Some of the items I’ve Seen and Heard and found interesting online recently:

Consumers view social marketing as invasive: Online Media Daily’s Mark Walsh reports on a study by Insight Marketing Group. Some highlights: “…nearly two-thirds (64%) of people say they “hate” when a company targets them through their social networking profile.” BUT, “…A majority of those surveyed (55%) believe social networking sites are the best way to give a company feedback and that posting about a product or service on a social site can have a strong impact on a brand.”

Walsh says the bottom line for marketers to keep in mind is that “…people like being able to provide feedback to marketers via social media -- but they don’t necessarily want to be followed by them.” For more insights, see the full report.

There’s a lot of talk online this month about many reasons to get on the multi-channel marketing bandwagon.

There’s so much happening online this month – here’s what we’ve Seen and Heard:

• How diverse are social networks? Care2’s nonprofit marketing blog, frogloop, recently put together some statistics. Did you know that there are 10% more females than males on Facebook? Twitter is also used by more women, but the sexes are split 50/50 on YouTube. Frogloop’s stats cover gender, age, and ethnicity.

We love the Smithsonian Institution’s new tag line: “Seriously Amazing” – launching this year. With 19 museums, including the National Museum of the American Indian (an Avalon client), a cable channel, and an extensive online presence, the Smithsonian “…wants the public to get the message that it is both a hefty and hip place,” writes Jacqueline Trescott in the Washington Post. Friends of the Smithsonian, the membership program which enables the Smithsonian Institution to maintain its tradition of excellence, is also an Avalon client.

Now that we’ve caught our breath after the rush of year-end fundraising, here’s a summary of the ups and downs of our online efforts in December:

We’re all about crunching numbers and evaluating returns, especially when it comes to benchmarking how our clients’ program performance stacks up against similar organizations. We recently compiled Avalon clients’ fundraising results across various industries, like arts and culture, environmental and conservation, and advocacy – check it out for a sense of how your results compare. We’ve also included a quick reference guide to help you delve into your spreadsheets, recognize meaningful stats, and plan your next outreach to donors or prospects. And as always, Avalon is available to dive into the data beyond with you!