It helps to see what other organizations are doing right to guide your own Web strategy. Here are six stand-out examples from non-profits that have a presence with websites, Twitter and Facebook.

Websites

10ThousandDoors.org is a gutsy move by the United Methodist Church to be a truly interactive experience. The whole site is innovative, but the Talk page is a new breed of discussion boards that has really opened up sharing and communication.

Take the Walk has a great counter on its homepage. They tally the number of miles supporters have walked to support fighting AIDS in Africa. The placement is perfect: front and center. This ensures the site is geared toward pulling in new supporters.

Twitter

Ashoka started promoting their e-book through Twitter and quickly built up a following. This multi-tasking post is smart, because they thank their followers, help everyone feel included and continue the promotion all in one Tweet.

The town of Richmond, VA, had a double-header of a good idea. First, they started a city wiki (others here), and then they set up an automatic Twitter feed that publishes any updates to the wiki. It gives you a real-time, accessible view of any changes that happen at the town level.

Facebook

Peta launched a Facebook Cause to raise funds and donations to protect animals. They’ve raised nearly $60,000 and have enabled others to recruit more supporters and raise funds on their behalf.

Synagogue 3000 claimed a great web address so they’d be easy to find on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/synagogue3000) rather than the ugly and hard to remember stream of numbers that Facebook adds to the end of your URL when it assigns one to you. Click here to set yours.

You’ve heard me harp on about how religious and secular nonprofits need to get with the program and start using technology to build community. A post I came across on the Jewish Common Sense blog by Rabbi Randall J. Konigsburg proves I’m not the only one talking about it.

Konisburg’s call-to-action pleads, “if we Rabbis can’t change, if the community can’t change, then we will fade into history.” Even if that change is a challenge, it’s necessary. To help soothe the transition from an old-fashioned world to a brave new one, he gives loads of insight for churches and synagogues.

His posting outlines all sorts of friendly upgrades synagogues can make (which can be applied to any church and many nonprofit environments), with special emphasis on technology. A few helpful takeaways, in no particular order, which you can use as a checklist for getting your own technology policy in gear:

• Forget websites that open up to a picture of a building. Home pages should have pictures of people having fun.
• Do congregants share information online through a listserv?
• Is there a social network group so they can see which friends will be attending a program this week?
• How many congregations have free wifi in the lobby or in a meeting room so waiting parents can use their laptops while they wait for children in lessons?
• Websites must be updated weekly and have up to the minute information.
• It should be possible to sign up for a program and even pay for it online.
• You can mail notices to seniors, but young people want their messages by email.
• Adult Education classes should be recorded and placed as podcasts on the website, for those who missed, in a timely fashion. Even better, video the class and post it as a webcast.
• Rabbis, Cantors, and Educators need to use blogs and the web to stay in touch and teach modern Jews.
• Event pictures and video should be posted on the web within days if not hours.
• And why not have a section of the synagogue website for members only?