November 2, 2010 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Nonprofit groups are increasingly using social media to reach out to supporters and raise money.
Some groups are even creating full-time positions for communicators who are savvy at using tools like Twitter and Facebook.
Here are some of the people who are leading the charge:
Name: Amy Ganderson
Age: 31
Title: Associate director of digital marketing
Organization: The Nature Conservancy
Twitter name: @amyganderson, where she has 1,270 followers
Number of Facebook followers her organization has attracted: 134,629
Success Story: Using social media, the Nature Conservancy raised more than $350,000 to protect coral reefs in the Bahamas during 2010’s Earth Day campaign.
Name: Alison McQuade
Age: 26
Title: Online marketing manager
Organization: GlobalGiving
Twitter name: @akmcquade, where she has 2,567 followers
Number of Facebook followers her organization has attracted: 7,483
Success Story: Using social media, GlobalGiving is on pace to raise almost $500,000 this year, which is nearly triple the amount it raised through social media last year.
Name: Danielle Brigida
Age: 26
Title: Digital marketing manager
Organization: National Wildlife Federation
Twitter name: @starfocus, where she has 12,910 followers
Number of Facebook followers her organization has attracted: 45,533
Success Story: She helped raise $112,000 on Facebook Causes and provided the charity’s supporters with information on how to help wildlife hurt by the Gulf oil spill.
Name: Wendy Harman
Age: 34
Title: Director of social media
Organization: American Red Cross
Twitter name: @wharman, where she has 3,398 followers
Number of Facebook followers her organization has attracted: 213,761
Success story: In 48 hours, the charity raised $3-million for Haiti relief efforts, largely helped by 2.3-million Twitter messages posted by supporters.
Name: Jennifer Roccanti
Age: 25
Title: Development associate
Organization: Miriam’s Kitchen
Twitter name: @miriamskitchen, where she has 3,239 followers
Number of Facebook followers her organization has attracted: 692
Success story: Raised $10,000 for the organization through DC Twestival, a Twitter event, and $5,000 through the Sears Chef Challenge, another online effort.
