There is a very insightful and lengthy comment on the original post by Julius that is well worth a read. I find myself agreeing with his sentiments in many ways. I’d prefer not to be a fundraiser’s “holiday harvest” for donations! My answer to the question of “How Can Nonprofits Use the Social Web During the "Giving Season"?” is that they should instead focus on giving themselves. Pay it forward as it were. Send thank you letters or emails to everyone who donated in the last two years. And then do NOT ask for more. Just a thank you. Let it stand alone. I’ll ghost write it for them:

Thank you for your generous donation to help cause _____. We greatly appreciate your donation and you made the year brighter for us! Thank you!

The Internet is made up of two currencies – cash and links. Links are people talking about you and hopefully improving your online reputation. They are folks joining a conversation. Yet having given to numerous charities and having donated numerous speaking fees to charity, I have not once had the charity post a thank you link on their site. And most of the time I don’t get so much as a thank you email. (note: one notable exception is Beth who links to all for her microfundraisers - go Beth!) I have reconciled this internally, and of course the fundraisers will say “oh we don’t have the resources to contact donors – you don’t want us spending your donations that way, do you?” My answer is everyone wants to be appreciated. That is not unreasonable. In summary – what non profits can do to “use” the “social web” during the “giving season” is first and foremost work on being more generous themselves to everyone. Give first and indeed they will receive. Act like a blogger sharing the link love. Really! It works!