Nonprofit organizations are only as strong as their members. So, questions you should ask yourself as you start your nonprofit: Who’s benefiting from your organization’s mission? How do you keep lines of communication open among your members? What questions do they have that others may be able to answer? Consider creating an environment, such as a community portal, to give your members a way to communicate and support one another.

Just creating a listserv these days will not suffice. You need to have more functionality and flexibility to relay information in several formats. You can use AWeber, Constant Contact, and Vertical Response, just to name a few, to create marketing materials to send to your entire membership.

You can create a presence on Facebook or Twitter where your members can post comments and participate in group discussions. These social networks also allow the members an opportunity to really get to know one another. Don’t forget to investigate creating forums for your website where members can share information, ask questions, and find support with your organization being the catalyst for this one-stop-shop.

There are various tools to help us establish relationships, make connections both business and personal, and to become a little more real to people, who in this day and age are looking for authenticity. Study your market, and get a feel for the various ways they are reaching out to each other now; then use that as a starting point to build your member network.

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