Here’s a corporate practice we all should be actively encouraging. Beth Kanter and Kami Huyse are focusing their Society for New Communications Research Fellowship on the concept of what they’ve termed “lethal generosity.” Here’s the definition:

“Lethal Generosity is when a corporation applies its core competencies to advance social change in a way that contributes to business results and gives it a competitive advantage.”

I don’t know if there are enough true practitioners—as opposed to one-off-campaign cause marketers—to sustain a deep study of LG, but it would be fascinating to eventually see someone (like Beth) publish something on the subject along the lines of Jim Collins’ Built to Last.

Who knows? Maybe in the next five to 10 years we’ll find ourselves awash in corporations integrating social change agendas into their business models. Sure beats the antisocial greed agenda that led to the economy’s crash and burn.

Imagine if banks were to encourage increased homeownership rates in a more responsible fashion through non-predatory lending practices. Or if media companies developed and defended programming that exemplified freedom of speech rather than caving in to the lunatic fringe. I know I’d be more inclined to support corporations whose practices intersected with my own beliefs and values.

photo by robert couse-baker

Going postal over the letters to Santa program. The secret behind a truly great brand. Chicken soup in the cold remedies aisle. A look at why Twitter followers without engagement is worthless.

These are just some of my most popular tweets during the month of November. No surprise in today’s jobs-challenged “recovery” that the top tweet was a post concerning my search for a communications manager (still under way, tell all your friends).

If you missed any of these when first we tweeted, be sure to check them out now. Lots of good stuff here for what ails you.

Now Hiring: a Communications Manager

The Secret to Making Your Brand Truly Great

The Case of the 4,000 Twitter Followers Who Don’t Care

Confused Stock Boy … or Brilliant Product Placement?

Let’s Play 20 Questions to a Solid Strategic Plan

Is Social Media a Marketing Thing?

Content-ment: Curation Vs. Aggregation

Postal Service Limits Letter to Santa Program

Top 20 Tweets in October

Why Facebook Continues to Suck

25 of the Most Powerful and Influential Women in Social Media 2009

Why Nonprofits Should Be on YouTube

Five Things Brand Marketing Can’t Do

Writing Errors That Make You Look Stupid

Location is the Missing Link Between Social Media and the Real World

Email Campaigns That Work for Nonprofits

Beth Asked a Question

American Red Cross – Nonprofit Social Media Marketing Example

Top 50 Journalism Blogs

Ten Things Social Media Can’t Do

In case you missed any of them, here are my 20 most popular links (in order of popularity) tweeted during the previous month. I think I post somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 or more links via Twitter each month, and these garnered the greatest response. They serve as my monthly reminder that there is some truly superior content out there to assist you in your own communication efforts; you have only to surf (or follow me).

Letting Nonprofits Act Like Businesses: One Foundation’s Brave Act of Leadership

Social, Global, Ubiquitous, and Cheap

50 Content Ideas That Create Buzz

Katya Andresen on the Six Most Miserable Mistakes of Social Marketing

Are We Breeding Social Media Ne’er-do-wells?

Social Media and the Paradox of Choice

Are You Antisocial in Your Social Media Efforts?

In Advertising, Stupidity Can Win You Awards

Communicate as You Wish Others Would Communicate With You

Five Steps to Building a Successful Social Media Strategy for Your Nonprofit

Your Story Doesn’t Move Me

The Basics of Social Media for Nonprofits

Sometimes It’s Best to Kill the Ones They Love

70 Percent of Journalists Use Social Networks to Assist in Reporting

Social Media Listening for Nonprofits

Shredding Some Misconceptions About Social Media (Part I)

Your Communications Plan: What It’s For

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Writers

Why Seth Godin Is Wrong

Tips, Tricks & Tools From 140 | The Twitter Conference

photo by freeparking

A recent article in the Washington Post about the perceived ineffectiveness of Facebook’s Causes application to raise money has kicked up a lot of upset among fund raisers and other nonprofit pros.

You’ll find excellent responses to the article out there from Allison Fine, Beth Kanter and Jeff Brooks. The main takeaway is that, unless you’re running for president, social media is a far more effective friend raiser than fund raiser.

That really shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s worked in the nonprofit world for any length of time. Every institutional advancement professional I’ve ever worked with understands that relationship-building precedes the ask. Unless the ask is for pocket change.

Real money comes with time. Fund raiser gets to know the donor, what motivates. Donor develops an understanding of the organization’s mission, its potential to make an impact and how a gift actualizes that potential. Successful fund raising is the matchmaking process of the right donor to the right cause. Social media at this point can facilitate and accelerate that process, but it doesn’t replace it.

Serious money is raised by people, not direct mail and Facebook pages. I seriously doubt anything will replace the slow, methodical getting-to-know-you process that great fund raisers do so well.

So while the Post article wasn’t particularly revelatory about its subject, it did serve as a pointed reminder that most media outlets do a lousy job of covering the nonprofit sector. It’s ironic given all the debate about the nonprofit model as a potential savior of journalism.