Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

Don’t Worry about Facebook (More Than Before)

by Leave a Comment

facebook hoaxOkay, now I’m mad. Some scammer is trying to take advantage of…our fear of being scammed!

If you’re on Facebook, you should always think twice before accepting a friend request. Specifically, if the thought crosses your mind, “I thought I was friends with her already?, you probably were. And it’s probably not her.

This was true last week, and last month, and last year. All of us should always be checking to see if a friend request comes from someone we’ve friended previously. That’s nothing new.

The Latest Facebook Hoax

This past weekend, tons of us got messages from people we knew saying their Facebook accounts had been cloned. This is a bad joke perpetrated on the public. Here’s how that hoax happened, according to Time Magazine.

The message says that the sender has received a duplicate friend request from the recipient. Then, it tells the receiver to forward the same message to their friends. Many have apparently taken that to mean that they should forward the same message to all of their friends, prompting dozens or even hundreds of others to believe that there may be a problem with their accounts as well.

BUT THESE MESSAGES ARE A HOAX.

There is no epidemic of cloned accounts. There is an epidemic of people wasting each other’s time and confusing one another by sending out these bogus messages!

So what should you do if you receive one of these hoax messages? Nothing. Delete the message and move on.

Why You Got Fooled

If you took these hoax messages seriously, there’s a reason for that. As Snopes rightly remarks:

This message played on warnings about the phenomenon of Facebook “pirates” engaging in the “cloning” of Facebook accounts, a real (but much over-hyped) process by which scammers target existing Facebook users accounts by setting up new accounts with identical profile pictures and names, then sending out friend requests which appear to originate from those “cloned” users. Once those friend requests are accepted, the scammers can then spread messages which appear to originate from the targeted account, luring that person’s friends into propagating malware, falling for phishing schemes, or disclosing personal information that can be used for identity theft.

You care about your friends. You don’t want to get them into trouble. So, you end up doing something that protects nobody, wastes their time, and annoys them. It also creates a paranoia about using Facebook…and distracts us from the real problems, and the real solutions.

What You Should Do Instead

  1. Always check new friend requests to see whether the person apparently sending them is already your Facebook friend.
  2. If they are, then the new request is a fraud. Report the fraud attempt to Facebook.
  3. Always check frightening rumors with a reputable fact-checker like Snopes. Do not pass on unsubstantiated information.
  4. Take 15 minutes to review your Facebook settings to protect our own privacy and that of your friends. (That is a much better way to show you care than passing along hoax messages!)

 

Fundraising Tuesday: How to Pay for Nonprofit Advice You Need

by Leave a Comment

Your nonprofit organization does great work. You’d like more people to know about it. So you squeeze time for writing newsletters, sending email, and posting to social media into your schedule.

And still, people don’t know what you do.

You realize you need outside help…but there’s a problem. How are you going to pay for the help you need?

Nonprofits often operate with restricted funds. The grant you received to offer concerts to schoolchildren, or feed elders, won’t pay for your consultant. You know you need to spend the money to make more money, but where do you get the money to invest in the first place?

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Four ways, in fact.

Here are four approaches you can take to find money without strings attached, money you can invest in the future of your organization.

Each of them is something you can do, even if you’re a small nonprofit. And none of them will break the bank.

Ask a donor.

Most people give to your organization to produce immediate results. A few of your supporters understand that better communications now means a stronger organization later. Find a major donor like that, and ask him or her to give you the seed money you need.

Write a proposal.

Communications is “capacity building.” Foundations will give grants if you show them what difference your improved communications will make. Businesses will also invest if you make a strong case.

Do some crowdfunding.

Zach Brown raised $55,000 online by making potato salad.. How about you? Be very human and a little bit funny, and you just might get enough small gifts to pay your consultant.

Build it into the budget.

Communications are just as important as staff training and other items you budget for every year. It will be a lot easier to pay for help if you’re planning for it.

When you have the money in hand, here are seven tips on what to look for when you’re hiring a communications consultant. And I’d love to talk with you about your project. Drop me a line at [email protected]: maybe we can work together!

Fundraising Tuesday: The Map, or the Territory?

by Leave a Comment

journeyLet’s go on an adventure together. Take a look at this map.

We’ll start here, at this jumping-off point, and head toward that fabulous destination. Follow my pointer.

We’ll travel these roads, stopping here, here, and here for food and gas. We’ll meet new people, see new sights, learn new things, and feel happy at the end.

Wasn’t that fun? You can keep the map, as a memento.

Oh, wait. We only traced the journey on the map? You mean I didn’t actually take you anywhere?

Were you expecting an actual adventure? So are your donors.

When you ask for money for your nonprofit, you are promising to take the donor on a journey.

It starts with a single person or family at the edge of a cliff: hunger, homelessness, domestic violence, poverty.

It ends at an oasis of safety, health, and happiness.

Your organization’s programs are the road map. Intake here. Service provision there. Counseling and training a little further down the road.

But the map is not the territory.

Don’t tell your donors about the map. They don’t care very much about the road you take.

Tell them the story of the journey. Who is that person on the road? Where are they now? Where are they headed? What will it take to get them there?

How can the donor become their travel companion?

 

 

 

Yes, I’d like weekly email from Communicate!

Get more advice

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.