I have just had the pleasure of attending the “Great Ideas Conference” sponsored by ASAE and the Center of Association Leadership.  While the main focus of the conference was sharing new and exciting ideas in the association world, a lot of attention was focused to online giving and fundraising strategies.  Not only the importance of embracing these new methods of giving through mobile texting and social media, but also how businesses should link these fundraising efforts with their marketing plan.  So, you have implemented these great tools and strategies (Blog, Facebook, Twitter etc.) to cultivate a broad base of donors, now what?  Don’t stop there!  It is just as important to close the loop on these efforts by tracking your new media efforts regularly.   Sure, we can do the basic math and compare the monetary contribution as it relates to each social tool but what will this tell you about the leads you have created?  Who are the donors going to your site and how are they getting there?  Here is a collection of free tools from Hubspot that evaluate the effectiveness of various marketing initiatives which will hopefully guide you in this final step of your new media fundraising strategy.

The vision of the future of music education, as it relates to string instruments and orchestras, has been succinctly stated in five points by the American String Teachers’ Association.  Let’s take a look at these points and see in what direction they are pointing us.

First, ASTA’s vision includes “providing access to strings and orchestra for all children, protecting these programs from economic uncertainty, and teaching members how to advocate for these programs.”  That’s a tall order.  It’s not that string music educators aren’t up to the task, and it’s not that it’s too much to ask.  Those of us in the profession are doing this every day, to a certain extent.  Some of us are doing more than others – but that’s not the fault of those who are doing less.  The truth of the matter is that many younger members of our profession aren’t being taught how to advocate and how to fight for our programs.

Brian Reich

We last discussed the key to an effective social media campaign. Here are some additional thoughts and resources from me to help you going forward.

When I wrote my book, Media Rules!, I set out to address this challenge faced by organizations and help shape the ways organizations can communicate with their audience, in the face of rapid innovation in technology and the massive social change we are currently (and it seems constantly) experiencing. The book offers a roadmap for helping organizations, including newspapers, to understand what the audience expects and how to use technology to meet those expectations. More than that, however, it highlights the other things that you need to take into account—how you staff and manage your team, how you support your partners, and how customer service has changed. These things are important to consider because executing on an effective new media strategy, whether it is online community based or something else, requires buy-in from all levels and close coordination among all the different elements of your organization.

Second, there are literally hundreds of books, articles and blog posts that offer interesting insights into the opportunities that exist for using web 2.0 technologies to support your work, and your communications. I try to look for articles that are not specific to one subject, so that you can take lessons and ideas from other sectors and apply them to your work. So that is what I have tried to do here—below is a list of recent articles that I have found particularly interesting and useful:

My last blog post gave you an intro into the vast—and largely misunderstood—world of social media. There is a lot to consider when using this communications tool. But here are the key points I want you to keep in mind:

Media Rules! At the end of the day, what people want more than anything is good information, compelling experiences, or high-quality stuff. In the most basic of examples, consider that when you go to a store, find a product you like, and have a good experience with the person behind the register, you are probably more likely to shop their again. If you have a terrible experience, or the product you buy breaks, the company doesn’t care when you call to ask for help, or your friend says something negative about their experience—you are probably going to find somewhere else to spend your money. And though the world of nonprofit organizations and the business of arts and culture is not specifically product-driven, the same principles applies to every aspect of your work. The information people pursue and the experiences they spend time with are the ones they find most valuable. Period. Its not about today's modern, fast-moving, connected society... its about understanding and adapting to basic human behavior. 

Brian Reich

On March 3, I led a webinar on social media. I had three goals for my presentation. First, I wanted to re-frame the way you think about using the internet and technology to communicate, engage, educate, and the like. I wanted to make sure you understood the need to re-consider, and in some cases re-set, everything you are doing because of the influence that these new tools are having on society—and particularly nonprofit organizations and the arts/culture space. Second, I wanted to address the fears that most organizations have about social media—the loss of control, the costs and ability to measure impact, the burden of management, the challenge of getting buy-in from senior management who aren't intimately familiar with the latest innovations online, and of course the disconnect between you and the audience you are serving. Instead of living in fear, I hoped to show all the opportunities that exist, that technology is not scary, and that the opportunities to reach, engage, educate, and ultimately mobilize audiences to support nonprofits and social causes are continually expanding. And third, I wanted to share some specific examples and put some 'next practices' together that anyone could begin to apply to their work almost immediately.

From my perspective, when it comes to communicating with an ever-evolving audience, today’s organization has more than enough tools to get the job done—blogs, podcasts, social networks, mobile, games, search, wikis, and much more. Still, the combination of rapid technological innovation and continuous social shifts has left many organizations struggling to stay focused and execute their ideas. Everything is changing and nothing we are doing is working anymore (at least not entirely).

by Anna Sebourn

As a second year graduate student in Arts Management getting ready to move from academia to a career, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the difficulty of the transition. Sure, I’ve taken a graduate level Arts Marketing class and had a marketing internship . . .but what kind of marketing jobs should I apply for? Am I considered entry-level or mid-level? And sure, I know how to market an arts event fairly well, but how well can I market MYSELF to employers?

I know I’m not alone in this. Several of my friends and I have been discussing this very topic at length anytime we peruse job listings or talk about our plans after graduation. We’re just not sure which jobs we’re qualified for and how to stand out among the sea of other applicants.

On the other hand, I have numerous friends on the opposite side of the spectrum. They have several years of work experience under their belt, but trying to transfer into the arts field from the ‘outside’ is tough. Some have already broken into the field, but have questions about advancing and sustaining their careers and staying current on best practices.