higher standards for nonprofits and the view of nonprofits as facilitators. Because people will no longer see a need for nonprofits (demonstrated in the rise of free agents for example) nonprofits will have to prove their worth and work more creatively with entrepreneurs. And as people build businesses and reshape their lifestyles in order to have a positive impact on the world, they will need information, access to like minded people, and social/economic capital, resources nonprofits can either provide or help young people find.

Of course many questions arise that young entrepreneurs often ignore, some of which I addressed in a presentation I gave at Demos on leadership challenges facing the sector.  Specifically, how do we address the gaps in entrepreneurship along race, class, and gender lines?  And are young people actually challenging power structures or just finding new ways to be part of them?

What do you think?  Are we ushering in a new approach to social change?  What impact do you forsee, if any, on nonprofits?


What Nonprofits Can Teach Small Businesses on Groupon about Customer Retention


Posted by ajlovesya

Groupon chose an interesting time to file for IPO: right in the midst of a debate on what value, if any, Groupon provides to businesses who participate in its deals. While businesses have reported several challenges—from being overwhelmed to major loss of profit—the biggest one is customer retention. Rather than fostering a larger stronger customer base, small businesses are finding that many customers who take advantage of a Groupon discount are one time customers.

Interestingly, non-profits face a similar situation when it comes to donors and volunteers. As a non-profit fundraiser, I’ve seen successful practices for donor and volunteer cultivation. And as an avid user of group-propelled discounts, I have wondered how these practices can be applied to businesses using websites like Groupon to retain elusive new customers.  With non-profits, a small fundraising or volunteer event—such as a race or cleaning up a park—will attract people for a variety of reasons.  After that initial engagement, it is up to the non-profit to maintain the donor’s or volunteer’s interest.

So what can small businesses using Groupon learn from non-profits?

Simply put: successful non-profits make following up a priority and build strategy around it. Built into the event planning or donation solicitation is an actionable plan for cultivation. Some nonprofits, such as Operation Smile send welcome packets to new donors, outlining the impact of their gift and how donors can stay informed and involved. What if Groupon purchasers received a special thank you or welcome as well? An email, additional coupon, buttons, or even stickers demonstrate excitement and investment having the new customer become a recurring customer.

Successful non-profits also make it easy to stay in touch. At my organization, generally thank you letters and solicitations have my name and contact information on them. You’d think this information wouldn’t be used, but I do have people contacting me regularly to clarify information they have received or simply to say thank you. What if new customers were given a way to share their experiences or to keep in touch? This can as simple as a find us on Yelp sticker or ensuring links to your social media accounts are included in any emails you may send.

Finally, successful nonprofits thrive on connecting with other successful nonprofits. Sharing best practices is common and takes many forms, whether at a conference, through a blog, or simply meeting up to ask questions. I’m not sure how Groupon supports businesses (it sounds like support is minimal) but here is a great way for Groupon to truly guide small businesses: by providing a way for participants to share their experiences. Small businesses can be proactive and simply reach out to others to hear about what did and did not work for them.

Why is a customer engagement strategy necessary?

Initially, a new customer engagement strategy may not seem like a worthwhile endeavor; after all an excellent product should be enough to keep customers rolling in. Yet just like a strong mission and the warm and fuzzy feeling of giving back don’t keep donors and volunteers coming back to nonprofits, a good product in and of itself doesn’t create a strong base of loyal customers.

In fact, I would argue that the use of Groupon and similar sites makes the need for a concrete plan to engage new customers more compelling. This is because people are not coming to your business because a friend recommended it or because you are on their list of great places to visit (if so, they would have visited, Groupon or not). Instead, customers are drawn to the deal attached to something they are interested in. In other words the deal and the product matter more than the company and the experience of being part of that company as a valued customer. Yet we know that attachment to the company and positive experiences are what make loyal customers.

The goal isn’t to keep treating new customers like they are new customers. Instead, it is to help them become comfortable loyal customers, as their initial point of contact may have made it difficult to foster this kind of connection. And this isn’t a matter of rolling out a fancy new marketing initiative. Instead, it’s about being more deliberate in welcoming customers to your store.

Non-profits have become experts at this and may have many lessons to share. Here’s to more cross sector collaboration!