Historically, social enterprises and nonprofits have based their endeavors on the work of employees and volunteers at the grassroots level, counting on humans connecting with others in order to create a community and accomplish a goal. While this is certainly still true, the way in which those connections happen is changing, not just in the social enterprise sector, but around the world.

The internet is the world’s fastest-growing communication channel, and yet social organizations are often not as enthusiastic as they could be about embracing everything online technology has to offer. If your organization is online but has been disappointed with the results of trying to raise awareness or funding on the internet, here are a few things you can do to strengthen your technology game and invite a larger, more loyal community into your online circle.

1. Update your website, and keep it as dynamic as possible. Many organizations think of a website as a sort of online brochure – a few static pages explaining what the enterprise is about, some contact information, and maybe a donate button. Often the argument against spending time, effort, and money on site updates is that it doesn’t make sense to use up resources on a site that brings in very little attention and even less money.

As fundraising consultant Beate Sorum points out, however, the cause and effect are frequently the other way around. It might actually be that the reason your site isn’t doing very much for you is because visitors take one look at it and don’t find anything to pique their interest. The more continual effort you put into things like user-friendly design, blogging, and updated content, the more reasons people will have to visit your site again and again.

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2. Remember that the future is mobile. While you’re having your website redesigned, don’t forget the most important aspect: mobile compatibility. According to a recent comScore report, sixty percent of total digital media time is spent on smartphones and tablets, and that number is not likely to head downward, so if your site is not mobile-friendly, you’re losing out on a lot of potential traffic. Boot Campaign and WWF are two examples of organizations that have taken responsive web design to the next level, keeping all their potential visitors in mind.

In addition, mobile apps account for over half of all digital media time, so if there’s some aspect of your organization that would be well-suited to an app and you’ve always wondered about creating one, now would be a good time to start looking into that more seriously. If you want to get in on the app game without actually creating one of your own, services like Google’s One Today help connect motivated donors with organizations that are seeking help.

3. Harness the power of social media. You’ve probably already heard this one a million times, but a lot of nonprofits still aren’t doing it, so it bears repeating: if you’re not using social media, you’re missing out on a huge way to connect with your audience. You may argue that you’ve been connecting for years in other ways, but social media has three big advantages over traditional media.

One, it comes across as less intrusive – you have a connection to your audience that’s there at all times, so they can engage with you at their convenience. Two, you get feedback in real time, so you can gauge just how well your strategy is working, and make adjustments accordingly. Three, multi-way communication means that not only do you get to talk to your audience and have them respond to you, they can also talk to each other, strengthening community ties and allowing for a greater feeling of loyalty.

If you still think your organization is better off sticking with its traditional ways, Goodwill, the United Way, and the American Red Cross would beg to differ.

4. Revamp your email marketing strategy. Over the past few years, spam filters have become increasingly sophisticated, and unfortunately a lot of nonprofit and social enterprise emails (especially solicitation emails) can end up in the black hole of the dreaded spam folder. Even the emails that make it to your supporters’ inboxes, though, will be ignored if they aren’t attention-grabbing and engaging.

If you can’t remember the last time you overhauled your email marketing strategy, have a look at these successful email campaigns to see just how far email marketing can still get you if you let your strategy evolve.

5. Take the plunge into video. If nothing else so far has shown you how important video is in the social enterprise world, the recent ALS Ice Bucket Challenge phenomenon should have you thoroughly convinced. Over $100 million was raised for ALS research in the United States alone, and the campaign brought awareness to millions of people who may not have understood the full impact of the disease.

There are as many ways to utilize video campaigns as there are organizations, though, and how you want to approach your video strategy is entirely up to you and your creative vision. The UK Department of Health, for example, teamed up with young, popular British video bloggers to create a channel of videos discussing awkward and embarrassing health situations. The videos each have hundreds of thousands of views, and encouraged viewers to continue the conversation on social media via hashtag.

6. Embrace change. It’s human nature that when something works, we want to hang onto it as long as we can. In the online world, though, technology progresses very quickly, and trends can change at the drop of a hat. There is no way to predict whether a platform that is popular now will still be popular in a year’s time. It’s essential, therefore, that you not see your online assets as static. Websites, social media profiles, and marketing tactics need frequent attention and updates.

You may not like the idea of continually having to reassess and work on your internet presence, but if you can start looking at those changes as opportunities to find new ways to connect more meaningfully with your community, you can get excited about the evolution of technology instead of dreading it. Online tech has the potential to be your most effective community-building and fundraising tool. The sooner you can embrace it, the sooner you can start having fun with it and using its power to do good.