For Nonprofits
Manny Hernandez
President, Diabetes Hands Foundation
Co-Founder TuDiabetes.com, EsTuDiabetes.com
Author, Ning For Dummies

Personal Background
• Web Product Mgmt, Social Media – 10+ yrs
• Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes – Oct. 2002
• Worked for Ning - Jan. to Apr. 2008
• Nonprofit management - Apr. 2008 to today

Timeline
• Mid-2006: social network for “higher purpose”
• Late 2006: look at platforms (Drupal)
• Mar. 2007: launched TuDiabetes on Ning
• Aug. 2007: launched EsTuDiabetes on Ning
• Apr. 2009: 11K total members (15% growth/mo)

What is Ning?
• Ning provides a platform for anyone to
build their own social network.

Why a social network?
“The true power of a social network lies in
its ability to foster and solidify connections
offline.”
In the words of Tom Watson:
“… after all the clicking, emailing, viewing
and posting, people need to get up from
their chairs and step outside.”

Why a social network?
• A social network changes the way
nonprofits engage with members.
• It helps nonprofits to fulfill their mission in
new ways.

Setting up a network on Ning
• No need to be a “geek”
• Wizard-like process
• Resources to grow it and manage it
– Up to a few 100’s members, one person can
do most of the management

Advantages of Ning
• Affordable:
– Free basic service
– Premium services
• Solid product
• Customizable: appearance and features
• Network and member privacy controls

Disadvantages of Ning
• You can’t “host” the network yourself:
– You depend on Ning being “up”
– You depend on Ning being “in business”
• Members are also members of Ning.com

Popular features
• Chat: synchronous communication
• Forum: discussion topics
• Groups: interest groups, regional groups
• Videos, photos: activism, campaigns

Uses of Ning for Nonprofits
• Communication: blogs, forums, videos
• Outreach: sharing mechanisms
• Activism: events, groups
• Fundraising: through widgets
• Growing your list: export member data

Sample networks on Ning
More than 8,000 members

Sample networks on Ning
More than 21,000 members

ASPCA network integration

Sample networks on Ning

Growing your social network
• Through your members:
– Invitations, badges, share, slideshows, videos
• Through network RSS feeds
– TwitterFeed to Twitter
• Through bloggers
• Through existing offline efforts

Raise funds through the
network
• Donations: from members, others
• Grants: foundations, government
• Ads: unrelated business income

Ning Resources
• http://blog.ning.com
• http://help.ning.com
• http://networkcreators.ning.com
• http://developer.ning.com
• http://is.gd/p7kv: Ning for Nonprofits chat

Contact Info
manny AT tudiabetes DOT org
@askmanny