Netroots News

As we gear up for Netroots Nation 2013, we’re taking a closer look at some of the convention’s hottest training sessions. We’re interviewing the trainers and taking you inside some of online activism’s most popular and elusive topics.

Today we’re interviewing Hallie Montoya Tansey, who’ll be leading Zero-Dollar Targeting.

Zero-Dollar Targeting
Analytics isn’t just for PhDs or campaigns with billion dollar budgets. Using logistic regression in Stata, participants will learn how to make a model that predicts the likelihood that individual voters will support a given candidate or issue.

Q: Tell us about your experience with targeting and creating predictive models.

A: I got my start in organizing working to strengthen the Ethnic Studies programs at Columbia University when I was a student there. A year after graduating, I worked on my first electoral campaign, Matt Gonzalez for Mayor in San Francisco, and fell in love with electoral politics. I helped found and lead the League of Young Voters, and worked on many more state and local level campaigns in the next few years.

It wasn’t until I was a part of the 2008 Obama campaign’s field leadership that I first used the output of predictive models to make campaign decisions. I was working in Wisconsin, where in the past the lack of party voter registration had been a real obstacle to targeting voters effectively. Using predictive modeling techniques allowed us to find “our voters” in every corner of the state. Where previous statewide Democratic campaigns had opened up field offices only in the traditional Democratic strongholds of Milwaukee and Madison, we opened up over 60 offices, including many in small towns and heavily Republican suburbs. My experience on the 2008 Obama campaign convinced me completely of the power of predictive modeling techniques, adopted at scale, to change the way campaigns are run.

Since then I’ve studied data analytics and learned how to create predictive models at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, and founded a company, The Target Labs, which builds web platforms that make these techniques accessible to state and local-level Democratic and progressive campaigns. The first test of our approach, for Eric Mar’s campaign for Supervisor in San Francisco last fall, resulted in a 13 point margin of victory on Election Day, despite the fact that Eric’s opponent outspent him by a factor of 4 to 1.

Q: How do people commonly use targeting and predictive modeling?

A: Campaigns use targeting and predictive modeling to decide what people to contact with what messages. Traditionally, campaigns made these decisions using big demographic or geographic buckets, rather than fully taking advantage of individual level data. Predictive modeling makes it possible to target voters at the individual level, using a much greater volume of data and making much more accurate predictions. Campaigns can create models that predict the likelihood that voters will behave in a certain way: they they’ll support a given candidate or issue, that they’ll turn out to vote, that they’re persuadable, that they’re reachable on the phone, that they’ll donate, etc. These predictions help campaigns make smart, data-driven decisions about how to target their scarce voter contact resources.

Q: How can folks go about doing this kind of modeling?

A: In the Zero Dollar Targeting workshop, I’ll be teaching participants how to make models that use individual level polling data and voter file data to predict how likely individual voters that you haven’t talked to are to support your candidate or issue. The workshop is designed for people without an extensive background in statistics.

We’ll use a technique called logistic regression to build our model (but don’t let that phrase scare you— software does most of the math for you!). We’ll create the model using a statistical software package called Stata, but if you happen to be familiar with another statistical software, such as SPSS or SAS, you could definitely apply these same concepts there. If you code, there are lots of languages you could use to make models—a great one specifically designed for statistics is R.

Finally, we’ll talk about how campaigns can use the output of these models to make better decisions about which voters to contact with what messages via mail, phone and door-to-door canvassing.

Q: Why should folks attend your session at Netroots Nation, and how can they connect with you?

Here’s some types of Netroots participants who I think would get a lot out of the session:

• State and local level campaign managers and non-profit leaders who want to try using Obama-style data analytics on their own campaigns.
• Field people who want to understand what’s behind the voter scores they work with.
• Data people who haven’t yet built models themselves and want a solid introduction to get them started.

If folks want to connect with me outside the workshop, they can do so through Twitter—I’m @halliemt.

To attend this training, or one of the 39 others at Netroots Nation 2013 in San Jose, register now.

As we gear up for Netroots Nation 2013, we’re taking a closer look at some of the convention’s hottest training sessions. We’re interviewing the trainers and taking you inside some of online activism’s most popular and elusive topics.

Today we’re interviewing Dennis Raj, who’ll be leading Efficient, Effective, Affordable: How to Run a Winning Campaign with New Technology.

Efficient, Effective, Affordable: How to Run a Winning Campaign with New Technology
Your next local campaign can have the bite of the big dogs on a budget anyone can afford. Advances in technology mean small investments net a big return. The availability of detailed digital voter data, combined with call-center capabilities on a budget, means campaigns can reach the voters they need more quickly and for less money. But in a ground campaign with limited financial resources, how do you know what technology is worth investing in? What moves the dial?

We won an uphill battle to raise the minimum wage in San Jose by a 60 to 40 percent vote, and we did it with effective use of technology. We’ll cover on-screen dialing, Firefox plug-ins, the online voter file and predictive dialing systems.

Q: Tell us about your campaign experience.

A: I didn’t start in traditional campaigns. My first endeavor was working on an effort to create grassroots support in red districts for a compromise at the height of the budget woes in Sacramento. I didn’t really even get the campaign bug until I moved to the California Democratic Party in 2010. I got a chance to participate in a statewide coordinated effort to elect Democrats, which really opened my eyes to the need for effective, well-run campaign offices. It also taught me that small increases in efficiency open up large gains in the aggregate. However, it wasn’t until I moved to the South Bay Labor Council that I really got a chance to work on a team that was already at the forefront of the technology spectrum for campaigns.

Q: In your opinion, can a limited budget really be overcome with the right technology?

A: Absolutely, no doubt.

Obviously, if you can’t pay to feed your volunteers or keep the lights on, you campaign is in dire straights and no amount of technology — no matter how wisely chosen — can overcome that. Once you have the basic funds necessary to run a decent operation, I’d argue that the best use of money is to invest in technology. Laptops won’t replace at least one round of campaign mail, but technology always trumps another round of lawn signs.

Q: What is the most important tool campaigners on a budget should consider?

A: Computers; even if they are old and on their way to be recycled. I’m amazed by the number of campaigns that are digital everywhere except in their field operations. One day, we’ll look back at paper lists just like the old school field hacks look back at index cards pinned to the wall. The fact that many people won’t get that reference validates my point.

Q: Why should folks attend your session at Netroots Nation?

A: The good people of Netroots Nation should attend my session because they are progressive, strongly liberal and willing to put in work all over the country. Netroots attendees are the ones in the trenches during campaigns, and I’m hoping that I can give them a new way to think about using technology to improve their odds of winning. Honestly though, I’m hoping open dialogue about tips and techniques we all use will help us all be better at winning campaigns for progressive causes and candidates. I’m looking forward to someone who does this differently asking a question that starts with “well, on my last campaign we did …” that sparks a group discussion where we all leave the panel with something new to try.

To attend this training, or one of the 39 others at Netroots Nation 2013 in San Jose, register now.

As we gear up for Netroots Nation 2013, we’re taking a closer look at some of the convention’s hottest training sessions. We’re interviewing the trainers and taking you inside some of online activism’s most popular and elusive topics.

Today we’re interviewing Nicole Rivera, who’ll be leading Introduction to Legislative Advocacy: How to Effectively Lobby Your Elected Leaders.

Introduction to Legislative Advocacy: How to Effectively Lobby Your Elected Leaders
Learn tips for effective advocacy from the perspective of a past elected official staff member and successful grassroots organizers. The focus of this training session will be on Congressional and State elected official offices. Organizers will  teach tips about meeting with staff members at the local District office and staff members working on Capitol Hill. Participants will learn how to effectively advocate their position and how to build a successful symbiotic relationship with any elected official.

Q: Tell us about your experience with legislative advocacy.

A: I’ve been on both sides of the table as an activist, a lobbyist and as a representative for an elected officer. I spent five years in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and worked with constituents on key issues such as housing, labor, education and veterans. I’ve taken hundred’s of meetings and I have seen both the best and the worst preparation.

Q: In your opinion, what are some of the most common mistakes that organizers make when lobbying elected leaders?

A: Lack of preparation, not being clear about what you are asking for or knowing what you are asking for, not saying thank you for the big and the small.

Q: What is the most important thing for organizers to keep in mind when lobbying?

A: When you’re going to lobby an elected official, participants and organizers need to always think about how to effectively advocate their position and at the same time how to build a successful symbiotic relationship with the elected official and their staff. The difference between doing that is similar to having a friend ask you for a favor and having a stranger ask you for a favor. The focus of this panel training session will be on Congressional and State elected official offices. Organizers will teach tips about meeting with staff members at the local District Office’s and staff members working on Capitol Hill and in the “Building”.

Q: Why should folks attend your session at Netroots Nation, and how can they connect with you?

A: Knowing how the office of an elected official operates is key to being an effective advocate. I will share insider tips gleaned from hundreds of meetings taken and given on both sides of the table. Attendees can connect with me @nicthebrick.

To attend this training, or one of the 39 others at Netroots Nation 2013 in San Jose, register now.

As we gear up for Netroots Nation 2013, we’re taking a closer look at some of the convention’s hottest training sessions. We’re interviewing the trainers and taking you inside some of online activism’s most popular and elusive topics.

Today we’re interviewing Chris Cassidy, who’ll be leading Kill the Press Release: Pitching Media in a New Media World.

Kill the Press Release: Pitching Media in a New Media World
The press release was born in 1906, before the internet, mobile phones or television and just 10 years after the invention of radio. Since its birth, we’ve revolutionized the way we communicate. With everyone except media, that is. In 2013, most PR professionals rely on an expensive media database to produce their overly broad pitch lists, then blast that list with a one-size-fits-all message. This training will provide an overview on how to set goals, develop a pitch list without an expensive database and craft pitches that stand out in inboxes.

Q: Tell us about your media experience.

I jumped into media relations during law school, helping out a workforce housing campaign in San Francisco. Instead of spending my summer after law school studying for the bar exam, I worked as communications director for the 2008 campaign against an abortion ban in South Dakota. Since then, I’ve consulted on media relations for non-profits, progressive organizations and tech companies, and written for outlets like the American Prospect and Ms. Magazine.

Q: In your opinion, why is sending out a one-size fits all press release so problematic?

The press release is an ancient relic that may be more appropriate for the dustbin of history than a journalist’s crowded inbox. It was invented in 1906, when radios were brand new and there were only about 3 million telephones in the entire United States. Over 100 years later, we have unprecedented access to massive amounts of information and data. This permits organizations to tailor their communications, like online ads and emails, so that they use messages most likely to earn and keep the attention of their audience.

It’s bad enough to pitch a reporter with a one-size-fits-all message in a personally-tailored world. Beyond that, though, press releases are boring. They’re boring to write and they’re boring to read. Why torment the journalists you hope to engage with a formulaic message? In my mind, there is no excuse for not putting in the effort to pitch reporters with a message that reflects knowledge of their recent work and a respect for the many demands on their time and divided attention.

Q: What is the most important thing for folks to keep in mind when pitching media?

In thinking about public relations, many people seem to forget that journalists are not just a conduit to a broader audience. Journalists are people too — people with personal interests, bosses, deadlines, pet peeves and lots of other people vying for their attention.

There needs to be a golden rule of PR: Treat journalists as you wish to be treated. I’m not a huge fan of one-size-fits-all messages that don’t reflect an appreciation for my interests. I’m also not a big fan of receiving cold calls either. So why would I send journalists a press release, then follow-up with phone calls? To me, that sounds annoying and unimaginative.

Q: Why should folks attend your session at Netroots Nation, and how can they connect with you?

It’s going to ruffle some feathers, but the standard approach to public relations is way-hay-hay-haaay overdue for some changes. PR pros have used the same old formula for so long that it’s hard for most of us to imagine doing things any other way. In my years running Hustle Labs, I’ve helped dozens of organizations earn media coverage. I’ve handled public launches for companies, crafted the strategy for media regularly incorporating data from the world’s largest search engine, released microsites that received hundreds of thousands of hits, and earned extensive coverage of reports, videos, infographics and other content. And I’ve done it all writing fewer press releases than most PR professionals write in a single week.

I want to bring together people who are interested in thinking about a new approach to PR — an approach that follows the golden rule and treats journalists like the busy people that they are. I’m excited to share some of my guerrilla PR secrets publicly for the first time, and grateful to Netroots Nation for inviting me back to train the best and brightest minds in our movement.

Like any good fan of media, I’m easy to find where journalists are: Twitter. I tweet personally as @CitizenCassidy and professionally as @hustleis (which is also on Facebook here).

To attend this training, or one of the 39 others at Netroots Nation 2013 in San Jose, register now.

As we gear up for Netroots Nation 2013, we’re taking a closer look at some of the convention’s hottest training sessions. We’re interviewing the trainers and taking you inside some of online activism’s most popular and elusive topics.

Today we’re interviewing Liz Banse, who’ll be leading Seeing is Believing: Visual Storytelling Best Practices.

Seeing is Believing: Visual Storytelling Best Practices
You’ve heard countless times that a picture is worth a thousand words. In the mysterious inner world of the brain, pictures actually do take primacy over words. But how often have you actually taken that knowledge and opted for a picture instead of a paragraph to create powerful messages for your organization? Perhaps it’s time to shift from thinking “how can I say this best?” to “how can I show this best?” Resource Media’s Liz Banse will share the latest research about how the brain processes images and how you can apply that knowledge to your work. She’ll also share case studies featuring extraordinary visual storytelling and give you 10 tips for making your communications more visual and effective.

Q: How did you get involved in visual storytelling?

A: A few years ago, Resource Media’s staff were listening to a talk by a corporate branding consultant. He shared with us some anecdotes about the role of images in customer perceptions of products. No surprises there. The a-ha moment came, however, when we started talking about whether our nonprofit partners were using pictures to shape their brand image or to sell their organization to supporters or policy proposals to policy makers like Madison Avenue did for corporations and their products. Were there Mad Men amongst us? Yes, there were, but there could be more! We knew far too many nonprofits that started their persuasion efforts in the opposite fashion from corporations – with words. Oh, my, we sweat over every word choice, don’t we? But then we spend only a fraction of that time on finding a picture to go with our narrative, almost as an afterthought. This is the exact opposite way that our brains process information – the visual first, the verbal second.

I remember asking this guy whether there was a book I could read or a website I could peruse to learn everything I could about visual communications. As it turned out, there was no one stop shop, especially for cause communications. Just a tidbit here and a tidbit there and tons of people to interview. So, I ended up compiling the research and distilling it down to a few strategic recommendations that anyone in our community could apply to their work immediately. Much of the secret sauce can be found in Resource Media’s Seeing is Believing guide and I’ll share more in the NN13 workshop.

The good news for all of you who, like me, don’t self-identify as a professional photographer, the artistic type, a graphic designer or a film-maker is that you don’t have to be one to be a good visual storyteller. It is more science than art, not more art than science. You simply have to know visual communications strategy basics and how people’s brains process information and make decisions.

Q: In your opinion, why is it important to tell stories visually?

A: The timing could not be better for progressives to embrace the art of visual storytelling. As the traditional media world craters, nonprofits and other independent voices are taking on a growing role as a content provider. Images and video are no longer just stray add-ons; multimedia is avidly consumed and is at the heart of some of the most popular online news content.

Recent discoveries in brain science provide clues to why people respond so well to this type of communication vehicle. The result is that more people will click here, share there, engage, engage, and engage some more. The need to tell stories in new, more visual ways is only increasing. Our guess is that your metrics are telling you to “feed this beast!” So, if you are working in the field of cause communications, mastering the visual is incredibly important.

Q: What are the two most important things to keep in mind when telling a story visually?

A: 1) Tap into a certain set of human emotions. I will share some secrets from the subconscious that any of us who aren’t neuroscientists can do to influence people’s decisions.

2) The most beautiful photos are not the most effective photos. The same is true for video. I’ll tell you why at NN13…

Q: Why should folks attend your session at Netroots Nation, and how can they connect with you?

A: Have you ever bought things you wanted, but didn’t really need? Just thank the advertising execs from Madison Avenue. It’s high time that progressives shape-shift into Mad Men and Women and get more fellow Americans who need to be a part of our movement to want to be part of our movement. When we are at the top of our game in telling stories – with a visual punch – we are bringing in new, passionate supporters. I’m looking forward to sharing some of the best ideas I have come across from across our network and having session attendees share their ideas with the group.

I look forward to connecting with fellow NN13 attendees via Twitter, @LizBanse. When my tweets involve visual communications I will often use the hashtag #vizcom. Please join me in using that hashtag, so we can share more ideas via Twitter long after NN13. My colleagues and I are blogging on visual storytelling at visualstorylab.org as well. We welcome guest blogs from you! If you are interested in sharing your best practices or lessons learned around visual communications, please email us at vizcom@resource-media.org. Thanks and see you in San Jose!

To attend this training, or one of the 39 others at Netroots Nation 2013 in San Jose, register now.

Over the years New Media Mentors has had the opportunity to mentor a diverse set of organizations that aspire to take their new media work to the next level. I’ve worked with groups to mobilize more supporters, grow their support base, design powerful email programs, develop strategic new media plans, identify new tools, make social media work more effective, experiment with new types of advertising, develop rapid response programs, identify meaningful ways to measure the progress and impact of new media work, and more. Based on that experience we’ve put together “How to Win the Internet” which can be used as a framework for setting nonprofit organizations up for success online.

We’ve broken the framework down into four key building blocks: leadership, knowledge, collaboration and budget. We’ve found that when these blocks are in place, groups work more effectively, reach more people in more communities and ultimately have a greater impact.

Leadership
First and foremost, we believe that leadership is a critical part of having success online. Organizations that have a clear direction and explicitly communicate that direction to staff tend to be more successful than organizations that are less focused. This means having a strategic plan and clear theory of change in place. It’s not unusual for organizations to be between plans, or put off doing this kind of planning, but the organizations that are most successful don’t shy away from it.

We also believe that leaders that embrace new media and integrate it into the culture of the organization have the most success. This flies in the face of the old model of treating new media work as low priority work that should be placed in a silo and relegated to the hands of an IT associate or intern. It means making new media a part of strategic planning, and empowering staff to take calculated risks online and report back to the staff, as part of a culture of learning.

Knowledge
As the saying goes, knowledge is power! This is definitely true for new media. Online organizers that know how to use social action technologies and follow best practices run more successful campaigns. When organizations combine this knowledge with strategic planning, they’re able to get more impressive results out of the same amount of work because they’re working smarter and with more confidence. They can also take their work to an even higher level by using techniques like testing to objectively measure success and fine-tune their work.

Collaboration
Collaboration is another key part of success online. This goes back to the earlier point about not pushing new media work into a silo. Organizations that are able to keep their new media work fresh, meaningful and relevant frequently involve offline staffers, like program staff, in the effort. They also work together across departments to make decisions about new media.

Budget
Finally, we’d be remiss if we did not address budget. First of all, we’ve found that new media staffers need access to mass email, social action, and other online tools to work towards achieving the organization’s goals. The exact tools depend on the specific organization’s goals and what they’re trying to achieve online, but asking staff to operate without the appropriate tools doesn’t work.

Second of all, it’s important that the expectations placed on new media and other staffers are consistent with staff resources. This can be a tough one in a world where everyone’s short staffed! However, we’ve found that it just doesn’t work to expect a lone new media staff member to manage mass emails and social media accounts for ten different programs, for example. At least not without setting clear priorities and allowing some less important things drop by the wayside.

Each of these blocks is important on their own, and most organizations can improve their online work to some degree by tackling one or two of them. However, organizations that are strong in all four areas are best positioned for success online. Because of this, we’ve designed our mentorships to consider all of the building blocks together.

This recent post from Nonprofit Tech 2.0 has some juicy information on the real value of social media – and the benefit of building engaged online communities. Based on reports and studies, 12 “must know” facts are outlined here including:

“41% of nonprofits attribute their social media success to having developed a detailed social media strategy.”

It may seem obvious on the surface, but in our experience at New Media Mentors, non profits don’t always have the time or experience to develop clear goals and strategies for their online work. It can’t be said enough – asking why and what for at the start of a social media campaign or project will pay off big time in the end.

“55% of those who engage with nonprofits via social media have been inspired to
 take further action.”

Social media is often the means to an end – the start of getting your supporters and constituents to do something for your organization. This is yet, another good reason to deploy the appropriate tools for your organization – and to use them strategically.

56% of those that support nonprofits on the Social Web confirm that compelling storytelling is what motivates them to take action on behalf of nonprofits.

Another great point – the social web isn’t just a place for broadcasting or posting excerpts from a press release. It’s about connecting people with stories and visuals that move them to respond or take action.

The other nine facts are also worth a read! Great stuff here. Thanks, Heather!

Drumroll please.

We are excited to announce the Netroots Nation 2013 lineup! This will be our biggest training program ever, with a whopping 40 trainings led by some of the top trainers and practitioners in the progressive movement, including folks from NOI, Upworthy, Mother Jones, and more.

You can check out the lineup here.

This year’s training program includes sessions on seven important topics:

• Basic Online Organizing
• Advanced Online Organizing
• Communications
• Grassroots Organizing
• Management
• Storytelling
• Testing & Optimization

The program is poised to be one of our most interesting and exciting programs yet, so I hope you’ll join us in San Jose! If you haven’t registered yet, click here to do so now.

If you logged onto Facebook yesterday, odds are you saw a red version of the Human Rights Campaign’s logo in your feed. Or, if your friends are anything like mine, you saw a ton of them.

On Monday, HRC asked their supporters to change their profile pictures red, to show support for marriage equality while the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments for and against DOMA and California’s Proposition 8. The campaign was a huge success and dramatically raised the visibility of the issue on social media.

According to CNN, about 10 million people saw the image on Facebook. 10 million. So, how the heck did HRC get millions of people to share their logo (of all things)? Here’s a breakdown of what made the campaign a success, and what we can learn from it:

1. HRC developed an idea and specifically asked people to take action.

The idea of “wearing” a color online (changing the color of an organization’s logo) isn’t entirely new. In the past GLAAD and other LGBT organizations have turned their logos purple on social media to show support for Spirit Day. However, HRC picked up this idea and made it their own by turning their logo red, in honor of love.

Not only did they change their own logo red, but they explicitly asked their supporters to do the same. The day before the court hearings began, HRC posted this to Facebook:

Their request was clear and easy to do.

2. The ask was timed perfectly.

Not only was the ask clear, but it was timed perfectly. The Supreme Court hearings were the leading news story in the U.S., and HRC made the ask right before the hearings began, and again on the day they started. The organization did not choose an arbitrary day for folks to show their support for marriage equality—they chose the day everyone was already talking about it.

3. Celebrities seeded the campaign.

Sure, everything started with HRC’s own post to their Facebook page. However, things really took off when celebrity supporters with major followings changed their profile pictures. According to CNN, the logo was adopted and shared by celebrities Ricky Martin, Felicity Huffman, and George Takei (who has nearly 4 million Facebook fans), as well as Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, and other politicians. This both gave weight to the campaign, and made the campaign visible to millions.

4. The image’s symbolism resonated with people.

Finally, I really think the nature of HRC’s logo made this work. The red equal sign was easy for anyone to understand in the context of the court hearings. It also made sense for people to use as their own profile picture to show that they stand for equality. Had the organization used an image that said “Human Rights Campaign” in red instead of the equal symbol, the campaign would certainly not have taken off like it did. (Other LGBT organizations turned their logos red, but they didn’t take off like the HRC logo.)

How to apply this to your own work.

The success of this campaign is pretty much unprecedented and certainly will not be easily replicated by another organization. However, there’s a lot we can learn from this success.

All of the principles outlined above can be adopted by any organization launching their own campaigns. They may not get you 10 million views, but they will make your campaigns more powerful.

Sure, we may not all be able to call on George Takei to change his profile pic for us, but most of us do have supporters with large followings that we can tap into, and are certainly capable of making clear asks, timing them well, and choosing images that resonate with folks. So let’s use this not only as an opportunity to celebrate love and support equality, but also as inspiration for making our own campaigns stronger and more effective.

You’ve probably heard by now that Google Reader will be no longer as of July 1, of this year. For many of us who have used this blog reader and RSS service to track news, websites, bloggers and other sources of information we want to scan and read quickly, Google Reader has been great – easy to set up and easy to use.  Damn.

According to Gigaom the reason Google abandoned this service was “self defense.” Apparently they don’t want to stick with “niche” products like this one.

So, now what?

There are lots of sources and stories on just that -including these suggestions from CNET and Social Media Today. I happened to choose Feedly and was happy to find it easy to use. It lets you easily sync your Google reader account, transferring what you’ve set up there in seconds. It’s easy to navigate and has kind of cool visuals.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not here to promote any particular platform. But when it comes to Feedly, apparently I’m not alone. According to this Mashable piece, 500,000 people have already signed up.

So if you need to make the leap (probably sooner rather than later because July will be here soon,) I’d say give it a whirl. I haven’t given up on RSS yet. And Feedly fits the bill.

More and more, folks are starting to realize that one size doesn’t fit all. If you want your email subscribers to keep opening your emails, taking action, and moving up the ladder of engagement, you’ve got to make sure the emails they’re receiving are relevant to their lives.

One of the ways you can do this is by segmenting your email list. This involves sending an email to a portion (or segment) of your list only—the people that will find the message the most valuable. There are countless ways you can segment. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Personal data
This could be any kind of personal information you have in your database, like:

• Location (city, state, zip, region or country)
• Interest (expressed during signup, or at another time)
• Demographic info

Action behavior

• Time since subscription (particularly useful for welcome campaigns)
• Type of actions taken (petitions, letters to the editor, events, etc.)
• Level of engagement
• Time since last action
• Interest (deduced from response to different types of emails)

Donation behavior

• Amount of last donation
• Largest previous donation
• Time since last donation

Anything else in your database
Any organization defined fields in your database (volunteers, board members—any type of categorization or data you have that wasn’t mentioned above).

My advice is don’t be too afraid to give segmentation a try. If your email is wildly successful with a particular segment, you can always go ahead and send it to the rest of the list. On the flip side, if your email doesn’t perform well with the folks that it’s most relevant to, it’s definitely not worth turning off the rest of your list.

We all know that images are king on Facebook. Images with text are incredibly popular and people love to share them. In fact, one of the organizations I mentored recently tried creating and sharing an image with text on Facebook for the first time and found that it was shared 100 times more than their previously most popular post!

The problem is that if you don’t have money for fancy tools like Photoshop, or graphic design experience, the idea of creating images with text can be intimidating.

The truth is that you really don’t need these things to create shareable images. Seriously! Here’s how you do it on the cheap and easy (after this moving pic of my kitty).

1. Select an image
The first step is selecting an image. Choose something that’s attention grabbing. It could be heart wrenching, joyful, colorful, funny, cute, etc. Try to put yourself in the shoes of one of your supporters – would that person find the image compelling? The image should of course relate to your mission, a campaign you’re running, etc.

Also make sure that the image has room for text. You don’t want to have to add your text on top of someone’s face, etc. It helps if the space is fairly monochromatic, so you can use a contrasting color to make the text pop.

2. Download Skitch
There are a number of free design tools out there, but my favorite is Skitch. It’s free and easy to use. It doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles of a tool like Photoshop, but if you’re reading this post you probably wouldn’t know what to do with those features anyway!

3. Add text to the image
Compose the text you’d like to add to the image. As with the image, the text should be compelling. It might tell the story of the image, show the irony of the image, push people to take action, etc.

Once you’re ready to start designing, open the image you selected in Skitch (File > Open > Select the image). (Note: all instructions here are for the Mac version, but the other versions are likely quite similar.) To add text, click the a button in the control bar on the left side. Place the cursor where you want your text to appear, then click and start typing. Press enter if you need to make the text continue on the next line.

There are a few tools you can use to format the text. Just highlight the text and use the size scale on the right toolbar to make the text bigger or smaller. To change the color, highlight the text, click Color, and select the color you want.

If you need to move the text after you add it, just click the arrow button in the left toolbar, then grab the text and move it.

Once you’re done, just export your image (File > Export).

4. Share it!
When you’re done designing, share your image! With any luck, your supporters will do the same.

As Facebook engagement continues to decline, some of us have been wondering how many people are still using the platform regularly. Well, a report from the Pew Research Center published last week sheds a little light on the subject. Here are a few highlights from the report and key take-aways for causes and nonprofits.

Facebook’s user base is no longer growing.

20% of the online adults who do not currently use Facebook say they once used the site but no longer do so.

8% of online adults who do not currently use Facebook are interested in becoming Facebook users in the future.

Take-away: People who aren’t already using Facebook aren’t really interested in becoming users. It’s okay to ask your supporters to Like your organization’s page on Facebook, but don’t spend time trying to convert folks that aren’t already users. If you’re interested in getting as many of your supporters following you on Facebook as possible, consider using a tool like Attentive.ly to figure out which of your email subscribers are on Facebook.

Your fans aren’t always logging on.

61% of current Facebook users say that at one time or another in the past they have voluntarily taken a break from using Facebook for a period of several weeks or more.

27% of Facebook users say they plan to spend less time on the site in the coming year.

Take-away: It might be worth posting on important topics more than once, to maximize the number of fans that see your message. However, keep in mind that what you post must be compelling, and preferably visual in order for Facebook’s algorithm to actually show it to your fans.

Lots of people are still using Facebook, and they’re doing so regularly.

Today 69% of online adults — representing more than half of the entire adult population in the United States — use an online social network of some kind. On a typical day nearly half of all adult internet users access a social networking site.

41% of social networking site users said that they access these sites several times a day — a statistically significant increase from the 33% of users who said that they accessed social networking sites with that level of frequency in August 2011.

Take-away: Don’t give up on Facebook yet! Facebook is still one of the best tools we have available to us for connecting with supporters. Just be sure to make posts compelling and shareable so your fans have the opportunity to see them.