Nonprofit Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center recently launched a unique online community that is all about patients, friends, family and employees connecting and sharing. In Grateful Nation, people have the opportunity to network with peers, share treatment resources, tell their story in a blog, plus upload content to Facebook and connect with other members in Groups and Events.

The Grateful Nation community is breaking new ground with its innovative merging of online and offline activities. Best of all, lots of people benefit from the volunteerism and generous giving associated with a variety of events.

Within the socially-enabled web site, constituents are offered multiple ways to connect and participate in local community events that raise awareness for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Separate landing pages give members multiple options for getting involved and large “Donate Now” buttons are prominent in all areas of the community. The positive result? Both fundraising and volunteerism are given significant impetus.

One excellent example of online/offline event success involves cancer survivor Tom DesFosses and A Reason to Ride, an annual bike ride which raises significant proceeds for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Members of Grateful Nation can sign up online to participate in A Reason to Ride; they can support the event monetarily; they can even volunteer to help run the event in person.

In September, 2009, with a goal of $35,000, A Reason to Ride (presented by Fuddruckers) raised over $56,000 to benefit cancer research at the medical center.

 

In the Grateful Nation social community, A Reason to Ride is joined by other fundraising efforts that reach out to donors in a variety of activities. Walkathons, golf tournaments, tennis events and musical concerts are all popular and worthwhile.

If you would like to learn more about the real-world benefits being realized by nonprofits and associations with white label social communities, please click here.

Nonprofit and association organizations are benefiting—at an accelerating pace—from the deployment of white label communities that boast flexible social spaces where members gather. The many forms of social spaces can be tailored to perfectly reflect your community’s activities, your organization’s goals and your members’ most compelling interests.

Social Spaces are innovative, socially-enabled places that consistently drive interaction in every type of nonprofit or association community. With Social Spaces, you can create unique gathering places that make sense for your community members. ThePort Network’s experience with Social Spaces goes far beyond the standard “social group.” ThePort’s Social Spaces not only match your constituents’ interests, they are logically linked to your organization’s fundamental objectives.

 
Chapters, Committees, Executive Officers, and Fundraising Teams are all good examples of productive, task-oriented Social Spaces. In addition, Social Spaces can be customized with unique names, descriptions, profile fields and taxonomies. As an added feature, Social Spaces can be public or private. For example, Restaurant Facility Management Association (RFMA) has created private committees within its community where designated officials interact and work on association business.

Social Spaces serve as important community hubs and attract like-minded members who can communicate, share documents, along with a variety of content. Every Social Space has its own blog, photo album, video gallery and comments that stimulate user engagement and activity.
ThePort Difference: ThePort Social Spaces is the only social media technology that lets you define and create 100% unique gathering places that make sense for your members and constituents.

In real-world use, ThePort Network clients are making the most of dynamic online destinations infused with Social Spaces activity. For example, in Sierra Club’s Climate Crossroads community, members flock to Social Spaces called Actions where they team up on specific environmental issues such as Plastics Pledge, Guerrilla Forestry and Letters to the President.

In a different type of Social Spaces use, United Church of Christ encourages members of its MyUCC community to create unique Groups that support church activities and collaboration. One group is designed for UCC clergy under the age of 40; another group, Advocates for Immigrants, dedicates its activities to promoting humane immigration reform.

Harnessing the power of geography and a sense of belonging, many Lee Enterprises’ newspaper-linked online communities make Neighborhoods prominent Social Spaces for their members. For instance, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch MySTLToday community features a landing page with over a dozen possible neighborhoods to join. The landing page is complete with display ads from local advertisers.

If you would like to learn more about the real-world benefits being realized by nonprofits and associations with online communities, please click here.