Social media can help you attract new interest in your non-profit organization, and greatly expand your audience. Through the power of social sharing, your mission can be delivered to people who haven’t heard of you before.

Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest are great ways to recruit new volunteers, too. If you haven’t signed up for each of these services yet, you’re way behind. But it shouldn’t take too long to catch up and start building your following.

One of the best—and most important—things about social media is its ability to make one-on-one connections. Having conversations is the best way to achieve this. When you start posting and following people on Twitter, you’ll see that there are a lot of conversations going on. Show you’re interested in what others have to say by re-tweeting interesting tweets. Thank people when they re-tweet yours. Ask questions of your followers.

On Facebook, provide interesting and usable content so your followers will feel compelled to share it. Ask questions so you can get to know people and spark conversations. Conduct a poll or ask them to promote your events. And when you need volunteers, you’ll have a ready-made audience that is interested in what you’re all about.

The same goes for Pinterest. Provide your followers with interesting content. That’s why they’re following you, after all. And share theirs. Social media is a two-way street.

Soon, you’ll feel comfortable asking for volunteers, as well as asking others to spread the word for you.

Once you’re up and running fast on social media, use it to your advantage. You can create a Google+ group for your volunteers, so you can communicate directly with them. Use Facebook for making announcements and creating interest in your events. Encourage people to share your information—and be sure to thank them when they do!

When you’re building an audience of social media followers, you’re also building a supply of potential volunteers. Use social media to make recruiting volunteers easier!

The more people “like” your nonprofit organization on Facebook, the more credibility you have. The more credibility you have, the more trust you can build. Plus, every update you post provides additional opportunities to stay in front of your fans and spread your message, ask for volunteers or promote events.

Sounds simple enough—but, how do you increase your Facebook “likes?” That’s pretty simple, too, if you follow a few tips.

Ask: A little too simple, perhaps, but you will gain new followers by simply asking for them. Post a “looking for new likes” message on  your organization’s page, and ask current fans to share it on their own timelines.

Give Away a Prize: Do you know local restaurants, cupcake shops, hardware stores or grocers that would be willing to provide gift certificates for a prize drawing? Promote their business and your cause by offering a gift card at different levels: for every 25 new likes, all your fans will be entered in a different drawing.

Partner Up: Think about the businesses that support your nonprofit, and how you can help each other gain more likes. For example, the business can offer to make a donation to your organization for every 25 or 50 new likes it receives, while you can promote the business on your Facebook page. Ask their fans to like your page, too.

Engage: Don’t just post and forget about your followers. Respond to their questions and comments. That’s what the “social” in social media is all about.

Tag, You’re It: You can tag businesses or individuals in your posts by using the @sign before their name. When you do, it alerts the person or company that they’ve been tagged. They may share your post, or “like” it, which puts it on their timeline—where your organization will now be seen by all of their fans. Depending on the company, a mention like this could be worth hundreds or thousands of impressions.

Follow these tips to increase your Facebook followers, boost your credibility and expand your reach—in just a few minutes of your time.

A new iPhone app is not only helping spread the word about volunteerism, but also helping reward volunteers for their service. Developed in Vermont by Cabot Co-op and its partners, the app, called Reward Volunteers, encourages volunteers to tell others about their volunteer experiences on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.

Volunteers can log their time in service, to earn rewards for themselves and money for the organizations they care about. The more hours logged, plus the more “likes” and comments collected on social networks, the better the chance to win cash and prizes, including a cruise.

This app is an example of how one non-profit thought a little differently, and created a fun, easy and effective way to engage with its volunteers. Since people post about everything in their lives on Facebook, why not leverage that activity to promote volunteerism and your organization’s mission?

It’s true that some volunteers are not motivated by what they might see as bragging about their volunteer activities. But when spreading the word about volunteerism, and sharing the causes they are passionate about can increase participation and support, it may be time to be less modest and more boastful.

How can you use this idea in your organization? Perhaps you have digital media companies in your area that would be willing to donate their time to develop a similar app for your volunteers. Partner with other non-profits and local businesses to encourage participation, increase awareness and volunteerism, and reward these hard-working people with nice prizes. With some initiative and outreach efforts, you’re sure to gain more volunteers and raise awareness for everyone.

Twitter, the 140-character-limit social networking and messaging service, has been in the news quite a bit lately, especially with the political events in Egypt. When in our history have so many people been connected so quickly and easily in support of a common goal?

That’s the beauty of Twitter—nonprofit groups can use this popular tool to not only communicate quickly with their supporters, they can also raise visibility for their cause, for an event or to raise funds.

Here are 5 tips for nonprofits to use Twitter effectively:

1. Connecting through online social media tools is a great first step to creating a long-term supporter. Don’t neglect the follow up, by inviting the person to visit your website or sign up for newsletters. They might not donate right away, but you can lay the foundation for future support.
2. Be real. People want to know that there is a person behind the tweets, so don’t be afraid to engage in a real conversation or reveal your personality. And use your name or the name of your organization so people feel a connection.
3. Make it easy for donors to donate! If you don’t already have one, add a “donate now” button to your website. When you send out a tweet asking for money, be sure to link to the page that includes this link. Don’t make your supporters click through more than one page to give you money—or you risk losing them.
4. Tell people what the money is for. Share a quick story—in as few characters as possible—of how donations will make a real difference in someone’s life, in the community or for the environment. Make that emotional connection.
5. Make it a two-way conversation: Don’t forget to listen as much as you talk. If you have people asking questions, that’s a sign of success—be sure to respond to what people are saying about your organization. Address concerns and nip in the bud any misconceptions that are floating around.

Developing a strong presence on social media outlets is a proven marketing tool for businesses and non profit organizations. Increasing awareness for your cause, making it easier for supporters to donate time and money, and promoting events are just a few ways that Facebook and Twitter are used successfully by non profits every day.

And now, social media savvy non profits have an advantage—by spreading the word quickly, they can compete for cash through America’s Giving Challenge, a daily giveaway that rewards causes with the highest number of donations each day through November 6, 2009.

Non profits that connect with supporters through a regularly-updated website, blog, email newsletters, and on social media sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have already built the infrastructure that allows them to take advantage of a contest like this. Causes was built on Facebook, with the sole purpose of putting power, in the form of dollars, in the hands of the people. Every 24 hours, whichever charity gets the most donations—of any amount—gets $1,000. Second highest number gets $500 each day.

The grand prize for the contest awards $50,000 to the non profit that gets the highest number of individual donations. Second prize is $25,000, and $10,000 goes to each of the next five causes.

It’s easy to sign up your cause, donate to a cause, and see how the contest is going. (Today’s leader is Overseas China Education Foundation, with 101 donations.) Set a goal for your organization to gather 100, 150, or 200 small donations, and you could be in the running for the $1,000 daily prize. And the way social marketing works, you could soon see thousands of donations for your cause, along with increased awareness, more volunteers, and engaged supporters!