As another example, Social Actions seeks to raise $20,000 before February 2, 2009 – the funds will sustain their operations while they seek out alternate sources of funding. They are asking individuals to contribute $20.09 toward this goal. The campaign is creative; it is generating a large following on the blogosphere – I’m certain they will reach their goal.

Given the result of the recent presidential campaign (with most contributions totaling less than $20), one must realize the obvious strength, and potential value, of effectively leveraging and mobilizing online social networks. Similarly, a growing number social service organizations are taking full advantage of this emerging trend to promote their causes.

We live in interesting times, to say the least. Traditional fundraising strategies, although still appropriate, may be going the way of the floppy disk. Just as with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), nonprofit leaders should begin to develop their knowledge of Social Marketing Optimization (SMO) to build, organize, and manage a network online.

Social services organizations may increase awareness of their causes on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and LinkedIn to name a few. One local example is the Youth Speak! Collective (an outstanding organization).  Youth Speak! Collective promotes their to improve the quality of life for young people living in the Pacoima neighborhood of Los Angeles online through their social network profiles on Flickr, Facebook, and MySpace.

The point here, really, is to establish a visible presence online; by going online organizations will reach a greater audience and garner broad-based support for their cause. Al Gore’s Internet is your fundraising and friendraising friend.

With that said, follow me on Twitter (@marcoramirez) and let’s make a difference together.

Our goal at Idealistics is to make it easier for agencies to help their clients better.  One way to accomplish this is through the use of data.  Geographic analysis is one area that we believe has a great deal of potential to help organizations.

In partnership with the Center for Nonprofit Management, Idealistics will be training non-profit organizations on how to use Google Earth for social good.  The training will be on January 21 from 9:30 to 12:30 at the Center for Nonprofit Management in downtown Los Angeles [map].

The workshop will cover the basics of geospatial analysis using Google Earth. We’ll discuss how you can use Google Earth to easily display addresses on a map, revealing geographic clusters of clients and donors. This will help identify those areas where community needs are the greatest, see gaps in services, and allow administrators to plan interventions accordingly.

You will be able to register for this event once the Center publishes its winter calendar. I’m excited about this great opportunity for us to share our data expertise and improve the capacity of many organizations.   We appreciate the Center for Non-Profit Management giving us the opportunity to hold this training workshop.

This California State Assembly Certificate of Recognition is presented to Idealistics Inc. in recognition of your exemplary work in the areas of case management, data analysis and community resources, especially as related to the Pomona Youth and Family Master Plan.  May your organization continue to grow and prosper as you use technology to enhance social services in the various communities that you serve.

Congratulations and best wishes!

Nell Soto
Member of the Assembly
California State Legislature

We are honored to receive this recognition for our work.  We have many great community partners and supporters who help make what we do possible.  While we are humbled to receive recognition, I would like to thank and recognizes the many friends of Idealistics.  Please know we consider you partners in our cause of building systems that help social services help people better.  You are a part of our team.

Last week all of us at Idealistics went to meet with two of our clients: Inland Valley Hope Partners and the City of Pomona Community Services Department. The purpose of the meetings was to get out of the office and have the whole team see our systems in action.

During our first visit, we met with Isaac Vega, Hope Partners’s Program Manager at the Beta Center, one of Pomona’s only food distribution centers.  We also met with Nicole Crigler, who works in Hope Partners’s shelter, and Wytske Visser, the Executive Director of Hope Partners.  Hope Partners uses our case management system to keep track of their client data and report their many successes to funding sources.

After meeting with Hope Partners, we sat down with Andrea Rico, Youth and Family Services Coordinator for the City of Pomona Community Services Department. Through the City’s Youth and Family Master Plan (YFMP), we provide a community resources system that helps Pomona residents identify and access available community programs.  The system is available online at pomonafamilyresources.org. It was inspiring meeting with Andrea and hearing her vision for the Youth Master Plan.

The site visits were a great way for all of us to see the work our partner agencies are doing.  The visits helped our staff understand how what we do fits into the bigger picture of serving those in need.  Thanks to all those who took the time to meet with us!

In his presentation, Mr. Mosher pointed out that data can be a great storytelling device and, as a result, a great mobilizer.  Even if an organization identifies a problem in its community, looks at the data, and identifies a good solution to the problem, the organization still needs to mobilize support in the community to see a solution become a reality.  Data can be used to paint compelling pictures of the problem and show the community that it needs to step up to help provide a solution.  GIS Mapping allows one to literally create graphics showing, to use Mr. Mosher’s example, the clustering of alcohol-related arrests near outlets that don’t have adequate policies for dealing with intoxicated persons.

Thanks, James Mosher, for showing us that data shouldn’t be left behind when it comes to mobilizing the community!

I know at first it may seem unintuitive to pursue social good by bringing profit seeking entities into poor areas to provide banking services.  However, when you consider that credit is the bank bone of our society (something we are all the more reminded of as our financial sector struggles), it is almost impossible to escape poverty without access to affordable capital.  Throughout Los Angeles pay-day lenders that charge high interest rates for small cash loans plague low-income communities.  Families can quickly get caught in a trap of using each pay check just to pay off the interest from the last loan.

By bringing low-income families into the formal banking sector, Emerging Markets not only helps people get access to more reasonably priced credit, but introduces them to the banking sector where they can more safely deposit funds and earn interest on savings.

I want to thank Elwood Hopkins, Managing Director, and Rudy Espinoza, Associate at Emerging Markets for taking the time to tell me about their work.  I look forward to hearing more about this exciting agency in the future!

Before looking at bank loans or other interest incurring strategies, ask your vendors if they would be willing to receive payment for their goods or services in installments.  Lots of organizations, including Idealistics, would rather work with an agency and spread payment out over time than wait several months or even over a year before entering a contract.

So don’t just assume you can’t afford whatever it is you need to run your agency better.  Vendors like mine would rather have your business and receive payment in installments.  It’s not only better for your agency and ours that way, but most importantly, it allows you to serve people severely impacted by the down turning economy more effectively in a time of great need.

Our work as a growing social enterprise has offered quite the learning experience. Personally, I feel grateful to be part of an organization designed to serve social service agencies—to help make them more efficient and to, ultimately, increase their capacity.

We are fortunate that the majority of our business is through returning clients and word of mouth (our fans); because of the need to reach new organizations and step out of our comfort zone, we decided to implement a new marketing strategy known throughout the as evangelism.

I recently took a new job title at Idealistics, Chief Community Evangelist.  Jokingly, many of my friends called me to confirm my new title—they asked me if the change occurred with my consent (ha ha, very funny). At Idealistics, we are cause-driven. We think it is important for us to be as transparent as possible, especially since our clients are nonprofits and are held to the same standards.

By adopting an evangelistic approach to sales challenges us to better engage our clients by seeking out and welcoming honest feedback regarding our products, services, and business model; by improving the way we communicate our mission; and by ensuring that our staff, investors, friends, and clients can clearly represent our genuine efforts to enhance social services on our behalf (it’s not just our slogan).

As Idealistics’s Chief Community Evangelist, my primary purpose is to foster, and harness, the energy and support of our supporters so they can help us spread our message. As we continue to grow as an organization, we recognize the commitment necessary to continuously improve the way we do business and to remain in touch with our clients’ work in the field.

Through my research, I found that many Fortune 500 companies, social enterprises, and a handful of nonprofits are implementing this approach. This low-tech, high-touch approach revolves around strengthening relationships by deliberately investing in ‘friendraising’, sharing ideas, and creating products and services that consumers both want and need. In times when funding is becoming scarce, and competition is more noticeably fierce, I [honestly] believe social services should take the time to learn the benefits of this strategy.

To prove to you that this is a real job title, held by real people in real organizations, I encourage you to research the title yourselves (you will be surprised). In an interview with N-TEN, Guy Kawasaki, a former software evangelist for Apple, discusses how this strategy is innately designed to help nonprofits. Grand and Crutchfield recently posted a blog in Philanthropy News Digest in which they describe the practice of inspiring evangelists as one of the six practices of “high-impact” nonprofits.

If we were to examine the true definition of an evangelist as a zealous advocate for something, we could make the case that as social service providers, we/you are already evangelizing. Some evangelize for social justice, systems change, or any cause that makes you get up and go to work each day.  Many of are evangelists for sports teams, name brands, or organizations–for which we have our individual reasons for lending our support.

The job title does spark emotions. Some are good. Sadly, some not so good. Please know we did not conjure this title up for the sake of conversation, or to be different; it is the best way to define our evolution as social entrepreneurs.

Click here for a free e-book on evangelism by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba.