David Suzuki Foundation Healthy Oceans campaigner Jodi Stark attended NetSquared Camp last weekend. And she learned something! Yay! So these unconferences are worth doing. :-)

Jodi’s story

Last weekend I went to Eli’s NetSquared Camp where I learned that an image coupled with some text is BY FAR the most liked, shared and commented on item you can post on Facebook.
Daren Barefoot and Theo Lamb from Capulet Communications presented some very recent (and still unpublished) research that looked at the posts of 25 top NGOs (including the David Suzuki Foundation) and analyzed what type of materials got the most traction.

A compelling image or infographic topped the list. It received significantly more likes, shares and comments than any other post, including video.

So, in the spirit of learning and experimenting, I decided last week to test this out and created this image on Facebook.

And guess what? It worked! We posted this on Saturday and in short order, we got:

• 1000 shares
• 180 comments
• 342 likes

(The DSF page was also liked by 1000 more people this weekend. We can’t attribute this to the image, but we do know that with 1000 shares, we got huge exposure to lots of new Facebook friends).

We also got:

• 3050 visits to the blog from Facebook (4500 total visit)
• 560 people who followed up and signed our action

As predicted, this is significantly higher than most of DSF’s FB posts. This blog received almost double the amount of views than any other healthy oceans blog in the last year, and that doesn’t include the number of eye balls who saw the image on FB but didn’t link to the blog).

The post is currently #2 (out of 158) post for ‘engaged users’ for 2012 (i.e. # of unique people who have clicked anywhere on the post).
The post is currently #5 (out of 158) for ‘most talked about’ (i.e. # of unique people liking, commenting or sharing the post).

The best part is – it’s fun and easy to do! Laura Lefurgey-Smith, our intern, did a great job with the image and was great to work with.

So, I encourage all of you in your work to think about an interesting, intriguing, odd or otherwise catchy image and some very short text to go with it. I think it’s a powerful entry point to our work.

The top ten most engaging Facebook posts

Darren Barefoot and Theo Lamb analyzed the last 50 Facebook posts by 20 environmental nonprofits, totalling 1,000 posts.

Storified by Elijah van der Giessen · Sun, Apr 29 2012 20:16:08

After examining our options (rollerblading! stamp collecting! cricket!) we decided that our new hobby should be hosting unconferences, because what’s more fun than gathering 75 of our best friends together to chat about how we can use this new-fangled internet thing to do good in the world?

And so NetSquared Camp 2012 was born!

This fancy Storify collection is a summary of the day…

NetSquared Camp 2012

Vancouver, BCApril 18, 2012 at The HiVE

Storified by Elijah van der Giessen · Sun, Apr 29 2012 19:24:32

9:00 – 9:45 – Welcome and schedule wrangling (coffee and muffins provided)
9:45 – 10:00 – wiggle room!
10:00 – 10:50 – Session #1
10:50 – 11:00 – Break
11:00 – 12:00 – Session #2
12:00 – 1:15 – Lunch (offsite or bring-your-own)
1:15 – 2:15 – Session #3
2:15 – 2:30 – Break
2:30 – 3:30 – Session #4
3:30 – 4:00 – Wrap-up

The event is going to be an unconference, which means the participants (that’s you!) are in charge of the “programming.” But for those who need the illusion of certainty in life here’s a few discussion proposals from the NetSquared Camp community. There’s no guarantee that all of these sessions will emerge on April 28th – they may merge, morph or otherwise be modified. :-)

Discussion proposals

The Science of Facebook Pages for NGOs: Darren Barefoot and Theo Lamb

We’ve just completed some research into what actually works in terms of garnering likes, comments and shares on Facebook pages. We analyzed 1000 posts from large environmental NGOs and are keen to report on our findings. Learn who’s doing Facebook well, and what really works to increase engagement.

Video: Amy Severson

Video can be a powerful tool for learning and inspiring. But how do you create, capture, present and talk about it? From what questions you should ask before starting, to the technologies available, what does it mean to the non-profit and to the community?

The Donation Form: talking nuts and bolts: Benjamin Johnson

Who has the best donation form in the biz? What are all the parts of the donation experience and what have emerged as best practices? Are there any themes running throughout the participants in regards to struggles, challenges, tools, etc?

Video Security: Dominic Linder

If anybody else is doing video subscriptions I would love to hear about what they are doing to prevent their videos from being downloaded (more than just having them in a secured login area).

Emotionally Intelligent Fundraising: eliasarjan

How can Emotional Intelligence be activated to improve our abilities to engage donors and generate funds? What are the key elements that lead to successful fundraising campaigns? Why are some people better suited to fundraising and how do we select and motivate them?

We could cover more depending on the time allotted. As for me this is what I teach and do. I’m currently the fundraising consultant and auctioneer for the Vancouver International Fringe Festival http://bit.ly/HIufQj and Artstravaganza

Online Engagement: Terry Coatta

Different styles of interaction are needed to engage people online depending on their expectations, needs, and role relative to the organization. The purpose of this session is to explore the different ways that we can engage with people online.

Top five ways to drive traffic to your site: Kris Klaasen

So, you’ve got a great website for your not-for-profit. How do you drive traffic to it so people will donate money, support your causes, sign petitions, attend your events?

Stalwart social media volunteer Kelvin (KC) Claveria documented the event on Twitter using our #ntvan hashtag. I organized and bundled up the tweets using Storify. Enjoy.

Also, she is a hat friend.

And here’s her Ignite presentation from the NTC 2012 conference.
I am particularly enamoured of “tedious data entry for social good”.

OH @NetTuesdayYVR last night: “I’ve learned more here in an hour & half than at three days of the AFP conference. And this was free.” #ntvan

— Chad Leaman (@chadleaman) April 4, 2012

HUGE thanks to Darian Kovacs for putting the event together. This is the first time that a monthly meetup was planned, promoted and hosted without my involvement, and I couldn’t be happier that Net Tuesday is evolving from a solo project into a self-sustaining volunteer-led institution.

- Eli

P.S. I’m also grateful for Chad Leaman‘s good ears.

Net Tuesday is proud to be a media sponsor for this event put on by our pals at Gen Y  Media Project, LeadNow.ca  and OpenMedia.ca

Learn more about the campaign here: www.reimaginecbc.ca

We want to hear from YOU. What is the latest tool you’re using? What’s working? What’s not?
Has anything come out of SXSW that you’re now using for your charity?

Some people lined up so far:

• Jeff Golby — Something interesting
• Farrah Rooney — My experience with Convio
• Veronica Collins — Communicating your Brand Online
• Brady Josephson — Online Contests for Charities
• Helen Stortini — Using Sparked.com for Getting Volunteers
• YOU!

True to the nature of short snippets, if it’s not helpful for you, it’s only 5 minutes. We’re sure someone will share something relevant to you and your organization.

Be prepared to share. If you share you’ll get a fun prize!

Each presenter is given 5 minutes to share about their latest/greatest tool/idea.

This will also be a great night of networking, connecting and inspiration.

Darian & the Net Tuesday Team

PS. If you’re looking for additional workshops online Peer Giving is offering a free online course details here AND Wednesday they’re doing a special online training sessions on Charities and Trade Shows details here 

RSVP on Meetup.com

LOCATION
W2 Media Cafe
111 W Hastings, Vancouver, BC

DATE AND TIME
Tuesday, April 3 2012

Doors at 5:30 PM
Starts at 6:00 PM
Wraps at 7:30 PM