"Human beings are social creatures, and a concern for each other is the very basis of our life together."

- Dalai Lama post to Twitter on August 1

Nonprofits now can be constantly connected to our stakeholders, to the nonprofits next door, to the nation's leading nonprofit experts and even the top funders in our field. Yes, I'm talking social media - Facebook, Twitter, and all the others.

If you are overwhelmed, you can at least take some comfort in the fact that you are not alone.  To help us out, Bethany Deines, Director of Annual Giving for Dayton Children's, recently prepared this primer on social media. Dayton Children's is using social media to have conversations with people in our local community, and meanwhile it's become one of the most-followed hospitals in the nation.

• If you want to learn from nonprofit experts, here's a GIANT list of blogs to explore.
• Here's about 600 foundations you can follow.

There's also a newly released, very handy Social Media Decision Guide you can download free. Or take this free online training course with the authors of The Networked Nonprofit.

There are many local organizations you can start following on Twitter...

City of Dayton, Dayton Development Coalition, CityFolk, Clothes that Work, CultureWorks, Dayton Art Institute, Dayton Children's, The Dayton Foundation, Dayton Metro Library, Dayton Red Cross, Five Rivers MetroParks, Sinclair Community College, ThinkTV, University of Dayton, upDayton, Victoria Theatre Association, Wright State University, and WYSO...WHEW!

Am I missing anyone?