Undeniably, social tools like Twitter and Facebook can help your congregation. But which is better? Take two nanoseconds and give us some feedback on our poll. We'll report our findings.

Congregations have been wild to know what Twitter can do for them, proven by the powerful turnout at two presentations I’ve given on the topic. The uses are many, but here’s a quick run-down of what I’ve found in my work with churches and synagogues, divided into clergy members (rabbis, preachers), administrators and youth group leaders. Find more tips by following Talance on Twitter, and of course, send your own. Clergy

1. Inspirational thoughts – quotes from scripture or elsewhere

Establishing a social media marketing plan requires heaps of work. Of course you want to know how much you’re getting out of all the hard work you’re putting into one. But the trouble with boiling down ROI on a social marketing effort is, “… you are trying to put numeric quantities around human interactions and conversations, which are not quantifiable.”

[Update: make sure you check out this other post on more killer church websites and the specifics that make them great. Also check out our easy solution for church/synagogue websites.]

My article posted earlier this week alludes to how many Christian organizations are grasping new technologies as a way to boost their ministry. I think it's a new idea for many Jewish organizations, which I report are slower to cotton on to technology.

Check out my latest article in The Jewish Daily Forward, which articulates how many of the nonprofits we come into contact with are struggling to keep up with technology. I'm already hearing some "mazel tovs" and "Yes, we're hearing the same thing toos."

Technologically Impaired?
Jewish Organizations Struggle To Keep Pace With New Technologies
By Monique Cuvelier
Wed. Jun 18, 2008

My friend Aaron Spiegel from the Alban Institutes's Center for Congregations dug up an interesting commentary on the sins of church websites, "10 Easy Ways to Keep Me from Visiting Your Church Because I Visited Your Website," which he sites here.

It's long been my holding that the nonprofits that stand to gain the most from use of web technologies are the least likely to use them. Here are three pieces I've come across lately that encourage nonprofits - secular and faith-based - to step it up, and examine how the field is evolving. Good reading: